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Post by shimmeroo roo on Aug 15, 2006 23:40:20 GMT -5
As I said in the Jeremy thread, I am shopping for a laptop. Now as much as I like to buy new things, laptops are expensive and I don't want to be doing this again before I finish undergrad. That said, I don't want to be relying on a sorry piece of crap by the time I head to grad school, so something that is upgradeable in the future or far enough advanced now without breaking the bank too much is what I'm looking for. I really don't want to spend more than $2600, and that's the upper end. Staying somewhat lower would be even better.
NE suggested some HPs. That's great and all, but I want a small laptop I can toss in my bag and go without worrying about space concerns. I would prefer one with a screen no larger than 14". I would love a widescreen, but that is not mandatory.
I looked at a Dell build today that I sort of liked. Spec'd the way I wanted it, the cost after taxes was coming out at about $2700. That's including a graphics upgrade and Windows XP Pro (MANDATORY). So... I'm trying to shave some off that price, but don't want to sacrifice performance and can't afford to sacrifice a lot of space.
Is the upgrade from single to duo-core processors going to be that big an improvement? Will computers a year from now be pretty much standard equipped with duo core?
Tell me about this stuff. I want something that's not too hideous, either.
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Post by glg on Aug 16, 2006 7:44:51 GMT -5
Is the upgrade from single to duo-core processors going to be that big an improvement? Will computers a year from now be pretty much standard equipped with duo core? A few questions there. I'll tackle them one by one. Will it be that big an improvement? YES! But only when you start using software that supports multiple processors. XP Pro has a little bit of support for dual processors, but it's forthcoming successor, Vista, will have much more support for it. The same will be true of all the other software you use. If you have M$ Office 2000, no advantage with a dual-core processor. If you get the latest M$ Office, then yes, you'll see the difference. So the best answer is yes, but not right away. Will computers a year from now be pretty much standard equipped with dual-core? Absolutely. Single-core CPUs are already slated for end-runs of production. A year from now, there may be one single-core offering from each of Intel and AMD, just for the lowest-end computers, and the rest will be dual-core, or perhaps... even quad-core.... Don't roll your eyes on that one yet. It was announced at the same time as when dual-core was released. Multi-core processors are going to be the norm from now on, and both Intel and AMD had plans for quad-core processors before releasing the duals. Of course, the fastest dual-core today will be tomorrow's standard, and a lot cheaper. You know the game. So, my question to you is: are you willing to spend the extra today to be ready for tomorrow? Or will you be satisfied and well-enough equipped with what you have to get by until then? I would say the latter is true for you. By the time Vista has been out for a year or so, and other software starts to support dual-core natively, you'll be ready for another upgrade anyways, and you can take that step then. It's up to you. But you certainly won't limit yourself by buying a single-core today. It's going to be a while before everything supports the new dual-core. |
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napperx
Registered Member
Posts: 19
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Post by napperx on Aug 20, 2006 3:18:19 GMT -5
If I were you i'd go with the top computer Best Buy currently has. Laptops tend to be far behind in technology and double the price of a regular computer package.
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Post by shimmeroo roo on Aug 20, 2006 23:15:46 GMT -5
Um... Best Buy? Seriously?
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Post by nesince92 on Aug 20, 2006 23:19:08 GMT -5
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Post by shimmeroo roo on Aug 20, 2006 23:20:01 GMT -5
Well, that's kind of how I feel about it.
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Post by nesince92 on Aug 20, 2006 23:23:16 GMT -5
To answer your question in the thread topic... I haven't tested it much yet, but I can't see it performing that much better than the latest chips before them.
Don't go ancient or anything, but you certainly don't need top of the line/latest technology to happy with your product. Just make sure it has at least 512MB of RAM.
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Post by shimmeroo roo on Aug 20, 2006 23:26:05 GMT -5
I wasn't going to go less than 1GB on this purchase.
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Post by glg on Aug 21, 2006 15:30:37 GMT -5
That's good advice. Most new packages skimp on RAM, for some reason. Get at least 512Mb, and everything runs better.
Dual-core is nice for geeks like me, but the average Joe, (or Jane) wouldn't use it or benefit from it for a couple years yet.
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Post by shimmeroo roo on Aug 21, 2006 21:49:51 GMT -5
How do you have more posts than I do already?  |
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Post by glg on Aug 22, 2006 8:24:16 GMT -5
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