[lash9420]

Which is better? I am thinking about buying a laptop and was wondering which you think would be better.

[jbking]

Depends on where you are comparing them,e.g. processors, chipsets, or graphics as both companies have all 3 lines of business, as well as what you want to do with the laptop as Intel has the performance crown but both have new lines to get tested out, AMD with Puma and Intel with Montevina where by line I mean all 3 of the lines are new here and haven't been tested yet and even then there is the question of what benchmark do you use on which lines of laptop.

JB

[lash9420]

I'm not very familiar with laptops and processes, so I'm not exactly sure what you mean by processors, chipset's, and graphics. I really like this HP laptop but it has an AMD processor. I have been using Intel most of my life. I am mostly going to be going to be using it for school but also media and converter videos. Does this make sense?

[Kilme]

When it comes to comparing processors, it generally boils down to this:

AMD is cheaper, but slower.
Intel is faster, but more expensive.

On the retail computer side, an AMD processor usually means that the computer is a cheaper model, or the company is trying to save money. There's nothing wrong with AMDs, but you should just know that Intel processors are currently better. If you want, you can link us to the laptop you're looking at (and any others you're interested in), and we can tell you how good the processor is for your needs. Or as an alternative, we could suggest one for you that fits your budget.

[lash9420]

Thanks Killme!! Heres the link for the one I'm looking at:

http://www.circuitci...CustomerRatings

[Kilme]

That laptop includes a Turion 64 TI-60, which is a mobile dual core processor. It has a 2.0GHz clock speed, 1600MHz bus speed, and a 2x 512MB L2 cache. In other words, it's a pretty run-of-the-mill laptop processor. It's not horrible, but it's not great. However, it's not bad considering the price range. A $600 laptop is pretty cheap, plus it comes with 3GB of RAM. It has all the essentials too: wireless, DVD burner, and a media reader. It even comes with built in Bluetooth and Lightscribe. The only weakness I see is the hard drive speed, but it's normal for laptops. Also, it comes with HP's bloatware of course. The integrated graphics aren't great either, but they're fine for movies and older games.

All in all though, that laptop is a great buy. Just realize that if you want to do school work, you'll have to pick up a copy of Office somewhere if you don't already have it. This laptop only comes with a trial version, as most retail computers do. Either that, or you can use OpenOffice, but don't expect it to be as great.

[rgreen4]

Lash9420 - welcome to the PC World community. That laptop is a nice one. I have an HP dv9500t that will celebrate it's first birthday in Sept and I absolutely love it. It is the 17" version of the dv6x00 series. They first came out in early 2007 with the dv6000/9000 series. The 6000 has the 15.4" screen and the 9000 has the 17" screen. Then when the new controller chips came out and they upgraded their graphics, the 6500/9500 series came out. Shortly after the first of the year the 6700/9700 series came out, again with some internal improvements with chips. Now they are going through the process again.

What this means is that the dv6700 (and 6810 is part of that series) is being discontinued. In fact you can no longer order the Intel based dv6700 as now it is the dv5 series for the 15" screen and the dv7 series for the 17". I took the HP website to configure the same specs on the dv5z (AMD) as you can no longer order the dv6700z (AMD) series and with the same speed processor and a 250GB HD (120 or 250 no 160 avail) and the separate video card, the cost was $985. If your into heavy gaming, this machine will be slow. But, if you only want it for the mainline apps, then it should do fine. In gaming the integrated video card will be more of a detriment than the processor. Configuring a similar dv5z with the Intel C2D 2.0 GHz processor and a 160GB HD and again the separate video card the cost was $1,239. Both of the dv5's would be better for heavy gaming because of the discrete video cards and both have HDMI outputs (the dv6810us does not). All have VGA and S-Video out.

Circuit City has a very good price on the close out of that model, but if you like it, it will do the job, and you will save some money. I can certainly say I have been pleased with all the HP's I have had, and love the new slimmer line notebooks (dv series after the 5000/8000). Unless you really like the touchpad (I hate it) I would recommend a notebook mouse and if you going to school one of the backpack style cases where you can carry it and books. I would also recommend that you back up your data frequently (CD's and DVD's are cheaper than external drives) and keep a close eye on it. Unfortunately, laptops do have a tendency to walk in school environments and at airports.

Regardless of which machine you get, I recommend that immediately after starting your machine for the first time you do these:
1. Burn a set of recovery discs. These are burned from the recovery partition and in case of a major foul-up, will restore drivers or you HD to the as shipped factory condition.
2. Down load a program called PC Decrapifier and use it to clean up a lot of the bloatware that ships with the machine.
3. Down load the Norton's removal tool and remove the Norton's Internet Security software suite. This is noted for slowing down machines. I use Avast! free anti-virus and SuperAntiSpyware free anti-spyware. Browse through the Privacy & Security discussion area in this community for other ideas. Anything posted by SpiritWind you can take to the bank. I went to those anti-malware programs from others based on Spirit's recommendation. Here is a link to the page to get the instructions and download of the tool. DO NOT attempt to use the Windows Add/Remove function as it does not work on Norton or McAfee effectively.

Feel free to ask questions here anytime, as I like to say, the community is open 24/7.

[lash9420]

Thanks for everyone's help! I feel much more informed. Fortunately, I won't be doing any gaming on the computer so I don't need to have to worry about that. Do you think computer will be able to handle media fairly well? (i.e., converting videos, music, videos, etc) Thanks, lash

[rgreen4]

Shouldn't have a problem. Heavy editing of video may be a little slow, depending on which application you use.

BTW, if this machine comes with the small remote, it has a strange notched shape because it stores in the express card slot on the right hand side toward the front. The machine comes with a blank in there, and the remote if included is in the box with the goodies. That way if your sitting back watching a video, and the machine is feeding a TV, you can use the remote to control Media Center.

If your are going to feed a TV, you may want to also pick up a mini-stereo plug to RCA (red and white) plug Y adapter as the audio out is on the front edge and most TV's need the separate audio inputs. The S-Video output is on the left rear corner.

[lash9420]

Ok thanks for your help!



My only other concern is that it can only pick up b and g wireless signals. Is that going to be a problem?

[rgreen4]

It will be a long, long time before 801.11b/g will not be found everywhere 802.11n is found. It is a little slower, but then on the otherhand the n spec is a draft spec. If I had gotten the opportunity to not have the draft n on my machine I would have only the b/g wireless.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Lash and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D




Since it appears that this question is completely different question than your initial question, I have marked this Discussion as"Assumed Answered." If RGreen's response does not answer your wireless question, please start a new Discussion under the Networking Community.