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Laptop w/ AMD processor: wise choice?

V

videobruce

Golden Member
I'm looking at a HP Laptop w/ a AMD processor. The only choices I see are:
HP
Compaq
E-Machines
Avertec (sp?)
I REALLY don't want a Wintel model UNLESS someone can come up with a very valid reason(s) that the mobile AMD's are either problem prone or something along those lines. I don't want to get into a AMD vs Wintel discussion here.

I understand that AMD has had a long history of having a higher current draw and running hotter (goes hand in hand). I can probably live with that since I don't travel and this isn't for any business purposes.

I was just concerned since AMD is the newer player to the mobile market if there was any indication of outstanding problems.

Office Depot has a HP zv5000z series with $300 in rebates for the next couple of days that you configure at the store and they ship it to you (you pay shipping).

Input? Thanks...............
 
AMD's running hotter? I believe thats a myth. The cpu heat isn't really an issue for people. The HDD and ram heat issue is. I had a athlon 1500+ ze4101. It ran well and quietly. AMD is a wise choice.
 
I'm running an eMachines Athlon64 system and apart from poor driver and tech support from eMachines the CPU has proven to be very capable and fast just like the desktop model. In fact, the AMD mobile Athlons are actually better than their desktop counterparts of the same model because they are hand picked (so to speak) to run cooler at the same specs. Many desktop hardware enthusiasts use mobile Athlons in their desktops because of the huge overclocking potential when paired with a full size heat sink and fan.

If you go with eMachines just read up on some of the problems people have been experiencing and make sure you purchase from a reliable reseller such as Best Buy so you can quickly exchange it if there are any problems. There seems to be enough peer tech support online to get by without eMachines thanks to the miracle of the Internet. I've had mostly good experiences with mine and would still recommend it especially considering the price.

The Athlon64s are fairly power hungry and my fan does run frequently but I can't tell you how this compares to high end mobile Pentium processors. The Athlon64 systems force the CPU to run at around half speed when on battery only so don't expect to play games without AC power. Battery life on my eMachines is about 2 to 2.5 hours with conservative settings and enough to watch a full length DVD on one charge.

If you want long battery life go with the Centrino I think. Or in my case my other laptop is an older G3 Macinthosh running OSX with an aftermarket high capacity battery that runs about 7 hours on a charge with normal settings and at full speed (almost as fast as the eMachines running on battery power now!). My kids can watch three DVDs back to back on a cross country flight!! 🙂 Those Macs were power misers!
 
There are multiple fixes to the emachines powersaving clockdown. I use one and get around 1.5 hours while playing far cry at 1280x800 very high (no aa) on batteries with the cpu at full 2ghz and video card overclocked to 400/206...
 
I have an Athlon 64 eMachines laptop. It's fast and gets good battery life. I haven't had any reason to call tech support, so I can't comment there. Everything else is excellent tho. Much less expensive than a Pentium M system, too.
 
At this point I would only get an XP over a 64 if money was a serious issue. The Athlon64 should be well worth the price over an XP model.
 
my averatec gets a quarter to half the batter life of my sister Pentium M laptop. Sad thing is, it is only a 2000+ Mobile on the averatec and it suppose to be a road warrior.
 
Look for a cg stepping Athlon 64. It uses much less idle power than the previous c0 stepping (translation: much much less heat and increase battery life/model). HP systems ship the cg stepping version with their 3400+ and 3700+ versions. 3000+ and 3200+ you may get a c0, but that's with data from last month and now it could be all cg, I don't know. Regardless, the difference is huge in underside heat issues. My first c0 stepping R3000Z was a bit hot underneath and so I had to put a book or cloth if on my bare lap. But my cg replacement R3000Z only runs lightly warm, in no way do I feel any burning sensation. Very cool in fact.

 
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