P4 vs PM for a Laptop

[Kelemvor]

Well, I currently have an older Sony laptop that supposedly has a P4 2.4Ghz processor in it. However this laptop is slower than crap so something isn't right in there. ANyway, I have the opportunity to get a good deal on a laptop with a Pentium M 1.73Ghz.

I'm just wondering what sort of performance difference I might expect between these two laptops. I know the M should give longer battery life but would it be noticably slower? THe laptop is only used for internet, email, etc and no gaming or video editing or anything like that.

Thanks.

OR maybe it'd be better to just wait a month until BF and see what sort of Core 2 Duo system I can get since I'm assuming those would blow the pants off a Pentium M chip right?

 

[F1shF4t]

The pentium m will be MUCH faster than the p4, that pentium M will rival a p4 2.8 -3.0 ghz.
I'm waiting for the new laptos with conroes (well the real reason is cause i dont have money and by then i wil ), but really if ur current laptop does everything u need why upgrade.

By the way how much ram does the lappy have and have u considered doing a fresh instal of windows?

 

[Kelemvor]

I've already wiped the current one out and it didn't help much. Main problem is the battery dies after an hour or so. And even if it's not on but not plugged in, it dies after a day or so.

Can get the P-M for like $400 or so. THe current one has probably 256 but might have 512. New one would have 512 for sure.

My wife wants to actually use the laptop as her primary computer and the current one is too hot, too heavy, too slow, etc. So it's either bite now for $300-$400 or hope for a good BF/Christmas deal.

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
Well, I currently have an older Sony laptop that supposedly has a P4 2.4Ghz processor in it. However this laptop is slower than crap so something isn't right in there. ANyway, I have the opportunity to get a good deal on a laptop with a Pentium M 1.73Ghz.

I'm just wondering what sort of performance difference I might expect between these two laptops. I know the M should give longer battery life but would it be noticably slower? THe laptop is only used for internet, email, etc and no gaming or video editing or anything like that.

Thanks.

OR maybe it'd be better to just wait a month until BF and see what sort of Core 2 Duo system I can get since I'm assuming those would blow the pants off a Pentium M chip right?

A Dothan 1.73GHz will not be light years faster than your Pentium 4 at 2.4GHz now but yes, it will be a little faster.
Unfortunately your CPU is not the real problem but your low RAM (256 is way too low) and I'm sure your hard drive is also only 4200rpm or at best 5400rpm and an old slow model.

Also a Mobile Pentium 4 is not the same as a Pentium 4-M CPU, the latter run cooler and the highest model is at 2.6GHz.

Any modern notebook can be made to feel much more responsive by just upgrading it's RAM to 1GB and HDD to 7200rpm. The Hitachi 7K100 series is a good bet.

 

[Ayah]

Low memory kills.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Ayah
Low memory kills.

Even a 512MB upgrade (768MB total) will do wonders for that system. Given what you're using the laptop for I don't think replacing the entire laptop is necessary unless you want to use the laptop unplugged. If you're just using it around the house and you can plug it in from time to time (or just leave it plugged in), then there is no need to do anything except upgrade the RAM. I'd personally suggest getting 1GB in there and call it good for awhile.

All that said, I can get around 2.5-3hours off a 6cell battery with my Pentium M 1.7Ghz.

 

[Kelemvor]

So any good laptop memory deals around? Crucial wants $80 for 512. Not sure if this laptop has 2x128 or 1x256 or what since I've never popped the back off.

 

[Golgatha]

I'm a big fan of Corsair ValueSelect RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...gory=381&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
So any good laptop memory deals around? Crucial wants $80 for 512. Not sure if this laptop has 2x128 or 1x256 or what since I've never popped the back off.

www.crucial.com

Corsair doesn't make RAM, they fabricate it which means taking someone else's (in their case Micron, the parent company of Crucial) and rebrands it as their own. The net result is hence argubly identical to the branded none fabricated products.

Do not ignore that 7200rpm notebook hard drive option I stated, you'll be smiling and thanking later, you'll see, ask some others here.