What kind of CPU do you look for in a laptop?

[Shephard]

I am not a laptop user and don't think I ever will be. I like sitting in my comfy chair with my big screen and the power of a desktop. Plus I am a gamer and a desktop will always be superior!

I am interested though in what you look for in a CPU laptop at certain price ranges. Not gaming laptops, just your average laptop between $300-$700.

Ok for example my nephew has a laptop with an AMD cpu. It's a single core 1.3ghz I believe. The computer is not old though... Maybe 2009. It has Windows 7 and 3gb ram. The laptop goes to 100% CPU usage when watching a Youtube video. It chugs at 1080p, but can do 720p if you let the whole video load before playing. The laptop has a radeon 6300 series gpu.

Ok another example is a laptop say, an Intel Quad Core, but it's only a 1.8ghz processor. Would it better than the single core for youtube?

I mean the biggest thing with CPU is architecture right? But anything in the 1ghz range just seems clunky. I guess they do it for lower power consumption, but I tell you the battery on that laptop is average.

So is the ghz to blame, the single core, the gpu, or what?

 

[2is]

The main things I look for on a laptop are:

Good battery life
Nice display
Good trackpad (macbooks rule here)
SSD

I don't game on laptops, so I don't need a powerful GPU/IGP. Like you though, I do watch video's, many in 1080p. The nice thing is the IGP's in today's CPU's (both AMD and Intel) have hardware acceleration for those video's. Not to mention, in addition to much more capable IGP's, the processors themselves can do a lot more work at the same clock speed. That said, I would NEVER get a single core processor for a laptop. Or anything else for that matter.

 

[onething]

It's the single core. Once you get dual-core everything seems infinitely better. Seriously, the extra core, even hyperthreading makes a huge difference.

All GPUs these days are more than capable of watching movies. They only stand out when it comes to gaming or very specific GPU tasks. Such as rendering, folding, but then why are you doing that on a laptop? So if you're not gaming, don't even bother looking at what GPU is on the laptop.

But more importantly, make sure an SSD is in there. I cringe when people think the CPU makes all the difference, and they spend $1k on a laptop with an i7 but only has a HDD. I whip out my junk core2duo dual core with an SSD and it boots into Windows faster, everything loads faster, snappier, etc. I spent a tiny fraction of what their laptop costs on mine.

So these days, I would just grab the cheapest AMD dual core or higher laptop and stick an SSD in there. When it comes to IGP, AMD dwarfs Intel. It's also cheaper too.

 

[dma0991]

So is the ghz to blame, the single core, the gpu, or what?

There are more factors to include when you want to gauge how well the CPU performs. That's where benchmarks come in and you're given a value that indicates whether there is an improved performance. A single core is just simply isn't enough for today's applications.

A dual core laptop however makes a very decent machine. My Intel C2D T5450 is still kicking strong although it is nearly 5 years old. Won't play most games but for what I do with it on the go, it is very capable even by current standards. Getting any Core i3 based laptop is a good start for that budget.

 

[JimmiG]

I'm the same as the OP. Laptops are largely irrelevant to me, especially since smartphones started getting more capable.

If I were to buy a laptop today, I'd make sure it had plenty of RAM (6GB), at least dual core anything and a SSD, then just pick the cheapest one that fit those criteria. Who cares about weight? You can't fit a laptop in your pocket anyway.. and battery life is going to abyssmal no matter.

 

[2is]

Clearly You haven't had much experience with laptops. Battery life varies greatly and weight is weight weather it's in your pocket or carried on your shoulder. I'm really not sure what the pocket vs weight comparison is coming from. It's like asking someone what's heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of rocks.

 

[_Rick_]

I'd probably go for a hyper-threaded dual core with AES acceleration, 16GB of RAM and HD4k graphics. 512GB SSD, so I have some space for VM's and general stuff.

As for weight and thickness , give me an ultrabook, and clip on 1.5 cms/2 kilos of battery, and I feel like I'm good to go. I desire independence, not looking good.

That, with a good, non-glossy screen would maybe make a laptop I wouldn't hate from the depth of my heart. Haven't had one like that ever. Only exception might be my sisters X60 tablet. That, with a RAM upgrade and SSD was a pretty nifty machine. But priced so that you had to show some commitment....

 

[Idontcare]

I take it most of you are at the pre-professional employment stage of your respective career paths?

Once you get into the professional workforce I think you will find the laptop to be an indispensable tool in effecting your job.

 

[sm625]

Look at this list: http://www.passmark.com/cpubenchmark/cpu_list.php

Organize the list by CPU Mark (first column)

You want a cpu that scores at least 1500 for a smooth web surfing experience, so it can handle 1080p software deconding, and all flash apps, etc. That means an athlon X2-240 or a pentium 987. (Basically any intel chip released recently, even the cheapest pentium. Only a few celerons are too slow.) Note that this "floor" seems to increase by as much as 200 points per year. So in 3 years you will wish you had a cpu that scores over 2100 on todays chart. (Like a pentium B970 for example.)

 

[BrightCandle]

Alas I can never find a laptop that is quick enough and wont break my back carrying it around. I am very heavy on CPU usage with my work and I can never get the ideal combination of stuff regardless of price.

 

[Arkaign]

If you're not looking for a gaming notebook, you're in good shape.

Pretty much the only CPUs you should consider are Ivy Bridge-based i3/i5 in that price range. They are tailor made for mobile imho, tons of power.

Ultrabooks are sort of silly right now at the prices they want, but you can still get a nice 14-15" model that isn't very heavy or bulky for that price range.

If you leave some room in the budget, you can get a 128GB SSD, so you can ignore the hard drive that comes pre-installed. This will make a great companion to the unit, particularly because with no moving parts, you won't suffer data loss if the thing gets bumped/dropped. The unit may die, but your SSD will survive.

Imho just scour techbargains day in and day out, and jump on a great deal when it comes through. For example, they just had this listed :

"Best Buy has the Asus K55A-HI5103D Intel Core i5-3210M Dual-Core Ivy Bridge 15.6" Notebook Computer for a low $449.99 Free Shipping. Tax in most. This laptop sells for at least $620 at other reputable vendors. Also among one of the best prices we've seen on an i5 Ivy Bridge. [Compare Prices]
5.6lbs; 15.6" 1366x768; Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz Dual-Core Ivy Bridge; 4GB RAM; 500GB HDD; DVD burner; 802.11n; Windows 8; (3) USB; VGA; HDMI; webcam; 6-cell battery; 1yr warranty"

Grab a 128SSD and 8GB Ram Pack (super cheap), and bam, you have a modest monster for ~$600. Similar deals should steadily come out, perhaps even better.

 

[Ferzerp]

I take it most of you are at the pre-professional employment stage of your respective career paths?

Once you get into the professional workforce I think you will find the laptop to be an indispensable tool in effecting your job.

I'm actually doing an experiment right now to see if I can get by with a Surface, VPN, and an RDP connection to my desktop for travels now.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I take it most of you are at the pre-professional employment stage of your respective career paths?

Once you get into the professional workforce I think you will find the laptop to be an indispensable tool in effecting your job.

Welll... it depends on the career path. Let's be fair.

But you can have mine when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

 

[Activate: AMD]

Welll... it depends on the career path. Let's be fair.

But you can have mine when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Agreed. I don't travel very much, but having a laptop is indispensable. Anyone who thinks a tablet is a real replacement for a laptop clearly doesn't need to actually do work it.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Agreed. I don't travel very much, but having a laptop is indispensable. Anyone who thinks a tablet is a real replacement for a laptop clearly doesn't need to actually do work it.

Agreed about the tablet. I am sadly disappointed in the performance of the one I purchased a few months ago. Not really much good for anything but web surfing and watching netflix. Even for that it requires a good wi-fi signal, because the sensitivity of the wi-fi pickup is atrocious.
Not even really good for e-mail because it is a 7" tablet, and the virtual keyboard covers almost the entire screen, making answering e-mail very annoying.

 

[cytg111]

one whole week of battery running linpack.

thanks.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

all i do is web/office stuff. i used to buy expensive dell latitudes until two of them smoked and stopped working. i went to staples and bought a couple cheap axe hp pentium laptops and found they are perfectly good for what i do. i dont think i would ever spend >$1000 on a laptop again. i havent bought a laptop in a year or so, so i assume the chips are better, but ive noticed that manufactuing of the cheapo laptops in the stores now seem to be lower quality now (really crappy track pads and keyboards and screens that wobble etc..). someone here said that the new pentiums clock down when using battery to the point that they are as slow as atom but i dont know this firsthand. that would be bad though

someone above mentioned this but i think its true that web pages are taking more and more cpu power/memory all the time.

 

[Blitzvogel]

all i do is web/office stuff. i used to buy expensive dell latitudes until two of them smoked and stopped working. i went to staples and bought a couple cheap axe hp pentium laptops and found they are perfectly good for what i do. i dont think i would ever spend >$1000 on a laptop again.

These days, a cheap laptop is all a person really needs for general business use, unless you do CAD work or something like that in the field, where you need one of those quad-core, FireGL or Quadro equipped monsters.

 

[biostud]

Intel U-3xxx

 

[Ventanni]

The following is purely opinion:

I bought my laptop thinking what I wanted would mirror what I want in my desktop computer, and I realized after I bought it just how flawed my decision making process was. What you consume on a laptop will differ than what you consume on a desktop, and unless you're doing business work, will probably mirror what you'd do on a tablet.

1. Don't skimp on the monitor. It's definitely worth spending the extra money on a high quality 1080p monitor, because while you won't be gaming much on it, you'll probably be reading/writing a lot of text, watching movies, or streaming. Ever notice that quality tablets like the iPad 3 or Nexus 10 always come with extremely high quality screens?

2. Battery life is key. Get one with a 9 cell battery for a few extra hours of use.

3. Don't go overboard with the hardware. I bought mine with a quadcore in it. Sure, it's nice and fast. It's also overkill for what I use it for. I could have saved a few dollars by going with a nice dual core w/ hyperthreading. Optimally, I would have gone for a Trinity laptop when I bought it, but they were a year and a half from being released when I was shopping for mine.

4. Think about storage. Never go with a 5400rpm HD. An SSD will greatly improve the "feel" and speed of a laptop, but one with a 7200rpm HD should be the minimum. If you're going to be using yours for movies, then buy one with a big hard drive.

And that's really the key, or at least my opinion of what is key; figure out what you're going to use it for. If consuming non-gaming content is what you're going to do most, then purchase a laptop accordingly. I definitely do game on my laptop when I'm not at home, but I wouldn't consider it a high priority of mine anymore.

What do I use my laptop for?

1. Glorified streaming HTPC hooked up to my TV or 23" monitor out in the garage when I'm working out.
2. Surfing the web and/or writing.
3. Some light gaming when I'm not at home. I did try and game on it for a little bit when I first got it, but that quickly lost its excitement when I realized just how superior a desktop is for providing that experience.

 

[Shephard]

Look at this list: http://www.passmark.com/cpubenchmark/cpu_list.php

Organize the list by CPU Mark (first column)

You want a cpu that scores at least 1500 for a smooth web surfing experience, so it can handle 1080p software deconding, and all flash apps, etc. That means an athlon X2-240 or a pentium 987. (Basically any intel chip released recently, even the cheapest pentium. Only a few celerons are too slow.) Note that this "floor" seems to increase by as much as 200 points per year. So in 3 years you will wish you had a cpu that scores over 2100 on todays chart. (Like a pentium B970 for example.)

ok this is good information I will look at the link.

so the fact that my nephews single core laptop is the problem. It can't handle the 1080p.

So dual core is a minimum. SSD just to make things load quicker. I agree 5400rpm is pathetic but that is the norm for most laptops in the price range I said above.

Does a GPU in a laptop matter if your not gaming? All he cares about is 1080p Youtube smooth and watching loseless blue ray videos.

I mean do you go with an AMD apu or do you go Intel with no GPU. I know Intel is king of the desktops but I am not sure how they hold up on the laptop.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

most laptops have pathetic 1300x768 resolution. for $450-500 you can get one with 1600x900, which is defintely worth it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had an emachines laptop that I got one BF at Walmart for $200. It had an AMD Sempron 1800+ single-core in it, and AMD780GM chipset.

It came out right before Flash Player added hardware acceleration, and thankfully, after updating my video drivers and my Flash Player, I could finally play full-screen Hulu on 1366x768 screen. I don't know how well it would have handled 1080P web videos though.

I now own a newer Acer Aspire One 722 Netbook with a C-60 CPU, and that one with the on-die IGP DOES play 1080P web videos, just fine. That one cost me $202 + tax, on clearance at Target.

 

[Idontcare]

The low-end pricing of computing just amazes me. Sure you can get so much more if you are willing to spend another $100 or $200, but the fact you can buy a functioning laptop of any caliber for $200 is astounding.

 

[Ventanni]

If you're just planning on using your laptop as a high powered streaming device to your big screen, a $300 laptop is an amazing deal for the job. I stream A LOT of Starcraft 2, so this is perfect for the job.