New Computer Question

[dj2112]

Hey,
I'm new here, and this is my first post. I am applying to do civil engineering at University next year, and when I do, I am getting a new computer. The one I'm using now is a Dell Latitude P3 500MHz. I am picking between 5 different notebooks; an Apple, an Avartec, a HP, an Acer, and another Dell.

The Avertec has an AMD-Athlon M 2400 processor/15.4" Widescreen/512 MB RAM/60GB HDD/ DVD+R. $1297 CAD
The HP has a Pentium 4 2.8GHz/15.4" Widescreen/512 RAM/60GB HDD/CD-DVD Combo/128 MB video. $1197 CAD
The Apple ibook has G4 1.2GHz/12.1" Screen/256 RAM/CD-DVD Combo/30GB HDD/and a 6 hour battery life. $1199 CAD
The Dell has a Pentium 4 2.8GHz/14.1" Screen/256 RAM/40GB HDD/CD-DVD Combo. $1129 CAD
And finally, the Acer has Celeron M 1.6GHz/15.4" Widescreen/512 RAM/40GB HDD/CD-DVD. $999 CAD

Which of these computers would be best for my needs? I don't need a high quality gaming machine, just enough to watch some movies, run AutoCAD or equivilant, listen to music and surf the web. A DVD burner is not a huge priority. And RAM can be upgraded later on. With all of this in mind, which of these systems would be best suited for me? I don't want to buy the most expensive unless i have to.

 

[Kage]

Hi, first off, welcome to the forum I was greeted well here, and aI'm sure you will be too

Now, the best system would be of course speed wise be the HP Pentium 4 2.8.

AutoCad being a 3d software application would need a good video card to get the most out of it, and a good processor would be nessecary also...

In my opinion, the best one for you would be the Dell Pentium 4 2.8ghz. I mean if you aren't going to use it for gaming, that'll definetly be fast enough, and even for gaming, it should be fine if it's with a good graphics card.
Either that or the Apple Ibook yet your getting more looks than features, and costs more... nah leave that one

If you wanted to go a notch higher, the HP Pentium 4 would be more than sufficent!

For most of the tasks you'll be doing though, a faster processor will not exactly give you much of an extra boost. Remember that when searching around, yet one lower than 1.0 nowadays wouldn't suffice for most tasks, and is best to look for more features

Hope this helps
*KaGe*