New notebook...buy now or later?

[kocheez75]

Im looking to buy a new notebook with a budget of about $2400. I have a few questions first off...

1. Pentium 4 or Duo Core..which is more powerful for gaming (battery life not important)

2. Windows media center....or should I wait for Vista? (when is it going to be released)

Im looking at the Toshiba Qosimo G35, or a customized HP through Costco (same parts as G35, couple hundred cheaper). If anyone has any suggestions or input, or know any other notebooks that are comparable in the price range, it would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RiverS]

ok first of Dump the Pentium 4, If you are looking at a getting a Duo Core Notebook i would (personly) get the new Macbook Pro. May be a bit expensive but it would be worth it. If that is to expensive think of maybe getting the G5 Powerbook not a whole lot of difference from the Macbook Pro but the Macbook Pro is just a bit better.

well thats my advice.

 

[kocheez75]

im not really in the market for a mac...

 

[TRDCorolla1]

This is a pretty one. Looks very slim:

TravelMate® 8200
http://us.acer.com/acereuro/page4.d...aram=US&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=2017775724

I personally think it's very nice and powerful for a laptop. I would buy that if I had the money.

 

[kocheez75]

does it make a difference that its a "centrino" duo-core? Since the pentium 4 isnt a notebook specific processor, Id think that it be more powerful in terms of gaming and video (isnt dual core better for multi-tasking?). Im looking for something with a 17 inch screen too, thats why im considering the G35 or the HPzd8000

 

[kev]

Ok 1st off RiverS Mac does not make a G5 notebook nor will they ever. The Mac book pro is very expensive. And he said he was looking for a gaming notebook. Since there is only like 6 games for mac i dont think that would work very well. 2nd YES!!!!!! there is a huge differeance between the Mac G5s and the Mac Core Duos.

Ok that Acer is a very nice computer we have it at my work it sells like hotcakes due to its price for a Duo. Only thing i dont like about it is that it still has only the 1st Duo (1.66ghz) But it does have 2gigs of RAM which is really nice. And i belive that one has the X1400 with 256MB dedicated and 256Shared. Sony also makes a really nice Duo (1.8ghz) it only has 1gig of DDR2 memory but it does have 2 video cards Setting one (onboard intel graphics (Stamna) for extra bettery life) Setting Two (Nvida Go7400 (Speed) for gaming) Only thing i dont like about it is that it only has a 13inch screen its ment to be more mobile.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

Core Duo draws so much less electricity than the Pentium 4 that Centrino based laptops offer battery runtimes that are up to twice as long as those of P4 based systems. Centrino laptops need much smaller battery packs to power them, which makes them much more compact and lightweight than that of P4 notebooks. Beyond that, the Core Duo equipped notebooks also generates very little heat, which means the fans on a Centrino laptop won't kick on very loud or very often, unlike the distracting fan noise that often comes from Pentium 4 laptops.

Since you are gaming and need all the performance you can get, just get the Pentium 4 then. They run hot and they're bulky though. I feel the Centrino Core Duo are just as capable of gaming, besides the point of being dual core and all.

 

[kev]

The core Duo out performe the PD 2.8 8XX and the X2 4200 as far as computing times.

Super Pi 2 at 1m
PD 48secs
X2 42secs
Core Duo 36secs

 

[TRDCorolla1]

What kind of benchmarks are those? Gaming? Pentium 4 is getting old anyways. Get the Core Duo processor. Dual core really does help in gaming performance too. It's faster than previous Pentium M's.

 

[kev]

What kind of benchmarks are those? Gaming? Pentium 4 is getting old anyways. Get the Core Duo processor. Dual core really does help in gaming performance too. It's faster than previous Pentium M's.

what do you mean what kind of benchmarks are thoes. its pretty obvious to me