Need A Laptop For College....build Or Buy? Help W/ Both Please...

[Celegorm]

the Centrinos are not a processor family (like a Pentium or a Core 2), it is a technology package on intel's laptop motherboards. They use Core 2 Duos as their processor and has a bunch of built in power saving fetures. All you really need to know about it, is that it helps you save battery life.

 

[dude_56013]

So how do I tell if its a Centrino? Some laptops i have been looking at on Newegg say that their CPUs are like Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2GHZ (or t7100's, etc etc) and thats all it says...only the HP ones are specifying under 'Tech' that its Intel Centrino duo core technology...but its the same processor as an ASUS that doesn't specifty Centrino...so does that mean the ASUS doesn't have Centrino? Is there anyway to tell? Also, you said that its a MOBO feature, not a CPU feature correct?

 

[TRDCorolla1]

The laptop says it on there. Take me for example. I bought my Dell Insprion 1420 laptop like a couple months ago. It's a Core 2 Duo (as seen from my sig below). But it's a Core 2 Duo design based on the Intel Centrino technology for power saving. It has the sticker on the outside box and on the laptop itself that says, "Intel Centrino Duo"--that's it. It didn't show off the Core 2 Duo by labeling it but it will tell you whether it's Centrino or not in the specifications.

Also, note the "T" in front of the processor number. That usually denotes Centrino technology for mobile use. So look for the "T7100", "T7200", "T" anything and it's a Centrino mobile processor. It's a must have for laptops.

 

[esa193]

heres a core 2 duo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114425

theres 2 have less powerfull cpus but a dedicated gpu so im not sure witch one would be better
heres a really nice amd one got an nvidia 8400 in it to 2g ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115410
900$
or heres one with dual hard drives but a 7100 gpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16834147532R

 

[dude_56013]

thats all...the note about the "T" helped a ton......which is the best to look for...i saw that most jumped from like a T5650 to a T7100....im guessing the higher the better like most desktop chips?

 

[TRDCorolla1]

Yeah. The higher the number, the faster they are--especially with the "T" series Intel CPU.

 

[Celegorm]

The processor is a good start, but if you want to be 100% sure it has centrino technology look at it's video. If it is Intel Media Accelerator, or Intel Clear Video Technology.

If you doubt any, send me links to them in a PM. I can run though some intel articles I have from their retail edge site and double check everything for you.

 

[dude_56013]

Thanks a ton guys

 

[ohnoes]

if u want to go under 1500$ customize a dell 1520 to have 2gb(up to 4 gb) this great dual core processor and a very nice screen and either a nvidia geforce 8400m or a 8600M

 

[lhuser]

well its like impossible to build a laptop. buy a prebuilt laptop

Not entirely true. You can build a laptop. You'll need a barebook, a CPU, RAM, CD/DVD and a HDD. It's more money, and you can have something else for much less.