Processor

[Groundbased]

Just looking at purchasing a new laptop.

There are two ASUS laptops available at the same price, identical spec except that one has a Pentium B950 processor and the other a Core i3

Which is better?

(I know, I know, there's only one way to find out..........FIGHT)

[ORAC]

The internet is your friend....

Intel Pentium B950 Vs Core i3-2330M (http://compare-processors.com/intel-pentium-b950-vs-core-i3-2330m/1390/)

[green granite]

Intel Pentium B950 Vs Core i3-330M | Compare Processors (http://compare-processors.com/intel-pentium-b950-vs-core-i3-330m/706/)

and
PassMark - Intel Pentium B950 @ 2.10GHz - Price performance comparison (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+B950+%40+2.10GHz)

[Bushfiva]

All things being equal, the 2330M is way better, especially in a notebook that's probably using Intel's own graphics chipset.

[green granite]

Ah! great minds and all that.

[Bushfiva]

Truly great minds might spot that a 1st-generation 330M isn't a second-generation 2330M. :}

[mixture]

Truly great minds might spot that a 1st-generation 330M isn't a second-generation 2330M.

Even greater minds would put forward that friend is probably looking at "budget" laptops.... hence processors inside will be a much of muchness, either old tech, or yesterday's new tech.... :E

Groundbased apologies in advance if I'm mistaken... either way, I'd say "core" is the way to go, rather than "pentium".

[Groundbased]

Cheers guys,

Yes, budget, both are priced at about £400. Its prompted me to do some more research though, to see if a couple of hundred quid more makes a big difference in terms of components or not.

[COCL2]

A real friend would say, don't buy an ASUS. Spares are a problem once out of warranty - motherboards and plastics for the case are like hen's teeth, and the motherboards are no over-reliable
Acer / Packard Bell / Gateway are all out for the same reason

Get a Dell / HP / Compaq / Toshiba instead. Thres a good chance the parts will be around if you need them

[Groundbased]

That's interesting.

I've got a Toshiba Satellite Pro at the moment. I upgraded it to 4Gb RAM although with Vista it still isn't that fast.

It doesn't seem to be the most robust in terms of casing but has been a useful item.

Dells always seem a bit expensive to me, and sometimes difficult in terms of spares. I have a Dell desktop and when I needed a power supply for it I had the devils own job to get one.

My latest work laptop is an HP elite edge, which seems to be quite good. There's just too much damn choice these days.

[COCL2]

Agreed, many of the Tosh chassis seems a bit flexible, but you can usually get replacement parts for them, as you can for Dell / HP / Samsung / Compaq
They've got the scale to put in long production runs and keep spares.
The likes of ASUS / Acer (and its subsidiaries) get most of theirs done in contract design & build knocking shops called "ODMs" (original design manufacturers) who make to a price, have short runs, and don't keep spares. If you're lucky ASUS might have 5% overrun for spares, but then you'll find one distributor (e.g. Dixons are good at this) will buy the lot and no-one else gets a look-in. Only source of spares then is through the second-hand Steptoes on Ebay.

The Dell desktop - I assume its a small form factor one? If so, yes they use bespoke low-wattage power supplies, totally non-standard. If I get one of those in for repair I usually rebuild it into a standard sized case, for which power units are easy. Dell full sized towers are OK, all the parts in there are easy to replace.
And as a rule Dells, both laptop and tower, are close to indestructible in normal use.

[Mike-Bracknell]

...and the friend who sells and supports laptops for a living, would tell you to nip down to your local Currys/John Lewis/wherever and TRY OUT the laptops you're thinking of purchasing, as the defining point of a laptop is that you're stuck with the touchpad/keyboard you get*, so you'd better get one you can live with (then leave the shop and buy it online).




*obviously external kb/mice are available, but that negates the point of a laptop to a certain extent.

[Groundbased]

Yes, I find the work HP laptop very usable. Just looked online though and they're 1300 quid..gulp.

There look to be other HPs for around 5-600 though that have pretty good spec though.

Don't know about othersl, but I used to find the Dell website really good for specifying and understanding a machine (hence the desktop) but currently it seems to be really difficult to get to the technical information, the site driving you more along supplementary software, printers, AV and cases more than anything else.