Decisions on buying a notebook

[cable]

I plan on buying a notebook this christmas and I was wondering if everyone had a preference on the different processors such as Pentium 4, Pentium M, Celeron, etc. Which processors are considered more reliable, faster, more efficient?


Thanks

[Archer]

Its specification will depend a lot on what your going to use it for i.e. desktop replacement or commuting but if its the later then Pentium M if you want to get more than about 1 1/2 hours out of the laptop on battery power as these will usually run in the 3 to 5 hour range.

[TechZ]

Frankly for anything other than hardcore gaming and serious graphics/cpu intensive work, the Centrino (Pentium M) models are kick@$$, I love my HP zt3020, its great, just dont get 256ram and try and get a good vga set, definately not integrated, mine came with a ati9200, try for a 9600 or a gf 5600 model.

[BOB IROC]

I hate to say it, but eMachine has nice notebooks with the athlon 64 http://www.emachines.com/products/pr...Machines_M6810 which is my processor of choice.
I have a Dell Latitude D600 with a Centrino 1.6GHz Processor in it and that is a nice notebook. Unfortunately, I had no choice in that as my work bought it for me.
I would highly recommend AMD as they are very reliable processors and usually offer a better price to performance ratio than their Intel Competitor.

[cable]

The notebook will be like a desktop replacement for me. I don't plan to travel with it too much. So the battery life doesn't really matter. 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours is fine with me. I will mostly use the notebook for internet access and burning cds. I would like to know which is cheaper? My other question is it a cause of concern which processor heats up the quickest? Or when it comes to any processor it is unavoidable.


Thanks

[Archer]

They do manufacture notebooks with standard desktop P4 processors [which Intel try to curtail as they prefer manufacturers to use the mobile processors] though they do run warm and eat battery power but as your using it for a desktop replacement that will not matter so perhaps that will get you best bang for buck

[GreenGrime]

Any of the Toshiba line of M or A laptops would be good in my book.

Most models offer the P4 along with Centrino CPUs.

[TechZ]

Centrino = No heat worries, even passive cooling is enough!