Solved! I5 or i7 laptop and battery life

lsixecho

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May 31, 2009
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I'm looking to get a new laptop. Will be using it for general 'office' work and entertainment: Web browsing, Word, Excel, watching movies. I do a lot of multitasking so I want it to be powerful too.
I have narrowed it down to the HP Pavilion dm4t. It's got a 14" screen which I prefer, it is customizable and I can buy it though Costco. It's supposed to have a good battery life, as opposed to similar models from Dell, etc.

I can't decide if I should go with an i5-580M or an i7-640M processor. Does anyone know if the i7 will drain the battery significantly faster than the i5? I'd like it to last 5 - 6 hrs as advertised. (6 cell battery - I'd rather not get the bulkier 9 cell)
Is there a significant performance increase from the i5 to the i7 that I'd want to get the i7?
It is only a $76 price difference between the i5 and i7, so I could go either way.


2nd question:
Graphics card: I don't plan on doing any 3d gaming, will I be ok with the Intel HD graphics or should I go for the ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5470 (switchable graphics)?
Again, battery life is important.
It's a $77 extra for a 512MB ATI card and $153 extra for a 1GB ATI card. I would go for the cheaper one, not sure if I'm willing to spend an additional $153 if it's not going to increase performance for what I'm doing.

Total price rage: about $1000

Current setup (i5 cpu):
# Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-580M Dual Core Processor (2.66GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.33GHz
# 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
# 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
# Intel(R) HD Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
# Wireless-N Card
# 14.0" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
# Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
# High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
# SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
# HP TrueVision Webcam and Fingerprint Reader
Price: $993.99

Will be buying in the next few days. Thanks in advance for advice.
 
Solution
G

Guest

Guest
Depending on the specific Core-i5 or Core-i7, they could have the same 35W thermal design power. Some i7 (i7-740QM) go as high as 45W. So this will be a drain when it's running in turbo-boost.

Frankly, if you're planning to keep that laptop for 3-4 years, I'd suggest you go for good CPU and GPU. But if price is an issue, compromise on the CPU (get the fastest i5) and after a year or two, find a cheap core-i7 replacement from ebay.


______________________________________________________________________
Laptop advice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE5IQ9tyAE
 

lsixecho

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May 31, 2009
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Depending on the specific Core-i5 or Core-i7, they could have the same 35W thermal design power. Some i7 (i7-740QM) go as high as 45W. So this will be a drain when it's running in turbo-boost.

Frankly, if you're planning to keep that laptop for 3-4 years, I'd suggest you go for good CPU and GPU. But if price is an issue, compromise on the CPU (get the fastest i5) and after a year or two, find a cheap core-i7 replacement from ebay.


______________________________________________________________________
Laptop advice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE5IQ9tyAE



Price is not really an issue. It's a few hundred dollars more fro a better CPU and GPU. I'm just concerned about battery life. I won't be happy with a mere 2 hr battery life.
Just checked intel's website and it looks like they're both 35W and not much difference in them. I could assume they'll drain the battery equally....
 

IsabellaWinTeam

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Apr 27, 2010
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Hi there,

For the purposes you described, an i7 processor is not necessary and it will be very draining on your battery compared to an i5 or i7 processor. Also, integrated graphics should also be sufficient; no need to spend extra money on dedicated graphics unless you are going to be playing sophisticated games.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team
 
Solution
G

Guest

Guest

Yeah, they'll drain equally. You might want to look into dual-swtich-gpu. This way, if you aren't gaming, you can switch to this horrible Intel HD to save energy. You should look into the screen 'coz i feel the biggest drain will be there. So small screen, long battery life, but it doesnt mean you cant connect a large HD monitor, external Keyboard & mouse when the laptop is at your desk.



______________________________________________________________________
Laptop advice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE5IQ9tyAE