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.
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.