hey guys, ive been outa the computer loop for over a year now so im a bit behind on all the new processors/gfx cards ect. Thats not exactly what im asking about though. I never really knew much about laptops but my dads looking at getting one so i was trying to do a little research into it. I never knew much about them in the past so its all a little new to me, old cavets for desktops dont apply to notebooks

anyways, hes looking at getting the intel core 2 duo chipset. I was looking between those and the AMD turion 64's and it looks like the intels beat them out. The thing is im abit confused on model numbers and the like

pretty much every intel core 2 duo review and bit of info i see on this site is in refrence to the series with an E serial number. i.e. the core 2 duo E6600 or something like that. Well the model number for the notebooks are with a T designation, like the T7600

whats the difference? are the E series the desktop versions and the T series the notebook versions? do you guys think the intels beat out the AMD's right now? If the T designation is just the notebook version, how good are they because i cant seem to find a review on this site. Are they new or old?

also any particular brand i should get? he was looking at Dell but im not a fan of them. How do the alienware ones rate? i was looking at the Area-51® m5750 or something hes looking at the dell Inspiron E1705

Hi kenshindono,

Yes, the E-series is the desktop variant of the C2D, and the T is one of the variants for the mobile segment. The biggest differences are that the T-series have lower wattage (35W vs 65W for the E-series), and come for the socket 478 which is used in laptops. At the processor level, a similarly clocked T-series C2D chip should perform as well as an E-series one, but the rest of the laptop platform is slower (667MHz FSB, slower ram/hard drives etc.).

In general, the C2D rules the laptop segment right now, and you won't be disappointed with anything you get. My girlfriend has a Yonah processor (previous generation on which the C2D was built), and it's fantastic. The new ones are even better.

Cheers

Edit: You might find some useful information on this link from Intel's website

tnx for the link. Sounds like intel's the way to go. Man computer stuff changes constantly AMD is ahead, then Intel, then AMD, then intel, blea.. anyway, any sugestion on a brand to buy? obviously i cant build a laptop so hes gonna have to buy one online

is Dell ok? How about alienware? the Alienware one looks cooler and seems a bit cheaper than the dell one but i dont know what their reliability is


as far as the processor goes theres one more question Dell offers a T7600G in its XPS series.. but i dont see any info on what the heck that G at the end means. Whats the difference between the T7600 and T7600G?The specs appear the same, whats so special about it? its like 200 dollars more


now to look at gfx cards, heh maybe i'll have him just get a good one and borrow his instead of getting one myself

I can't recommend the Dell laptop. I've never owned one, but a couple of my friends have had endless trouble with overheating... and this was before anything to do with batteries exploding into flames. It may be that Dell laptops have improved over the past year, but I wouldn't know. I'm staying away from their laptops. Alienware is another story, on which someone else may have something more informative to say.

I've been happy with Toshiba. That's my vote from experience. Others will have to chime in about other brands.

Edit: I really can't figure out what the difference between the T7600 and the T7600G is supposed to be. According to everything I've read, there is only one T7600 processor. Usually a "G" refers to a graphics capability, but that's associated with a chipset, not a CPU. In either case, if you're getting an XPS system, I'd expect you're planning to get a discrete graphics solution.

Edit 2: Got it! Read here. Apparently the difference between the T7600 and the T7600G is that the "G" version features an unlocked multiplier, just like for the extreme series of desktop processors. This means you can change the speed of the processor independently of the system bus, which makes overclocking easier.

The problem though is the intel core2duo laptops come with intel graphics chipsets.... so even though they obviously do calculations fastest - the graphics are not very fast.... And if you ever upgrade to Vista it may be painfully slow....

So if you just want fast calculations go with core2duo/intel gfx chipset

If you want a good all around system with decend graphic speed and or a vista upgrade go with a Turion X2 with nvidia OR ati graphics chipset

I would say go with the HP dv9000. They are wide screen and pretty reasonably priced. The G stands for graphics. I believe it means that t has a GPU instead of onboard graphics.

i have dell inp 6400 c2d t7200 4mb cache 2.00gh with Nvidia 7400 go mobile 256 dedicated video ram just for $997 include tax. i installed vista ultimate rc2 and its working great and oh vista rc2 64bits and same time my dumb brother brought amd x2 turion with 2gb ram ati 1400 256 mg graph. ram. etc.. now after using my laptop during holidays he says his x2 slags compare to my c2d. i said i told u dumb and by the way he spend $1449. intel rules laptop/notebook segment x2 is always second choice. hand down intel == king of laptop market.

Something's not right here, what made his purchase $500 more than your system?

How did you come to the conclusion that because a laptop has an Intel C2D proc, that it has to have intel graphics? Just as an example, there are many laptops from Asus featuring the new processor with graphic card like the Nv 7700GO and the ATI X1700.

Make sure to know what your saying before you post.

Back to the OP.
Personally I've had good luck with dell laptops, I prefer Asus ones, but like I've said, I've had good luck with Dell as well. Just make sure to read some reviews of the laptop that you are planning to buy, believe me, it never hurts.

HTH

thanks for the info, I didn't think you could get a good core2duo laptop with good video for that cheap!

sorry, I meant to qualified it by saying at a reasonable price.... But I shouldn't be assuming that price matters to everyone anyway.... But now I see dell has one for under $1000.00

but anyway someone DEFINETELY should have mentioned to the original poster that the video he buys is just as important as the cpu ESPECIALLY when it comes to notebooks....

example: an athlon X2 with good video beats a core2duo with bad video in price and video speed....

Get an HP 9000 series, it is by far the best bang for the buck. HP has by far the best service in the industry also. They have a 30 day price protection plan so that if the price of the computer goes down in the 30 days after you buy it, they will pay/credit you the difference (price are dropping now so it should pay). I have had Dell laptops and HP laptops. I now only go with HP, a buddy of mine is kicking himself for the dell he ordered at the same time I got my HP 9000. Dell makes crap and charges extra for it.

Your wrong, I just got a C2D with 7600 256mb graphics card. I was actually trying to find one with the integrated DX10 graphics for when I install vista. They use less pwr, things look nice with DX10, get over 300mb with shared memory, cost less (so you can get an extra gig of ram and tv tuner), and the only neg is they suck for games. WTF would you game on a laptop?

Holy Shit, BM and I agree on something!!!! I must be wrong.

check dell website on weekends i got deal 250 instant off if i customize it for more than 1000 dollars

tnx a lot hotfoot and guys. That little G designation was throwing me off.

the toshibas dont offer much customization the closest i found was the satalite p100/105.. but they had a crappier graphics card (max is the geforce go 7600)

I looked at the HP 9000T series but am unimpressed it only goes up to the t7200, you cant even get the 7600, plus the gfx card is meh. My dad definatly wanted the fastest processor so thats out i guess

my pops doesn't care much about gaming, but id like to be able to play WOW on it if im not gonna be getting one for myself, so a decent gfx cards kinda important. Outa curiosity is the raedeon X1800 or the geforce go 7900 better? benchmarks i looked at seem to have the geforce eeking out the raedon, plus they seem to have a 512mb variety on the geforce one, but ive been outa the computer loop so long im not sure whos on top now. When i left ATI was king.

even if i dont get one thats set up for gaming for him i might get one for me that is, so i guess Im one of those weirdo's that will use it for gaming (mostly just WOW). Like i said ive been outa the computer loop for a whlie, the computer that pissed me off enough to just not touch a computer for over a year is still around so if i want to i can still try to figure out what the hell the problem with it was and go nuts all over again, or just get a laptop or something, lol. It works, just cant seem to run 3d applications on it, including games

So ive got a couple pro and a couple anti votes on dell. Im personally a bit leery on them because my dad got a desktop from them about a year ago and its a pile of crap, he had nothing but problems with it from day 1.

no ones used an alienware one? thats really odd. Im gonna sign up for consumer reports later tonight and see if they have ratings on them or something. If anyones had experience with them let me know, i remember tycho from Penny-arcade was bitching about their destops a while back

Dell laptops and Dell Desktops are completely different.

I personally will never touch a dell desktop, even with a 10ft pole.

Their laptops on the other hand, I was very satisfied with but like I said earlier, no matter what you choose in the end, look through the reviews to check that particular model and how it overall stacks up to everything else, not doesn't just include performance.

HTH

I know the topic is about notebook CPUs and we talked alot about video cards but:

What about the difference in LCD screens? I think that is important.... Doesn't HP/Compaq have crappy viewing angles? I have been told toshiba/sony screens are much better.... I know dell has a screen update for about $30.00.... when a notebook has a bad screen - I always hear that it is built that way for privacy, but It should be at least half decent....