I've seen some (no one I'd consider reliable) companies advertising dual core laptops, but when I call and ask about them, they tell me they're not available yet??

What gives? Anyone got the scoop?

I have $2500 ready to spend on one.

Thanks, Rob.

Ya there is a centrino duo and a core duo by intel coming out soon.
heres a list of the new processers by intel

what are u gunna be doin with this laptop that u need dualcore and want to blow 2500 on it???

I'm a software engineer and Visual Studio 2005 requires some good hardware and I develop CPU specific threaded applications so I need something with more than one CPU for the those times I'm on the road and coding.

Why do you ask?

just wondering, i would advise differntly for gaming then aps such as thoughs, with that stuff i would sugest amd dual core, did a lil reseach and there X2 4800+ kicks intel outa the water, u might try alineware.com for something like that, dell might, but wouldnt trust them, so try alineware.com

if u want to look at comparisons of the cpus heres a link http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html
gives differnt benchmarks and differnt apps, such as multitasking, wheres amd comes out ontop in just about everyone, the only cpu i have seen by intel win in those kind of apps was the p4 EE, wich they dont have in laptop model, so theres my 2cents on it

Ok first off do not waste your time or money by going to alienware which I will explain in a minute.

Here's what's going on right now. Intel just released its "Core Duo" processor which is a dual core Pentium M (Centrino). AMD has had its Athlon 64 X2 on the market for a little while. The Pentium D however, is not yet available in laptops. It has a faster clock speed and bus than the Core Duo, but is dominated by even the 64 X2 4400+ in every category from multi-tasking to gaming. The 4400+ even crushed the Pentium Extreme Edition (Pentium D with HyperThreading) in the same test, even though the EE is more than twice the price of the AMD. Both of the dual-core processors are pretty much only found in 17" laptops by the way, available in resolutions from 1440x900, 1680x1050 and 1920x1200.

Of all the dual-cores on the market, the Athlon 64 X2 is the best when it comes to performance. For battery life, the Pentium M is far and beyond the best choice. For everything else, the AMD is better. The AMD uses slower, more expensive RAM, but its RAM technology is better because Intel did a crappy job with DDR2. In spite of the RAM being slower, the AMD has a 1600 mhz bus, whereas the Core Duo is maximum 667 mhz, and the bus is a large part of system performance.

The Core Duo uses highly advanced power settings that change the clock speed of the CPU depending on what you're doing, which helps in conserving battery life. What the Core Duo lacks however, is the ability to run 64-bit programs. As a software engineer you no doubt know enough about 64-bit programs already, and while they are certainly the future of computing, they are not yet in use and may not be until a few years down the road. If you want to plan ahead for this new technology, then the AMD is the way to go.

Ok so overall, it depends what you want out of it. If you want extreme performance and ahead-of-its-time computing ability, get the AMD. If you need the extra battery life, go for the Intel Core Duo. But whatever you do, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not go to Alienware. It is a total ripoff. They buy their computers from a company called Sager (which buys theirs from the maker, Clevo, which uses very high-quality components) and resells them for $500 more. Dell sells the Core Duo laptops, but uses crappy parts. I myself am looking at the Dual-Core laptops as well. You will have a difficult time getting into one for $2500, as sad as it may sound. If you want the ability to get EXACTLY what you want (you can even get it with no hard drives, RAM, or OS :!: ), go to
www.hypersonic-pc.com - they resell Clevo/Sager just like Alienware, but for significantly less. Get the Athlon 64 4400+ and the storage you need, but do not buy with any RAM included. They overcharge for that. Get 2 GB of Corsair PC 3200 so-dimm from www.newegg.com and save yourself $100. You will have to save up some more money and bump your maximum to $3000 (as opposed to ~$3500 at alienware :x , but your laptop will kick the crap out of most desktops on the market today. Hope this helps.

Hi, my name is Ralf from France.
What about the AMD FX-57 with HyperTransport ?
Is it faster ? Is it dualcore ? Why is it more expensive ?
Can i buy a slower Processor and exchange it later against a faster one ?
I'am graphic designer so i could use the cheapest graphic card ?
The Geforce Go PCI express 256MB for instance ?

Best regards from France

Ralf

ralf@charaoui.com

I currently have an FX57 -- it is good for gaming and overclocks to 3Ghz on just air cooling.

But for my development work I need either two CPUs or dual core -- in a laptop. The AMD FX60 is dual core with hypertransport. 2.6Ghz -- I'm thinking about this one (but I doubt it will be available in a laptop) -- AMD FX60 is the end of the line for 939 and this year AMD will have M2 socket stuff available with even faster processors on a smaller die.

I think I'll hold off on the laptop for now and see what new AMD CPU's come out.

$3500 is fine price wise.

What do you think about the following idea: i would order the notebook with the lowes Processor or do you think that the processor socket will change also ?

txs Ralf

Nobody has come out with the FX60 on a laptop yet. And like you said, it is the end of the road for socket 939 so there would be no way to upgrade it, especially not in a laptop. If you already have an FX57 you don't need another FX series. Keep the FX for gaming and X2 for work. And if you need the bigtime dual-core, go for the X2 4800+ or like you said, wait until the new stuff comes out in second quarter of this year.

For Ralf, the FX57 is AMD's high-end gaming processor. It is not dual core, but it is faster, with a clock-speed of 2.8 ghz. It is almost strictly a gaming processor. If you intend to use it for extreme multi-tasking, it is not the way to go. When gaming however, it has the highest-rated frames-per-second on the market. If you intend to use it for more than gaming, it may not be the best choice. Also: do not buy the lowest processor right now. AMD 64 processors typically run on socket 939, which is soon to be outdated and obsolete. In addition, buying a new processor to upgrade with on a laptop requires that you void the warranty in opening the case. And if you are a graphics designer, you don't want any of the GeForce Go #### series. What you want is the GeForce Quadro Go 1400 or something similar. It is meant for graphics design as opposed to gaming. It is still 256 MB and PCI-Express, but it isn't meant for gaming.

~brendan

and back to rob, still don't go to alienware you can find such better deals other places. they actually use cheaper parts than other clevo resellers :x for example, they pair their top-of-the-line Pentium 4 laptop with an.....Intel?????......motherboard? EURGH.... that's the best they can think of against brands like Asus, Abit, and others? other resellers use mostly VIA which is still better