Laptop Processor

[danchip]

i'm planning on buying a new laptop this week and i've just been to PC World and narrowed it down to a couple, they are pretty much the same except the processor's are different one has a AMD Dual Core E1 and the other has Intel Celeron 1007u, i asked the salesman what the difference was and which one was better, all i got in return was a blank stare and a grunt.

Can any one explain to me what the difference is and if one is better than the other?

[Buenchico]

The Intel processor is ranked higher on the (highly reputable) CPU Benchmark website:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+1007U+%40+1.50GHz&id=1847

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+E1-1200+APU&id=1427

But I find it odd that you're being so carefully selective about the choice of processor when you appear to be far less so about your choice of retailer. I wouldn't touch PC World with the proverbial bargepole!

[danchip]

other than argos and tesco its the only place nearby that i could actually go to to look at a laptop, can you recommend any other retailers for buying laptops

[VHG]

There seems to be 3 laptops at PC World that run the AMD E1 - and each has a different "number" after it - AMD E1-1500, AMD E1-2100, AMD E1-2500.

I assume the 1500 is the slowest and the 2500 is the fastest.

However it should be noted that both the AMD E1 and the Intel Celeron are the budget, entry level, low end (ie slow) CPUs and are both probably best avoided.

The thing with CPUs for laptops is that there is a trade off between CPU performance and battery life.

If a laptop CPU is powerful and performs well then it will run the battery down quickly.

If you want long battery life then you need a low powered CPU that prolongs battery life but the CPU/Laptop runs slower.

So if you plan to spend a lot of time with this laptop in the HOUSE and plugged in to the mains then go for a more powerful CPU.

If you plan to use this laptop away from the house, where it cant be plugged into the mains, then these will have a long battery life but probably be slow.

You really do get what you pay for in a laptop.

If you buy a cheap laptop then you get a poor, slow, low end CPU, spend a bit more money and you probably get a better CPU and faster performance.

[VHG]

Intel make three main families of CPUs.

Their entry level CPUs are the Celerons. While there are quite a number of different Celerons they will all probably be budget low end CPUs.

Their mid-range CPUs are the Pentiums. Again, there are a lot of different Pentiums around, but they are all mid-range, better than the Celerons but not as good as the top of the range Intel CPUs.

Intel's top of the range CPUs are "iCore". They make three main iCore CPUs - the i3, the i5 and the i7. The i3 are the entry level, the i5 next best and the i7 top end.

So if I were looking for a laptop I would go for an iCore i3 if I could, failing that I would go for a Pentium. I would not even consider a Celeron.

[Buenchico]

>>>can you recommend any other retailers for buying laptops

I was recently surprised at the range available (and the generally low prices) in a large Sainsbury's store. Otherwise I'd probably be looking at buying online.