Re: a warranted concern?

lee walters wrote:
|
| It's probably naive to ask, but thinking now of buying a laptop
| I've noticed the drop in processor speeds compared to
| desktops.
|
| My desktop has a 2.6 Ghz processor, yet all the laptops in my
| price range are around 1.6 GHZ. Just how much difference will
| it make? Would I notice such a substancial drop in power
| compared to my PC. And is it wise to put a high processor spec
| as the priority when buying?
|
| Again, probably an obvious answer, but one I'd very much be
| interested in peoples opinions on.
|
| Thanks in advance.

Hi Lee -

If you are comparing your desktop system, which probably has a Pentium 4
processor, with notebooks with Pentium M processors, you are comparing
apples and oranges.

The Pentium M processor executes more instructions per clock cycle than the
Pentium 4, making a 1.6 GHz Pentium M system run significantly faster than a
2.8 GHz Pentium 4.

This performance improvement also translates to a cooler-running CPU and a
longer battery run time.

In real life your performance won't match the processing efficiency of the
Pentium M because most notebooks are equipped with slower hard disks than
desktop systems (frequently you'll find 4200 RPM drives in notebooks, while
you'll find drives as fast as 7200 RPM .. and sometimes even faster .. in
desktop systems). There are 7200 RPM notebook drives, which will
significantly help to minimize the hard disk performance bottleneck. Be
aware, however, that 7200 RPM drives are not standard equipment on notebooks
(though most are easy to upgrade). There are quite a few notebooks on the
market with 5400 RPM drives.

A faster hard drive and a larger disk cache on the drive should be a couple
of the things you consider in shopping for a notebook .. or plan on
upgrading as funds permit.

Jef


.

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