<p>my parents offered to buy me a laptop for getting into a very competitive school, but is it worth buying one now? Will technology change a lot or will the current laptops get cheaper 4 months later ( in august)? Im planning on getting the Hewlett packard dv1659 which uses intel core duo 1.66ghz, for 1299.99 + tax - $200 rebate, but will better ones come out later this year?</p>
<p>The awnser to that question will always be wait a few more months. If you have any idea at the rate technology moves, you're never ready to but anything. Check this out:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law</a>
what that means is that our technology doubles every 18 Months. In fact, I just built a computer with top-of-the-line parts a month ago, and if I'd waited a month, I could hve done it with a bit more than half the price. So if you need it now... get it. If you really don't need it..... wait till you do. Another suggestion:
If you want more speed with a lower price tag, look for a laptop with an AMD processor. It's rare to find one, because mostly only people who build computers themselves buy it, but you will get it, and you'll be happy with it.<br>
</p>
<p>do you mean amd 64? I don't really know much about computers so I took my friend's advice and was looking into intel core duos. I heard that duo is like having two different processors so i could multi-task, which would be very useful during college ( i open up many different programs). I never considered getting an amd processor. What are its pros and cons?</p>
<p>If they said they would buy it for you, then I'm sure they still will if you wait. Technology changes like crazy.</p>
<p>Get the core duo. In my opinion, the core duo is better than the AMD Turion 64.</p>
<p>And yes, if you want it now, go for it. Laptops don't progress as quickly as desktops. And a core duo laptop is definitly enough for anything college throws at you unless you are a major gamer.</p>
<p>I have a Fujitsu that I'm very pleased with...it's only four pounds and therefore pretty easy to tote around in, you should check out:</p>
<p>Take my adivce: ask this question on a hardware discussion forum, not on a college forum. <a href="http://www.hardwareanalysis.com%5B/url%5D">www.hardwareanalysis.com</a> is the place i go to.</p>
<p>Also, 1099 for a 1.66ghz machine? Duo or no duo, i bought my laptop (a Sony Vaio) 3 years ago (well, in july '03) and it has a 2.66 pentium 4 processor for $1500, so what ur getting is a rip off imho (i mean if my machine cost $1500 3 years ago, i imagine its like $750 now if not $500).</p>
<p>You really need to find out mroe about this machine to make ur decision.</p>
<p>An iNtel Duo is not DUEL core. When he said it was good for multi-tasking, he might have thought it was a Duel core. That's wrong. If a laptop had duel cores, which some do, not only would it consume huge amounts of battery life, but produce lots of heat, and in the end slow the PC down. Also, duel core's ususaly run for around $2000 - $3000. I'll look up a good AMD laptop and post the link for you in a few minutes.</p>
<p>//edit: by the way, look at newegg.com They have cheap computers and parts and cheap shipping, + they have customer reviews which always help. Link coming in a few mins</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834224047%5B/url%5D">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834224047</a>
512 MB Mem
Nice Graphics Card
Built in Wireless
Light as hell
3.4 GHz (3400+) with a CPU fan so when you elevate the laptop, it speeds up
because the fan is cooling the cpu directly with fresh aire unlike<br>
intel's fan's on the side of the laptop where the air must pass<br>
through the DIMM slots and such
1 MB L2 Cache (Most Intel Chips don't even have 512 KB l2 Cache yet!)
15'' Screen
80 GB HDD
DVD/CD Combo
Built in LAN
Internal Speakers
1 Yr warranty
ABS - Very good AMD-Partnering COmpany
ABS is not one of those companies like Dell that sells thier products at retailers, so it is not heard of to much, but it's a very good company, and AMD is also a good company. AMD also has free customer support, which I don't think Intel has (not sure).</p>
<p>//edit: AND IT's ON SALE!!!!!! $250 off!! Use the rest of that money for a webcam and mic and nice speaker system or something or some new batteries</p>
<p>
[quote]
An iNtel Duo is not DUEL core. When he said it was good for multi-tasking, he might have thought it was a Duel core. That's wrong. If a laptop had duel cores, which some do, not only would it consume huge amounts of battery life, but produce lots of heat, and in the end slow the PC down. Also, duel core's ususaly run for around $2000 - $3000. I'll look up a good AMD laptop and post the link for you in a few minutes.</p>
<p>//edit: by the way, look at newegg.com They have cheap computers and parts and cheap shipping, + they have customer reviews which always help. Link coming in a few mins
[/quote]
</p>
<p>DUAL core Intel processors are referred to as Core Duo. Laptops DO have these chips and the "post" quoted above me is almost completely incorrect. Many laptops now a day have dual cores INCLUDING the incredibly popular Macbook Pro. Newegg is a great site though. The Turion X2 (AMD's mobile dual core competitor) is going to be released this summer also....</p>
<p>Also I'd LOVE to hear why the hell an end-user would be calling AMD or Intel for tech support on a prebuilt system...</p>
<p>Once again I would urge anyone on here looking for computer advice to go onto a REAL computer forum such as hardforums, anandtech, etc. to avoid getting blatantly incorrect information such as some of the info in the post I quoted.</p>
<p>I said MOST laptops do not have dual core. and DUO is not dual core. It doesn't matter though I'm sure you'll agree that AMD gives you much more for the same price. Intel is no doubt really good, but it is wayy overpriced.</p>
<p>and about calling AMD --- I don;t know just saying...</p>
<p>Core Duo is dual core as I said before. Didn't think I'd have to do this...but...</p>
<p>it's all right there....here too <a href="http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/duo/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/duo/index.htm</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
The Intel® Core Duo processor breaks new ground. Its dual-core technology rewrites the rules of computing, delivering optimized power efficient computing and breakthrough dual-core performance with amazingly low power consumption.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>AMD does give you more for your money...I exclusively use AMD chips myself. However the earlier AMD 64 chips are not as power efficent as Intel mobile chips. The new turion chips (especially the lower wattage variants) are much much more competitive but I would personally not buy any AMD laptop unless it was a Turion due to low battery life. I am a HUGE AMD fan and have been building socket A systems for damn near my entire "computing" life but I'd still steer clear of non-turion amd laptops. As for desktops....well my motto is AMD or bust :D</p>
<p>here is an example of a turion amd laptop with decent gaming capability: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115218%5B/url%5D">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115218</a></p>
<p>Wow I guess you're right. Someone at a computer Forum told me that it wasn't. Anyway, I don't really like any Mobile Chips. I don't really like laptops either, but sometimes they're necessary. Some laptops come with Athlon 64 which I love. Another thing about Dual Core is that they heat up much faster, at least the AMD dual core;s do, and from what I've seen AMD has been doing better controlling power comsumption and heat production since 2002. Oz did you hear that AmD's sales went up 81% this year? They're on thier way to surpassing Intel (by 2008 I think). They're also coming out with a 13um die I think. </p>
<p>Also, I think we could help you out more if you told us what you were planning to use this laptop for (heavy gaming, surfing the web, schoowork, everything, etc) If you want one that can handle nice games, the one Oz chose is awesome, or if you want one that is all around good for e-mail, school, 2D games, and 3D games on low settings, but may not perform as well with 3D games like HL2 and such, mine is better.</p>
<p>Yes the new sales #'s are very good for AMD. I remember pencil modding my 900mhz tbird in middle school....good times</p>
<p>the older A64's do make good desktop replacements though...heck my bro got an M6811 per my recommendation..</p>
<p>Now is the time to buy. I got my laptop 2 years ago when the pentium-m came out. The pentium-m offered on par desktop performance, great battery life, and a relatively cheap price, everything you should look for in a laptop.</p>
<p>Coreduo uses the same architecture but with another core. The extra core means you have better battery life because both cores can run in low energy mode, and you get almost twice the power (not exactly). If you encode or game, core duo is more than fine. There's nothing upcoming in laptop technology that's as big a jump as the core duo was for laptops in terms of extra power.</p>
<p>And DO NOT get an AMD for a laptop. Its basically the same processor they use in their desktop and doesn't offer the long battery life of intel processors. Plus the advantage AMD has in terms of power is much less for laptops than for desktops (Where AMD is totally ruling the roost right now).</p>
<p>Get a nice duo core with a good 3d card (6800 or 7800 mobile).</p>
<p>I agree with Polite for the most part. I have a compaq presario with an AMD 64 athlon and it is very fast but the battery life is HORRIBLE! I got a great deal last summer so it does not make me that mad because I got 80 gig and 512 memory with DVD/CD burner for only 800 (it is probably cheaper now at Best Buy). If you have the money and you can do a lot of research you can find something with all the great parts. i suggest going onto the individual sites and looking and then going onto computer forums.</p>
<p>Actually, Polite, if you go with the laptop versions of the AMDs, they have similar battery life.</p>
<p>Core Duos are good processors and will perform any task quite well. For a little extra, if you can afford it, I'd personally recommend purchasing a warranty on the laptop. After owning at least 3 or 4 different rigs, I can say that I've used the warranty at least once on each one.</p>
<p>i would wait for windows vista to come out. but if you are going to get one now get one with an amd 64 so if you wanna get vista later on you can still get it.</p>
<p>alienware yay!
.....</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dealsea.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.dealsea.com</a></p>
<p>Check this site out. They have decent Dell deals EVERY day.</p>