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NEW: Celeron $499 vs. Centrino $899

post #1 of 26
2/17/05 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
What notebook looks good (below)?

My friend wants a cheap laptop asap. (I think he wants a new one.) He needs to use it for delivery jobs so he can run software that uses Global Positioning to show him a map of where he is located and the streets around him. He used to be a Desktop PC technician so I think he can upgrade the machine easily, even though he hasn't worked on laptops before. He asked me "shop" and since I love this forum, so it seems that I will be making his decision (no pressure). He also uses MS Office, MS Oracle and Visual Basic but he does his heavy work at his Desktop. He loves the Centrino design, but they are more expensive and hates the Athlon processors. I am guessing that a P4 might shorten the battery life. I think the traditional 15" screen would be best because the Wide 15.4" cut off space used by most of the applications. However, if the screen quality is a huge difference, please mention it.

Listed below are sales at Retailers so I am hoping you can give me input about the systems that might be the best use of money. I may wait for the next week to buy if you think there will be better deals.


Sales during Feb 13 - 19, 2005 offer:

HP ze2000 for $499 at Best Buy
- Celeron 1.3GHz 1MB L2 cache
- 256MB DDR SDRAM expandable to 1.0GB
- DVD-ROM drive
- 15" XGA TFT display with 1024 x 768 resolution
- 40.0GB hard drive (4200 rpm)
- Intel® Extreme Graphics
- 2 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
- lithium-ion battery

Toshiba A70-S249 for $941 at Best Buy
- P4 HT 3.06GHz, 533MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache
- 256MB PC2700 DDR memory, expandable to 1.25GB
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- 15.4" TruBrite widescreen (not thrilled about this)
- 60.0GB EIDE hard drive (4200 rpm)
- ATI Mobility RADEON 9000 IGP graphics with 64MB shared video memory (user-adjustable to 128MB); S-video TV-out
- External CD Play/Instant Play control button
- 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface and 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
- Built-in high-speed Atheros wireless LAN (802.11b/g); 10/100Base-TX Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 high-speed modem

Toshiba M35X-S311 for $1049 at Best Buy
- Centrino 1.50 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, Intel® 855GME chipset, Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection (802.11b/g)
- 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM, expandable to 2.0GB
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- 15.4" TFT active-matrix widescreen display with 1280 x 800 resolution
- 60.0GB EIDE hard drive (4200 rpm)
- Intel® Extreme Graphics with 16-64MB DVMA shared video memory; S-video TV-out
- Bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, SmartMedia and xD-Picture Card
- 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports and 1 i.LINK (IEEE 1394) interface for fast digital video, audio and data transfer
- V.92 high-speed modem

Compaq® Presario 2231US $599 at Office Depot
- Celeron 1.3GHz
- 256MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM (1.0 GB max upgrade)
- 40GB 4200-rpm hard drive
- 15.0-inch TFT XGA (1024 x 768)
- integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (with up to 64 MB shared memory)
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- Built-in high-speed 802.11b/g
- 56K V.92 modem

HP Pavilion ze4949us $899 at Office Depot
- Centrino 1.5Ghz. 2MB L2 cache
- 256MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM
- 40GB 4200-rpm hard drive
- 15-inch TFT display with XGA (1024 x 768)
- Intel Extreme Graphics 2 video (with 128 MB shared memory)
- internal Altec Lansing speakers with Sound Blaster-compatible 16-bit audio
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 802.11b/g WLAN
- Ports: S-video, 1 FireWire, 2 USB

Are the rebates the best way to shop for new machines at resellers?

Thanks in Advance!
Mary
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post #2 of 26
2/17/05 at 9:44pm
I say go with

Toshiba M35X-S311 for $1049 at Best Buy
- Centrino 1.50 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, Intel® 855GME chipset, Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection (802.11b/g)
- 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM, expandable to 2.0GB
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- 15.4" TFT active-matrix widescreen display with 1280 x 800 resolution
- 60.0GB EIDE hard drive (4200 rpm)
- Intel® Extreme Graphics with 16-64MB DVMA shared video memory; S-video TV-out
- Bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, SmartMedia and xD-Picture Card
- 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports and 1 i.LINK (IEEE 1394) interface for fast digital video, audio and data transfer
- V.92 high-speed modem
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post #3 of 26
2/17/05 at 9:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smilepak
I say go with

Toshiba M35X-S311 for $1049 at Best Buy
- Centrino 1.50 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, Intel® 855GME chipset, Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection (802.11b/g)
- 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM, expandable to 2.0GB
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- 15.4" TFT active-matrix widescreen display with 1280 x 800 resolution
- 60.0GB EIDE hard drive (4200 rpm)
- Intel® Extreme Graphics with 16-64MB DVMA shared video memory; S-video TV-out
- Bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, SmartMedia and xD-Picture Card
- 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports and 1 i.LINK (IEEE 1394) interface for fast digital video, audio and data transfer
- V.92 high-speed modem

I second that
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post #4 of 26
2/17/05 at 10:43pm
Thread Starter 
Do you think these are "good deals" for this month? Should I look elsewhere?

Processor Correction:
Pentium 4 Mobile and Pentium M are also OK. Do sellers make this distinction?

Screen:
We are pretty sure we prefer a 15" screen and not the 15.4" widescreen (or one with a higher resolution). Do they still make the 15" or are they a thing of the past?
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post #5 of 26
2/18/05 at 12:20am
celerons suck in the cache department...you WILL NOT LIKEY...go with the centrino (the fastest you can afford) if you want portablility (It has much much more cache (2MB!! 2 frigin 2mb!!)
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post #6 of 26
2/18/05 at 12:26am
Quote:
Do you think these are "good deals" for this month? Should I look elsewhere?

Processor Correction:
Pentium 4 Mobile and Pentium M are also OK. Do sellers make this distinction?

Screen:
We are pretty sure we prefer a 15" screen and not the 15.4" widescreen (or one with a higher resolution). Do they still make the 15" or are they a thing of the past?
Pentium M = Centrino (Centrion is a package that contains, among other things, the Pentium M processor)

Yes, many notebooks still have 15.1" normal aspect ratio (4:3) screens.
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post #7 of 26
2/18/05 at 12:28am
If you want to just do math get the celeron
if you want to do everything else plus math... get the cenrtino

the celeron is an awful chip... used basiclly for extreamly light duty apps
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post #8 of 26
2/18/05 at 12:34am
These are all good deals (with the exception of the Compaq, as it's just an HP clone that's priced higher)

Buy the HP Celeron one up top.

$500 is a steal, and will definitely run all the apps he wants to run without a hitch

The celeron is based off the Pentium M design with merely its L1 cache cut in half. The performace difference will be INSIGNIFICANT when running the GPS and office programs.

Again, the $499 HP is your best deal.
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post #9 of 26
2/18/05 at 12:36am
are u talking about the celeron-m or the celeron celeron? Because there is a difference, while the celeron sucks hardcore, the celeron-m isnt that bad.
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post #10 of 26
2/18/05 at 12:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by awingedpig
These are all good deals (with the exception of the Compaq, as it's just an HP clone that's priced higher)

Buy the HP Celeron one up top.

$500 is a steal, and will definitely run all the apps he wants to run without a hitch

The celeron is based off the Pentium M design with merely its L1 cache cut in half. The performace difference will be INSIGNIFICANT when running the GPS and office programs.

Again, the $499 HP is your best deal.
I beg to differ;

I have tried various IT jobs on a 2.8 celeron (intalling apps and running)
and on a P4 2.0 (400 bus)

the P4 kicked the crap out of the celeron. I have also seen celeron lappys versus centrinos and the boot times for apps is better on a centrino
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post #11 of 26
2/19/05 at 12:05am
Thread Starter 
What are the cheapest Centrino laptops available? I really want a 15" screen, but most that are advertized are the 15.4". Can anyone point out retailers of new and refurbished machines (with a decent warranty)?
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post #12 of 26
2/19/05 at 12:45am
Avoid the Celeron like the plague!! Get the Pentium M better battery life and performance it's a no brainer.
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post #13 of 26
2/19/05 at 1:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by srw101
Avoid the Celeron like the plague!!
i couldn't agree more...if you want a machine you can actually use, and that won't make you want to melt your face off, the celeron isn't even worth considering. if all you ever do is check your e-mail, do a little interweb and word processing, then the celeron is a gift from heaven.
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post #14 of 26
2/19/05 at 4:24pm
He specified that his friend has a desktop for heavy duty work (crunching numbers, compiling, games, etc)

if this is just to run simple applications, then a P-M would be overkill in both performance and price.

the $499 celeron is still the best value from that perspective.
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post #15 of 26
2/19/05 at 4:50pm
People people, the Celeron M does not equal a Celeron desktop version. The Celeron M (90nm) is nothing less than a Dothan with 1MB L2 instead of 2MB L2 and without the clock throttling abilities. So you'll get slightly less performance and slightly less battery. In fact, comparing the new Celeron Ms and the Older Banias chip, the Celeron M will probably run slightly cooler (90nm vs 130nm) and has the same amount of cache. Only battery life will be a bit different. Performance should be on par (assuming same clock speed of course) But seriously people, please know what you're talking about before you start shouting it to the masses...
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post #16 of 26
2/19/05 at 11:19pm
What about this?


ACER Aspire 1681WLCI-XPH Notebook Pentium M 715 1.5GHz, 512MB, 80GB, CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, 15.4" WXGA TFT, Windows XP Home

Model# LX.A2805.010
Item # N82E16834115186

Specifications:
Part#: LX.A2805.010
CPU: Intel Pentium M Processor 715 1.5GHz
Display: 15.4" WXGA TFT LCD (1280x800) w/ Crystal Bright Technology
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM
HD: 80GB
Graphics: Intel 855GME Integrated
Optical Drive: CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
Communication: V.92 modem, 10/100 LAN, Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
Dimensions: 14.3" x 11.0" x 1.5" (WxDxH)
Weight: 6.5lbs

$999.00 @ newegg.com
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post #17 of 26
2/20/05 at 1:17am
the celeron M has 512K of cache, the only reason why the pentium M is so fast is because of cache, cutting down on the cache is like chopping its balls off (V6 mustang) celerons are total crap, ive own 3 all diffrent versions and i hate them all
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post #18 of 26
2/20/05 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pr50wner
the celeron M has 512K of cache, the only reason why the pentium M is so fast is because of cache, cutting down on the cache is like chopping its balls off (V6 mustang) celerons are total crap, ive own 3 all diffrent versions and i hate them all
Errrr... did you read his/my post? The 90nm Celeron Ms have 1MB which is the same as a Banias chip .
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post #19 of 26
2/20/05 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chuck232
Errrr... did you read his/my post? The 90nm Celeron Ms have 1MB which is the same as a Banias chip .
Thank you chuck, that was beginning to make my head hurt, heh.

Celeron M's are Banias, people. So you're all saying Banias sucks now?

The C-M architecture is EXACTLY like the P-M. P4 Celerons != P-M Celerons, sheesh.

I want a laptop pretty bad myself, and I was eyeing the 500 dollar lappy in the ads too. I'm a gamer though, I need/want the Mobility 9700 at least, so looks like I'm passing. No reason a C-M 1.3 couldn't do some web surfing, but it's important to realize you're buying the lowest grade celeron made now, you can't expect a whole lot knowing that. Also, I'd bet that HD is 4200rpm, another performance killer.

Personally, after being accustomed to a reasonably high powered desktop, I'd be looking for a 5400rpm HD, 512mb of ram, 9700, and the highest P-M I can afford. Just to give a desktop shoppers perspective
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post #20 of 26
2/20/05 at 3:16pm
Yeah, I never realized how slow a 4200RPM HDD is until I got my Toshiba M40... It's going back because of nearly that alone. (also horrendous battery life)
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