Mobile processor comparison. Need help choosing a new laptop!

I

iRoNgHosT

2[H]4U
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Feb 8, 2001
Messages
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Well, I've been out of the processor info loop for quite some time now, making the deciding factors on my new laptop that much harder.

Right now, I'm looking at the HP Pavillion dv8000 series, but I might go with the dv9000z. Now, before someone tells me to look elsewhere, I am going to buy HP, namely because I used to work for them, and my father in law is an engineer for HP also, so I am sticking with them.

My main question is, which of these 2 processors is faster?

AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Mobile TL-56 (1.80GHz/512KB)
or
Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2500 (2.0 GHz)

The AMD is the dv9000z, and the other is the dv8000. From what I can tell on their site here from work (where I can't run the preview flash animation), they just have different cases. The dv8000 is a bit cheaper, allowing me to upgrade the hard drive, yet the dv9000z doesn't have any 7200rpm hard drives available for it.

As for the rest of the system, it will have 2 gigs of RAM, DVD-RW, GeForce 7600 Go 256mb, and a 17" screen. I'm namely going to be using this system to play WoW, and other RPGs at work during my downtime, and I assume this will handle the gaming quite well.

So, which processor do you think would best suite my need for speed?
 
Can you wait for Core 2's? I'm planning on waiting for the Core 2 systems. If you must have it now the core duo will be faster than the turion system, but it isnt 64 bit compatibly.

Also, HP owns Compaq, and compaq systems are cheeper. Granted you dont get an onboard camera and some other features, but it is a few hundred cheeper, depending on the configuration.
 
First of all, I wouldn't upgrade the ram to 2gb through HP. You'll get a generic brand and it costs nearly twice what it would cost you if you bought OCZ from newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227099). The 7200 RPM hdd provides a huge improvement over the 5400 RPM hard drive, so if you're going to go with the 9000 you should get the lowest hdd option and buy a 7200 RPM hdd from somewhere else (again, newegg has some).

All the 32-bit benchmarks that I've seen show that the intel core duo is much faster than AMD's turion processors, it also uses less power. However, if you're planning on upgrading to a 64-bit OS and using 64-bit programs than I would go with the Turion as the core duo isn't 64-bit compatible. Although Intel has already released its Merom core 2 duo, which is 64-bit capable and about 20% faster than core duo. You might be better off waiting for HP to provide merom processors and then jump on a laptop (DIY CPU replacement with an HP is apparently incredibly difficult and involves taking apart the whole laptop).

One last thing, I bought an hp dv8000t a couple of weeks ago and when I got it, the laptop had a pretty annoying keyboard problem. Keys would be repeated on occasion and sometimes the CAPS and SHIFT keys would lock on. I found that the WSAD keys locked up very often while I was playing games that used them and I would find myself moving forward, left, right or back without pressing any keys. I've read that some people haven't had the issue and some have solved it by uninstalling a bad touchpad driver, but if you're going to go with the dv8000t then I would be very wary of the keyboard while you're still in the 21-day return period and if it acts up at all return it. I'm fairly sure the dv9000 doesn't have these keyboard problems but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
 
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