New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

HI all,

I've been looking into replacing my Desktop PC (getting a bit old now) with a laptop. My uses are: Internet, extensive home office use, Light gaming, and I'd also like to start getting into video and photo editing (nothing too heavy).

It's amazing what you can get for the money these days! However, it seems that some of the best deals to be had are on AMD equipped Laptops: e.g AMD Mobile Sempron and the Turino processor. How do these compare to Intel's Centrino's chip. Which is the best one to go for?

For example, this looks like a great deal for what I want.

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default...DUCT&KEY=56259

I spoke to someone who said that he'd be concerned about compatibility issues with AMD chips. His arguement is that Windows is basically designed to run on Intel chips.

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Ns04

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Anyone?

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

*cough* bullocks *cough*

Please tell your mate he is talking out his bottom

Windows written for Intel...

Anyway - I think the problem you have is that your thread title is misleading... it should be CPU for laptop.

As to the laptop you've found - that is a very nice piece of kit!

The AMD processor number refers to the 'equivalent' Intel chip clock speed - so that Sempron is a bit of beast You get more bangs for buck with AMD chips and greater floating point power with an Intel (God that is one over-simplified explanation!!!!)

Me? I'd buy that one.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Whoops, did I call it an ECU *coughs* Alert, spends to long on SN!

Thanks for the info: I personally didn't think Windows was written for any particular CPU, just that Intel became the market leaders....but then I'm no expert! Glad to hear that the AMD chip is good, I do like supporting the underdog!

I must say I was very impressed by the spec and price of that Mesh laptop. Amazing what you can get for your dough these days. I've got a Dell Desktop at home (had it for about 5 years) it's been great. However, back then laptops just weren't anywhere near as capable as desktops and cost the earth for anything remotely decent. Now....well, this one should be able to do anything a home user could ask of it and them some....for 900 all in!

Do you think it's worth upgrading to a gig of ram for £50 extra?

Ns04

Simon C

Depends on what you call heavy photo processing.

I run a custom built pc around an AMD Sempron with 1gb ram which is fine for me (anything that can open 40, 35mb Tiff files and still work at a decent speed is ok) as its has a dedicated gfx card. However lappys usually share system RAM with gfx cards so more is better. My Mac lappy next month is getting a 1gb boost to 1.5gb for this exact reason 512mb just ain't enough. Why? For the reason stated above and photo processing (I use CS and Nikon Capture) loves memory.

messiah

If you're going to be doing photo editing I'd stick as much RAM in as it'll take.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I don't think my requirements re photo and video editing are anywhere near as extensive as yours, but I often run numerous programs at the same time, so my undertanding is, the more RAM the better! The laptop I've identified has a Radeon x700 GFX card with 256Mb Ram, which seems most impressive! It doesn't say its shared too!

Ns04

Simon C

You'd be suprised how adictive photo editing can be.

But with photo and video the more memory you can chuck at it the better. Back in 2001 when I was involved in a video editing project, it worked out we were using 10mb hdd space per min of footage!!!

The reason behind the shared gfx cards is space, why have 2 memory banks when space (and heat) are at a premium.

Ring them and ask if it is is the best option.

But yes, chuck in as much Ram as will fit (2gb in my mac), your gonna need it.