I am looking to buy a laptop, and have done some research and planning to buy HP Pavilion, but I am confused which processor to choose, and also why is AMD cheaper than Intel processors are they inferior or less powerful.

Can you help me what to choose.

- Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 745A
- AMD Sempron(TM) 3000+ (1.8GHz/128KB L2 Cache)
- And also new one which is very expensive - Intel® Core™ Duo processor up to T2500 (2.0 GHz)

Thanks

Hey, i would suggest the Intel Dual Core processor because it is quite faster than the other 2 processors and also that it works like 2 processors in one. I would say that it is worth it, but if u r planning on upgrading ur comp later, then i think u should go with the Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 745A. Good luck.

It all depends on the purpose of the laptop. Intel has always had better multi-tasking from their processors. They can divided it's own resources more efficiently and distribute power to all of the programs. AMD has moderate multi-tasking abilities, and are more easily overclocked. They will deliver more power to the current application (eg good for gaming) but you may notice a slight lag when switching between a large number of programs or switching between processor intensive programs.
As long as you aren't palnning to do major 3D rendering or video editing, the Sempron should be fine. I would suggest a mac if you were going to do this anyway.
Note that even though the sepron is listed as 3000, it will not be 3.0GHz, this is merely a comparison number. Under average conditions, the Sempron will run like an Intel chip of 3.0Ghz for the currently open application, even though it will post something closer to 2.5~2.6GHz
Hope this helps.

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</Dream In Code>
-William. § (marvin_gohan)

HP is a pretty good company if you ask me. I've got a couple of friends who have hp laptops, and they seem to like it so far. But make sure you are able to take care of it though, one of my friend's laptop had a little 'accident' (or that's what he said) and the hard drive got busted. And the next thing you know we were trying to recover all the data from it.

Since HP Pavilions are made for desktop replacements (kind of) they might not be all that portable if you plan on taking them around a lot.

As for the processor, I would go with AMD, and if I were you I would try to get myself one of the Turion's or Athlons because of their dual core abilities, because to me it looks like it's worth it if you are going to use this laptop for a while.

Semprons are fine, however they are like Intel Celeron chips, so they are going to be cheaper (ie you can't compare them to pentium4 with 4ghz). And the Intels are more expensive because they have more power.

If you really want a core duo then it's best to get it. But if you're just going to use it for normal browsing and light gaming, then there isn't a whole lot of benefits except faster and newer technology...

Thanks for such a detailed explanation,
I was almost finalizing on AMD Sempron, Thanks Risherz for letting me know that "Semprons are like Intel Celeron chips" I was avoiding Celerons and was about to buy similar chip.

William I would really love to get Mac but, I want this laptop for work as well as personal use and I am heavy user of MS office so I have to go with HP, since I am not a heavy gamer, and dont do any video editing I will go with AMD Turion's or Athlons.

Now I am confused which one to choose Turion or Athlon what is the difference between these two chips.

Thanks again for all your help.

The main difference between Turions and Athlons would probably be that Turions were created to be mobile, and was made for laptops. For example they are low on battery life and so on.

So you can compare Turions to the Intel Centrino technology (well it's not a perfect analogy, but close enough to get the idea I hope). So if you are going to roam around with your laptop then you might want to consider Turion since it has better connectivity and so on. You can read more about it here.

On the other hand Athlons are created for processors for laptops that sort of act like desktop replacement, for example like William said gaming and so on. So if you are going to watch movies and aren't going to move around too much then you might want to consider the Athlon in your laptop. You can read more about this here (notice it has a Mobile version and a normal version).

Oh yeah and by the way, if you only plan on using applications like Microsoft Office, then a Sempron (or Intel Celeron M and Pentium 4/M for some more speed and multitasking) should be fine for you. Semprons/Celerons are in essentially entry level laptops so if you aren't going to do a lot with your laptop then it should be alright for you I guess.

And remember the processor and it's speed isn't the only thing that you've got to consider. Try to get a laptop with about a minimum of 512 MB memory, otherwise no matter what processor you pick it might not be of much use. You can take a look at this thread as well... there seem to be some helpful tips over there.

Hope this helps and if you have any more questions fell free to ask... we're all here to help out.

I need this laptop mostly while i am travelling, so I guess AMD Turion is the best choice for me. I am going with AMD Turion, 512 MB RAM, and windows xp pro.

Thanks all for your kind help.