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General discussion

Laptop Choice- Acer AMD64 vs Intel P4

Mar 26, 2005 2:28AM PST

I need a new laptop for college and i have seen a few models that I like, but the two that stand out for me are:
Acer Aspire 1522LMI (AMD Athlon 64 3000+)
Acer Aspire 1622LMi (Pentium 4 3GHz)

They are both very similar, with 1mb L2 cache, 512mb RAM, 60gb HDD, DVDRW, 15.4" widescreen and 64mb of dedicated graphics (AMD has nVidia Geforce fx go5700, P4 has ATI mobility radeon 97000

They are both under

Discussion is locked

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Disregard my red m.
Mar 26, 2005 2:32AM PST

Now that the office has a pair of the Athlon 64 based R3000s from Compaq, I'd write I wouldn't bother with any non-64-bit capable machine unless your needs only extend to simple web/email and not much else.

Already we see XP SP2 using the 64-bit extensions as well as databases, games and video editing (Virtual Dub which we use.)

The TURION is just rolling out so that's a better idea if battery power is an issue.

Bob

PS. We cheaped out and picked refurbs from 720 and 829 bucks each. Call us cheapskates.

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Centrino???
Mar 30, 2005 5:21PM PST

After browsing some more, I have come across another Acer (Aspire 1682 WLMi), but with a 1.6GHz centrino/pentium m processor with 2mb L2 cache. It also has 512mb RAM, 60gb HDD, DVDRW, 15.4" widescreen and ATi Mobility Radeon 9700 64mb Graphics.

My main question is which processor would be the most powerful- The AMD Athlon 64 3000+, Pentium 4 4GHz or Centrino 1.6GHz. And what about the fact that it has 2MB L2 cache as opposed to the others having 1MB.

Also, which graphics card would be the best- The ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 64mb or Nvidia GeForce fx go 5700 64mb?

In more detail, how long would a machine of this spec take, for exaple, tasks such as avi video encoding to DVD (Takes 12hrs on my p3 700mhz Thinkpad T20), or video editing.

Also, any reviews or comments from owners of these particular laptop models would be extremely helpful.

Thanks.

P.S. Bob thanks for the fast reply.

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I might know that one.
Mar 30, 2005 8:24PM PST

I went from an Acer ter600 (p3 600MHz) while on the road to a Compaq R3000 with the Athlon 64 2.0 GHz and the render time is about 1/3 to 1/4 the time. I don't have a benchmark to give an exact number but the newer machine is nice plus I have the 64-bit future proofing. Virtual Dub uses the 64-bit extensions.

Bob

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Fujitsu Siemens Amilo A1630
Apr 9, 2005 10:17AM PDT

I am now pretty certain I am going for an AMD Athlon 64 and have searched more for them.

I dont think the turions will be launched in the UK for a while, as most laptops seem to be centrino and a few celerons/pentium 4.

I have come across a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo A1630 for