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General discussion

Mobile AMD 64 or Pentium M????

Feb 23, 2005 11:45PM PST

I am looking for a new notebook as my old one finally crashed. It was several years old so the new technology is sort of confusing to me.

I am down looking at purchasing a laptop with either the Mobile AMD 64 3200 or a Pentium M (unsure which).

This will mainly be used for online, office work, tax and accounting programs, dvd playing, downloading to a MP3 player, and a few games.

Is one better than the other or is there a better way to go??? Thank you for any advise.

Discussion is locked

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How many years should it last?
Feb 23, 2005 11:58PM PST

With this weeks 64-bit announcements from Intel, it may be "the sign" that the 64-bit switch is fully underway. Some can disregard that since they still run Windows 98 and are quite happy with that.

Just sharing that my practice just acquired a pair of 64-bit laptops and I'm very pleased. I'd do that again.

Bob

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Any overheating problems?
Feb 24, 2005 12:59AM PST

I have heard that the Pentium 4 causes overheating problems, do you think the AMD64 will cause similar problems?

Or should I go with the new Sonoma technology?

The specs on the notebook I'm considering are:
Gateway Mobile AMD Athlon? 64 Processor 3400+
Model: 7422GX
1600 Mhz Bus
1MB on die level 2 Cache
1.0 GB Ram PC2700 DDR SoDIMM
80 GB Hard drive
Double-layer DVD

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I can't know this, but if it did then it's a warranty issue.
Feb 24, 2005 1:13AM PST

I have a pair of the Compaq Athlon 64s and they show no such sign of overheating. But they are new and you may know that I'm a stickler about no spyware and more.

Bob

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One last question - Which would you choose?
Feb 24, 2005 1:21AM PST

Would you go with the 64 or the M? The guys at BestBuy said the 64 would be faster but I was worried about the reliability issue.

Is there a particular brand I should stay away from?

I am considering purchasing the notebook from Bestbuy and purchasing tha additional 3yr warrenty from them for $250 extra.

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The models we picked up.
Feb 24, 2005 1:34AM PST

One is the DP541AV and the other is a DP533AV. PCs are inherently unreliable so you are asking the wrong person about that (I do embedded computing...)

The only brands you see me write 'stay away' are those that don't stock spare parts or don't have a service center in your country. Sony's service failed miserably for us at the office (20 laptops all gone bad in the first month) and Toshiba has a static issue they seen to have resolved but I'd not consider them until the middle of this year to let such units filter out of the system.

Bob