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General discussion

Still looking......................

Aug 9, 2004 3:22PM PDT

Been reading and researching for a few weeks now and think I might have finally made a choice. a few last questions though........
1. Is it worth waiting for the "dothan" centrino's to arrive in Canada ? (dell is the only brand that I can get dothan in right now)
2. How much of a performance gain will I realize by going with a 5400 rpm HD as opposed to 4200 RPM
3. What does everyone think about the following set-up direct from toshiba for $2599 CDN http://www.toshiba.ca/web/specifications.grp?lg=en&section=1&group=1&product=2390∂=2373

Thanks again everyone for all your help/comments

Discussion is locked

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Re: Still looking......................
Aug 9, 2004 9:30PM PDT

1. I would wait.
2. A lot. Boot time is reduced which for some is a very important aspect of the PC.
3. I think that's a tad high, but I don't know the current exchange rate. I lived in B.C. for 8 years and it went for 1.25 to 1.55 or so. I'd keep shopping.

Bob

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Re: Still looking......................
Aug 10, 2004 4:08AM PDT

If you really can't upgrade the 1.5 Banias Pentium M processor to the Dothan Pentium M (715 or higher) the hard drive speed and video memory (dedicated) are more important.

If you bought any of these I would get the M30-710 (2nd from bottom) as:

it has 802.11G wifi -- many of the others have only b and that is a waste (G is backwards compatible and up to 5x faster).

It has 64mb video dedicated RAM -- this is not upgradeable and the most important thing not to have too little of. 32mb is ok but 64mb will allow you to do more things (more of some of newer games like Doom 3 and some demanding programs).

The 2x L2 cache versus the 1mb L2 cache makes spending $50 to $100 more a no-brainer but if you can't get it then it is not as big a deal as other factors.

Note also that hte M30-710 comes with 1 stick of RAM (512) so you can add your own later in the 2nd slot for less (go up to 1mb if you want). Some of the others fill both slots and you can't upgrade without wasting RAM.

A 5400rpm hard drive is up to 50% faster in seek time than a 4200 -- note that most desktops have a 5400 or 7200rpm hard drive already.

But it is not a huge deal -- you will save a few seconds at boot up and you will save some time when the hard drive is accessing a program alot.

But the most important thing is to have at least512mb RAM and the 64mb video is a plus as well.

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Re: Still looking......................
Aug 10, 2004 5:04PM PDT

Thanks for all the help. The following notebook just appeared online today at Futureshop here in canada. http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&dept=1&WLBS=fsweb9&sku_id=0665000FS10046796&catid=&newdeptid=1#
The price isn't as good as the previous one but it does have the dothan chip. Not completely sure about the DVD burner though as I have had truoble getting a concise answer as to the compatibility of the different formats (DVD-R, DVD+R, etc) also as to R. Proffitt's question the current exchange rate is 1.3170 for US to CDN dollars

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Re: Still looking......................
Aug 11, 2004 1:38PM PDT

Yes this is a good prebuilt ZT3000 notebook -- you have the 1.7 Dothan, the 64mb video, and 512RAM. The DVD burner is only DVD + -- this is fine if you are using it for computer use but many DVD players don't use DVD + yet but some do. The Toshiba M35 is both DVD + and DVD - so it is more compatible.

If a CD-RW/DVD ROM is ok for you (it is ok for many people) that is $200 US less.

The HP has the better keyboard but the Toshiba has the Trubrite LCD if you find a Canadian model with a Dothan 1.7 also (not on the older Banias chips). And the Toshiba has the multiformat DVD burner.

When I bought they did not have Trubrite and I didn't need the DVD burner (I have one on my desktop) so the Compaq/HP was the best choice for me but you may decide differently. They are both great notebooks and overall performance will be very similar.


But you will not unhappy with the components the HP has if that is what you want.

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Re: Still looking......................
Aug 11, 2004 5:22AM PDT

1) I don't think. I'll stick with Banias anyway. The Dothan has longer pipeline stages to make every Hz less effective compare with Banias. Say, a Pentium M 705 almost always beats Pentium M 715 in terms of performance. The increased cache of Dothan is a joke, Desktops runs fine at 256KB to 512KB but Pentium M Banias has 1MB, that's quite impossible to improve performance by adding it anymore. Just keep in mind that Dothan runs slower at the same clock speed, at least with the current 855 chipset at the moment.

2) It's quite faster but if you have the money to spare, buy a harddisk with greater density, that would mean higher capacity. As density increase reading speed per spin. 4200rpm harddisks are not as fragile as 5400rpm ones, produce MUCH less heat. Harddisk failure is the worst nightmare of every laptop user, as almost all the hard work are kept inside.

3) I like the M30-UU9 setup except the Windows XP Home.

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Re: Still looking......................
Aug 11, 2004 1:44PM PDT

the L2 cache loads up frequent web pages other things (like frequent program launches) so you will have somewhat faster performances surfing the web with a Dothan has it has double the L2 cache to do that.

RAM is the next level the computer will go to if the L2 cache is full and 512mb is good enough for most people.

The hard drive is another thing altogether. If you mostly web surf you won't use the hard drive much at all and it won't matter. If you play games accessing the hard drive or programs accessing the hard drive alot then the 5400rpm hard drive will have up to a 50% greater seek time than the 4200. Most desktops have a 5400 or 7200 rpm hard drive already.

If you order custom a Pentium M 1.6 Dothan is only $50 more US so that is a no brainer. But if you can't custom order then keep the 705 as it is not worth spending hundreds more.