Core 2 Duo's do much more than "slightly" outscore them. The the performance helps in even mundane tasks like CD ripping and I am sure it will help with PT uploads.

$60-$80 is about 10% orl less of the system cost and you will see more than that in performance gains.

With how resournce intensive Vista is and the fact that aptops are underpowered as they come anyway it seems like an extra ~$70 well spent.

If you time how long it takes to rip a CD in identical builds with core2duo vrs AMD you shave off what, 10 seconds? That's what I mean by the difference. It's not like it will outperform it by minutes. Same with the FPS increase - it isn't that noticeable a difference. If something runs at 50 FPS or 60 FPS, it's not easy to tell the difference to most people. You always make it sound like core2duo totally destroys AMD's lineup. I've seen the benchmarks when under heavy load and yada yada, and I agree core2duo beats AMDs lineup. But when talking about cost-effective builds, you aren't going for the marginal gains in performance. You go with the best within a certain budget.

With how resource heavy Vista is, you can't go wrong sticking with XP.

I think I have just went cross eyed... Since most recommened XP, I went to Ibuy Power and built one...

Take a look at this and please give me your opinion...Seems like I would get more value buying from these guys....

Take a look at the specs and give me any suggestions...

Thanks a bunch...


Item Unit Price Total Price

Battalion 101 HEL-80 Notebook $908.00
$908.00

Case ( Battalion-101 HEL-80 [VBI] 15.4" 16:10 Wide Screen WXGA 1280x800 LCD TFT Notebook w/Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter, Deluxe Carrying Case Original Metalic Silver/Black 2-Tone Color )
Processor ( Intel® Core 2 Duo Mobile T5200 Dual-Core Processor (2x 1.60GHz/2MB Cache/533FSB) )
Free Software/Game ( Free Game - [Lost Planet: Extreme Condition] must purchase with Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor based system )
Memory ( 4096MB(2048MB X2) DDR2-667 PC5300 [Notebook Memory] Corsair Value or Major Brand / due to Microsoft Windows 32-bit Edition limitation, it will displays around 3.5GB in Windows )
Video Card ( Mobility 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 PCI-Express 3D Video )
Hard Drive ( 160 GB 5400rpm Serial-ATA-150 Super Slim Notebook Hard Drive )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [HEL-80] )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Fax Modem ( Build-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Notebook] )
Network Card ( Build-in 10/100/1000 Network LAN [Notebook] )
Mouse ( Optical 800-dpi Internet Mouse USB/PS2 for Notebook Silver )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in 3x USB 2.0 Ports [Notebook] )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( Build-in 3-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Notebook] )
Carrying Case ( Free Deluxe Carrying Case )
Operation System ( MS Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition )
Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None )
Additional Software ( MS Works Suite 2006 [Word, Works, Money, Encarta, Digital Image, Streets and Trips] )
IEEE-1394 Fire Wire Card ( Build-in 1x IEEE-1394 Firewire Port [Notebook] )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
TV Tuner ( None )
Video Camera ( Build-in Digital Web Video Camera )
Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( [Free !!!] Wireless 802.11g 3945 Mini-Card )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )
Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )




How about this, since I do not think that I should get a cheaper one anymore...

Just under 1K...

Thanks again for all the help

I'd go with a bigger HD (or a second 160GB one)

I've been looking at new laptops - although it won't be this month I'm buying a new one after a $2k downswong..

Here in the UK Dell build quality is fine (they put them together in Ireland not Mexico or wherever US Dells are assembled).

I can also buy it thru work and reclaim VAT (sales tax).

The spec. I was looking at was
17" 1900x1200 screen
2.2 MHZ C2D processor (the one with the 4MB cache)
3GB RAM
2 x 160 GB HDD
256MB Graphics Card
Came in at about $1200 I think.

Obviously that is a bit overkill for a budget laptop though, but it's my main machine and I just can't give up the 17" WUXGA screen...