Core 2 Duo or Pentium Dual Core

waterman3

Hello all!

I'm in the market for a new laptop. I'll only really be using it for surfing the web and storing a few pictures.

I just wondered if it's worth spending a wee bit more and getting one with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor rather than a Pentium Dual Core. I don't know much about these things but read somewhere that the difference is quite significant.

Just not sure if it would be a waste of money, bearing in mind all i'm using it for.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts

thanks

Esqui

The core 2 duo is generally a better processor, but it doesn't sound like you'll be needing it.

£$&*"($£&(

The more recent Dual Core processors are better than or similar to the older Core 2 Duo processors (some of which are still available in new laptops). It all depends on which processors your looking at.

sebastianj

grahawk, I think you should explain it a bit, saying that May be this or that, confuses the issue.
seb

slipthru

If the price difference is not significant I would go for the core 2 duo as it will be more future prove. You may only use it for web browsing and storing photos now, but may find you want to use for other things in the future.

waterman3

I'm just looking for the fastest processor i can get but don't really want to spend more than about £430 (including antivirus software).

g

BillScarab

waterman3 wrote: »

I'm just looking for the fastest processor i can get but don't really want to spend more than about £430 (including antivirus software).

g

Well AV software cna be had for free so there's no need to budget for that.

busenbust

I'm just looking for the fastest processor i can get but don't really want to spend more than about £430 (including antivirus software).

Pentium Dual Core will be sufficient for basic/essential Office tasks, surfing the Web, checking emails, playing the odd DVD clip, watching YouTube etc. The latter can be dependent also on the capabilities of the graphics card/processor. But light viewing should not be a stumbling block. Anti-virus and anti-malware you need not worry about: free and excellent availability.

Edit: The E5300 Dual-core is quite a nice processor. :cool:

HTH.

£$&*"($£&(

Look them up here:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Shimrod

If you're going to be using your laptop on the move, have a look at the relative power consumption of the two processors you are interested in - lower power consumption will equal longer battery life (all other things being equal.
The link to wikipedia below gives a list of core 2 processors and power consumption. Interestingly, the article also indicates that the current range of pentium processors are now core 2 processors with some of the cache disabled, rather than the older chip design. If you're not concerned about battery life, for the tasks you mentioned I don't think you would tell the difference between the two processors, and my personal choice would be to save a few £££s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core

waterman3

That's been really helpful. Thanks very much :T