HP laptops: what's the difference please?

pigeonpie

John Lewis have 3 HP laptops, all £100 apart. I don't need 2048 RAM I don't think.
What's the difference in performance and quietness between the following
http://www.johnlewis.com/Computing/Computers/Computers/Laptops/398/230397910/Product.aspx and this one with a AMD Turion processor please

http://www.johnlewis.com/Computing/Computers/Computers/Laptops/398/230397908/Product.aspx

Is there anything glaringly obvious that I should ask them about or that you think is not great? Laptop is not for gaming.
Current laptop has XP Pro. Are there any issues file sharing etc with this one having XP Home. I don't know the difference between the OS's. They would be run at home via one ethernet or wireless router.

many thanks guys.

poppy_f1

ideally the more ram the better, means you can do more things at the one time
xp pro and home will see each other no probs, you can run the network setup if you want and that will set up file sharing/printer etc

frogman_2

Both have the same chassis, so the only difference is the processor and the video 'card'. The DV2054EA has a slightly better processor/video but is it worth 100 pounds extra? Only if you are going to do processor intensive applications.

I'd save the 100 pounds and use it towards the cost of MS Office which you're going to have to buy.

Of course, if you can wait 4 months, you'll get a better processor and MS Vista at the same price...

albertross_2

List of differences between home and pro.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

If it's not going to be part of a domain (for work), then home is suitable for most people, and cheaper.

calleyw

frogman wrote:

I'd save the 100 pounds and use it towards the cost of MS Office which you're going to have to buy.

Why waste money when you don't have to.

I use open office which is free and the new version is very nice.

I will not use MS products unless I have to. In my case that means only using windows.


Yours


Calley

pigeonpie

Thank you everyone. The only differences listed on the Window website that I don't understand are:
Remote Desktop – remotely access your Windows XP Professional PC, from another Windows PC, so you can work with all of your data and applications while away from your office.

Internet Information Services (IIS) version 5.1 – host your own Web site on the Internet or your intranet.

Can you not then host your own website using XP home edition?
I am not convinced we would need to access files remotely.

Do have a copy of student edition of Office, so that's ok. I also have Zone Alarm (somewhere) but am pondering AVG Free. Currently have Norton on this one and I haven't had problems with it to date.

I need to buy this week. I would have liked a PC with an intl or at least EU warranty but those are much more expensive - or Dells. Is a choice between Dell and the horrors of their customer "service" or J Lewis.