Laptop techie question...processors

Martin_Knott-Lewis

Which is the order of best processors in laptops please:

Core Duo
Pentium M
Core 2 Duo
Centrino
Centrino Duo

I want to buy a used Dell laptop or similar reliable brand with a docking station.

Thanks techies.:D

DevCoder

From best to worst

Core 2 Duo
Core Duo

The centrino range incorporate the Pentium-M iirc, the centrino part just referred to the complete chipset package i.e. Pentium M processor and also must have intel wireless and intel graphics chips

so then it would be

Centrino duo
Centrino

Martin_Knott-Lewis

Thanks kd.

I am being offered an ex-work Dell D420 Centrino Duo 1.2Ghz 1Gb/60Gb with docking station but no charger & with formatted HD & no software.

Is that a good deal or something dated and obsolete?

danthemoneysavingman

what price?

Notmyrealname

Martin_Knott-Lewis wrote: »

Which is the order of best processors in laptops please:

Core Duo
Pentium M
Core 2 Duo
Centrino
Centrino Duo

I want to buy a used Dell laptop or similar reliable brand with a docking station.

Thanks techies.:D

Centrino and Centrino Duo are not processors but an entire mobile platform from Intel.

In order of fastest to slowest:

Core 2 Duo
Core Duo
Pentium M

Centrino is likely to be a Pentium-M or Core Duo
Centrino Duo could be Core Duo or Core 2 Duo.

m5rcc

Martin_Knott-Lewis wrote: »

Thanks kd.

I am being offered an ex-work Dell D420 Centrino Duo 1.2Ghz 1Gb/60Gb with docking station but no charger & with formatted HD & no software.

Is that a good deal or something dated and obsolete?

Dated yes, obsolete no.

Offer a tenner.

Notmyrealname

Martin_Knott-Lewis wrote: »

Thanks kd.

I am being offered an ex-work Dell D420 Centrino Duo 1.2Ghz 1Gb/60Gb with docking station but no charger & with formatted HD & no software.

Is that a good deal or something dated and obsolete?

I sell these.

OK. They're a good solid machine. They're fast enough for normal mail, internet etc stuff. They don't have a built in optical drive (CD/DVD) - that comes in the docking station but you're getting one of those.

You'll want to upgrade it to 2GB but it uses normal DDR2 laptop memory. There is one memory slot on the base and the other is under the keyboard.

DOWNSIDE and it is a BIG ONE.

They do not use standard IDE or SATA hard drives. They use 1.8" ZIF drives the same as used in the Ipod Classic. Those drives are seriously expensive for what they are.

So if its got a small hard drive you have to consider if it is big enough. A 60GB one in the one you're getting is more than big enough for XP or Windows 7 on with about 35-40GB spare for applications and files. If you use an external drive for storage, its a non-issue but beware that there's not really any option to upgrade the HDD.

In good cosmetic condition with a battery that holds a couple of hours charge, I'm getting around £130 on Ebay for them.

Martin_Knott-Lewis

Thanks for the advice.

I was told they are reliable business laptops because our travelling sales people had these at work.

I use a pc at home and a HP Mini 220 netbook for travel, holidays and wifi cafes. But my netbook was stolen after just 3 months and it's uninsured and I can't spend another £250 right now.

I knew nothing about the HD issues on the Dell laptop. And there is no software on it either. No CDs and some of the cables and chargers may be missing. I have had one reserved anyway as I need something portable and others were getting them. I don't have to take it. Is it a reasonable deal then at £80?

Martin_Knott-Lewis

Are these ZIP hard drives more prone to fail?

Notmyrealname

Martin_Knott-Lewis wrote: »

Are these ZIP hard drives more prone to fail?

ZIF drives. And no - they're standard 1.8" hard drives but have a kooky ribbon cable that comes off the side of the drive to connect to the computer instead of an edge connector. They're the same drive as used in the iPod Classic and your typical iPod takes a hell of a hammering being thrown on tables and shaken about when running etc.

£80 is about right. A charger will be about £10-£15 on Ebay.

I'm sure someone will have a Windows CD and any drivers can be downloaded from Dells website - put in the Service Tag number on the base and it'll show the ones specific to that machine.

gonzo127

meh, if cost is a problem then to keep the cash down look at putting one of the linux's on it for free (insetad of having a potentially dodgy copy of windows on it), probably Linux Mint LXDE would be best or Lubuntu, both are pretty friendly to use for someone who has never used Linux before and both are very light on system resources

i personally had (untill step daughters friend stood on it ggggrrrr) a dell latiude x300 (single core celeron so worse than the pentium m with 256mb of ram) and with Lubuntu on it would boot up in less than 40 seconds and close down in under 5, did everything i needed it too in regards a small portable laptop for browsing the web on and watching movies etc when out and about