Computer lapetap questions

[Commie Basher]

Can anyone help with these questions?

ONE: Which laptop would likely be faster?

(1) IBM Thinkpad G40 with:

CPU: Pentium 4 3.0 GHz
RAM: 1 Gig
Graphics Card: Intel Extreme (which taps into the above RAM)
Harddrive: 4200 rpm

OR (2) IBM Thinkpad T40 with:

CPU: Pentium M (Centrino) 1.6 GHz
RAM: 512 Meg
Graphics: 32M 7500 Radeon
Harddrive: 5400 rmp

______________

TWO I've heard that CPUs are so fast, that anything over 1.4 GHz seems pretty much the same. The real bottleneck is harddrive speed. True?

_____________

THREE: I have a Toshiba Satellite 4080XCT which I bought in March 1999. It has a 6.4 Gig harddrive. Can anyone make a reasonable guess as to its rpm speed? I can't find it in the specs.

[Keith in Iowa]

I'd go with the one with the most memory.

[Coyoteman]

If you need a "lapetap" you better go with a Mac. They are much easier to operate, and you have shown that you need all the help you can get IMHO.

[agitator]

My personal experience with IBM is that you can faster, more accurate, more reliable responses from the IRS than you can with IBM.

[Texas_Jarhead]

ONE:
Centrino 1.7 GHz = P4 2.6 GHz
Centrino provides longer battery life
The faster HDD the better
Unless you'll be running many apps & services simultaneously then 512 Mb is fine

TWO:
Disk access speeds do play a significant role in system performance

THREE:
I have no idea. google maybe...

[Hoosier-Daddy]

I've heard that the bottleneck is the information coming out of the chip and into the bus. 64bit or 32 bit(?) chips and 16 bit bus. Personally, I've seen RAM allocation to be the problem. Windows (at least in the past) does not release memory well after it's used. Your best bet is a side by side comparison test running the same programs, doing the same tasks. For question 3: Google - it's all there.

[Cold Heat]

Get plenty of memory and yes, the hard drive speed is the bottleneck.

[=Intervention=]

I agree. You'd be better off with any of the newer powerbooks.

[BJungNan]

The fastest would be the Jornada 720. But it is a handheld and not a laptop. May not do all you need but then I never figured out why most people that carry laptops ever really need to.

Get a desk top and sync it to the 720 and you will never go back to lugging a laptop. By the way, the battery in the Jornada 720 lasts about 11 hours.

[BJungNan]

...the hard drive speed is the bottleneck.

That's why you don't need one.

[Commie Basher]

If you need a "lapetap" you better go with a Mac.

Alas, FR won't let me edit my posts, :-(

[Cold Heat]

I have a Dell that I am pretty pleased with.

It suits me well as I spend most of my time laying down or in a recliner.

I cannot think of anything it will not do and I cannot even type on a regular sized keyboard anymore.

It is about 3 years old. 800MHZ with anything I want to stick in the bay.

[KarlInOhio]

What are you going to be using your computer for?

Heavy-duty gaming, 3-D modeling, compiling programs for Altera chips (the current coffee break inspiring CPU killer at work)? Or will you be primarily browsing the web and of course Freeping? If it is the second, cheaper one because both systems are overkill.

Also, look into a wireless ethernet card and router. My 802.11 network is probably the best money I've spent in years on computers.

[the_Watchman]

Having been in the computer business for over 25 years, albeit the mainframe side, and having participated in many formal benchmarks and measurements during that timeframe, I can tell you that nobody here is giving you the correct response, which IT DEPENDS!

When it comes to computers you have to state what your application requirements will be. If you have a memory bound application, then the CPU speed will dictate the results. If you want games, then you should pay attention to your video card and amount of graphics memory.

If you want Microsoft Word to start fast, then disk speed is an issue. If you expect Microsoft Word to edit fast, then you won't be able to tell the difference between the two machines you mentioned. In short, nobody can give you the correct answer until you tell us what you intend to do with the machines and which functions need to be "fast".

BTW: Why IBM? Why not Dell or HP? I also agree with the poster who pointed out that battery life is an important issue.

[the_Watchman]

KarlInOhio beat me by a few seconds and did, indeed, ask the correct question: What are you going to be using your computer for?

[Commie Basher]

Mainly word processing and web browsing. My current laptop, a Pentium-2 366 MGz with 200 meg RAM and 4200 rpm (I think), is occassionally slow downloading web pages. I'm worried that even with an overkill CPU, another 4200 rpm harddrive would still slow web browsing and reboots (my Windows 98 crashes often, requiring much reboots).

[Commie Basher]

I've used Toshibas since 1990, but after much researching, have settled on an IBM. I like their ergonomic keyboards, and they seem to have the best rep for reliability and support.

Battery life is a non-issue for me. I use my laptop as a desktop, but I prefer a laptop because I occassionally fly and take it with me (I never use it on the plane, only at the new destination). And I like a laptop's smaller footprint.

[the_Watchman]

The ergonomics can be a big issue. I travel a lot and use laptops checked out from our computer support department. When the touchpads first came out, you couldn't turn them off. For those of us who were not constant users, this was a nightmare. Invariably, my thumb would brush on the touchpad while I was typing. This would cause the insertion point to jump to an arbitrary spot in the document where my next burst of letters would be deposited.

Some guys in my shop hated this so much that they designed a small cardboard cover for the touchpad. It had to have a slight arch to it so that it did not come in contact with the touchpad surface. Fortunately, recent models have allowed us to turn the touchpad off using the BIOS. I noticed last week that one laptop maker was offering a touchpad lockout button. That would really be convenient.

[the_Watchman]

"slow downloading web pages"

This may be more a function of your browser and your network connection. Do you ever erase the page cache? If it is too large, then it can slow you machine down. I tend to clear mine every other week.

What is your current modem speed, or do you always connect to the web using a lan? The provider you dial into can be a big determination of speed.

In other words, raw disk and CPU speeds are not usually the culprits in slow downloads. If you want to surf the web faster, then you could buy either of the machines you selected and not run one iota faster!

[Buckwheats]

Battery life is a non-issue for me.

Then get the faster, big memory one...and I know you can get a faster hard drive (5400) from Dell and/or others.