So I'm in the market for a laptop, but I've been out of the tech buzz for too long. I'm seeing laptops coming out with AMD Sempron and Turion processors being offered as alternatives to Intel's P4/Centrino/Celeron setups.

Are the Sempron and Turion applicable comparisons to the Centrino/Celeron in terms of power and/or setup? Or are they not even meriting consideration?

This is to eventually replace a functional Toshiba Satellite A75-S206, which I would not wish upon my worst enemy.

my brother is in the market for a laptop, too... we're looking at centrino and amd athlon 64 and turion systems, and i'd like to know what would be best in terms of battery life...

Er, don't get fooled. All Centrino means is that you're getting a Pentium M processor and an Intel Wi-Fi card. If you can get a non-Centrino laptop with built-in Wi-Fi for less, you're not going to notice much of a difference (this is assuming you find one with the same processor speed).

centrino has a pretty good battery life

I don't own a laptop and won't be buying one anytime soon.

However, these points still apply:

1. You only need a 1GHz processor to do anything but gaming/specialized tasks, so any processor on the market is fast enough.
2. If you're doing gaming or any of those specialized tasks, don't get a laptop. Optionally, get a laptop and a desktop for the heavy stuff. It'll be cheaper than some freaky über-laptop.
3. Since the processor will be good enough anyway, minimize the system power. This will reduce weight and heat and increase battery life. I think all laptops are built to incinerate their users anyway these days, but one can at least try to get something sane.
4. 50% or more of today's laptops could probably be replaced by the early-nineties Quaderno, and it would be both cheaper and lighter.

Yeah like Alexander said... first think about what you wanna do with your laptop, if its just wordprocessing then you don't need to spend a fortune on one.

Research battery life above all!

Well, I don't really have the desk space or desire for a desktop. I want to be able to play dojin games, and eventually, Battlefield 2 and Supreme Commander. That means a fairly powerful laptop, but I really want to keep the portability.

This is mostly long-term stuff. I have to send in my shitty Toshiba A75-S206 for service and I picked up a P3 750 Thinkpad to fill the roles of net surfing, torrenting, and watching anime in the interim, but this is probably going to end up replacing the Toshiba since it overheats if you look at it wrong.

I figure, though, that if I don't hang on to the Toshiba (I'll maybe sell it to help fund a better computer) I can use the Thinkpad as my backup/travel lappy and build myself a gaming desktop again...

... I think I just answered my own question.

You got any links for these dojin games?

And if you really want something that'll play games well... get alienware

If I could afford an Alienware, I wouldn't even have started this thread. ;-;

I'll dredge links, but I think they're up there on Hongfire. Games like Party's Breaker, Melty Blood, Glove On Fight, Eternal Fighter Zero, and Queen of Heart are the big ones.

OK i have been computing since the DArk days of DOS, cold boots, and one collor monitors, and yet i still cant type, i hade an uber laptop and I LOVED IT, notice how those are in the past tense. It died, now what you want is expensive and you will havt to pay to get the preformance... if you spend any more than 1100 on it GET the EXTENDED WARRANTY! and if you get a DeskTop Replacement, be cautious when traveling it, they cant handel the abuse of the world traveler, BELIVE ME. good luck!

Oh, I very much have to support >>10 on this.

I've been using laptops since 1998, and getting the extended warranty is a must. In fact, if you're into laptops, >>10 is the best advice you'll ever get.

Always get extended warranties for laptops, especially if you use them as a desktop replacement.

Since I try to buy secondhand, my choices on warranties are rather limited. If I call the company, would they let me purchase an extended warranty if the serial number hasn't been set up for a warranty with them yet? It's because I did this with Toshiba for my current laptop, which is now being serviced on warranty, that I haven't sold the fscker already.

If the laptop is still under original warranty when you buy it, then you can always get an extended warranty.

Make sure you have the original receipts though. You might be out of luck otherwise.

Actually, it's best to phone the manufacturer beforehand. There is a large variety of extended warranties, and they differ between machines. Some machines can get global warranties, some can only get the local variety, and some may not be able to get any extended warranty at all.

Generally, it's a better idea to go for business laptops.

Hi
I want to buy a laptop computer. AMD Sempron processors are more cheap than intel core duo processors. Also there are Celeron processors in the market.
I would like to ask if any one knows what is the difference of performances among these three processors. For example: Does AMD Sempron 1,6 processor matches the specifications of 1,6 Core Duo Processor or it is only better than Pentium M Mobile 1,6 Ghz or more better than Celeron 1,6 Ghz processor?
Thank you for your advices.

>>15
Intel has always had far better mobile processors then AMD (in terms of battery/heat efficiency and usually speed as well.)
Core Duos are a lot better at multitasking and a little better at most things, but the improvement is not mind-blowing. It's your call whether you want one.
Celerons kind of suck, IMO.

I would like to put the two different processor brands in to a category. May we consider the laptop processors in to a category like this?
celeron = sempron
turion = centrino
core duo = nothing
pentium M = athlon
Thanks for help.

>>17
no.
turion 64 = core solo / pentium m
turion 64 x2 = core duo

except that the intel processors aren't 64-bit capable (AMD64/EM64T) and the amd ones are.