Buying New Laptop

[Sophon]

I have decided that the time has come to buy a new laptop. My current laptop (bought in Bangkok) is an Acer TravelMate 230 and has served me faithfully for six years without a single hardware problem. Even the battery still lasts for about an hour and a half, which I think is pretty good after having been connected to the mains more or less 24/7 for the last six years. Because of this my next pc will also be an Acer unless an exceptional offer comes along.

The pc will be used almost exclusively back home in my apartment, and because I won't be carrying it around with me and the weight is therefore not that important, I have decided that I want something with a 17 inch screen. I will be buying the pc outside Thailand because I am still two or three years away from moving over permanently, so it will only be used in Thailand on holidays.

My budget is in the 30,000 - 35,000 THB range for which I can get an Acer Aspire or Travelmate 7530 or 7730. But Acer laptops come in a myriad of configurations and with different processors, so it all gets a little confusing. I am looking at the following processors (listed in order of price):

• Intel Pentium M T3400 2.16 GHz
  AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core QL62 2.0 GHz
  AMD Turion X2 Dual Core RM70 2.0 GHz
  Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core T5870 2.0 GHz
  

The price difference between the cheapest and most expensive processor in the list is in the 5,000 - 6,000 THB range.

Here come my questions.

Other than design (which is not a serious consideration for me) it seems to me that there is little difference between the Aspire and Travelmate model series. Maybe the Travelmate serious is a little more sturdy, but as mentioned I won't be carrying it around much.

Am I correct in this, or are there other differences I should consider when deciding between the two models?

I don't use my pc for anything to strenuous, mainly just normal web browsing (such as reading Thai Visa), writing or reading e-mails, editing photos. With that it mind, I assume that any of the mentioned processors will do fine.

Is there any significant difference between the mentioned processors, and which one would you choose?

All comments and opinions are welcome.

Thank you in advance.

Sophon

[britmaveric]

Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core T5870 2.0 GHz is the only choice.

[ungcas]

Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core T5870 2.0 GHz is the only choice.

Yup. Difference is day and night.

[Sophon]

Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core T5870 2.0 GHz is the only choice.

Yup. Difference is day and night.

Thanks ungcas and britmaveric.

I was aware that the Core 2 was the better and faster processor, I'm just not sure if I will feel the difference with what I will use it for. But as I don't intend to replace it again for quite a few years, I'm probably better off getting something that I will still be able to use five years from now.

Sophon

[Gary A]

No way would I ever buy another expensive laptop. A decent desktop that is easily repaired and/or upgraded is the best choice. If you need something for traveling, the new netbooks are cheap and great for email. You will have the best of both worlds for a better price.

[harrry]

As well as the processor check that the laptop uses a SATA drive. Dont laugh... I have a dual core 1.6 MHz ACER which has phenopminal battery life but takes hours to boot up because of the need to access the drive constantly and uses an IDE drive. It is OK when it is going though.