Hi everyone I'm trying to buy a new laptop. I'm looking for something fast and light. I checked out Dell, Toshiba, IBM and VAIO. I'm kind of confused with all the different processors available. They have P4, P4-m and Pentium m. I understand that Pentium m is designed for notebooks and p4-m is designed for notebooks but based on the p4 technology and that p4 is not designed for laptops. But what does that really mean? In terms of performance which one is better? Is 1.7GHZ Pentium m as fast as a 3.06 P4 or a 2.8GHZ P4-m? Also if you have experience with any of the brands can you let me know which one you think is better and why? Thanks a lot

The M is for mobile and the mobile chips are designed to use lots less power than their desktop counterpart to save battery life. I have owned 3 notebooks. The best one I ever had was a Toshiba (I regret selling it). A friend of mine just bought the new gateway (m305, I think). It is about 6 lbs, dvd/cdrw combo drive, 15' display, etc for about $1100. The only thing I did not like about hers is the tinny sound from the speakers.

hey just to let you know i just bought a new packard bell with the new Centrino processor in it and manage to get 4hrs battery life outta it.very respectable me thinks. worth considering.

I don't know what your budget but you seem to want the best avaliable. The problem with laptops is you can't have performace with light weight/longer battery life and vice versa, you have to pick one. The Centurio is designed for enduring mobility, the battery will last 7 hours. They are the lightest laptops avaliable. It, however, does not perform well in games, high-demanding applications, etc. Thus the lower processor speed and a CD-RW/DVD will drain the battery even more. I would recommend these for word processing, Internet browsing, listen to music and watching the ocassional DVD while on the move. The Pentium 4 is designed for extra performance although it won't be quite as good as a desktop equivilant. The battery will generally last 2 hours or less. These are really better for people who like to use a laptop as a desktop replacement, performing mainly the same. These will be better for every use I can think of. They also weigh a lot more, about 3.1Kg on average. As for the P4 and P4-M. I think there basically the same except the P4-M maybe smaller and consume slightly less power, suiting it for laptops.

It all depends on what you going to do with your laptop. Here is some recommandation. Basic usage (less than $1000) Celeron 2.0Ghz or XP 2000+ 256MB DDR RAM 30-40GB HD DVD/CDRW Combo Shared video memory 3D graphic adapter 56K Modem and Lan 14-15in XGA 7-8lbs 2-4hr battery life Value/Performance ($1500 level) Pentium 4 2.8Ghz 512MB DDR RAM 40GB HD DVD/CDRW Delicated video memory 3D graphic adapter. 56k Modem and Lan 15in SXGA or more 7-9lbs 2-3hr battery life Best performance ($2000+) Pentium 4 2.8Ghz or more 1024MB DDR RAM 60-80GB HD DVD+/-RW/CDRW 64-128MB Geforce FX go 5600 or Mobility Radeon 9600 Integrated wireless 16.1 in SXGA or more 8-12lbs 1-2hr battery life. Thin-and light($1200-1500) Pentium III 1.2GHz 256MB RAM 30GB HD DVD/CDRW Shared video memory 3D graphic adapter Integrated Wireless 12.1in XGA 3-5lbs Long last battery($1500-2000) Pentium M 1.3-1.5Ghz 512MB DDR RAM 40GB HD DVD/CDRW Shared video memory 3D graphic adapter Integrated wireless 14.1-15in XGA 4-8lbs 3.5-8hr battery life This should give you a better idea of what is best suited for you.

I've been fixing laptops for over 12 years; there is a list of brands I whould recommend: IBM, ASUS, ABIT, DELL.

Thanks guys for your help Would you let me know if you think this is worth $3400 CND (I guess thats around $2400 USD)? Toshiba P20 Intel Pentium 4, 3.20GHz processor 512MB PC2100 DDR SODIMM (expandable to 2GB) 80GB EIDE hard drive Built-in DVD re-writable drive 17.0" WXGA TFT colour LCD Display NVIDIA(R) GeForceFX5200 Go Graphics chipset with 64MB DDR Video memory V.92 Data/Fax Modem 10/100 Ethernet LAN network interface card Full Wireless built-in (802.11g) Available ports: Parallel RGB, 4 USB, TV- out (S-Video), RJ11, RJ45, IEEE 1394, FIR, SD slot. 1.5 hours battery life Full function remote included