Need your expert advice

[rajeshbabu]

Trying to decide between two notebooks, Toshiba Satellite® Notebook PC (P35-S609) and Sony VAIO (PCG-K37).

Toshiba - 512 MB Memory, 80 GB, Pentium 4 HT (3.2 GHZ), 17 inch screen
Vaio - 1 GB Memory, 80 GB, Pentium (3.2 GHZ), 15.4 inch screen

For me price doesn't matter, its more of
A) Will I actually ever need 1 GB of memory if I am just using it as a desktop replacement?
B) Does hyper-threading really matter? The Vaio doesn't support it.
C) Does anyone know about either of these two models?
D) Is a Pentium 4 3.2GHZ much faster/better than a Pentium M at 1.7 GHZ?

Thanks a lot guys! I appreciate the help.

 

[frankie38]

A) Will I actually ever need 1 GB of memory if I am just using it as a desktop replacement?

You want as much RAM as possible. 512 is good 1gb is better.

B) Does hyper-threading really matter? The Vaio doesn't support it.

HT helps for video editing/encoding. so if you are not doing that then you may not need it.

C) Does anyone know about either of these two models?

toshiba makes a better laptop!

D) Is a Pentium 4 3.2GHZ much faster/better than a Pentium M at 1.7 GHZ?

dont be fooled by just clock speed. pen M benefits are much longer battery life which may be critical in a portable application.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Neither one.

Try a Pentium M with 14" LCD.

I had to go through so many lappys to realize that battery life (power consumption) and weight/size are most important (for me, anyways).

 

[DaveSimmons]

Why do you want a laptop instead of a desktop?

What programs do you want to run with this laptop?

Do you care about battery life?

Do you care about gaming?

Depending on your answers, both laptops you've listed could be great choices or awful ones.

 

[rajeshbabu]

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

I care about three things, battery life, screen size, and power/memory

I don't game much, and the only programs I will be running are normal office apps/internet surfing, email. I just want something that will last me a least 4 years.

Thanks!

 

[DaveSimmons]

For those uses, you want a Pentium M not P4, for good battery life. 1.5 - 1.6 GHz will handle Office apps very well. 512 MB should be fine, but 1 GB never hurts.

Look at IBM's T4x series, IBM has better build quality than Sony, Toshiba, and Dell.

Also, Dell and IBM offer optional high-capacity batteries for some models than can double battery life.