Athlon 64 Notebooks - which and where?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

netguardianii@gmail.com writes:
> I'm looking to buy a laptop within the next couple of weeks. AMD seems
> to be the only one offering a 64-bit processor. I've searched high and
> low for notebooks with Athlon 64 3400+ processors, but they all weigh
> over 5 lb - which brings me to my second requirement. The computer must
> be lightweight; I plan on doing some traveling.
>
> Any clues, folks?

You're barking up the wrong tree. The Athlon 64 especially in 3400+
is a fast but power hungry processor found only in desktop-replacement
notebooks. If you want a travel notebook your best bet is still the
Pentium M.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks for the fast response, Paul.

How fast is the Pentium M in comparison to, say, a Pentium 4? Or a
Powerbook G4?

I take it that neither Pentium M nor Athlon XP-M are 64-bit, right?


--Max

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

netguardianii@gmail.com writes:
> How fast is the Pentium M in comparison to, say, a Pentium 4? Or a
> Powerbook G4?

It depends on the workload but PM's are generally somewhat faster than
P4's at the same clock speed. P4's are available at faster clock
speeds so the fastest Pentiums are still P4's. P4's use insane
amounts of power. You don't want a P4 in a notebook.

G4 is a different story and it's harder to make direct comparisons.
The choice should be dictated mostly by software. Buy a G4 if you
want to run MacOS. Buy an x86 if you want to run GNU/Linux or
Windoze.

> I take it that neither Pentium M nor Athlon XP-M are 64-bit, right?

Correct.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

netguardianii@gmail.com wrote:

> Thanks for the fast response, Paul.
>
> How fast is the Pentium M in comparison to, say, a Pentium 4? Or a
> Powerbook G4?

The Pentium M is based on a different architecture than the Pentium 4 and
for most tasks is faster at the same clock speed. Unless you're doing
video rendering or finite element analysis or some other such CPU-intensive
task a Pentium M 1.8 or 2 GHz should be fine.

> I take it that neither Pentium M nor Athlon XP-M are 64-bit, right?

You are correct on this. If you are not running a 64-bit OS with 64-bit
applications it makes little difference though in the real world.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks for the bits of wisdom, J. Clarke.

--Max

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On 18 Apr 2005 20:18:50 -0700, netguardianii@gmail.com wrote:

>Thanks for the bits of wisdom, J. Clarke.

Yes. And FWIW, I love AMD chips. Far more horsepower for less money.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Paul Rubin wrote:

> netguardianii@gmail.com writes:
>> I'm looking to buy a laptop within the next couple of weeks. AMD seems
>> to be the only one offering a 64-bit processor. I've searched high and
>> low for notebooks with Athlon 64 3400+ processors, but they all weigh
>> over 5 lb - which brings me to my second requirement. The computer must
>> be lightweight; I plan on doing some traveling.
>>
>> Any clues, folks?
>
> You're barking up the wrong tree. The Athlon 64 especially in 3400+
> is a fast but power hungry processor found only in desktop-replacement
> notebooks. If you want a travel notebook your best bet is still the
> Pentium M.

i have the HP zv5000z with an Athlon 64 3200+(not the mobile one, the one
for desktop replacement laptops) and it runs cool and 3 to 4 hours per batt
charge. it runs by default at 800Mhz until more speed is needed, then it
ramps up to full speed. check AMD site for processor details.


--redpill