Is this fast enough? Also old laptop comparison.

Hi everyone. I just found this deal on Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115346

The specs are:
Acer Travelmate TM2480-2779
Intel Celeron M 420 (1.60Ghz)
14.1" Wide XGA
512MB DDR2 533 (will upgrade to 1GB myself)
80GB Hard Drive
Intel GMA950
Vista Home Basic (plan on clean install of Windows XP)

It's listed on sale for $519, which is an incredible price. Yet, I don't have any experience with Celeron M processors though, and not sure if it's fast enough. I've never owned a "budget" laptop before. I just need something light to carry around for college for taking notes. The most multi-tasking I'll be doing is MS Word, Firefox, AIM, Google Desktop, and Windows Media Player at the same time.

I don't need a laptop with crazy specs or extra power. I'll have a seperate gaming rig desktop that I will do all my intensive stuff on.

Right now, my current laptop is:
Compaq
P-4m 1.7
256mb ram
26gig hard-drive
ATI Mobility 7600
Windows XP Pro
15" and way too heavy
(*old hand me down that a company was toss away)

It works fine, but getting really old and beat up. How will the speed compare to the Celeron M 420? Better or worse? I've heard mixed reviews on Newegg and I CAN'T find any benchmarks online. Does anyone own this laptop? Can anyone tell me what kind of performance I could expect with those specs and programs I mentioned?

This is my first Acer notebook I'm researching and wanting to get. Thanks!

 

You might want to consider a Core Solo or a Turion based laptop. Celeron is waaaaaaay too slow considering "The most multi-tasking I'll be doing is MS Word, Firefox, AIM, Google Desktop, and Windows Media Player at the same time."

 

I'd pass on the Celeron. These days, there are so many processors out there that outclass it that it ain't even funny.

Your best bet would be to look around eBay for a laptop with at least a Core Solo or a Turion, even. You're bound to run upon a deal or two.

 

Thanks for the advice. Celerons are that bad, huh?

Do you think it will atleast be faster than my old laptop? How slow is it compared to the old Pentium 4-M 1.7? That's even older than the Pentium M that came out after it. Those 5 programs I mentioned are the worst case scenario in terms of multi-tasking, but probably 2-3 programs running at most.

 

Did some in-depth research on the Celeron M 420:

It's based on the Core Solo. I also found some more info here.

It'll probably be faster than your old laptop, but slower than the most basic Core Solo.

Found another Acer, albeit an Aspire, for $599 that might be of interest: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=A180-1360

 

XL2007, I took your advice and went on Ebay. I ended up winning a new Acer Aspire 5602 for $625 + $39 shipping. Its specs are:

15.4 WXGA ChrystalBrite
Core Duo T2300E 1.6Ghz
1Gb DDR2-533 ram
120Gb Hard-Drive (not sure if 4200rpm or 5400rpm)
8X DVD/-RW
Windows XP MCE
*Not sure which video card since I've read everything from an integrated Intel 950 to ATI x1300, but doesn't matter.

I've seen it retail for $950. I'm glad it already has Windows XP MCE on it, I was going to do a clean install with it anyways. It's hard to find a new laptop with the old (yet reliable) operating system. If anyone can confirm what the speed of the hard-drive is, that would be great.

I hope it will be everything I need. The only games I'll be playing on it are snes emulators and Starcraft. Maybe the modded pc version of Final Fantasy 7. With a price like that though, I can't complain. Hopefully all goes well and I'll give another update.

Thanks again for all your advice!