Need help on Notebook buying decision

I am looking at buying a notebook for more personal use (e-mail, browsing, movie) and some business use (say running .net apps to say).

Looking at the reviews of various vendors and models and the budget am planning to finalize with Dell Inspiron 8600 model.
Before making the buy decission, I need some support/help from the notebook users

1. What is the difference between Celeron-m (1.5 GHhz, 400 MB FSB and 512 kb L2 cache) and Pentium-m processor (1.4 GHz, 400 MB FSB and 1 MB L2 cache), with regard to performance and battery life. Will there be a significan diffence as a user?

2. Any reviews (positive or negative) on Inspiron 8600 and any alternative suggested for the same price?

Appreciate your respone

Thanks
Aravind

 

I would stay away from the Celeron processor. It is slower, but more importantly, the battery life is not nearly as good as the Pentium M. I would sugges getting the Pentium M. That way you get great performance and great battery life.

I think the 8600 is a good computer, but it depends on what you want to use it for. It is not super heavy, but not the lightest either. So if you aren't worried about portability, then it's a very good desktop replacement. I don't really like the cheap plastic they use on it, so it's defintely not a rugged notebook.

If you want more portability, you could also look at Dell's 600m and 700m series as well.

Hope that helps.

 

tru, tru, the PM is much better than celeron, and you might find the 1.4 P-M to perform probably at an equivelant of 1.8-2.2 ghz p4. and yea, if you're not looking to play games or something, or even very few games, the 600m is a better and cheaper choice.