Need some advice... e1505/6400

I have a few questions about the Inspiron notebook models mentioned above...

I am looking to purchase a laptop in the high $600 to low $700 range (max $750) to do DVDs, music, MS Office tasks, multitasking, burning CDs/DVDs, web surfing, etc.

I was considering the 1501 w/ a Turion64 X2 TL-56 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM & 60GB HDD for $735 until I started hearing that the 1501 isn't all that great and the TL-56 is, clock-for-clock, much less powerful than Intel competition. I started looking at a 6400 with a 1.6GHz Core Duo T2050, 1GB RAM, & 80GB HDD for $730. I was hoping someone could compare/contrast those two configurations for me.

I have no brand preference between Intel and AMD but I have had good experiences with my work laptop and its 1.86GHz Centrino. I assumed the TL-56 would be as fast in single apps and twice as fast (approx.) when multitasking...

I work in IT and do a lot of Windows Remote Desktop to clients' servers while working with spreadsheets and multi-tabbed Firefox web browsing so I feel that a dual-core processor would be beneficial to me. I feel like I should have as much RAM as possible as well to help with my multi-tasking. One other tradeoff I am considering is swapping the 1.6GHz T2050 for a Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz and going with a single stick of 512MB and later buying another 512MB stick. Another question I have is regarding upgradeability... If I go with the T2050 and 1GB, could I easily upgrade to the Core 2 Duo after the prices drop in a few months? I have built desktop systems but never repaired a notebook... how hard of an undertaking would that be?

Thanks in advance for any information/advice.

 

Well, I can't do a side by side comparison for you but I can tell you that Core duo outperforms the Turion. The only thing is I think the turion is 64bit vs the CoreDou being 32bit. The Core 2 Dou is 64bit. If you can swing the extra cash to get a C2D processor I would definitly take it into serious consideration. If you plan on getting the full potential out of Vista(that is if you plan on getting Vista) then you will want 64bit. If not then, I see no reason why, for the task you have listed, that you couldn't go for the Turion.

Hope this helps in some way or another.

 

I think I've decided to go with the 1501 from Dell Small Business website... its the TL-56, 1GB, 120GB HDD, 8x DVD burner for $729

 

Well, in terms of speed, the Intel would probably be faster, but as said before by Phillip, the AMD is 64-bit, which can be useful in the future.

 

AMD and Intel Core 2 Duo are both 64 bit. As far as benchmarks...Core 2 Duo owns the speed crown for the time being. If you choose Intel...then you want the Core 2 Duo...and beats AMD in majority of benchmarks

Bob

 

I also agree with above posts. Intel Core is the way to go, Core 2 Duo or Core Duo? I would say Core 2 Duo. If you are thinking between T2050 + 1GB and T5500 + 512MB then I’d say go with the second option. Because it is always easy to upgrade ram than a processor. I also don’t know much about CPU upgrades on notebooks either however I have read that there are 2 CPU socket types used; one type was used in early Core Duos and another in later Core Duos and Core 2 Duos, so there is a risk that you may not be able to upgrade even if you try. Besides, if you decide to upgrade the processor later then what about the one you already have? You will end up buying 2 processors which will be definitely more expensive than getting a C2D now.