The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Decided yet undecided...

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by rodericke, May 16, 2009.

  1. rodericke

    rodericke Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    It's official! I am going to purchase a Lenovo 3000 G530 as my first lappy and I am more than excited. My dilemma is this. Should I buy the G530 with the Pentium Dual Core T3400, 3GB ram, 250GB HDD, and VHP for 500 dollars with tax and shipped or would it be worth it to buy the G530 with C2D T6400, 3GB,250GB HDD and Windows XPP for 569 dollars with tax and shipped. Will I even notice any difference at all between the two? Is it worth the extra $69 to upgrade to the C2D T6400? There is also a configuration with Pentium T3400, 2GB ram, 160 GB HDD, and Vista Home Basic starting at 429 with tax and shipping. Which is the best buy?

    Thanx,
    rodericke
     
    rodericke, May 16, 2009
    #1
  2. beige

    beige Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    105
    Messages:
    779
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    i ll vote for the deal no2,
    but i think if u don't do heavy gaming and stuff like that you will not need to pay for the c2d.
     
    beige, May 16, 2009
    #2
  3. LiveStrong

    LiveStrong Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    218
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    The C2D T6400 will give you a slight bump in performance versus the T3400. Whether or not that performance increase is noticeable depends on what you are doing with your computer. If you're just going to be doing some word processing, web browsing, listening to music, etc. then I doubt you'll feel the difference between the two.

    As far as which configuration to get, I would be inclined to get the G530, since it comes with Vista Home Premium.
     
    LiveStrong, May 16, 2009
    #3
  4. rodericke

    rodericke Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Actually, I will be using it to maintain a few wordpress sites as well as web surfing, movie watching, and some music. However, the wordpress site maintenance will be my primary use. I do use, although on a very limited basis, The GIMP photo editing and manipulation software to enhance, resize, etc alot of my graphics for my sites.

    Thanx again,
    rodericke
     
    rodericke, May 16, 2009
    #4
  5. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

    Reputations:
    2,962
    Messages:
    8,231
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    216
    Most likely not worth the while, unless XP over Vista matters significantly to you. Doubt you'll get much more out of the T6400 over the T3400. I would second the third option, the cheaper G530, as well.
     
    Commander Wolf, May 16, 2009
    #5
  6. rodericke

    rodericke Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    So, Commander Wolf, are you saying that you would go with the T3400, 2GB ram, 160GB HDD option for around 429.
     
    rodericke, May 16, 2009
    #6
  7. RainMotorsports

    RainMotorsports Formerly ClutchX2

    Reputations:
    565
    Messages:
    2,382
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Passmarks benchmark puts the two very close. WIthout seeing the bench i would say do it after seeing the bench I would say dont.

    T3400 Highlighted (scroll down lol) - http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+Dual+T3400+@+2.16GHz
    T6400 Highlighted - http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+T6400+@+2.00GHz

    As you can see some of the processors that should outbench each other are close but backwards. These are average from all systems tested and submitted while they provide a general view of performance they should be taken lightly. Ive used passmark and gotten 100 point difference in ratings between reboots.
     
    RainMotorsports, May 16, 2009
    #7
  8. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,038
    Messages:
    3,071
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    105
    I agree with Commander Wolf.
     
    jackluo923, May 16, 2009
    #8
  9. rodericke

    rodericke Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I am new to this but it seems as if I have read somewhere that the Core 2 Duos offer extended battery life compared to that of say the Pentium Dual Cores. Is this true? Or is this instance in particular one where the battery life extension would be so minimal as to not be worth spending the extra fundage. BTW, thanx for all the helpful input. Greatly appreciated!

    Thanx again,
    rodericke
     
    rodericke, May 16, 2009
    #9
  10. RainMotorsports

    RainMotorsports Formerly ClutchX2

    Reputations:
    565
    Messages:
    2,382
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    56
    The P series are 25 watt and the T series are 35 watt. P series C2D's offer better battery life. The pentium name is just a label and is not an entirley different processer just as Celerons used to be based off the lesser end of pentium cores.
     
    RainMotorsports, May 16, 2009
    #10