Intel, 1MB L2 cache or 2MB L2 Cache

Hello everyone,

Want to buy at 15.4" notebook - usage is office applications, web browsing and dvd viewing. For such usage, do we need to buy notebooks with 2MB L2 cache INTEL processors or is 1MB L2 cache sufficient?

Thanking you,
rmb

 

For basic office and multimedia usage, the 1MB L2 cache (guessing a Pentium Dual-Core?) should be more than sufficient.

 

Yes, a Pentium dual core, or a T2x00 based intel core 2 duo will provide more than enough power for your basic office uses.
Also, you will not need more than an integrated graphics card to do those tasks.

What kind of laptops are you looking at?
We can help you select everything you need, just ask questions and someone is bound to help you.

K-TRON

 

Thank you...

As I mentioned, the notebook is for home use - office aps,dvd viewing,listening to music,web browsing; no gaming is involved. So my understanding is it can be bought within $1000 or even lesser.
Am looking at 15.4" Acer/Sony/HP and well also Lenovo bbooks in US--- the initial sticky points are the processor and the OS. While reviewing online, find that most brands' budget range is with pentium dual core having 1MB L2, hence the query above. On the OS front, do not here much good about Vista and hence looking for XP Pro besides Vista Home Premium though most brands very seldom offer XP Pro.

Had presumed that modest requirements should lead to a quick easy decision but doesnt seem to be the case.

Regards
Rajesh

 

Most companies' business lines still offer XP Pro. I know for a fact that, at the very least, Dell's Latitude and Vostro lines still ship with XP Pro, and machines of the latter branding are relatively cheap. This should theoretically last until the June 2008 cutoff for XP Pro so you better get an XP Pro machine before then if you want it.

 

I don't think you should worry about Vista. If you want XP fine but any OS introduction is going to have issues. Most have been worked out and many of the complaints about Vista come from a lack of understanding of how it works and what it is trying to accomplish. Vista is slower? Well it is faster in wPrime for whatever that is worth. It uses too much RAM? Well not using RAM at some point is a waste. I am in no way trying to answer the XP/Vista issue. What I am saying is for most users Vista will be just fine so I would not take "all that you hear" to seriously unless you have hardware or applications with known Vista issues. Acer does not have the best reputation of all mentioned.

 

Based on the needs you have described, I think XP Home will be the same with XP Pro for you. If you can save money with XP Home, I would recommend it. I have XP Home in my Vostro 1500, and although I have XP Pro available, I did not bother. For Vostro 1500, the difference is $99 between XP Pro and Home, you can upgrade memory or harddisk for that price.

 

It depends on how much you are willing to spend and the length of time you want it. 2mb for longer and slightly better. 1mb for slightly worse and shorter.

 

Doesn't make a difference you're going to notice. You're picking one performance characteristic out of several dozen that determine the overall performance of the CPU.

99% of the CPU is made up of various features and chunks of hardware that slightly speeds up certain operations. The cache is just one of them. A smaller cache can be compensated for in a million other ways, so in a sense, the cache size doesn't matter.

Apart from that, unless you're a big gamer, every CPU made in the last 3 years will be more than fast enough.

 

one meg will suffice for what you described but for $1000 you can get much better. I also recomend the Dell Vostro 1500 for this application. You can get one with a 250gb hdd, 2 gb ram, windows XP and a 2mb cache Core 2 Duo processor for $570 right now at dell.com under small and medium sized businesse> Dell Deals >Vostro. I have purchased two of these as well as an Inspiron 1720 in the last 4 months. You don't need to be a s,all busineess owner, enter whatever you want in that field. Build quality is very good, though it is more of a "serious" laptop than a "stylish" one.

 

Thank you everyone.
Understand that I can go ahead with 1MB L2.
Keeping in view quality of sound/to a certain extent video as well would be important - is any notebook brand or model recommended? My time horizon is as long as it lasts...
Also, is any notebook brand Acer/Sony/HP/Dell/Lenovo or a model known by experience to have an edge over the others in terms of quality - meaning where it is ok to pay a slight premium?
Thirdly, I was informed that for our needs, 1.5 GHz Intel Processor would suffice. Could you please also advise if this is a reasonable advice or do I need to look for a higher speed processor?


Thanks
rmb

 

I think many ppl on this forum exaggerate the importance of the cpu. It is NOT that important even when it comes to gaming. I'd say you go ahead with your choice. Again, it depends on the intended use of the computer. Ultra-fast CPUs are needed in case that you do a lot of cpu-intensive research, modeling etc. Otherwise, you'll simply not notice any difference and end up spending 200$ for nothing.
With respect to the particular brand, I'd recommend Lenovo. I had Acer Aspire previously. It is not a bad laptop but the quality wasn't top notch. From what I hear, the new gemstones are better built so Acer is worth considering - it offers great value for money laps.
Personally, I would take Lenovo mainly because of its looks and quality. But HP and Dell are still a very good choice.

 

Dell has an upper hand over the others, cause they have fan control.
This is the most important option to me when buying a notebook. I run the processor 24/7 at 100% load, so I want to be able to force the fans to full speed to keep everything running nice and cool. I am using I8KFANGUI, by Christian Diefer. It is an excellent thermal monitoring program, which is compatible with every dell laptop.

A 1.5Ghz processor will have more than enough power for any of your needs.
Just get a good fast harddrive and your system will be very fast.
A 250Gb 5400rpm drive will be perfect for the kind of workload you will be using on it.
I suggest getting the 250gb 5400rpm drive, cause it is similar in performance to the 160Gb 7200rpm drive.
If you want the fastest laptop drive, stick with the 320Gb 5400rpm drive, it is currently the fastest notebook harddrive on the market.

K-TRON

 

Hi,

Thanks. I am using Thinkpad T43 currently and I like it except for the sound output. Since music/dvd playing is important for us, I am kind of avoiding looking at Lenovo/IBM. In case lenovo/thinkpad models are known which are good for sound as well, please let me know.

Currently am in Europe where we hear from reliable retailiers that HP is facing build quality issues/also read it in on of the discussions - hence am a little sceptical about HP. Is this HP information true still?

Two component questions -- for viewing notebook output on TV, is S-Video a must or better or is just VGA enough? In most Sony models, S-Video does not exist.
Secondly, for pc to pc transfers - I am aware of 2 options: one is infrared and the other is bluetooth. A lot of models for eg. Sony do not have both though otherwise the models look good enough for home use. Could you please let me know if there are other options as well for this purpose?

One query on US localisation - since I travel to Europe, I had called up a reseller asking for if
1. is svideo out for NTSC only or also for PAL: the answer was only NTSC -- is there an adapter available?
2. Similarly, the power supply adapter is 110V -- is there a power adapter available that can help work the notebook with 220V also?


Thanking all,
rmb