celeron or sempron (budget)

I am in the market for a budget notebook and with my price range about $650 I can only choose a computer with sempron or celeron (I think). I have heard that celerons are just stripped Pentium M's. The only thing that I have heard/read about semprons is that they are not really mobile processors. Just by my preference, I would like a Sempron over Celeron but most budget deals that I can find are Celerons. With it being such a budget notebook for word processing, torrents, music, net, and DVD etc. does it really make a difference?
Also, is having a 1Mb L2 cache going to make a big difference compared to, say a 256 Kb L2? thanks

 

I'm pretty sure you can get a pretty full-featured Dell e1405 or e1505 (with discount coupons) for that price. Check dealcoupon.com or fatwallet forums for those deals. No point in settling for sempron on celeron when you can get core solo or duo.

 

For that price, or just a bit more, you could get a Dell or Acer Pentium/Core Duo notebook.

The Celeron M chip is slightly better than the Sempron.

A 1MB L2 cache will make a huge difference, compared to a 256kB cache.

 

Only if you are comparing a Celeron M with 1MB with a Celeron M with 256KB cache. Since the Sempron and Celeron are based on very different arhitectures, the effect of the cache varies. More cache is better is just a general rule and is probably only valid if you are comparing processors within the same platform. The Sempron does just fine with either 128K/256K cache, it has other architectural advantages(IMC, HTT...) over the Celeron M which compensates for the less amount of cache.

The Sempron and Celeron's are pretty similar performance wise and there is very little noticable differences. The Sempron is a mobile processor and as such has low power consumption. It is rated at a TDP of 25W compared to the 21W of the Celeron M. The only advantage of the Sempron over the Celeron M is that it has better power saving features(PowerNow) which the Celeron M lacks. It makes a slight difference but the Celeron M's are pretty efficient and battery life will be similar or less depending on the usage. It is also dependant on the capacity of the battery, watch out for these as lower end laptops tend to have poor batteries.

Also since the introduction of the Core Duo, the Pentium M prices have dropped and a Dell B130 with the Pentium M 740 is available for $699(after $100MIR) and should be pretty good deal although it is a bit out of your price range.

 

Up your budget by $50 to $699. I've seen a few Dell deals for the 1505 or 1405 that come up for that price. You have to have a keen eye, new deals keep coming every week.

 

Thanks for the info. all. I have been looking around for the past 2 weeks and I always end up on an Acer (AS3004wlci) I read all the replies on the as3003 thread. It has all that I need. 512 ram, 60Gb HDD, 15.4, 3 USB, Sempron 3100 all for about $500. There is one problem though; any other brand with the same specs are quite a bit more expensive even many that are on sale. My question is: is it just the build quality of Acer Aspire 3000 series that keeps it low or something else like all generic/cheap hardware? I cannot find the brands for things such as optical/HDD. I know it has the SIS graphics which I hear are junk (and the battery) but it only concerns me if it affects older gen. games and DVDs, which I read in the 3003 thread that it doesn't and the main diff. in the two is the 3100 v 3000, L2, HDD size etc. I believe. On the extended review of the 3003 on this site, a crack developed on the back (if my memory serves me correct) of the LCD and I know that all laptops are susceptible to such problems but again, I am weary of Acer build quality. Also, the computer dept. at CC advised me not to go with Acer and that they would never buy one (they gave no definite reason though). My largest concern is the build/hardware quality. Any info regarding this would be greatly appreciated because this is going to be my first laptop and I don't lose all faith if I get this one and it craps out on me one day after warranty is up thanks

 

You cannot expect great build quality from a 650-dollar notebook. It will be very OK if you don't drop it. It may crack when you pick it up, or the screen may not close absolutely tight but it will be OK.
I can speed mainly for HP's budget laptops and I can assure you that their quality is satisfactory.
For this price, btw, you may want to try customizing a v2000z from shopping.hp.com.

And just a note, the sempron is the better CPU imo as it delivers much more for the money.

 

Like I said for $699, here's a VERY nicely equipped Dell.
http://www.xpbargains.com/best_deal.php/dell_inspiron_E1505_deals.htm

Excellent deal. Dell Home has the Dell Inspiron E1505 notebook (Inspiron 6400) w/ Core Duo 1.66GHz, 15.4 inch WXGA screen, 1GB DDR2, 100GB SATA, DVD+-RW burner, 56k/NIC, 802.11a/b/g Wireless, XP Media Center Edition, 1yr warranty for only $1174 - $475 coupon code = $699 w/ free shipping.

 

Lol so if i dont buy a Ferrari my car will explode when i hit 50 mph ? Same here why wont a 650 $ laptop be good enough ?? if anything fails there is warranty.

 

Obviously you haven't worked on a Thinkpad and on a budget HP notebook. You cannot expect the quality of the Thinkpad for $2000 on a sub $1000 HP. That's it. It won't explode, it is just cheaper

 

+1 for everyone elses comments regarding being able to find a Dell 1405 or 1505 for a few dollars more using vouchers.

If you are commited to buying a Sempron or Celeron based notebook, I'd put my money on the Sempron every time. Since the Sempron uses an on-die memory controller (Hypertransport) the L2 cache reduction used on budgets CPUs makes far less difference than it does with the Celeron.

 

some people here just blindly believe that there is some majic border line of quality which has some line of price... and other nonsense.... while never actually using any of the laptops or processors widly criticized.

it's just mimicing the sales people...

in fact, imo, most people don't even do anything besides most basic tasks on their pc, and DONT need any of those specs in the first place...

im one of those...

Save the money on celeron instead of buying a "sempron" with power now technology , and buy some flowers to your significant other...

most benefit in the long run

 

I would go for Sempron if I am into light gaming and stuff like that.Plus it has HTT Technology ,on-die memory controller. Thats the reason I went with Sempron. Celeron lacks of PowerNow technology/SpeedStep technology. So it really depends on you

 

What can I say, it seems to be a lost cause. If the OP is hellbent on getting celeron/sempron then who are we to stop him?

 

Both of Celeron and Sempron are entry-level cpu, but i will choose Sempron for my decision for playing the games. Saving some money to upgrade a better video card will be my first priority.

 

Well, I decided to actually down my budget around $150. Since this will be my first notebook or computer of my own for that matter. Only earlier generation games will be played like fallout 2 so no real quality GPU needed. other than that, for internet/Word, a $500 laptop should last me until I get to law school whereas I may get a notebook of greater quality. Thanks all for the info. I really enjoyed reading it. Now if I could only decide on glare or matte.... and that I must decide on my on preference. again, thankyou all