100 Mhz Worth an Extra $250?

[Enderet]

I am currently in the process of purchasing a notebook and I am looking at the Fujitsu P5010 and the P5020. The only difference between the two models besides the 250 dollars, is an extra 100Mhz. While the P5010 (the model that Jason owns) runs a 900Mhz Pentium-M the 5020 uses a 1Ghz P-M.

I could put those extra 250 dollars on some more ram or 2 extra batteries. But I wanted some input...in regards to the extra 100Mhz and whether or not they make a noticable difference. 8)

[JustinGTP]

It won't really make a difference, but, if the jump was like 300mhz, then it would.

I would go with extra batteries so that you can use the 900mhz for longer. Out of curiosity, why are you looking at the Fujitsus? 900mhz is pretty slow for today, unless you wanted the size to be small...

-Justin.

[Enderet]

This is the same unit Jason has (the 5010) and he only seemed to have good things to say about it. I own a nice desktop which will take care of all my gaming needs and heavy duty work... so a small laptop would be nice. The specs on the Fujitsu 5020/5010 make it an ultra portable and it is a sleek unit. Since it is a P-M...it will be running at about 1.5 Ghz... not that slow for my needs.

[Oliver Mitchell]

the M part stands for mobile meaning it will use less power as it can shut down parts of the processor but i can't see how a 900mhz can run at 1.5ghz, anyway i would suggest keeping the extra money and buying some peripherals for it, as i doubt you'll notice the extra 100mhz

[JustinGTP]

Good point, so actually, it is going to be a pretty expensive slow laptop. I would suggest looking at the toshibas, my dad got the new Satellite 6100 Pro, thats a nice piece of equipment :D

-Justin.

[Falstaff]

What enderet was referring to was the processor benchmark tests. The Pentium-M processors with much lower numbers of GHz run faster than other Pentiums with the same numbers, I think the P-M 1GHz runs as fast as a P-4 1.7GHz,

[Jason Dunn]

What enderet was referring to was the processor benchmark tests. The Pentium-M processors with much lower numbers of GHz run faster than other Pentiums with the same numbers, I think the P-M 1GHz runs as fast as a P-4 1.7GHz,

Correct, although it's not that it actually runs faster - it has a big 1 MB cache, which gives it more "oomph" per clock cycle than a normal P4 chip, so in terms of benchmarking, it benchmarks in the 1.5 Ghz range when compared to a P4.

Justin, the P5010D isn't designed for raw speed - it's designed for maximum portability, and awesome battery life (10+ hours with two batteries). Toshiba has nothing that matches it for size - the only similar laptop on the market (wide screen, size, weight) is the Sony TR series, and the extra battery is a big fat hump on the back and costs $399 USD.

[Jason Dunn]

BTW, for $250, the extra 100 mhz isn't worth it...max out the RAM and make sure you get the drive bay battery. :way to go:

[arnage2]

A 900mhz pentium m will be plenty. It will give you comparable performance to a 1.7-8 ghz p4 or an athlon xp 1800+.

[JustinGTP]

Ha ha!

So this is the rolls royce of portability and life then, hey. I get it, thats why I didnt buy a laptop, the battery power just isnt there yet. Thats why I have the PPC. I guess that this is why the laptop is called a lifebook. It has lots of life?

-Justin.

[David Prahl]

I agree - the Pentium-M is a great CPU for notebook PCs. How closely related are the Pentium-M and Centrino?

Anyone know what kind of battery life one of those P4 3.02 hogs gets? :?:

[Janak Parekh]

I agree - the Pentium-M is a great CPU for notebook PCs. How closely related are the Pentium-M and Centrino?
The Centrino is a "solution" that uses the P-M processor, the supporting Intel chipset, and the Intel PRO Wireless chipset. In theory, the Centrino bundle maximizes power savings. However, until recently there was no Centrino chipset that supported 802.11g, so there have been quite a few laptops with P-M chips that aren't technically "Centrino" yet have very good power statistics.

Anyone know what kind of battery life one of those P4 3.02 hogs gets? :?:
You mean a desktop P4? Most laptops based on them top out at about an hour...

--janak

[Jason Dunn]

I agree - the Pentium-M is a great CPU for notebook PCs. How closely related are the Pentium-M and Centrino?Anyone know what kind of battery life one of those P4 3.02 hogs gets? :?:

Pentium-M is the CPU, Centrino is marketing/brand name for a triad of technologies: Pentium-M, Intel's 802.11b chipset, and a thin and light hardware design.

The battery life of the HP NZ7000, a 9-pound monster, is about 2 hours.

[Kowalski]

i dont know the notebooks you mentioned but a pentium m which runs 1gHz is much more powerfull than a 1.7 gHz pIV. why intel lowers the clock speed? to improve the runtimes. go for the 900 mHz

[foldedspace]

All the research I've done doesn't indicate any real benefit to the extra mhz. And benchmarks are actually equal or better than the Athlon XP-M that's rated at higher clock speeds.

The little Fujitsu is also one I'm seriously considering...although I want one with a 5400 rpm hard drive and 512 memory.

[Jason Dunn]

The little Fujitsu is also one I'm seriously considering...although I want one with a 5400 rpm hard drive and 512 memory.

They had a version with 512 MB RAM, but in terms of the hard drive, I doubt you'll see it for a while - remember that long battery life is one of the primary functions of the P5000 series, so performance is secondary. Hell, I want a 7200 RPM drive, but I think the battery life would suffer a wee bit. ;-)

BTW, in terms of RAM, it was cheaper for me to buy a 512 MB stick from Crucial than to get the model with 512 MB.

[foldedspace]

Would you buy one of these used? I like the form factor, and it's cheaper than the Sony, but still kind of pricey.

[Jason Dunn]

Would you buy one of these used? I like the form factor, and it's cheaper than the Sony, but still kind of pricey.

Hmm...I'm a little suspicious of complicated things that are used (laptops, cars, etc.). It would really depend on who's selling it, etc. The laptop hasn't been out that long, so it likely won't be all that "used".

(from your previous post): Oh, and FWIW, you can always upgrade the hard drive yourself later. ;-)