Laptop - what would you choose?

At my place of employment, I am due for a new laptop. I have a few choices but I do not know what the best one would be in terms of computing power (I do not care about portability or battery use). With that said and since we deal with HP, what would have more computing power between these two:

- HP Compaq nc6120 Notebook PC (PR126UA) - Pentium M 1.8g w/512mb RAM

OR

- HP Compaq nx6125 Notebook PC (PZ896UA) - Turion 2.2g w/ 1g RAM

If your answer to the above is the Turion over the Pentium M, would this lower end Turion (1.6g w/ 512mb RAM) still have more computing power over the above Pentium M 1.8g w/ 512mb RAM (reason for asking is possible budget restrictions):

- HP Compaq nx6125 Notebook PC (PZ892UA) - Turion 1.6g w/ 512mb RAM

TIA for any feedback.

I have the nx6125-the 1.6 ghz. Very happy with it. Paid, as I recall, about $970, including shipping, at Newegg. Understand, though, I use it for basic business and web surfing. I am self-employed, and what I demand in a laptop is a decent warranty. The HP had a three-year factory warranty, and for under $1000, that was a real deal for me. Battery life is decent-not great, but over three hours, and that suits me just fine.

In my situation, I would have to choose the Intel system because some hardware I need to use needs a com port. THe intel system has a Parrallel and Serial port.

The Turion sports an SXGA+ screen over the Pentium XGA.

I dont know if the Dual Layer DVD +-RW drive in the Truion is a big advantage over the DVD/CD RW drive in the Pentuim M system.

Other than looking at what is a better performer right now, the other thing I have to look at is what will be the better setup 5 years down the road because that is about how long I will have to wait till I get my next new laptop.

If pure CPU power is what you seek, then look for a Intel Core Duo system. HP's selection is a bit limited, but Dell has some good choices, especially the Inspiron E1505. The Core Duo is going to be your best choice at this time, so see what your company will let you get away with. ;) If you must go HP/CPQ, then have a look at thier 14" WXGA models, as they sell a Duo-based book. The nice thing about the Duo's is that they will have both CPU power AND great battery life.

Whatever you go with, option up to the the larger capacity battery. It's the best time to do so, and you won't regret it. Even if you plan to be plugged in all the time, a higher capacity battery will come in handy for the times when you just can't find an outlet, or just don't want to plug in on the go. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ThreeOnTheTree

If pure CPU power is what you seek, then look for a Intel Core Duo system. HP's selection is a bit limited, but Dell has some good choices, especially the Inspiron E1505. The Core Duo is going to be your best choice at this time, so see what your company will let you get away with. ;) If you must go HP/CPQ, then have a look at thier 14" WXGA models, as they sell a Duo-based book. The nice thing about the Duo's is that they will have both CPU power AND great battery life.

Whatever you go with, option up to the the larger capacity battery. It's the best time to do so, and you won't regret it. Even if you plan to be plugged in all the time, a higher capacity battery will come in handy for the times when you just can't find an outlet, or just don't want to plug in on the go. :)

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Well my company is contracted with HP and all the Desktop Team orders for us are the three models I listed above plus the nc6120 Notebook PC (PZ121UA) which is a Pentium M 1.7g w/512mb RAM.

I have no say in what the four choices I have to select from are since I am on the Server Team and there is a lot of friction between the two teams with one always thinking they are better than the other or one thinking the other cannot function without the other.........

Bummer man. Can you hold out until one of you choices is a Duo? :D

If not, pure power goes to the 2.2ghz Turion. However, any Pentium M on the 533FSB should be pretty comptetative. If you go Turion, get the 8 cell battery. They don't appear to offer a 12cell, which is odd for a 15" book.

I was recently in a similar situation. I did not need the most power, but wanted the most bang for the buck. I am a tried-and-true AMD Fanboy, but I went with the HP nx6110 with the Dothan core Celeron over similar speed Turion systems. I love the machine!

I have several buddies who have the Turion 1.6 and 1.8 rigs and they do not outperfomr this Celeron in what I do with it. But.... they may for Photoshop and similar power hungry apps. I have since compared the Pentium M and wish the budget allowed it at the time, but the Celeron does great for me. The large L2 cache seems to really improve things.

In order for me to get close in price and budget, I would have to step down to a Sempron rig, and they are no match for the Dothan core Celeron from my experience. Overall, I ended up at $548 after rebate for the nx6110 and popped an extra $35 on 512mb of Corsair ValueRAM from NewEgg. It only came with 256mb.

So, if I were you, I would look at the Turion 2.2 as it will be the horsepower King, but the PM 1.8 is close enough that I would let the dollars talk and see if you could save some by going with the Pentium. I don't feel that the lower clocked Turion you mentioned would be a good choice, the Pentium would be better in that scenario.

I bought a nx6125 about 6 months ago for my personal use. I liked it so much I made it the company standard. I think we have handed out roughly 5 of them and they were well received. In fact, we may use these as desktop replacements for corner office types.
If your pricing is anything like ours, you are looking at $1,300-$1,400 for the nc6120. A 2.0GHz nx6125 w/1GB RAM is going to be under $1,100. You could upgrade to 2GB RAM or add accident protection (no-fault warranty) before getting close to the cost of the Intel.

I forgot to post back but we will be getting:

HP Compaq nx6125 Notebook PC (PZ896UA) - Turion 2.2g w/ 1g RAM

Should be in very soon.

How do you think that Integrated ATI Mobility Radeon X300 is going to be if I would want to play a game on this? What does it compare to that would go in a desktop?

It should play older games well enough. I wouldn't expect to be blown away though. I like the HP business class notebooks--they look very classy without being overdone. A 3 year warranty won't hurt either. :)