Pentium 4 vs Pentium M

dd74 · 06-02-2005, 11:57 AM

Well, I'm shopping for a new laptop. I still haven't discounted Apple, but I'm also looking at the devil I know - PCs.

Ummm...so I want something fast - very fast, and I know Pentium 4 notebooks are very fast. However, no more Pentium 4s! The only company I can find selling them is IBM. Now everyone is selling Pentium M.

So what's the difference between Pentium 4 and Pentium M? Anyone have experience with either?

Thanks.

BlueSkyJaunte · 06-02-2005, 12:03 PM

Pentium M is faster, runs cooler, has longer battery life, and I'd rather have one in my desktop than the boat-anchor P4 that I have.

dd74 · 06-02-2005, 01:07 PM

And not so I'm mistaken, Centrino M is not the same as Pentium M, correct?

BlueSkyJaunte · 06-02-2005, 01:22 PM

"Centrino" is just the brand name for "Pentium M with the Intel chipset and wireless package".

I haven't heard of "Centrino M". Unless something new is out that I'm not aware of, that's probably a typo.

84porsche · 84porsche's Garage

http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/index.htm

It seems like Centrino is a package that includes the processor, the chipset and wireless capabilities.

island911 · 06-02-2005, 02:28 PM

Centrino M is a Pentium M . . .plus a bunch of other stuff. (as said above)

I think it has to do with "idle marketing department make for confused product." (i think thats how that goes)

fwiw, I bought a new Dell Precision M just yesterday. (finally figuring all this out)

dd74 · 06-02-2005, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by island911

fwiw, I bought a new Dell Precision M just yesterday. (finally figuring all this out)

You're finally figuring out you bought a computer yesterday. Uh-oh, what'd I tell you about using the Visa while on the meds...

Yeah, I checked further into IBM's site and read up on the specs of their laptops. Sure 'nuff, it's marketing masturbation that makes the M...Mmmmmm good...

Whatever, I just need a working box. And no, not that kind of box...

Neilk · 06-02-2005, 05:27 PM

Check out this link to see how much more efficient a Pentium M is compared to a P4.

Plus if you want to use your laptop on your lap, a Pentium M will be much cooler and save your little swimmers from destruction as well. (see link.)

david.avery · david.avery's Garage

I just bought a Dell XPS Gen 2, (p4 2GHz) it's fast as hell... The best forums for NB's I have found are www.notebookforums.com. Rule is that the P4M's are about equivalent to 1.7X the p4. They do not multitask as well, but it does reach some of the same bench numbers as a P4 3.6.

It was a cross up between the Sager 9880 and the Dell. The dell won by having a very very fast video card (3dmark05's in the 5000 not overclocked) and being reasonbly priced, light, and cool (the P4's in NB config run notoriously hot). I have 2G of ram in it, it's very very cool, 17" widescreen (1920*1400). Check the forums there, some good info.

jyl · jyl's Garage

You want Pentium M for a notebook - performance similar to the Pentium 4 (comparing a typical laptop 1.8GHz Pentium M to a typical desktop 2.8GHz Pentium 4) but much lower power consumption hence longer battery life.

It is not important to get a Centrino. Centrino is Intel's name for Pentium M + Intel chipset + Intel WLAN chip. Intel wants to sell the chipset and WLAN chip, not just the CPU, so they came up w/ a marketing name. Well, others' chipset and WLAN are just as good.

To me, battery life is the #1 criteria for a notebook. Next is a good screen, keyboard, and pointing device. Size, weight, and durability are next. Then lots of memory, big hard drive, and good WLAN reception. CPU comes last.

I have a IBM Thinkpad T41p (or is it T42p?) and I get appx 6 hour battery life (with power management on and WLAN off), big screen, great keyboard and so on, with a Pentium M 1.8GHz. I'm happy.

I'd like a Apple PowerBook, but alas work won't allow it.

dd74 · 06-02-2005, 09:05 PM

Hey John - Power is most important to me since I work with some graphics files and huge word processing files. With the previous Centrino processor, I'd find myself hanging up whenever I typed quickly (I can type about 80 wpm without a sweat). I'm always plugged in, so battery life is not nearly as important as a small footprint, a good screen and a really good keyboard.

Funny enough, the machine I'm typing this on now is an old IBM A30 with a fantastic screen and keyboard. It's a P3 with 384mb of RAM, and built like a tank. It has never hanged up on me, while my newer R40 continually hangs up - or it did until I drastically cut down every single non XP-related process the machine was running. Also, the machine is built like *****: the F9 key has falls off and the RJ11 and 45 jacks, modem and USB port has broken and slips around inside the case. I'm seriously thinking of just buying a used A30 or A31 P3 or P4 off Ebay as a replacement, or as Dr. Island suggested, a refurbished machine.

Has anyone bought a refurbished machine?

As for Apple: yeah, very nice - but I'm starting to hear horror stories about their latest OS - Panther, is it?

Meanwhile, the new Compaq V2000 looks promising.

Here's a link for anyone interested:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?series_name=V2000_series&catLevel=2&category=notebooks/compaq_presario&storeName=computer_store

island911 · 07:38 AM

That's a very stylish Compaq there. However, for graphics, you really want more than WXGA (1280x768) resolution. The old Dell I'm typing on now has a 1600x1200 pixels stuffed in a 15" screen, and the one I just ordered has 1920x1200 pixels stuffed in a 15.4" screen. (read: examples of most pixels per foot-print.)
For a great white paper on the subject click here.

edit: for a full matrix on screen parameters, click here.

david.avery · david.avery's Garage

These are the two bad boys of dtr (desktop replacement) right now:

Sager 9880

Dell XPS Gen II

I love the Dell, best machine I've ever owned. I've got 2G ram in it, can turn off the page file with XP.

dd74 · 06-03-2005, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by david.avery
These are the two bad boys of dtr (desktop replacement) right now:

Sager 9880

Dell XPS Gen II

I love the Dell, best machine I've ever owned. I've got 2G ram in it, can turn off the page file with XP.

Gracious, DA - I just priced the XPS with all the stuff I like: $3,626 bucks! And that's without wireless and a printer...

But I did see an XPS the other day - that's one hella machine...

david.avery · david.avery's Garage

I got mine for $2900... watch out for the coupons.... I had $750 off

Look at the notebook forums.com Dell General, there is a sticky there from a crazy guy that finds all the deals (deal svengali or something like that).

dd74 · 06-03-2005, 08:05 AM

And now for something completely different, check out these monsters:

http://www.hypersonic-pc.com/2001/systems-mobile.htm

dd74 · 06-03-2005, 08:14 AM

...or this:
http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51m_7700/area-51m_7700_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51-M-7700&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

dd74 · 06-03-2005, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by david.avery
...forums.com Dell General...

Dave - can you provide a link? I've now been informed our office is also getting new workstations, and I'm the Johnny-on-the-spot...

island911 · 06-03-2005, 08:24 AM

fwiw, the Dell XPS's and the alienware machines are physically big. (you wouldn't want to try and use these on a flight)

OTOH, that hypersonic link looks good ... some nice looking product (CQ6) w/ hi-res screens.

oh, and you'll likely be disappointed w/ the dell forum, for making machine purchase decision.

david.avery · david.avery's Garage

For the machine in question,

Hypersonic = ALienware = Sager = Clevo (manufacturer)

Same machine, 30% cost.

As for the Dell coupons, read backward from here:
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?p=932216#post932216