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Helloo everyone,

For the experts and knowledgable computer people out there, I was wondering if you can give opinions on the differences between THREE types of processors (assuming similar cache and RAM):

A) Pentium 4: 2.8GHz
B) Pentium M: Centrino 1.6 GHz
C) Apple G4 1.0 GHz

(all are at similar prices)

On the following things:


1) Word processing, Surfing the Web, Chatting on msn


2) Playing Medium Graphics Intensity Games


3) Heating Up


4) Portability and Battery Life


5) Compatibility


Thanks so much IW people [img]smile.gif[/img]

Avy

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Ohhhhh boy, a question about Apple's and PC's, I can see quite an argument coming on :D
Well I will kepp it simple and to what I know, Apple computers are good at many things, and PC's are good at many things (dispite common beliefs) anyway, if you are comfortable in using an Apple computer, then from what I have found and heard, they are far superior in the multimedia area, although If you want to play alot of games, they do not have the compatability for games that PC's have because most games come out designed for PC's. You pretty much have to use the Apple Operating system. If you want more on Apple's then you will have to ask someone who knows more than me, which is most people, I used to hate them , but after using them at school I found that they are quite easy to use.

Anyway, I am a PC man, so here we go.
Pentium 4 = GREAT!!!
Pentium M:Centrino = Good(I think)
Anyway, I am a PC man so I would go with the Pentium 4, only because in a laptop, you need all the specs you can get, because I think that they are lacking when it comes to data transfer speed, they are also much more compatible with devices and software, replacing parts is MUCH cheaper and easier and so on...
Heating up has never been a problem for me in laptops, and most can have giant fans plugged into the side if neccesary.
As for battery life, from what I have seen, Mac's have better battery life, but I do not own one so I cannot give specific details.
Anyway, this is from my own knowlage, so alot of it is probably wrong [img]smile.gif[/img] so anyone can feel free to correct me.
Hope this helps.

Fans plugged into the side? [img]smile.gif[/img] never seen that!

Mine has the fan on the bottom and exit at the side.

It sucks.

I prop it up to get good airflow below....

The new one I want has 2 fans below...

WHY IS IT ALWAYS BELOW? don't they get it that there is minimal airflow down there?

Okay, let's see if I have a thought or two...

First consideration is usage. The Pentium 4 would probably be on a desktop, and the Pentium M on a laptop (M=Mobile). So... which one are you going to be using? The Apple... I don't know much, but I suppose it would go either way. The difference in speeds are pretty tremendous, though.

For the applications you mentioned, processor speed is a minor issue. For word processing, memory will be more important, and for the other two, network bandwidth. Unless you're playing heavy games over the web... then your processor speed would come into play.

For games... more is better. Most likely the P4 2.8 will be best.

As for heat... that's an issue with laptops more than desktops. And there's not much you can do about it in a laptop :( The higher the processor speed, the more heat it will generate. Most laptops today are built to handle that, and will be supported by their manufacturers in case of problems. Now, if you're playing on your lap... yeah, that can get toasty, but that's a laptop issue.

Portability and battery life are again primarily issues of the laptop itself. The more you do, the less battery life. And portability... as long as you can carry it, it's portable. I used to use a luggable laptop years ago... portable because it had a handle, luggable because it weighed close to 20 pounds [img]smile.gif[/img] Today's machines are much smaller, so pick one based on how you'll use it. Mine is the right size for flying in an airplane, since I travel. It's small enough that if the person in front of me suddenly leands back, I won't lose my laptop screen.

Finally, more things are going to be compatible with PCs 'cause they're developed for Windows first. There are some Windows emulators for Macs that you can get which create a virtual Windows machine inside the Mac. MY boss uses it, and it's pretty cool.

Don't know if that helps much, but I believe you've got to look at the whole machine, not just one component. Memory on the graphics card, for example, affects performance a lot more than main memory.