Best CPU for Basic Computing Needs

[snsd]

Hi: very LOW tech question!

I have a 5 year old Centrino single core laptop with 1GB of RAM. I need to replace it only because the screen is toast on it.

I am NOT a gamer and I rarely watch videos - so graphics aren’t a huge deal for me. I basically use Firefox (with up to 20 tabs open at a time), Quickbooks, MS Office... The most resource intensive app I use is Dragon Naturally Speaking.

I don’t necessarily need a battery that lasts all day - but I do use a battery for about 1.5 hours per day and I would like the battery to last for years...

I don’t want to spend more than $400. Here are my main options - all with 500GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM.

AMD C-50 $280
AMD E-350 $280

Pentium B940 $400
i3-380m $400
AMD A6-3400m $400

I’m not looking for a major analysis of each chip. I’ve done quite a bit of research and I understand the C-50 and E-350 use the least power. If I were buying the C-50 or E-350, which might work best for me? Likewise if I was choosing between the other 3. And then, finally, which do you think would be best overall? (eg. if relatively speaking they're all fast, would I even notice a difference between any of them. If that's the case, I'd just get the C-50 which uses less power and is less expensive.)

Thanks for any direction you might be able to give.

Dave

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Between the C-50 and E-350, go with the latter as it's noticeably more powerful and they're the same price in terms of the options you're looking at.

You don't really need anything more than an E-350, but of the B940, 380m, and 3400m, I suggest you go with the 3400m because it's the most powerful of the three three and all will offer excellent battery life, easily giving 1.5 hours/charge.

You would notice the difference between the E-350 and the 3400m. Whether it's worth $120 to you, I can't say. But I do know even for basic usage I'd rather spend $280 on the E-350 machine and throw a $100 64GB Crucial M4 SSD in it than use a 3400m with a mechanical HDD, if you don't need the space.

 

[cantholdanymore]

Can't buy the laptop based on the processor only; screen size, weight and assembly quality have to be considered. I have a E-350 laptop for basically the same use you describe, but price wise was closer to $400 since it has a faster drive an build quality is excellent (HP dm1z if you wonder)

 

[Zap]

If all else is mostly equal and choosing based strictly on the CPU and your tasks, I'd take the Pentium B940. It is a 2GHz dual core Sandy Bridge with 2MB cache and 3D performance similar to HD 2000, but with no QuickSync, no Hyperthreading, no Turbo.

 

[snsd]

Thanks for all the responses!

Although I've heard of SSD, I really don't understand the benefits of them. I'll need to do some research to see what difference they'd make to someone with my needs.

I was only asking about CPU because I've already decided on a 14" screen and light weight. I do agree that build quality is important and that some units are really cheaply built.

So, based on your responses, I think I've ruled out the C-50 and i-380m - and am down to the other 3. I wish it was more straightforward. I think the bottom line is that all 3 of these processors are so much faster than what I have now that any of them would work out.

Thanks for all your input.

Dave

 

[frozentundra123456]

Can't buy the laptop based on the processor only; screen size, weight and assembly quality have to be considered. I have a E-350 laptop for basically the same use you describe, but price wise was closer to $400 since it has a faster drive an build quality is excellent (HP dm1z if you wonder)

Yes, I saw the dm1z in best buy a few months ago, and was taken with it. It seems to have disappeared from the shelves now unfortunately.

As to the question by the OP, it would be useful to know more details about the laptops he is looking at. For instance, are the C50 and E350 full size 15.6 in machines or are they netbook size? As someone else said, at the same price definitely go for the E350 over the C50.

Personally, though, I would prefer the E350 in a netbook size laptop, and one of the other chips for a larger form factor, maybe the A6.

BTW, OP, where are you shopping?? Those prices are very attractive.

 

[Cerb]

Can't buy the laptop based on the processor only; screen size, weight and assembly quality have to be considered.

<= $400 brand new, anything more powerful/larger than a netbook will have fairly poor build quality. Four year old notebooks with good build quality can still cost up to $400 (a T61p comes to mind).

Although I've heard of SSD, I really don't understand the benefits of them. I'll need to do some research to see what difference they'd make to someone with my needs.

Any time you are waiting on something to happen, and the hard drive light is lit up, you are waiting on your hard drive. With a good SSD (such as Crucial's M4), you give up space/$, but those occurrences become less frequent, and of much shorter duration.

I think the bottom line is that all 3 of these processors are so much faster than what I have now that any of them would work out.

Gaming and video are where the AMD A-series shine. You said you didn't care about either of those, so make that 2 processors. The i3 is good, but also would offer you no real advantage over the Pentium.

The E-350 will likely be slower than what you had, though often not by too much. It's main advantage is you should be able to get most of a day of real use out of such a notebook, instead of treating the advertised battery life as a mythical value.

Basically, an E-350 notebook is a souped-up netbook. Slow, and light, but only sipping power. Display backlight power consumption will really matter, with one of these.

A notebook with a SB Pentium is a low-end regular notebook. More bulky, heavier, and not quite as good battery life, but a far faster CPU than a E-350 (figure anywhere from 2-8x as fast, depending on what you are doing).

 

[nyker96]

a E350 or E450 is pretty good web machine and can do a few other things if you need.

 

[Silverforce11]

E-350 is a no brainer really. It's great for everything besides gaming. It's duo core as well, so you can open heaps of browsers/apps.

I've had a Turion x2 ultrathin for awhile now for work use and the E-350 is much better than that. As an added benefit, its got a decent iGPU that can accelerate videos output to hdmi HD tvs.

Edit: And it actually manages to run WoW on medium settings 40+ fps, CoD MW2 30 fps. Pretty nice for such a long battery life and cheap laptop.

 

[Arg Clin]

I'd go with the E-350. Uses very little power, but IMO feels more than adequate for basic web/office tasks. I'll do 1080p videos without a problem as long as it's in a hardware accelerated player, so you shouldn't have a problem even when you want to watch videos occasionally.

Also +1 on getting an SSD - it will make way more difference than what CPU you decide on.

 

[snsd]

Thanks again for all the really great responses. Lots of good stuff to think about!

Latpop size: I'm looking at 13.3", 14" and 15.6" - but I'm leaning towards 13.3" or 14".

Models I'm actually considering - from Wal-Mart (Canada)!

1) A6-3400m 14" Toshiba L745D-006 $398 (CAD)
http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore...onName=Featured+Item&fromCollectionPage=false
I actually bought this one last night as there is a 14 day return policy - and good thing it does! Out of the box, everything has a purple tinge to it and the keyboard feels like it might last a week. I know you can adjust colours...but certainly shouldn't have to do so out of the box!

2) B-940 15.6" Toshiba C650-00F $398 (CAD)
http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore...tionName=Top+Sellers&fromCollectionPage=false
I'm going to assume this is the same cheap build quality as the one above

3) E-350 15.6" Acer Aspire AS5253-BZ492 $278 (CAD) (only a 320GB hard drive on this one which is way more than I'll ever need)
http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore...leName=&startSearch=&fromSearchBox=&addFacet=

I'm likely going to go with the less expensive E-350/450 processor and use the savings to buy a better built unit.

Again, thanks for all the great advice.

Dave

 

[JuanJeremy]

Hi: very LOW tech question!

I have a 5 year old Centrino single core laptop with 1GB of RAM. I need to replace it only because the screen is toast on it.

I am NOT a gamer and I rarely watch videos - so graphics aren’t a huge deal for me. I basically use Firefox (with up to 20 tabs open at a time), Quickbooks, MS Office... The most resource intensive app I use is Dragon Naturally Speaking.

I don’t necessarily need a battery that lasts all day - but I do use a battery for about 1.5 hours per day and I would like the battery to last for years...

I don’t want to spend more than $400. Here are my main options - all with 500GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM.

AMD C-50 $280
AMD E-350 $280

Pentium B940 $400
i3-380m $400
AMD A6-3400m $400

I’m not looking for a major analysis of each chip. I’ve done quite a bit of research and I understand the C-50 and E-350 use the least power. If I were buying the C-50 or E-350, which might work best for me? Likewise if I was choosing between the other 3. And then, finally, which do you think would be best overall? (eg. if relatively speaking they're all fast, would I even notice a difference between any of them. If that's the case, I'd just get the C-50 which uses less power and is less expensive.)

Thanks for any direction you might be able to give.

Dave

i would seriously avoid the c50 and e350. performancewise theyre pretty terrible if its going to be your main machine. i wouldnt consider the intel pentiums either because in the last month or so i3 laptops have started to sell for 380 or less. the amd a6 laptops are ok but theyre clocked a little low and are more expensive than i3's. so i say get i3 or spend $100 more and get i5

 

[Ratman6161]

Thanks again for all the really great responses. Lots of good stuff to think about!

Latpop size: I'm looking at 13.3", 14" and 15.6" - but I'm leaning towards 13.3" or 14".

Models I'm actually considering - from Wal-Mart (Canada)!

1) A6-3400m 14" Toshiba L745D-006 $398 (CAD)
http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore...onName=Featured+Item&fromCollectionPage=false
I actually bought this one last night as there is a 14 day return policy - and good thing it does! Out of the box, everything has a purple tinge to it and the keyboard feels like it might last a week. I know you can adjust colours...but certainly shouldn't have to do so out of the box!

2) B-940 15.6" Toshiba C650-00F $398 (CAD)
http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore...tionName=Top+Sellers&fromCollectionPage=false
I'm going to assume this is the same cheap build quality as the one above

3) E-350 15.6" Acer Aspire AS5253-BZ492 $278 (CAD) (only a 320GB hard drive on this one which is way more than I'll ever need)
http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore...leName=&startSearch=&fromSearchBox=&addFacet=

I'm likely going to go with the less expensive E-350/450 processor and use the savings to buy a better built unit.

Again, thanks for all the great advice.

Dave

We have had a couple of Toshiba's at work and had very poor luck with them. They worked fine but the construction was flimsy. They seemed to be shaving weight by using thin materiel's. Both of ours bit the dust through mild user abuse with the hinges on the screen breaking off. On the other hand we don't have any problem with people breaking our Dells. Keep in mind though that neither the Toshiba's nor the Dells I'm talking about were <$400 models - these were more like 2x to 3x that price. So if a $1200 Toshiba was flimsy, I can only imagine what their $400 machines are like.

Other comment: Everyone keeps talking about the E350 but that's really in a completely different class than the other processors you are looking at. The E350 compares more with an Atom on the Intel side so when you put it up against the i3 or B series Sandy Bridge its going to get completely blown away. The only reason for going with it is low power consumption...but you said you only need it to last 1.5 hours so battery life is irrelevant.

Here is the bottom line as I see it. For the tasks you describe, there is no new notebook on the market that will not do the job for you. In fact I've got two net books with the newer dual core Atom CPU's that are pretty snappy with Windows 7 and would have no problem with these tasks. For home use, my wife and I have had great luck with HP consumer grade systems. I've got a 2 6000T with 2.0 Ghz core 2 duo from November of 2006 that is still going strong. My wife has an i3 330 and that's still going very strong too.

Check out the HP2000t. B950, 3 GB RAM and 500 GB hard drive and squeaks in under your $400 price point at $399.99 . Thats with a 15.6 screen and for some reason they don't have a 14 inch that low but check out the G4t which is only a little more at $479 and has an i3 370, 4 GB ram and 500GB drive. Personally I don't see the need to "settle" for the E350 when the prices are so close and the thing where the E350 shines (low power) is something that makes no difference for your usage.

 

[Arkaign]

I've personally had great luck with the more recent Acers (post-merger/etc).

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...639&amp;CatId=4965


Etc. I would definitely avoid anything less than Phenom/Llano/Pentium/i3 cpus. Just too aggravatingly slow.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Today's woot is a 17" laptop for $380:

http://www.woot.com/

Processor: AMD Phenom II N970 (2.2GHz)
Processor Core: Quad-Core
Screen Size: 17.3"
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1600 x 900
Display Type: Active Matrix TFT Color LCD
Backlight Technology: LED
Graphics: ATI Radeon&#8482; HD 4250 (up to 1919MB)
Memory: 4GB DDR3 (expandable to 8GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB (5400rpm)
Optical Drive: SuperMulti DVD&#177;RW with Double-Layer Support
Wireless: 802.11b/g/n
Card Reader: 5-in-1 Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD)
Battery: 6-Cell Lithium-Ion
Speakers: Acer 3DSonic&#8482;
Webcam: 1.3MP
Keyboard: Standard with Dedicated Numeric Keypad
Pointing Device: Multi-Gesture Touchpad
I/O Ports:
HDMI: 1
USB 2.0: 3
VGA: 1
RJ-45: 1
Mic-in: 1
Headphone-out: 1
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions: 16.3"(W) x 1.4"(H) x 10.8"(D)
Weight: 7.28 lbs


EDIT: Just read (not in your OP) that you want a 14" laptop.
Just get the cheapest thing you can find. Anything is fast enough for you.

 

[Davegod]

Although I've heard of SSD, I really don't understand the benefits of them. I'll need to do some research to see what difference they'd make to someone with my needs.

An SSD primarily greatly decreases how long it takes to open programs and files on your computer.

On all computers, but especially laptops, the speed of the hard drive is usually the most noticeable impact on performance everywhere except when you are running some really intensive program or a large number of programs. It doesn't make your computer more capable or anything, but it does significantly reduce the annoyances like the time it takes to turn on the computer and open programs.

this video wasn't the one I was looking for but is indicative. Note the traditional hard drive compared to is a WD Caviar Black, a desktop-sized drive significantly faster than one you'll find in laptops.

None of the activities you mentioned require much of the CPU, unless you do some insane stuff in Excel. That said, they're not all that hard-drive intensive either, and you probably use hibernate on the laptop? So unless you're getting annoyed with the time it takes Quickbooks to load or simply enjoy a super-responsive computer, I doubt it's worth the cost premium in your case.

 

[sm625]

Should be able to find a B940 notebook for $300. Nothing can beat that value

 

[frozentundra123456]

I've personally had great luck with the more recent Acers (post-merger/etc).

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...639&amp;CatId=4965


Etc. I would definitely avoid anything less than Phenom/Llano/Pentium/i3 cpus. Just too aggravatingly slow.

I would agree with you except as I said in my earlier post, I like the E350 in a netbook size device like the dm1z. I work in research in labs in 2 different buildings and would like a thin, light, small device for web and e-mail when in the second lab where I dont have access to my main computer. I think the dm1z would be ideal for this, easy to carry around, light, good battery life, adequate performance.

However, for the use the OP suggested, I would think a low end notebook with a SB pentium and a 15.6 inch screen would be a good choice. Also, I dont know if Best Buy has stores in Canada, but they have a Llano laptop advertized today for less than 400.00. However, it is a Gateway, and I had serious problems with the only Gateway laptop that I have owned.

OP, the prices you gave are quite good as I said, but are there any other BM stores available like Best Buy, Office Depot, Stapes, etc? Or have you considered ordering from Newegg or other online retailers? Personally, the Walmart in my local area seems to have a very poor selection of laptops, low quality, and you can find a better value if you watch for sales at a more specialized electronics or office supply store.

 

[asuka10456]

I would go with the AMD A6-3400m, The processor benchs pretty close/same to an i5. Best bang for your buck. E350 always felt sluggish to me.

 

[jolancer]

good facts already posted, +some opinions. my 2 cents is as follows..

logically speaking everyone of them is adequit for your task, so depending on your preference. you can technicaly just get the cheapest and bank your savings. Depending on what kind of proccessor your old laptop was ex.-if it supported DDR2 or just DDR.. chances could be the slowest of the new are still faster then ur old. Especially if your one of those people who know how to put a clean OS install onto your new laptop.

the lower energy consuming one is also more ecologicaly friendly. Thats realy one of the biggest reason i use or got a netbook in the first place.

SDDs are becoming a little more cost reasonable. Iv followed them on and off, and there were benefits associated with them which some turned out to be hype. The only real benefit from them now that remains fact is = there more durable because thy dont use moving parts, and they have Much faster Disk Read Speeds. There Disk Write speeds are on par with normal HDDs. All other things mentioned about them is at times exajerated or hype depending on model. In your case Inparticular Id say id be your preference, cause at there current cost and OEM Implementation theres trade off's, which can currently actually be efectivly worked around by utilizing the "standby function" instead of complete shutdown. And slight patience.

I'm currently on a Aspire One D255 single core 1.6 Atom N450, 1GB DDR2, 160gb sata drive. Its done everything i need it to do with ease. But then again I also cleanly reformated it after i got it and put XP pro sp3 on it. few side notes, it also seems to play 720p HD if i use CoreAVC decoder, some 1080p also play smooth but that is from encoded x264 compressed files on the default display.

 

[Cerb]

I would like to echo the anti-Toshiba sentiment. You can get Toshibas pretty cheap with fairly high performance parts, and there's good reason. If you're the kind to constantly replace your computers, they have a place, but not a place I like (more electronics in landfills). I would not expect that Acer with an E-350 to be build like a Lattitude, much less a Thinkpad, but I can't say anything particularly bad about the ones I've worked on.

If you like the idea of better battery life and/or lighter weight, more than having performance to spare, an E-350 is excellent, IMO. Just realize that you are making such a trade, and it can even be slower than what you had at some things (I haven't been able to find suitable comparison benchmarks, so sadly, vagaries are as good as I can get).

 

[snsd]

OP here again. Never had any idea there were so many (varying) opinions out there!

For what it's worth, here are some more details of my situation. The machine I have right now has 1GB of RAM and an Intel Pentium Centrio 1.86GHz single core processor. I'm running XP Pro SP3. It's a business model and that's why it's lasted me 5 years. It's a little slow running Quickbooks - but I'm used to it.

I have tried my daughter's Acer Netbook with 1GB of RAM and an N450 processor - running Windows 7 Starter. Besides the fact that a 10.1" screen is too small for my aging eyes, I also find it to be too slow. I have also tried an Acer Aspire 11.6", i3 380UM with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. (I can get one for $400 at Staples.) While I think it suffices, I think I really need to go to a 13.3" or 14" screen for the sake of my eyes.

I only looked at the Wal-Mart machines because they seemed to have the fastest processors at the lowest prices - but the models they carry seem to be cheaply built. In Canada, we do have

www.costco.ca
www.bestbuy.ca
www.tigerdirect.ca
www.futureshop.ca
www.staples.ca

... so there's no shortage of possibilities out there.

Anyhow, the (newest!) bottom line for me is that I pretty much can't go wrong with any of the processors mentioned (except maybe the C50). And with pretty much every new unit coming with 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drive, it's really down to screen size and a quality casing, keyboard...

Thanks again for all the great input!

Dave

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'd personally go with an i3/i5 core processor based laptop. I like to have a snappy computer even for basic tasks like web browsing (which is only going to get more CPU-intensive). Sure, these are more expensive, but likely to pay off in the long run. Like some people have already mentioned ^, an Solid State Drive will make a serious impact to your whole system, yet in my opinion, the technology has not matured enough for mission critical tasks without robust back-up strategy.

I'd also pay attention as to how it is designed. Plays a vital role when it comes to cleaning and changing parts. This is a good deal.

 

[Cerb]

I have tried my daughter's Acer Netbook with 1GB of RAM and an N450 processor - running Windows 7 Starter. Besides the fact that a 10.1" screen is too small for my aging eyes, I also find it to be too slow.

Against that there are benches of current generation stuff:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/328?vs=110 (well, an N450 will be a bit slower than a D510, but for web and office use, not enough to matter)
In day to day use, an E-350 feels much faster than the office benchmarks AT uses would suggest (Sysmark has a major Intel bias for ages), and it's easy to find programs where it is 2x or more the Atom's performance, but when it comes down to it, it is built much more to be cheap to produce and sell, and there's no magical way around that. Sometimes you just need to move data around fast, and it can't do that too well.

I have also tried an Acer Aspire 11.6", i3 380UM with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. (I can get one for $400 at Staples.) While I think it suffices, I think I really need to go to a 13.3" or 14" screen for the sake of my eyes.

On that note, if you haven't already, check out the DPI scaling in 7. Applications that have their buttons and text adjusted will be, and those that can't will be stretched. It's too fuzzy to me, when it stretches, but IME, older people with AMG like it as well as a lower DPI display.

 

[itstsui]

Go with the A6. Its one of the newest CPU's out there with an integrated graphic chip included.