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What Is The Difference Between A P4 And Centrino?
#1
My laptop was killed in the flood Aug 19th, and I'm looking to get a new one. As I've been shopping around, I've noticed there are as always comparable AMD and Pentium models, but then there are P4's and Centrino based machines. From what I can tell, the speed on Centrinos seems slower (average 1.7 ghz) but the price is consistantly higher. I want a high performer.. dvd playback, wifi, bluetooth if possible, all the bells and whistles. What is the better machine to go with and why?
2000 Black ZX3
Blacked Out Head & Tail lights - APC Clear Turn Signals - 20% Tint All Round - K&N Filter - Cheap ass fogs that are brighter than my headlights - Clarion DXZ745MP - Jensen XA 4100 amp on Mobile Authority 200w 6x8's - Jensen 340w amp on a 12" Rockford Sub, custom enclosure - KYB GR2 Dampers - SHM Springs @ 1.5" - Brembo Cross Drilled Rotors w/ CVR Ceramic Pads - Silver Gauge Bezel - Focus Central 2-Piece Under Drive Pullies - 17 x 7 Rims by Fast Wheels mounted on 215/40/17's - Wings West W-Typ front lip - Coming Soon: Paint, Component Speakers (Spring 06)
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#2
build your own
2001 SE Sedan
gas mileage King of FocusCanada!

760.8km on 45L
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#3
Build your own laptop?
05 Altima SE-R
98 Grand Cherokee 5.9: Flowmaster; K&N
05 300C 5.7: Sold
99 Civic SIR: Sold
03 Focus SVT: Sold
01 Focus ZX3: Sold
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#4
[Image: Battleship.jpg]
2001 SE Sedan
gas mileage King of FocusCanada!

760.8km on 45L
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#5
from what ive heard, you don't want to go with centrino, i heard they are crap
2001 SE Sedan
gas mileage King of FocusCanada!

760.8km on 45L
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#6
they have p4s wiht hyper threading in laptops now. how much did insurance give you?
'05 Grand Cherokee LTD Hemi

'02 black ZX5 ****currently on jack stands my parents garage missing a transmission****
--FC/OBX 4-2-1 Race Header--FS Flex--MBRP catback exhaust--AEM CAI--Brembo Brakes with Hawk HPS pads--Toucan(ractive) 9mm Plug wires--FC Plug wire cover--Polished aluminum Ractive Strut Bar
Not installed: FK 60/40 Springs
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#7
Get an a64 laptop and call it a day
05 Altima SE-R
98 Grand Cherokee 5.9: Flowmaster; K&N
05 300C 5.7: Sold
99 Civic SIR: Sold
03 Focus SVT: Sold
01 Focus ZX3: Sold
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#8
Get a laptop with an AMD Athlon 64 Turion processor. They are worth it. I'll see if I can get some good reviews when I get home.
Sold:2001 SE 2.0L SPI w/60mm TB, Steeda Shorty Intake.

Active: 2007 SES Hatch, Motegi MR7 Rims with 215/45ZR17 Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires, debadged, black painted calipers and drums, RS Knob, CFM Short Throw, Billet E-Brake, CFM Focus pedals, MBRP Exhaust, XCal2, FS Front and Rear Strut Tower Bars, Diamond Plate Floor Mats and Sills, Alpine MP3 Deck, Alpine V-Power 300w Amp, Pioneer IMPP Sub, AlpineType-S door speakers, VF Engineering Rear Motor Mount, F2 RS Spoiler, Tokico D-spec shocks, HTP Cross Brace, EBC Rotors, Hawk HPS Pads, Russell SS Brake Lines, RS Wheel, SVT Blue Seats, Vibrant 2.5" Race Highflow Cat, CFM UDP. Rear SVT bumper to come.

Active: 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited TJ [LJ], Volant CAI, 32" BFG Mud Terrains, and a whole bunch of goodies. Big Grin
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#9
Centrino is a fully integrated processor solution. North/Southbridge , Including the Pentium M (a hopped up Pentium 3), etc. It's meant to cut down on power use, resulting in better battery life.

Pentium 4 laptops basically wedge that 100 watt lightbulb we call the P4 into a laptop form factor, and you just have to deal with the heat and poor battery life.

I personally went with an AMD 64 3000+ laptop when I bought one, but between that laptop and my Centrino based laptop, I prefer the Centrino laptop..lighter, longer batter life, and the performance is fine for everything I do (anything but gaming).
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#10
Raine,Oct 18 2005, 01:19 PM Wrote:My laptop was killed in the flood Aug 19th, and I'm looking to get a new one. As I've been shopping around, I've noticed there are as always comparable AMD and Pentium models, but then there are P4's and Centrino based machines. From what I can tell, the speed on Centrinos seems slower (average 1.7 ghz) but the price is consistantly higher. I want a high performer.. dvd playback, wifi, bluetooth if possible, all the bells and whistles. What is the better machine to go with and why?
[right][snapback]149906[/snapback][/right]

Okay here's the simplistic answer:

P4 laptops are the more powerful of the pair, but when running off battery power will have a lifespan that's significantly shorter than a Centrino processor. A Centrino processor is all about the most battery life, not speed, so it has things built into it that a P4 doesn't. That's the Intel side of the equation.

I honestly don't follow the AMD side well enough to know what (if any) chips AMD makes that are geared twoards laptop applications.

The other consideration is of course the video chipset, the higher performing chipsets are generally paired with thehigher performing CPU's (IE: Centrino likely gets the onboard Intel solution)

NefCanuck
NefCanuck
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#11
so it sounds like this

centrino = SPI
P4 = Zetec
2001 SE Sedan
gas mileage King of FocusCanada!

760.8km on 45L
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#12
the difference between them is the price!!! BTW, I think crazykev nailed it on the head with his example!! :) :)
My other ride is your Mom
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#13
I'm not going to be using it anywhere where I'd need battery life to be at more than 3 hrs. Would a P4 handle that? I'd love to get a P4 3.4 with HT...
2000 Black ZX3
Blacked Out Head & Tail lights - APC Clear Turn Signals - 20% Tint All Round - K&N Filter - Cheap ass fogs that are brighter than my headlights - Clarion DXZ745MP - Jensen XA 4100 amp on Mobile Authority 200w 6x8's - Jensen 340w amp on a 12" Rockford Sub, custom enclosure - KYB GR2 Dampers - SHM Springs @ 1.5" - Brembo Cross Drilled Rotors w/ CVR Ceramic Pads - Silver Gauge Bezel - Focus Central 2-Piece Under Drive Pullies - 17 x 7 Rims by Fast Wheels mounted on 215/40/17's - Wings West W-Typ front lip - Coming Soon: Paint, Component Speakers (Spring 06)
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#14
crazikev,Oct 18 2005, 02:52 PM Wrote:so it sounds like this

centrino = SPI
P4 = Zetec
[right][snapback]149938[/snapback][/right]


A64 = SVT
05 Altima SE-R
98 Grand Cherokee 5.9: Flowmaster; K&N
05 300C 5.7: Sold
99 Civic SIR: Sold
03 Focus SVT: Sold
01 Focus ZX3: Sold
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#15
Scoobs SVT = In the shop more than my ZX3

Bad comparison
2000 Black ZX3
Blacked Out Head & Tail lights - APC Clear Turn Signals - 20% Tint All Round - K&N Filter - Cheap ass fogs that are brighter than my headlights - Clarion DXZ745MP - Jensen XA 4100 amp on Mobile Authority 200w 6x8's - Jensen 340w amp on a 12" Rockford Sub, custom enclosure - KYB GR2 Dampers - SHM Springs @ 1.5" - Brembo Cross Drilled Rotors w/ CVR Ceramic Pads - Silver Gauge Bezel - Focus Central 2-Piece Under Drive Pullies - 17 x 7 Rims by Fast Wheels mounted on 215/40/17's - Wings West W-Typ front lip - Coming Soon: Paint, Component Speakers (Spring 06)
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#16
Raine,Oct 18 2005, 03:31 PM Wrote:Scoobs SVT = In the shop more than my ZX3

Bad comparison
[right][snapback]149953[/snapback][/right]

:lol:

I only buy Intels (willing to consider AMD's lineup, but I have yet to have any problems with Intels) The Centrino's will get way better battery life if that is what you want.. but when it comes to a good overall performance and battery life, the Centrino comes in to play.

I run a Toshiba Satellite A70 with a P4 3.06 and 512mb ram which is shared by the Radeon 9000. She comes with wifi, stereo speakers which don't sound that bad, cd writer/dvd rom, and a nice 17" wide screen. I get around three to three and a half hours battery life depending on the programs running, backlight intensity, and processor speed... so it's not bad, especially considering it plays lots of games around medium quality without a hitch.
'14 Escape 2.0t
2012 5dr Ti : Traded
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#17
Raine,Oct 18 2005, 03:31 PM Wrote:Scoobs SVT = In the shop more than my ZX3

Bad comparison
[right][snapback]149953[/snapback][/right]


I probably should have said cobra!

hey and last month amd outsold intel for the first time w00t amd!
05 Altima SE-R
98 Grand Cherokee 5.9: Flowmaster; K&N
05 300C 5.7: Sold
99 Civic SIR: Sold
03 Focus SVT: Sold
01 Focus ZX3: Sold
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#18
Raine,Oct 18 2005, 03:15 PM Wrote:I'm not going to be using it anywhere where I'd need battery life to be at more than 3 hrs. Would a P4 handle that? I'd love to get a P4 3.4 with HT...
[right][snapback]149944[/snapback][/right]

It should, but a P4 3.4 w/HT ain't gonna be cheap, you're looking at around $3K for a system with that processor and all other high end goodies in the laptop format.

Compromise a bit here & there thought and you can easily get a sub 2K laptop that'll meet your needs.

NefCanuck
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#19
Yeah, HT is unnecessary. My non HT'd P4 was only $1700 around a year and a half ago.
'14 Escape 2.0t
2012 5dr Ti : Traded
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#20
Okay well I'm in no immediate rush... and a 3.2 would do me just as well as a 3.4. Wouldn't necessarily go for this model but here's just one example of a P4 3.2 with HT (800 mhz FSB)...

Laptop with HT

That's a nice unit but the video memory is only 64 mb... I want something upwards of 128...
2000 Black ZX3
Blacked Out Head & Tail lights - APC Clear Turn Signals - 20% Tint All Round - K&N Filter - Cheap ass fogs that are brighter than my headlights - Clarion DXZ745MP - Jensen XA 4100 amp on Mobile Authority 200w 6x8's - Jensen 340w amp on a 12" Rockford Sub, custom enclosure - KYB GR2 Dampers - SHM Springs @ 1.5" - Brembo Cross Drilled Rotors w/ CVR Ceramic Pads - Silver Gauge Bezel - Focus Central 2-Piece Under Drive Pullies - 17 x 7 Rims by Fast Wheels mounted on 215/40/17's - Wings West W-Typ front lip - Coming Soon: Paint, Component Speakers (Spring 06)
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