Laptop lingo

[Monsieur]

I'm looking for advice about laptops (are they the same as notebooks?)

I assume that dual core is faster than non-dual core but what is the difference between pentium and AMD and the other processors - which one is best?
Is processor speed the only thing to look for?
I know I need a good sized hard drive - minimum of 80GB...would I ever fill a bigger hard drive.

I need a laptop which will store all my photos and video footage, connect me to the internet via wireless broadband, play and burn CDs and DVDs, work with microsoft office, has a card reader for my camera memory card.
I keep seeing what looks to be a good laptop for between £350-£500 but get lost when reading about processor speeds etc.
Oh did I mention that I want a black laptop not a silver one?
Any decent advice most gratefully received

 

[Trippy]

I'm not too up on these things but I bought a Packard Bell from PC World for 499 squid. 80 whatsits, dualcore thingies, Vista premium and it does all the above ok, can't see the point in spending much more as the fecking thing will now doubt go t*ts up in the same time.

 

[judge]

My goodness where to begin.

AMD vs Intel - some will argue there is a difference but its not at a level where the average home user will care tuppence (or need to).

Dual core Vs Single Core - Like most things if your budget will allow go for dual core it will help speed things up

Hard Disk - How Big? - 80GB is about entry level these days - photos and video can get hefty and soon fill things up though you can archive off to DVD as necessary. Its unlikely many of the laptops will feature drives much bigger than 100GB in the sub-£500 bracket.

Processor Speed, Memory are key, as is battery life if the intention is for this to be real work usable on the move, the cheaper end have poor achitecture and components which will reduce battery life, expect no more than 1.5 hours in the low end budget (£300-500)

Memory card readers, some have them, some don't but a USB card reader can be added for a tenner on the laptop if it doesn't have one.

If you HAVE to go for Vista make sure the laptop has 1GB of memory and its Home Ultimate not Basic. I'd personally stick with XP but you'll struggle to get one now. (But they can be got ).

That should do you for now.

 

[DavidHale]

Oh did I mention that I want a black laptop not a silver one?