Price check please: Laptop

[mehmeh]

Hey all. Probably not technically the right section, but need some quick answers on this.

Compaq Presario C310EA

1.6GHZ Centrino
2GB DDR2
80GB HDD
b/g wireless
Bluetooth
Intel GMA950 gfx
DVD-RW
15.4in widescreen
Win XP Media centre (with restore discs)

About 2years old, excellent condition, no marks, dead pixels, etc.

What would you expect to pay?

[staffsMike]

Similar spec to the stuff that BigPockets sell, so £150-£170 if it's in good condition and the battery still holds decent charge. If the battery is rubbish then you need to factor that in.

This is also the same spec as netbooks, minus the optical drive, so you might not get a lot of interest.

[Koolpc]

I might be interested but not for the above price.

[mehmeh]

A 1.6ghz Centrino(P4 mobile, right?) performs like a 1.6ghz Atom?!

£150 was about what I was thinking... Thanks Mike.

Replied to your PM, KoolPC.

[staffsMike]

Centrino wasn't a P4 Mobile as I recall ( i do still have one somewhere lol), it was the one after.

The Atom was supposed to be considered (by intel) a comparative chip to the 1.6 centrino and since I do have one of each I can confirm they are very similar in my laptops, both running XP

[5cupa]

I might be interested but not for the above price.

please keep sales to the correct section as hijacking price checks is not a good idea as if this thread turned into a sale thread it would end up in suspensions from the sale/wanted section

thanks

[mehmeh]

Apolgies and noted, 5cupa.

Centrino wasn't a P4 Mobile as I recall ( i do still have one somewhere lol), it was the one after.

The Atom was supposed to be considered (by intel) a comparative chip to the 1.6 centrino and since I do have one of each I can confirm they are very similar in my laptops, both running XP

Guess I can hijack my own thread though! Thanks again, Mike. I'm off to do a little research now, as quite surprised, and struggling to believe it, sorry . The Lappy will chew threw stuff like Sonar 7, Photoshop, even games with relative ease aslong as your patient with it at times. Always had the impression netbooks were for web browsing and solitare, hence why I've resisted the urge for one this far. Hmmm

[staffsMike]

They're generally considered weak due to the naff IGP. The processor is suprisingly strong I find, and in my MSI wind you can overclock to 2.0GHz (and keep the warranty )

[mehmeh]

They're generally considered weak due to the naff IGP. The processor is suprisingly strong I find, and in my MSI wind you can overclock to 2.0GHz (and keep the warranty )

I stand corrected.. Just been watching vids on youtube of the MSI Wind, Samsung NC10 and others playing GTA3, F.E.A.R, CS1.6, Starcraft, even UT2004!!!

Anywho, was hoping about £150 on the Laptop, gonna have to mull this over, as I needed the cash, but now I want a netbook. Cheers again, Mike.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Actually the Centrino is the platform name not a processor itself. I believe it was the combination of Pentium M processor,Intel chipset and Intel wireless card which qualified to be called Centrino.

The Pentium M is actually an evolution of the Pentium 3 with some components of the P4 architecture incorporated into it. Hence clock for clock it is faster than a P4 processors in many applications. It also consumes less power too.

The Core architecture was based on the Pentium M itself so even the Core2 is a distant relative of the Pentium M. IIRC the Intel Core was found mostly in notebooks and some computers like iMacs.

The Pentium M IMHO is still faster clock for clock than a single core Atom especially if you take into account the fact that the Atom is a much weaker in-order type CPU and the Pentium is an out of order type CPU. The later Dothan Pentium M processors had 2mb of cache too.

My Medion SIM2000 has a 1.7ghz Dothan Pentium M with 768mb of RAM and it is fast enough to watch 720p video on it(this is despite the fact is has SIS Mirage integrated graphics). Even at 900mhz it is fast enough for most normal usage.

Remember that the first Asus Eee came with a Dothan based Celeron processor running at 900mhz. This has only 512kb of cache unlike the Dothan Pentium M which not only 2mb of cache but also has SpeedStep which the Celeron lacks.

Here is a comparison of the 900mhz Celeron with the 1.6ghz Atom:

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...cid=14&id=2605

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/0...icial-release/

http://www.eeejournal.com/2008/05/ee...leron-cpu.html

The only advantages of the Atom over the Celeron are lower power consumption and heat. The Pentium M will be faster than the Celeron and consume less power.

The newer Core2 based Celerons are also easily faster than the Atom clock fo clock.