<p>For the past week I have researched specs on refurbished laptops. However, I have encounter difficulties in figuring out what type of laptop that I need for my current situation. For example, I have yet to get a go understanding of what is a processor and what are the differences between them. What is the differences between the Intel Core Duo T2300E, the Intel Core Solo processor T1300, the Intel Celeron M Processor 380 (I heard this is a bad processor but have no idea why?), the Intel Pentium M Processor 730, and the AMD Turion 64 Mobile Processor ML-32.</p>
<p>To help understand what your needs are:</p>
<p>Do you have a declared major?
If you have a declared major, do you have any special software that you need to run?
What kind of programs outside of MS Office, Explorer and Outlook do you want to run?
Are you a gamer?
How much money do you want to spend?</p>
<p>If you’re not a gamer, don’t use any specialized software programs (Photoshop, for instance) and just want a basic laptop to write papers, surf the net and get e-mail, you can buy almost any laptop that fits your budget.</p>
<p>No, I’m not in college yet, I a rising senior who works two part time jobs and goes to summer school at the moment. Sorry, for not clarifying my situation earlier. The thing is that I don’t have enough space to buy a desktop. For the time being, I want to do a dual major in Math and Sociology, but as you are fully a where off this could change as well. My budget looks like it going to be around $750 for the laptop and maybe $40 for the case. The main case is this will be the first computer that I have ever own, so really don’t know what I might use. I know if I going to be a Math major then I would have to do some type of programming but does this factor in with the type of laptop I should get? Thanks in advance for the reply.</p>
<p>Should I link or post the specs of refub laptops that I have found? Oh yeah, I should add that I might like to try video editing but I should wait to get the equipment and a desktop for that type of suff.</p>
<p>Re: refurbished/new laptops</p>
<p>Because you’re thinking of majoring in math and sociology, you have a lot of choices, both new and refurbished.</p>
<p>Unless you’re a gamer or expecting to run a lot of processor intensive programs, PROCESSOR SPEED does not matter. For running MS Office, Explorer, Outlook, burning CDs/DVDs and watching DVDs on your laptop, even a basic Celeron processor is sufficient. </p>
<p>Without going into an involved technical discussion over the merits of the different processors, one of the best visual displays of what different processors can do is the following AMD chart:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_13239_13253,00.html[/url]”>http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_13239_13253,00.html</a></p>
<p>While the chart is from AMD, you can interchange it with the similar Intel family of processor chips. Just match up those tasks that you want and buy a laptop/desktop that meet those requirements. And remember, more memory or a faster hard drive (7200 vs. 5400 rpm) can make up for a slower processor. </p>
<p>I looked at the Dell Outlet Store to see what kind of refurbished laptops are available. At your price point, there are some core dual machines available (1.6 GHZ). However, you get only 40 G hard drives and a cd-rom drive. A 40 G hard drive is at the low end of the scale. I’d be more comfortable with at least 60 or 80 G. And to offer only a cd-rom drive is criminal. A cd burner can only cost a few dollars more, never mind having a dvd/cd-rw drive…</p>
<p>Frankly, the big box electronic and office supply stores offer new laptops with a variety of processor speeds and much larger hard drives and optical writers (both dvd and cd-rw). I’d look real closely at the Sunday ads and match their sales vs any refurbished unit. New Toshiba, Gateway and HP laptops on sale for under your budget numbers have 100 G hard drives and dvd burners. They aren’t game machines, but if games are not important, they represent real value. </p>
<p>If you do decide on a refurbished unit, try the manufacturer sites (Dell, Apple, etc.) and, in any case, get a good warranty. And since this will be your only machine, get a USB jump drive and backup all your important work (term papers).</p>
<p>As for my comment: “A cd burner can only cost a few dollars more, never mind having a dvd/cd-rw drive…” </p>
<p>To clarify: A cd burner is a few dollars more than a plain cd player. And a dvd/cd-rw is just a couple of dollars more than a cd burner alone… To “low ball” the specs in order to get customers to pay for necessary options like a burner and adequate memory to run the OS is just poor business practice.</p>
<p>Sorry, for the late response to your message. Here are the laptops I have found search on the companies sites:</p>
<p>Dell Latitude D520
Memory: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 677MHz (2 DIMMs)
80 GB DDR2 SDRAM Hard drive (7200 RPM)
Intel Core Duo T2300E (1.66 GHz)
Network Interface Card
3945 802.11a/g Wireless Mini Card
Price $719.00</p>
<p>Dell Inspiron 640m/E1405
Memory: 512 DDR2 533MHz
80 GB EIDE Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Intel Core Solo Processor T1300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667Mhz FSB)
Network Interface Card:
1390 Wireless Card
Internal NIC/56k Modem
Video: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Price $649.00 </p>
<p>Compaq Presario V5120NR
512 MB 333MHz DDR system Memory (2 DIMM)Max Supported 2048 kb
80GB (4200 RPM) Hard Drive
Processor: AMD Turion 64 Mobil Processor ML-32 with PowerNow! Technology
(1.8GHz) 512kb L2 Cache
Video: ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M IGP with 128 MB DDR
Network Card
Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
54g 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM / SpeedBooster support
Have HD screen
Price $729.00</p>
<p>HP Pavilion dv4230us
Memory 512MB 333MHz DDR System Memory (2 DIMM) max 1024MB
60 GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive
1.6GHz Intel Celeron M Processor 380 1 MB L2 cache
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Network:
Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
54g 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM / SpeedBooster support
Have HD screen
Price $699.00</p>
<p>Sony FS640/W
Memory: 512 PC-2700 333MHz DDR (256MB x 2)
80 GB 4200rpm Ultra ATA
Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (1.60GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache)
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 128MB Dynamically Shared Video
Network:
Modem Integrated V.9 Modem with RJ-11 interface
Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Screen have WXGA XBRITE-ECO technology
Price: 749.00</p>
<p>All come with combo CD-RW/DVD-RW drives</p>
<p>I’ve done a little research on the models that you mentioned. The non-Dells are OK except for the slow hard drives (4200 rpm). Even with decent processors and memory, slow disk access will kill your speed…</p>
<p>Of the Dells, the D520 is the better of the two because of the faster hard drive and the 1 G of memory. It is $70 more. I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the processors (duo vs. solo). Current software has yet to be optimized for Core Duo so most the time, the second processor is idling… Still, it’s nice to have if the $719 will not break your budget.</p>
<p>That said, the E1405 (Core Duo model) has received a good in-depth review at ARS Technica: <a href=“1405 | Ars Technica”>1405 | Ars Technica;
<p>You really can’t go wrong with ether. Remeber to add the cost of an extended warranty for peace of mind. That additional cost may bear on which of the Dells you decide to buy.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>