(Andrew) wrote in message ...
In comp.sys.laptops John wrote:
: Hi,

: If I want an Intel based notebook I think these are my options:

: 1. Celeron
: 2. Pentium 4
: 3. Mobile Pentium 4
: 4. Pentium M

: It seems like a Mobile Pentium 4 or Pentium M is substantially more
: expensive than a Celeron or Pentium 4. I assume this is because of the
: lower heat and increased battery life of the Mobile Pentium 4 and
: Pentium M?

I don't think Pentium 4M (Mobile Pentium 4) is really going to save a
lot of heat or battery power. If that's your big concern, go with
Pentium M.

The cost is keeping me away from the Pentium M.

: So what's the difference between a Celeron and a Pentium 4 in a
: laptop? The Pentium 4 seems to be roughly $100 more.

A Pentium 4/4M should be a little faster than a Celeron due to larger
on-chip caches and faster memory speeds (I don't think Celeron uses
DDR RAM, either). But don't sell Celeron short. If your wife isn't a
power user, a Celeron will be fine.

I should have stated the intended use in my original post. She is a
technical writer so she uses FrameMaker, Adobe Acrobat, and Adobe
PageMaker. Plenty of RAM is a must. If I buy from Dell, I'll buy the
minimum amount of RAM from them and get the most I can from Crucial.

easily add it). Consider a laptop that allows you to add an internal
(mini-PCI) wireless card also.

I have a Compaq/HP Evo N800c with built-in wireless and I really like
that. She also uses the wireless LAN in the house so having built-in
wireless is a plus. That didn't seem to be an option on the cheaper
Dell models. I'll look again.

If your wife likes computer games,
make sure the laptop does not use shared video RAM and has dedicated
video RAM instead.

The Inspiron 1100 uses shared video RAM.

Thank you for your insight and advice!

John