Which laptop processor should I choose:

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whiskey1

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I would like to hear someones opinion on which is the best processor to buy with a laptop;

1. Sony vaio VPCEF3E1EWI- processor:AMD athlon II, screen: 17.3"
2. " " VPCEB4E9E/BQ - processor: core i3, screen 15.5".

My laptop will remain on my desk most of the time and for that reason I am leaning towards the 17.3" screeen. It is just down to which processor to choose.

Also I will be using AutoCad (for small project drawings). Any advice?

Thanks
 
I would want the i3 over the Athlon II but I'd want the bigger screen for Autocad. I wouldn't tie myself to Sony and would look for a different brand with both the bigger screen and a good Intel processor for the same money, or less.
 
Any views on the Intel pentium processor verses the i3 processsor?

The price for the sony laptop with a different processor is as follows:

AMD athlon II P340 = 480euro
Intel pentium = 560euro
Intel i3 core = 600euro

What is the best one to buy?
 
Harvey Norman have some cheap ones too. I just bought one for 349,.. very low spec but still very cheap.

spec = 2.3GHz Athlon processor.. 2Gb RAM, 250Gb Hard drive... 256Mb NVidia graphics, 15.6 inch screen, no web cam. Windows 7 home premium.
Very good for the price.


It can be very hard to choose between computers... it's not just the processor,.. it's also the graphics and RAM, and the screen technology and size, webcam or not? , overall build quality etc etc


For using AtoCAD you want good screen resolution.. I'd say 1,368 x 800 is about the lowest you can go.
 
A graphics card is mostly used for 'calculated' graphics.. rather than AutoCAD.

Not all computers have seperate graphics cards.. some have 'on board' graphics.. this means the graphics are integrated on the motherboard.. this is the lowest spec. Otherwise yo'd have a dedicated graphics card.. this is seperate and plugs into the motherboard.. .. and has seperate graphics memory, as opposed to sharing memory (i.e RAM is shared). So you can have a NVidia graphics for example, with 256Mb of dedicated memory, as per my 349 Harvey Norman laptop. The 527 Euro Dell laptop, from Harvey, had on board graphics, with only 32Mb of dedicated memory.

(The 527 laptop had 4GB ram, and 500GB hard drive, and a webcam, and perhaps a better screen, and a better processor, but not worth 1.5 times the price of the 349 laptop I bought... graphics are worse on the 527 laptop)


So games need a good graphics card, but AutoCAD may not. (AutoCAD may use the graphics card to do 3D modelling and rendering, but this isn't 'real time' work, so it's not a problem to wait 2 mins for a complex 3D rendering to happen)

Games need grapohics for shading and textures etc.. the games still play without these extra featres... but perhaps the experience is slightly lessened.. similar to having 'normal' sound, or 'explosive 6 channel sound'. Will you miss this if it's not there?...

Screen resolution may be more important... 1,920 x 1,200 wold be close to the max... whereas 1,368 x 800 would be the lowest you're likely to see. The screen can be a little cramped at the lower resolutions due to the number of buttons and commands.
(The 349 laptop I bought has 1,366 x 768 resolution.. pretty low, but the laptop would handle an external monitor of greater resolution.)



Any of the modern laptops will work pretty well for normal use and for light AutoCAD.. it's not really necessary to buy the most modern and expensive type.
 
Thanks to everyone for their posts and for providing links.

I decided on a sony 15.6" laptop i3 core processor, 320gb ram, intel graphics card (basic, but may be sufficient for small autocad drawings), 600euro.
 
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