Biggest question is what software do you run on it?
If you will be playing video games etc, then you will need a good CPU and good GPU or an APU type system that is a better performer than other APU's.
As far as Intel or AMD it all is personal preference as far as the brand goes. I generally go with AMD to save money and get equal performance to an Intel product but at a savings. I havent had any problems with AMD products and have been running systems on both AMD and Intel processors since 1998. AMD processors have been known to run slightly hotter than the Intel same processing power competetor CPU and require more power to run them.
I have had both Intel and AMD based Laptops and both create lots of heat when gaming, however the AMD laptop produces more heat but still operates within its thermal specs of safe operation.
** Looking over your existing system, I am curious as to what applications you are running that slow it down. If you are playing any resource intensive game on this processor and trying to play iTunes, and surf the web at the same time etc with downloads going on etc I can see this CPU struggling some, however if you are multitasking with a MS Office product and have iTunes running, and browser with multiple pages loaded without video content playing or flash games on them at the same time, this slow down may be able to be resolved by cleaning up resource hogs. One of the biggest resource hogs is Norton 360 and other Norton System Protection utilities as well as McAfee on systems.
So if you would like to try to optimize what you already have without spending money on a new computer we can assist in cleaning it up and making it run better, however if its time for change or you are using it for gaming, then its time for a new laptop and we can assist with specs on that as well.
Answering questions:
CPU Speed does matter, but the strength of the cores is as important as the clock rate. For gaming generally 2.5Ghz or faster is best, however I have seen some strong performing CPUs that run between 2.0 and 2.5Ghz that are plenty for specific games. Generally the faster the clock speed the more heat they give off when processing, however when the computer is idle it may use Cool n' Quiet (AMD) or Speed Stepping (Intel) to downclock a CPU to 1/4 of its normal clock speed so a 2Ghz CPU idles at like 500Mhz and runs cool as well as saves the battery life. Then as soon as processing power is needed it will run at 500, 1000, 1500, or full speed at 2000Mhz ( = 2Ghz ).
Hard Drives make a difference, especially if your looking into one with a SSD ( Solid State Drive ) which will give you the best performance out there, however with a SSD your generally sacrificing storage capacity for speed, although now with the pricing coming down and most users happy with just 256GB of space, some may not feel like they are taking a data storage capacity hit going with an SSD.
Hard drives that are in lower cost laptops HDD's its best to have a drive that is 7200RPM's vs 5400RPM's as for it makes a difference in how fast the data can be accessed and written to the platters, so usually 7200 RPM drives are better unless lacking in Cache etc in which a 5400 RPM woth more Cache can sometimes outperform the 7200 RPM drive, however generally the 7200 RPM is the better buy. * If you want greater than 256GB of storage capacity or dont want to buy one at the premium cost with a 256GB SSD installed, you will want to go with a HDD.
As far as RAM ( memory ) goes these days, I have seen most shipping with 6GB or more of memory, however the bargain laptops are still shipping with 4GB RAM. *The biggest concern with buying a new laptop is not limiting your upgrade path, that is if its for sale with 4GB of RAM, make sure that its not limited to a maximum of 4GB of RAM. * I bought a cheap laptop the other day for $269.99 which I checked all the specs out and I knew before buying it that it ships with 4GB RAM and it can not take more than 4GB of RAM, but its far better than the Intel Atom Netbook that I have been using that is limited to 2GB of RAM of which was purchased with 1GB RAM. For long term use you will probably want to find a laptop that can take up to 8GB or RAM or more and ships with 6GB or more.
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For Intel CPUs I suggest Core i3, Core i5 or if you really need the heavy processing power a Core i7.
For AMD CPUs I suggest Quadcore ( X4 ) or better and 2.0Ghz or faster for normal use and light gaming and 2.5Ghz or faster for gaming, however if you are trying to cut costs you can go with an X2 (Dual) or an X3 (Tripple) core CPU. AMD has some X6 ( Six Core ) and X8 (Eight Core ) CPU's out there that run into the 4.0Ghz range, but they are more common to desktop computers for gaming vs laptops. I would suggest better than a X2 Dual Core AMD as for the benchmark will likely be similar to the processing power of your existing system unless its a screaming clock rate Dual-Core in the 3.0+Ghz range which most X2's are slower than 3Ghz and only be interested in a X2 AMD CPU if it was loaded with L2 and L3 Cache like a Phenom II CPU etc.
*Generally the Laptops with AMD CPU's will be slightly cheaper than those with the Intel CPU's of matching processing power, however there are some deals out there to be found. In a store with laptops on the shelf for sale you have to be really careful not to buy one that is equal to or less than what you already have for processing power. Walmart for example has some AMD based laptops that run at like 1Ghz and 1.6Ghz that are weaklings for anything beyond Facebook, Web Surfing, and maybe watching Netflix without much multitasking happening and patience in giving the slow processors time to launch programs.
To be sure you get a laptop that is best matched for your needs sharing what you need to run on it and laptops you have in mind we can suggest the best purchase for you
