Pentium 4 vs Core 2 Duo

[robotic]

I currently use a Compaq notebook with Pentium 4, 2.2GHz, 1.2GHz and 768MB of RAM. I am looking at buying a new Dell notebook with Core 2 Duo, 1.66GHz, 2MB Cache, 667 MHz FSB and 1024MB RAM.

To be honest I'm just quoting the specs in front of me and would like an indication on which is the better option in terms of processing power/speed.

Clearly the RAM on the Dell is superior and I assume (blindly) that Core 2 Duo is superior to Pentium 4 but have no idea on the other specs.

Would really appreciate some help on this - let me know if more info needed.

Cheers, :-?

[GX1_Man]

What can you not do (well) now that the new computer would accomplish? How do you think a DualCore Pentium would be helpful?

The bottom line is does the investment in a new machine solve a need or is it just yearning for the "latest and greatest"?

[robotic]

Good questions. I guess the only thing my current notebook struggles with (that I've come across) is graphics acceleration - it has Radeon 7500 (32mb). But that is a separate issue I guess.

I should have explained myself more - my current notebook is supplied by work and I would like to buy one for personal use. Hence I was hoping to get an idea of other (more current) options in comparison to what I currently use.

I plan to use the notebook for Office apps, IE, simple digital video editing and medium level gaming.

Do you think I would notice a difference in performance (either way) with the Core Duo? Would also appreciate a brief explanation why.

Cheers for your help,

[Raptor]

ALL Laptops struggle with graphical issues.

They're not designed for 3D games and applications because videocards generate too much heat.

An ATI 7500 is quite decent for a laptop, what does the other one come with?

[robotic]

Intel®  Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (with up to to 224MB of shared memory)

Cheers,

[Raptor]

That one is definitely onboard. I am not sure about the ATI 7500, though. Onboard = bad. If you have a choice, that is.

[robotic]

Onboard?

Can you explain what this means?

Cheers,

[Raptor]

A videocard that shares memory is often onboard; also meaning that it doesn't have it's own processor and is thus pretty crappy for games.