A couple of questions
Please answer as many of them as you can, It will greatly help me. :)
- Would there be a large difference in performance between a laptop with 4MB L2 Cache and a laptop with 1MB L2 Cache?
- Would there be much of a difference in performance between a laptop with 2GHz of speed and a laptop with 1.8GHz of speed?
- Would you recommend a laptop with an NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 dedicated graphics card and an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 graphics card (you can switch between them using Sony's Hybrid Graphics System) or a laptop with an ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 graphics card for someone who is playing games like Command & Conquer Generals and why?
- Do you think the battery life would make a great difference between a laptop that has a maximum of 6 hours of battery life and a laptop that has 2.5 maximum hours of battery life and why?
- What are the differences between Windows XP Professional x64 edition and Windows XP Professional Edition with SP2?
- Would you prefer to have a biometric fingerprint sensor on a laptop that you bought and why?
Answer:
Re: A couple of questions
1&2. I've always been told the cache differences and processing speed differences are not noticable in every day computing. The upgrade money for these components could be better spent somewhere else.
3. The 7400 is miles better than the 1150, with the sacrifice of heat/battery life. But with Sony's Hybrid system, the GMA950 can be used to even out the heat/battery life aspect. Definitely go for the 7400/950 over the 1150.
4. The battery life is personal preference. If you plan on moving around a lot or are never near an outlet, go for the higher battery life. Consider how often an outlet will be inaccesible and how often you like to be completely wireless, then make the decision based on your needs.
5. x64 edition is the 64-bit version of XP Pro, which is 32-bit.
6. I once thought a fingerprint reader would be useful, but with Windows, I don't have to type my passwords anyway as it remembers me and puts them in by itself, therefore I'd have no use for it. However if other people would be using your computer or you needed a higher level of protection for your data, a fingerprint reader could be a good idea. Once again, it's based on your needs.
Hope I helped. :)
Answer:
Re: A couple of questions
1: Steve is right here; the amount of cache will probably not be noticeable in everyday applications. A larger cache will be helpful in encoding/rendering because the processor can fit more data in the cache.
2: It is the processor itself that matters, and not the clockspeed. As long as you have a Core Duo, Turion X2, or Core 2 Duo, I would not worry about the clockspeed.
3. I do not know the requirements for Command & Conquer Generals, however if you want to play games that are fairly modern then get a dedicated card.
4. That is up to you as posted. You can always buy a second battery.
5. Don't bother with x64.
6. I would, because it is convenient to use, and adds a measure of security.