Can someone explain CPU's and Ram to me?

[I Black Belt]

Ok, so it looks as though my little netbook has given up the ghost, so I'm looking to replace it.

Ideally, I'm after a replacement netbook, or even a small (max 12") laptop.

The one I had, was fine, but streaming stuff like Iplayer, 4od etc and projectfree was causing the CPU to run at near 100%.

As I say, all I really want one for is web browsing, and streaming - I don't play games on it.

So whatg should I look for - bigger ram or dual core CPU? - What chip?

The more I look, the more confused I get.

Really appreciate some good, plain english solid advice here guys. I really don't want to fork out on something that doesn't do what I need.

thanks.

[Mickey]

Compaq 6910p are a good all round lappy. Some have dedicated amd graphics cards in them and can run HD quality with no hassle.

fleabay got lots up there around the £150 mark


Ideally 4 gig of memory is fine. this will run windows 7 64 bit
2 gig with win 7 32 bit should suffice.
any dual core cpu from intel will be fine

[evilsatan]

What's your budget?

CPU is the main thing as RAM is very cheap now so you can upgrade yourself. Any new laptop should have 4GB RAM minimum which is enough for your uses. I would look for an intel iCore processor (i3 or i5 range), if possible get an Ivybridge model but you might get a good deal on a Sandybridge.

Ivybridge will be i3-3xxx and Sandybridge will be i3-2xxx so you can easily tell the chips apart.

If those processors are above your budget then you can get a pentium dual-core, Ivybridge will be G2xxx and Sandybridge will be Gxxx (e.g. G640).

[evilsatan]

As for brand, if possible I always buy Lenovo. Here are their entry-level ultra portables, you should be able to find them cheaper elsewhere though:
http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/s-series/

Saveonlaptops is often the cheapest place to buy from, here are there <12'' models:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/produ...00000-00000000

Sandybridge Pentium, £250 after cashback:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_...3_1292831.html

Sandybridge i3, £320 after cashback:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_...3_1347400.html

Ivybridge i3, £400:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_...H_1291406.html

[macmilm]

a CPU is a chip that goes inside a PC
A RAM is a male sheep..

[I Black Belt]

a CPU is a chip that goes inside a PC
A RAM is a male sheep..

If I need to listen to an arsehole, I'll fart thanks

[AD]

Btw BB whats what up with your netbook?

[DejaVu]

When streaming, you should also look at the Wifi capabilities of your netbook. From the Internet is fine for most standards, but streaming 1080p over Wireless G can be painful

I bought an i5 Asus X53E laptop about a year ago, that was all singing and dancing with a shitty standard Wireless G Network adapter.
I didn't realise for a while, but have since upgraded to a Wireless N internal adapter and the difference is amazing.

[macmilm]

Don't do what I did and buy a wireless N dongle... to later find out it is USB 2.0
So the Usb device can receive Wirless N speeds of upto 150mbps but can then only communicate via USB 2.0 limited to 35mbps...

Why are they even allowed to sell em >????

[beerman]

Don't do what I did and buy a wireless N dongle... to later find out it is USB 2.0
So the Usb device can receive Wirless N speeds of upto 150mbps but can then only communicate via USB 2.0 limited to 35mbps...

Why are they even allowed to sell em >????

USB 2.0 has a max speed of 480Mb/s. I think you're getting your megabits and megabytes mixed up. The throughput of USB is around 35MB/s

[macmilm]

Either way I could get my max speed using it until I wired it up 2 the router

[I Black Belt]

Btw BB whats what up with your netbook?

BSOD - unmountable boot error. Have someone looking at it, but I'm not optimistic.

[I Black Belt]

When streaming, you should also look at the Wifi capabilities of your netbook. From the Internet is fine for most standards, but streaming 1080p over Wireless G can be painful

I bought an i5 Asus X53E laptop about a year ago, that was all singing and dancing with a shitty standard Wireless G Network adapter.
I didn't realise for a while, but have since upgraded to a Wireless N internal adapter and the difference is amazing.

TBH, never had a problem with buffering etc, just choppy, erratic and out of sync audio and video

[evilsatan]

Usually that's a faulty HDD, replace with a SSD and it should work again and be a bit faster but that won't help with processing power.