[ubuntu-uk] I shall have to replace my 'Linux Certified' laptop

[Rob Beard]

Rowan wrote:
> The gents at Laptop Repairs tell me: "It's a chipset problem that we 
> just can't fix."
> I shall have to send it back to California if I want it replaced... 
> could take a while...
>   
Oh dear, well at least it sounds like you can get it replaced.
> I fancy one of these Thinkpads:
> http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/products/laptops/#pidR26881
> N500-1, N500-2, N500-3, or N500-5, all between 450 and 550 pounds incl. 
> VAT & p&p. Is it worth paying the higher price for a T6400 Core 2 Duo 
> 2.0 GHz Processor, as opposed to a T3400 Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz Processor, 
> or a T4200 Dual Core 2.0 GHz Processor?
>
>   
The T3400 and T4200 are Pentium Dual Core CPUs.  It's still dual core 
like the Core 2 Duo but has a smaller cache (it's a cut down chip based 
on the Core 2 Duo).  Basically the higher the number the faster the CPUs 
are, the difference between the T3400 and the T4200 is the front side 
bus, it's basically how fast the CPU talks to the rest of the components 
on the motherboard such as memory, drives etc.  The T4200 is slightly 
faster in this respect.

The Core 2 Duo T6400 has 2MB Cache so it's quicker than the T4200.  It 
is usually the case (at the moment at least) that the higher the number 
the quicker the CPU although I have heard it is changing again with the 
release of the Core i5 CPU.

So basically the machine go to for depends on what you want to do.  I'd 
say for a general machine for web browsing, e-mail, office documents etc 
then you'd probably be fine with either of the Pentium Dual Core CPUs.  
I'd say rather than going for the Core 2 Duo T6400 you might want to 
save a bit, get a T4200 instead (or the T3200) and then put the savings 
to a bit more memory, bigger hard drive or maybe another battery.

I have a Core 2 Duo T6400 in my notebook but only because it was on 
offer (the model of machine I have can have a 1.8GHz CPU or as much as 
something like a 2.2GHz CPU but I only had the choice of the 2GHz CPU) 
and most of the time I run the machine at 1GHz, I very rarely crank it 
up above 1.33GHz and it's unlikely that I run the machine at 2GHz unless 
I'm doing anything CPU intensive (you can add an applet to the desktop 
bars to show the CPU speed and switch between speeds).

Ta,

Rob