do I need APIC on old laptop?

[Kjell Eriksson]

Hi, only way to install Ubuntu (sounder cd#9) on my Dell Inspiron 8000 
is by using "noapic nolapic" as bootparameters.
Otherwise it seems working ok.
in dmesg there is some mention of problem with pciehp and shpchp, but 
googling tell me it's nothing to care about.
Do I really need APIC on my old laptop P3-cpu or is it more important 
for smp and P4 ?
Seems Dell bioses are broken regarding APIC
If I try to install debian netinstall daily build 20/9 there is no 
problem, but newer build same problem as Ubuntu, install freeze!
Do Ubuntu use same kernel as Debian ?