Help understanding computer lingo
 

So I'm in the market for a Laptop but unfortunately, am not too well versed with the computer lingo. How do I tell if one computer is more superior to the other.

Basically, other than going by numerical value on HD and RAM, I don't know how to tell how superior one is to the next. For example...

When talking about processors: Intel Pentium, Intel Centrino, AMD, dual core, etc etc. all of sudden becomes greek to me.

Same thing with videocards.

TIY for the help.

Processor goes by what u need it for
worst to best
celeron -> pentium dual core -> core 2 duo -> centrino -> centrino 2

celeron - Don't go there
Pentium dual core -> good for everyday use a little slow if muti-task no games
core 2 duo - more then enough for everyday power
centrino -> core 2 duo + intel wireless card
centrino 2 -> 45nm chip (better battery life), intel wifi -N card, more cache (best)

Amd
sempron -> athlon -> athlon x2 -> turion x2 -> turion x2 ultra
basiclly the same thing as intel's line but it sucks more battery the turion x2 ultra has better processor for HD vids(blu-ray)

most laptops you see these days would have either intel mobile graphics 4 or ati hd3200 or Nvdia 8200, don't be fooled by the numbers all of these are crap, they can not play games, however they are capable of handling high-def

and ya....

Ram
3GB of ram and under uses 32bit (more apps)
4GB of ram and more uses 64bit (less apps)

for example simply accounting doesn't support 64bit, so just watch for what type of software you need and make sure that you don't get a 64bit unless all your apps,programs can use it.

Harddrive
most laptops have 250, some have 320, they go up to 1TB (Raid two 500's) so depending on what kinda space you want really.

screen type
some are led's that might be smth to look for as it offers better colour and brightness to the screen(most of the time)

for screens, more importantly look at resolution and view angles

Thanks this was highly comprehensive and helped a lot.

I'm still a little bit unclear with videocards though. I've been reading up on ATI and found a comparison chart of their products originating from mid 90's to their most current.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...ocessing_Units

Not being well versed, is it safe to assume that the later the model in years, the superior it is to it's preceding model?


And one last thing I didn't understand regarding your post. I general numerical terms, the more usually means the better. I guess that doesn't always apply to computers. Why would a 64bit be inferior to a 32bit?

32 bit os cannot use up all 4 gbs of ram
most apps we still have are still 32bit apps
but never the less get 4gbs

I think aznboi128 means that most applications can run in 32bit mode, but only a few can run in 64bit mode. So if you want Simply Accounting (which doesn't support 64bit) but you have the 64bit version of Vista, you're out of luck.

So in other words, be careful which version of operating system you get. I guess it's possible to get a laptop with 4gb of ram, but run the 32bit version of Vista (although then I don't see the point of getting 4 gb of ram if you can't make use of it all).

I'm guessing you mean the integrated cards, I have a dedicated card in my laptop and its runs quite a variety of games, although nothing crazy new.