Pentium 4 notebooks, why, why not?

[Lex]

A friend is looking at a Toshiba Pentium 4 notebook. I Thought I'd remembered something about the 4s causing problems in laptops due to heat. But I wanted to check here and see what you all think...

I think the deal was like a grand for one with dvd burner, etc...

Doug

[Kevin P]

It depends on the speed and type of P4 in the laptop. Early P4s that ran under 2 GHz aren't as bad heat wise as the 3+ Ghz Prescott P4s that you can cook your dinner on.

$1G for a laptop with a dvd burner? That must be used? Toshiba is a good brand though.

[Lex]

thanks Kev, may be refurb, not sure. I'll check on the speeds of it before I tell him definitively yes or no on my recommendation.

Doug

[Azeke]

Doug,

If you know the specific model this URL should help:

Toshiba laptop reviews

Good luck,

Azeke

[Andrew Pratt]

I've had heat related problems with the P4 (2.4GHz) chip in my wifes laptop and its battery life is terrible compared to the newer Centrio based notebooks. Even AMD's 64 bit chips do better for battery life. Personally I've been very impressed with my new Dell i6000 notebook as it fixed all the issues I had with the previous generation (keyboard, screen and heat/battery life)

[Nick M]

My sister just got a 3.0GHz P4 laptop. Battery life certainly sucks, but it's meant to be a portable desktop. So long as you keep it on a desk/table and have clearence around the base for air to move it seems fine.

We recently ran it for 6hrs sitting on a desk. It definetly gets warm, but it's not smokin' hot or anything. It has dual fans underneath, one for the CPU and one for the graphics area.

Not a Toshiba though. Not sure what the cooling capabilities of the Tosh's are.

Boy is it fast too! :T

[Andrew Pratt]

How loud are those fans Nick? I rarely hear mine since it runs cooler then my wifes P4 based notebook.

[Nick M]

The fans aren't very loud at all. Certainly less quiet than the combo drive spooling up for liftoff! :B

[Andrew Pratt]

They those can be loud...the one in my desktop ROARS!

[raider]

You might consider using a chill pad if its a problem
Im running a p4 mobile and it get pretty warm but with the chill pad its cool as a cucumber :T

[aud19]

Why not? Cause they're less efficient and hotter than AMD64's or Intel Centrino's

[Nick M]

A top-fuel dragster is also less efficient than a Toyota Prius. They serve different applications. For a smokin fast (bad use of words... :B) laptop that eats batteries for breakfast, I vote for the P4! :lol:

[aud19]

Not a great analogy though as both the Centrino and especially the AMD64 are both high performing as well

[taz13]

Got to get in here, if the laptop is used as a desktop replacement and heat isn't a problem, then neither is battery as you will be plugged in. I have a 3.40 extreme Dell XPS that runs hot and is rather noisy and is fast. 2Gb helps.
The pentium m that I use at work is decent but nowhere near what the XPS is, but a whole lot easier to carry around.
But if I am doing graphics or games I will take my XPS.

[Andrew Pratt]

The issue I have with high heat units is that they tend to have their fans running a lot more which I find annoying. As far as power goes my 1.6GHz centrio is as fast as my 3.2 GHz P4 at work when I bench mark them. If raw power is what you need the AMD 65 bit chip runs a lot cooler and uses less power then the P4's...unfortunatly its not available in many notebooks so you're more limited in selection.

[taz13]

I can agree with that, but I am not bothered by fan noise on my XPS, but I am with some of the ones I use at work. I'll have to check what is in our Toshibas. I am a fan of AMD but, every time I buy a laptop, I can never find anything I like with an AMD in it. All my desktops are AMD, although my HTPC is an Intel.

[Lex]

You know as it turned out, my Sony laptp is a P4, operating at 2.8. It's very quite, and overall doesn't seem to get very hot. Well constructed I guess. I've had it about a year. I'd really forgot about it even being a P4. I pick it up, i surf with it, I put it down. Of course, it's not a Toshiba though.

[aud19]

Sony makes really good laptops too Doug :T they just tend to charge more for them

[Lex]

I'll pay a little more for reliability, and features/benefits. The Sony has the Xbrite screen, side mount CD, good size display, good speed all for 1300-1400 at the time. Not a really bad price considering any off brand was 1K with the P4 at that time I Think. I've had pretty good luck with Sony laptops, so I've stayed with them lately.

[Andrew Pratt]

I was tempted by the Sony's when I was shopping for my last notebook. Unfortunatly at the time they didn't have the chipset I wanted but they were nicely built and very stylish

[maseline_98]

If you are going to get a new laptop...get a "M"(mobile) chip. The P4's get hot and will often shut down your machine. Also, the P4 chips suck for battery life. I have Dell 1.7 Pentium-M Laptop and I get nearly 6 hours on battery life. I used to have a Toshiba P4 2.8 and I got about 2 hours. It makes a huge difference!!!!...With the short battery life you will have to have it plugged in a lot, which causes even more heat....that's just IMHO

[ht_addict]

This is the notebook I'd love too have: Acer Ferrari 4005WLMi($2400CDN)



Specs:

AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology ML-37
1GB (512/512) DDR333 SDRAM
100GB hard drive
integrated DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
5-in-1 card reader
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) TFT display
ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON® X700 graphics
802.11b/g WLAN, gigabit LAN, V.92 modem

[aud19]

I didn't know Acer was utilizing AMD chips?! :P Still, I wish the likes of the Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony etc would start using them..... :evil:

[Andrew Pratt]

Those high end Acer's are supposed to be nice :T

[aud19]

How's their reliability though Andrew....? I've already been burnt by the more "bargain-brand" end of the laptop spectrum....

[Andrew Pratt]

Not sure. They're way more popular over in Europe then here.

[whoaru99]

Can't speak to the newer Acers but I have an old AcerNote Lite that just refuses to die.