any comments? i'm looking at a toshiba model with a turion (A300D-15B) is there much diff compared to core2 duo? any comments welcome!!
IMO it's depends on the price. According to this (quite outdated, 2007) article Dual Core Notebook CPUs Explored : AMD Turion 64 X2 Meets Intel's Mobile Core 2 Duo - Tom's Hardware, Intel performs better than AMD in most cases. So it's really up to the you to choose between performance and price.
Core 2 Duo is a lot faster than Turion X2, no competition. With the newer 45nm penryn based Mobile Core 2 Duo, the performance gap is even bigger. However it probably doesn't matter at all if you don't do any CPU intensive tasks.
Core Duo 2 is faster than the Turion X2's, but really, you shouldn't notice any different with everyday computing. Turion's tend to undervolt better than Core Duo 2 from my experience too. I'd say, you should first look at price. Intel are more expensive most of the time, I tend to not find the extra premium worth the performance. Second thing, you should look at the video card. Most of the time, Intel's offering are bundled with a so-so Intel IGP. AMD, usually bundled with an ATI or Nvidia GPU which blows Intel IGPs away.
well, IMO..got budget,go for Core 2 Duo. If looking better IGP,then go for Turion. Like what Zenphic mention, AMD Turion notebooks are often bundle with better IGP (the new 1 comes with either HD3200 or HD3400/3450)
Intel seems to be good with their processor nowadays, but look for benchies for more accurate comparison
I just found a review on Hexus of the laptop: HEXUS.net - Review :: Toshiba Satellite A300D AMD laptop: feature-packed but problematic? : Page - 1/8 4/5
Relatively poor battery life Poor CPU performance Glossy, hard-to-type-on keyboard Definitely the deal breaker for me.
With a 15.4" laptop, I wouldn't be looking for long battery life since you wouldn't be carrying it around that much. The Toshiba is also heavier than most 15.4", so portability isn't it's best feature. Anything glossy for me is a big no-no. And that poor CPU performance is compensated with the not too bad video card
I'd go for that Toshiba A300D-15B in the review because it comes with a discrete graphic card (radeon hd 3650), good enough for casual gaming. This laptop is a good deal for me unless you can find a similarly priced core 2 duo laptop with this or better graphic card. If you're looking for mobility, better find laptop with smaller screen ( 13.3" or 12.1 ).
