| One of the most frequently asked questions when | | | | playing games if all you want is to surf the internet |
| choosing which new laptop to buy is which processor | | | | and use office applications as the processor will be |
| is the best one to get. The answer is not as simple | | | | way too powerful for your needs and you will end up |
| as naming a processor brand or model. There are a | | | | unnecessarily paying for performance you will never |
| number of things to consider in order to determine | | | | use. |
| which processor is the best for your needs. | | | | If looking through processor reviews seems a little |
| First of all there are only two main commercially | | | | too daunting for you then don't worry just go by the |
| available processor manufacturers: AMD and Intel, so | | | | following recommendations. Those of you looking use |
| you will only be choosing from two brands. Chances | | | | your laptop for office applications, email or just |
| are you have already heard about Intel processors | | | | internet surfing, will be fine with the cheapest laptop |
| such as the Intel Pentium 4, Pentium Dual Core, Core | | | | processors on the market today. Any single core |
| 2 Duo, etc. Quite a few people do the foolish thing | | | | AMD Sempron or Intel Celeron processor will be |
| and buying an Intel processor because it is the brand | | | | more then enough for your needs. If you want to do |
| they have heard of, or because uncle bob says to | | | | all of the above but at the same time chat to friends |
| get one. | | | | on instant messaging or VOIP programs like MSN |
| In truth, you should never buy a processor because | | | | messenger and Skype, listen to music or watch |
| of its brand, as the brand has no effect on the | | | | videos and movies, then you will want to look for |
| processors performance. Instead, you will need to | | | | any dual core processor. Even the cheapest of the |
| search the internet for reviews of specific processor | | | | dual cores will do such as the Intel Celeron Dual Core |
| models so that you can determine their performance | | | | or the AMD Sempron X2. |
| levels. What you need to look for, are performance | | | | It is only when you want to do computer gaming, |
| benchmarks of each processor when running a | | | | video and music editing or graphic design that you will |
| certain program. These results will usually be | | | | need a more powerful processor such as an AMD |
| expressed as graphs to help you make sense of the | | | | Athlon Dual Core / Turion or Intel Pentium Dual Core |
| results. | | | | Core 2 duo with more than 2Ghzs. However please |
| The other thing to look out for is how well the | | | | bare in mind that for these programs you will also |
| processor you are looking at performs in the | | | | need a dedicated graphics card so dont splash out on |
| programs you will want to use on your new laptop. | | | | the laptop with the fastest processor you see, check |
| There is no point buying a processor that is good at | | | | if it has a good graphics card too. |