hello
just planning on buying a generic laptop pc soon, for realtime music applications under linux (pd, ardour) and under windows xp (max/msp), but I need some information / experiences about it (on the internet the main topic I found is this eternal amd/intel debate and I don't really care about this)
regarding the cpu, there are two main technologies
- desktop processors adapted to notebooks (for example, intel mobile pentium 4
or amd mobile athlon xp): these ones give you the same performance as a desktop computer, but you shouldn't unplug the computer from the external energy source for too long
- mobile-oriented technologies (intel centrino/pentium M, amd sempron): focus
on mobility (low consumption, embedded WLAN, less heat hence less fan noise, etc) but almost nothing is said about their performance compared to the above category; as these processors work differently (other instructions, other architecture), I would like to know if any of you use such machines for making music in realtime, because I didn't find anything serious about it on the internet
So the question is not "amd or intel ?" but "sempron/centrino or mobile-athlon/- pentium4 ?"
For a given price, I can't make any compromise on calculus performance and I don't plan on using the laptop on batteries too much (anyway my sound card needs external power), so maybe the first category is the best for me, but as there are more and more second-category laptops, I certainly have to take them in account too.
Most probably I will have to choose between amd sempron, amd mobile athlon xp, intel mobile pentium 4 and intel pentium M / centrino. I don't need a huge cpu power but I don't want this laptop to be less performant/reliable than my current 2 years old 2.4 GHz shuttle desktop computer.
notes: I fear 64-bit will be too expensive so I won't focus on it. Also, I don't see clearly the difference between a "mobile xxx processor" and its "xxx processor for notebooks equivalent that you can find in both amd and intel ranges :)
thanks for your help, -j