calling laptop/computer experts !

[disneyred]

hello.
I won't even pretend to be tech savy so here it goes... looking to buy a family laptop for the kids to use... surfing watch movies/shows .. so am looking for a higher speed computer with more storage to store their shows , movies etc..... what is the best bang for my money ..

(HERE is copy / paste of ads I have found)
Intel Core
17.3in screen
4gb ram
640gb HD
wireless N
price 600.00

Dual Core
15.? inch screen.
4gb
400gb HD
4250 graphics
AMD Athlon II P320 Processor
price 500.00

Personally i am looking for the bigger screen...
what is the difference between dual core vs. intel core ??
what is must have for a laptop , i don't want to buy it and a few months later ... will be wondering if I should have spent more $$.
thanks for any comments / opinions.

 

[bicker]

Okay, as far as Intel chips...

After the various Pentium chips, Intel started using the term Core:

• Core Duo is the lowest-end, of those I'm listing, and the oldest.
• Core Solo is a broken version of Core Duo, so is lower than the lowest-end.

Then there was Core 2:

• Core 2 Duo is the most common of all these, in circulation today (but not among new computer, anymore).
• Core 2 Solo is a low-power Core 2 chip (but not a broken Core 2 Duo), and a successor to Core Solo.
• Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme are high-end Core 2 chips.

Now we have the third generation post-Pentium chips:

• Core i3
• Core i5
• Core i7

Think of them as "low, medium, and high".

I suspect that many advertisements fail to properly list the chip in the computer (i.e., "Intel Core" is pretty general and basically tells you nothing). Perhaps if you provided model numbers, someone could dig up the detailed specs so you can do a good comparison.

We've worked with dozens of computers over the years. Right now, between home and work, we've got twelve computers between my wife and I. What matters to us most is reliability and service, and hands-down the best over all has been Dell. My wife recently purchased a Studio 17 laptop:

• Intel® Core™ i3-350M 2.26GHz processor
• 17.3” LED Display
• 3GB RAM
• 320GB Hard Drive
• Wireless N

That's running $699.99.

 

[golfgal]

Ds18 got a Dell Studio for college-17" screen too. The screen is HUGE and GREAT for watching movies. He got the I7 core and a lot of memory and stuff. They have a deal through the college so the computer was $799. We have had several Dells and have been very happy with them.