Is an extra 600 MHz worth $50?

[angryhomer17]

I'm looking at a few very inexpensive laptops for school.

http://www.target.com/p/acer-aspire-15-6-laptop-pc-as5750z-4835-with-500gb-hard-drive-4gb-memory-black/-/A-14113049#?lnk

http://laptops.techcrunch.com/l/459/NV57H77u

The only big differences I see are CPU and HDD specs. I don't care about HDD space. I'll be using this laptop in class for AutoCAD and a little netflix in my dorm. No games, no other stuff. I have a desktop with an Intel E6550 that is still working ok for most of my other needs.

The Acer has an Intel B960 @ 2.2GHz while the Gateway has an Intel Celeron B815 @ 1.6GHz. They are priced at $330 and $280, respectively.

For 6 months to a year of use is it worth an extra $50 for the Acer? Is there another laptop you'd recommend at the $300 price range?

I know I can get something much better for a few hundred dollars more, but I don't have that budget right now, and I'd rather save to upgrade my desktop and/or get a bluray drive. Thanks.

[dino99]

get it free :P

http://askville.amazon.com/find-free-laptop-son-school/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=8642920

[angryhomer17]

Looks like mostly scam sites. Freecycle isn't offering much at the moment. Anyone else have an answer that more directly answers my CPU question?

[jmfal]

The newer card is probably better than the old one, but I don't think it's enough to run 3D.
I may be wrong.

[angryhomer17]

Are you talking about the video card? They both appear to be Intel HD 3000. No need to run anything in 3D.

[jmfal]

Sorry
Was looking up some info for somebody else in another tab and accidentally ... you know

[Warpnow]

Mhz is fairly irrelevent nowadays. Benchmarks are still bad, but better.

The b815 has a passmark score of 1517. The b940 has a passmark score of 1867.

However, AutoCAD is heavily dependent on video card from my experience...and I think doing work on either of these machines in AutoCAD would be very difficult.

You might be better off using lab computers if you're budget is constrained to this price range, or look into a used computer.

Just my opinion.

[user1397]

While I do understand that some people use AutoCAD professionally and create immensely complicated designs with it, which take a lot of processing power (especially GPU power), you gotta ask yourself how you use AutoCAD and if you really need that much processing power for the types of designs you will make (I'm guessing this is for school).

I just find it really hard to believe that intel HD graphics 3000 won't be able to handle 99% of the things you will do with AutoCAD...

[zero2xiii]

My 2cents,

Stay away from celeron, period. Go for genuine intel, or amd, but not celeron. I have had nothing bud bad experience with celeron vs G_intel in the same speed. (1.6 vs 1.6).

Cherz

[Paqman]

Stay away from celeron, period.

Pretty much.

The Celeron would be fine for a browser and office suite, so if that's what you're going to be mostly doing then why spend more than you need. AutoCAD could use some extra horsepower though, depending on how hardcore the stuff you're using it for is.

[forrestcupp]

I agree with the last two posts. If there's any possible way to get something other than a Celeron, do it. In my opinion, they are not even suitable for web browsing and Office software without feeling like you're creeping along. You should be able to find a low end i3 or comparable AMD processor for around $300, I would think.

[mips]

Celerons are bad, mmkay.

[Nixarter]

Agreed. You want to stay away from celeron for your purposes.

I would recommend a core series processor, but a standard pentium would do the job.

That computer can still run CAD, though. It might be kinda sluggish (when you move stuff, like changing viewing angles) which gets annoying, though.

[stalkingwolf]

I recently purchased a dell m6300 on ebay for a family member for 350.00.
it had a dual core P4 4gb ram and 320 gb hdd. when it was delivered i was impressed.

[angryhomer17]

Thanks for all the replies. I got the Acer Gateway with the B815 Celeron this afternoon for $160. I couldn't pass it up for that price. But now I'm thinking that I shouldn't have been so cheap.

Based on all your dislikes of Celeron CPUs I think I'll wait a few more weeks and see if there are any really good back to school deals.

FWIW I'm only going to use this for ~4 hours a week in class. The rest of the time I'll be doing work on my desktop or a lab computer. I'm using AutoCAD for drawing linkages and cams used for graphically solving kinematic problems.

[Petro Dawg]

When it comes to current versions of autocad you should get the best processor you can afford. I have an AMD 2.1 GHZ dual core processor and it just barely ran Autocad. It took hours to render some more complicated geometries I designed. A celeron would probably be rather problematic.

If you just need a simple, light Cad software which also has simple FEA ability, I suggest T-Flex student edition (student edition is free). I used it to do a Mechanics of Materials project in school, and impressed the professor. It should work on the computers you mentioned but might take a while to complete the FEA calculations.