4gb ddr3 memory 1066

[PonyGirl]

Hello, laptop to replace desktop. Accounting & light video editing. Hard Drive 500GB @7200RPM. Am I better off with i5 520M w/6GB ram or i7 740QM w/4GB ram. Vostro 3700 17" screen for outdoor use.

 

[WR2]

Hello PonyGirl;
Video editing might be one area that favors the i7 740QM. What program will you use? Not all programs will use all four cores of the i7 740QM CPU.
Accounting and general office suite applications - either combo will do well with no special advantage to 6GB RAM unless you heavily multi-task (many different programs open and running at once).

 

[PonyGirl]

Currently have small motion analysis program - Motion Pro. Small requirements, expect to also use something else. But don't know what yet. Open for suggestions there too. <G> I do tend to have several applications running at a time. I would also like to know what Brand is best for customer support. Because of keyboard limitations I have had to eliminate Asus, MSI, Lenovo. Have been warned off HV dv models, Toshiba and Sony. Currently looking at Dell Vostro 3700 or an Acer. Suggestions ?? Or Thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[RetiredChief]

Of your two choices, i'd go with the dell
Having said that - Ausus has the highest rating (least problems) followed by toshiba. If memory serves me right del was about 5th and HP lower (didn't check Sony as I do not buy sony products unless arm is twist rather forcably.

Me @ work Dell, but it's the busness model, 2 toshiba's for home.

For video editing, as stated above a lot depends on the program. If dealing with large video files, memory and cpu speed may be more important than the # of cores. VOB files tend to be 1 gig or less, while a single blu-ray file can be as large as 35 gigs. If max file size is under the 1 gig than 4 gigs is fine. Down stream it would probably be better to go with the 4 cores and you can alway increase memory. Unforanatly laptops are not normally over clckable so you are stuck with the proc stock speed. - But there needs to be a 15 -> 20 % diff to be noticeable.

 

[WR2]

After surfing around the Motion Pro website there's no indication that Motion Pro software is multi-threaded or able to use multiple CPU cores.
Both CPUs (i5 520M and i7 740QM) mentioned happen to run @ 2.93Ghz in single core turbo mode so either one would do equally well with Motion Pro it would seem.

An advantage to the business class notebooks is that they're built a bit more ruggedly and they usually have a anti-glare screen - very useful if you're be using that laptop out of doors.

Laptop support by brand reviewed here:
http/www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/tech-support-showdown-2010.aspx

Dell Vostro 3700 review
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Vostro-3700-i7-720QM-GT-330M-Notebook.32768.0.html
HP Probook 4520s
http/www.notebookcheck.net/HP-ProBook-4520s.31432.0.html

 

[PonyGirl]

Retired Chief - Thank you. Asus was said to be a very good computer. But the keyboard would not work for me. Buying a keyboard that will have me hitting the back arrow when I'm hitting the 0 won't work for me. Too many years of accounting in that hand. I have liked the Toshiba's I have seen in the store and was just looking at one at Newegg. TOSHIBA Satellite A665-S6092 Intel Core i7 740QM(1.73GHz) 16" 4GB Memory 640GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M NoteBook - it is 16" instead of larger, but it would be lighter and less likely to be knocked over outside. Has everything I have been looking for except Win 7 Pro for my old XP accounting system. It is cheaper than the Dell Vostro 3700. $900 vs $1300. hmmmm .....................................................................................................................................WR2 - Thank you again. Before I get sidetracked with your links I wanted to reply. The people at Dell did tell me the Vostro built for business is built tougher than the XPS and both better than the Inspiron. I was attracted to the words "anti-glare screen" because most of the video work - reason for getting the laptop will be outside or in an arena (like rodeo) or bowling alley and the glare in those places I think could be annoying. Both I just noticed have the protection of the hard drive in a hard hit. The Toshiba probably only has 2.0 USB's while the Dell will have some of both. The Toshiba has an express card to get the video from my old camcorder into the computer (new little flip HD video camera uses a chip). The Toshiba I can turn off the mousepad with a button, but with the Dell I just have to plug in a mouse into a USB and problem solved there too. My old laptop is 14" with only 12" showing on the screen now (Acer). I wanted something bigger to see video action - bigger than the 2" screens on the cameras. grin. sometimes I feel like goldilocks - the 15.6 seems small - 16 just right (not logical 1/2") - 17.3 big. At other times I think old broad 17.3 easier to see - especially if trying to view what a dog's feet were doing across the ring and you didn't get them zoomed that well.

 

[PonyGirl]

Best answer selected by PonyGirl.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar