How to configure a new notebook PC

But if you're in the market for a new notebook today — whether because Windows 7 is out or simply because you need a faster machine - prepare to be confused.

There may never have been a time when notebook purchasers have had more choices to sort through, more micro-decisions to make, before settling on a model.

By far, though, the most perplexing choices when configuring a notebook today must be made in the areas of processors, screens, and memory. Here's a rundown of what you'll encounter — and some tips on how to decide.

Processors

Notebook chips these days are both powerful and perplexing. Intel offers a seemingly endless array of processor choices and naming schemes. Available are Corel 2 Duo T-series and P-series processors, Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 chips — and an array of speeds within each model.

The Core 2 Duo T-series of chips have a 677-800mhz front side bus (FSB), while the P-series sports a 1066-mhz FSB. A “front side bus” is the path that carries data between the processor and a motherboard's primary chipset, which in turn feeds data to other internal components.

A higher FSB typically translates into faster overall performance. The P series, which uses 25 watts of power, is more power efficient than the T series by about 10 watts.

In short, the T series is older technology than the P series but is still widely available. In real-world use, you're unlikely to notice a great deal of difference between T-series and P-series Core 2 Duo chips, so if price is critical, you could opt for the cheaper T series and spend your money elsewhere.

You'll also find notebooks today built around Intel's latest Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 chips. These processors do away with the front side bus altogether, thereby eliminating a significant bottleneck of older designs.

The chips also can automatically “overclock” themselves, meaning they can deliver more performance when required and throttle back performance in order to conserve battery life.

The higher you go in the i-series chips, the more features and performance you'll get. i7 chips, in other words, are more powerful than i5 chips, which are more powerful than i3 chips.

Within each series, though, you'll find processors of different clock speeds. As always, higher clock speeds translate into faster performance. If Intel's array of processors doesn't have your head spinning, then you can also look at notebooks built around AMD's Athlon II notebook processors.

The Athlon II chips are dual core units built to compete with Intel's Core 2 Duo line. The Athlon's, though, tend to be less expensive, and their focus on power efficiency and cool operation makes them attractive to those who value cool and quiet notebooks over those from Intel, which tend to offer a bit better performance.

The bottom line among all these processors is this: virtually any Core 2 Duo, i-series, or Athlon chip will give you acceptable performance with any recent version of Windows if you mainly use conventional office applications or surf the web.

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