Looking for help choosing a new laptop....

doppelganger

doppelganger

CAGiversary!
I'm looking at a few laptops, and am having trouble deciding which one would be the best choice. I'll admit right now that I don't know very much about computer technology. Here are 3 computers I am looking at right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114631
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114606
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9164343&type=product&id=1218040476937

Some things I noted:
2 of them have Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit, 1 of them just says Windows Vista Home Premium. I don't know what the difference is, if any, and how important it is.

2 of them have Intel Core 2 Duo CPU's rated at 2.0G speed, and the other one has an AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-82 rated at 2.2G speed. Obviously I know 2.2 is a higher number than 2.2, but does that make the AMD automatically better? I don't know if there is a "processor tier list" or something like that.

2 of them have 4GB of RAM, the other has 3GB. I don't know how much of a difference this makes.

I'm sure there may be other significant differences I could be missing. Any suggestions/recommendations?
 
I like the best buy one the most. I'm pretty sure the Pentium processor found in the last 2 computers is faster than the Athlon in the first (looking at this list), the best buy one has 4 gb of ram, they all have the same video card (which should run games reasonably well), the best buy one is a little bit lighter and it costs $50 less. The only disadvantages are it has 320 gb of hard drive space vs 400 in the 2nd computer and it has a slightly smaller screen (15.4" vs 16" in the second computer). I also don't trust the one that doesn't say 64 bit, although maybe that's why it only has 3 gb of ram (you need a 64 bit operating system to use 4 gb).
 
I built an Inspiron 15 at Dell just the other day with a P8700 (2.53ghz, 3MB cache 1066FSB), 4GB RAM, ATI HD 4330 256MB, 250GB drive, Wireless N, 15.6" WLED for $794 shipped with a $225 off $899 code. The code's active until June 1st. I shopped around for hours with a friend and this is the best configuration we could find. Looks to be better than the 3 you're comparing as well, and right there in the same price range. It has Vista Home Basic but you could drop to a Wireless G card and get Home Premium if you wanted.

The code is QX934B1BM47BS? ... I built off of the $399 Inspiron 15 on the Dell Home store.
 
they're all basically the same, just get whichever is cheapest for you (consider any tax+shipping). Note the 2nd one you listed has a 16inch screen while the others have 15.4 inch screen.
 
Your choices are so close, that I would recommend just going with the one from BB...if you run into any problems, it would be the easiest to return/exchange.
 
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