AMD Turion Vs Intel®Core™ 2 Duo?

[volume3k]

Hey everyone, I thought after 4 years its been about time to upgrade my computer. Ive opted for a laptop this time around and have ran into a bit of confusion with these new processors. There are 2 laptops i have seen both around the same price, one is from dell the other is alienware. Specs:

Display: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD with Clearview Technology - Saucer Silver
Operating System: Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium - English
Warranty: AlienCare 1-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return
Processor: AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML40 2.2GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache
Memory: 2GB DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2x1024MB
Video Card: Dual 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS - SLI Enabled
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 80GB 5400 RPM SATA
Optical Drive: DVD-Burner: 8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24x CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keypad: Mobile Keypad - English
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Wireless Network Card: Internal Wireless 802.11b/g miniPCI Card
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth® Device
Optional Mouse: Logitech® MX™518 Gaming-Grade™ Optical Mouse


AND


Base Intel®Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Memory 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
Keyboard Single Pointing Internal Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Video Card 512MB DDR3 nVidia® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX graphics card
Hard Drive 120GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter
CD/DVD Drives Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software
Wireless Local Area Networking Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini PCI Wireless LAN Card for Core 2 Duo Processors


Any help would be much appreciated. Bearing in mind I would be gaming but also be doing (some) 3d max

 

[raybay]

We see incredible numbers of odd problems with the Alienware laptops... and parts are difficult to get... becoming more so as they age. Lots of early failures of the LCD screen. Alienware tech support has been terrible over the past two years.
You didn't fully describe the Dell, but as long as the Dell is not in their bottom price range, you get a decent machine... with long-terms parts availability and better cooling. You won't see much difference in the performance of the two when new.
If you have the choice, the Dell XPS series are quite good, followed by the Latitude... Low-end Inspirons are not good choices, as almost any low-priced laptop will have early problems with the LCD screen... or get the longest warranty you can.
Most important of all decisions has to do with cooling... which one has the most cooling fans, and has a large enough case to encourage good air flow, and access for removal of dust and hair.
If you cannot actually get your hands on the Alienware to examine for cooling, you probably should not consider it.
I would also consider upper end Gateways and HP's. But I would avoid eMachines, WinBook, Acer, Toshiba, Compaq, and Sony VAIO, in my unhumble opinion.

 

[F1N3ST]

Get the Core 2 Duo, It has a worse video card, but faster RAM (and newer DDR2), a faster procesor and the battery will last longer.

 

[Tedster]

With all other things being equal, a Core 2 is a better processor. However there are many laptop makers... I wouldn't limit myself to just these two.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Dell and Alienware are the same so regardless of whom you get it from, the support will still be ****ty and the problems will keep on rolling. I would suggest an LG, Toshiba, or an HP Pavilion (not Compaq) series laptop as better alternatives

 

[foozy]

HP (including compaq, imo) is probably one of the best brands you can go for as far as laptops go - they also have some of the best warranty support in the industry, not so sure about tech support.

If you go for them, though, the first thing you should do is reformat the hard drive, HP puts so much garbage on their laptops.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

It's not only HP but all the manufacturers. Dell is especially notorious for this unwanted bloatware on their lappies.

 

[F1N3ST]

Ugh, emachines gave me all that crap, I dont get it, they make a desktop with 256MB of RAM, and it took easily 5 minutes to start up until i uninstalled all the CRAP on there. Regardless to say I still upgraded it to 768MB, then I built this beast