i7-640 or i7-740

[S3K04]

Hi fellow Phers,

two laptops I have found with two different processors, and a £600 price difference.

1. I7-640 / 6gb ram / 14 inch / 7.5h battery life / DVD writer

2. I7-740 / 8gb ram/ 17 inch/ 2.5h battery life / bluray writer

is it worth paying for a higher spec but lowly battery life? I will be using it for gaming, surfing, working, video & photoshoping.

[BlueJazz]

To play games then choose: 2. I7-740 / 8gb ram/ 17 inch/ 2.5h battery life / bluray writer

The big screen and processor will make the difference.

For for surfing, working, video & photoshoping choice choose option 1. I7-640 / 6gb ram / 14 inch / 7.5h battery life / DVD writer

[james_gt3rs]

It's the graphics card that will make the difference in gaming.

[S3K04]

with 2.5hr life, I will have to keep cycling the charge constantly therefore the battery will be useless very soon.....replacement batteries cost alot...

[Thorburn]

What graphics do they have, and what sort of games do you want to play?

The next gen chips next year bring quad-core chips that have integrated graphics, so they can do switchable graphics (integrated when doing normal stuff, NVIDIA/ATI graphics for gaming), saving power by keeping the power hungry GPU turned off when you aren't using it. If you can they would likely be worth the wait.

[S3K04]

graphic processors.

1. 330M
2. 425M

[Thorburn]

And what sort of games? Are we talking Farmville or Crysis?

[S3K04]

Thorburn said:

And what sort of games? Are we talking Farmville or Crysis?

many thanks to everyone who has posted,

games; I am not a hardcore gamer so maybe street fight PC or somekind of car racing for PC.

mainly Photoshop, CAD, music, surfing

[ZesPak]

S3K04 said:

Thorburn said:

And what sort of games? Are we talking Farmville or Crysis?

many thanks to everyone who has posted,

games; I am not a hardcore gamer so maybe street fight PC or somekind of car racing for PC.

mainly Photoshop, CAD, music, surfing

Imho both are overspecced for that.
But your choice isn't a processor one, it's one of portability.
14" is portable. 17" isn't. I can't get comfortable with a 17" on my lap, hence we call it a "desktop replacement" rather than a "laptop".

Just look at the weight of the things...

[Thorburn]

425M is quite a bit more powerful than the 330M, the i7 system will certainly be quicker so just comes down to whether you want to spend the extra and compromise on battery.

[S3K04]

Frustrating indeed, I would like an "animal" of a laptop to last me 3-4 years

The battery will not last 6 months, continuous charging and then lasting 10minutes