Laptop Help: HP vs Toshiba

[chadwick123]

I need help deciding between two 13-in laptops to buy:

- HP Pavilion
- Toshiba Satellite

Laptop price and warranty are about the same ($650 Ca). The Toshiba has more L2 Cache, but the HP seems to beat it in everything else (CPU Speed, RAM, Hardrive size and speed, etc...). Based on my research the HP also appears to have a better graphics card.

So am I making too big a deal about the Toshiba having 4 times the Cache? Or is it important enough to ignore the other benefits of the HP?

Here are all the details of the two (HP on left, toshiba on right):

HP PAVILION vs TOSHIBA SATELLITE

CPU MODEL:....... AMD Athlon Neo X2 L335 vs Intel Pentium ULV SU4100

CPU SPEED:........ 1.6 GHz vs 1.3 GHz

L2 CACHE:.......... 512 KB vs 2 MB

RAM:................. 4 GB vs 3 GB

GRAPHICS:.......... 1928 MB ATI Radeon HD 3200 vs Intel GMA 4500MHD

HARDDRIVE:........ 320 GB Serial SATA vs 250 GB

HD SPEED:......... 7200 RPM vs 5400 RPM

USB Ports:......... 4 vs 3

OTHER PORTS:... Same on Both Laptops

SCREEN:............ 13.3 In, 1366 x 768 (native) (Both Laptops)

OS:................... Win7 Home-Prem 64 Bit (Both Laptops)

BATTERY............. 6-cell lithium-ion (Both Laptops)

WEIGHT & SIZE:.. About the same for both laptops

Thanks!

- Chad

[chrishea]

You might want to consider reliability as well. Use the link below for a page that provides some comparisons. Toshiba is one of the best, HP is the worst. I have an HP laptop that is almost three years old, has already had a number of repairs and is currently dead. Not sure if I can revive it one more time or not. I would not buy another HP laptop.
http://www.geckoandfly.com/2009/11/18/the-most-reliable-laptop-survey-best-netbook-reliability-comparison/

[Bob_180_Bob]

What car should I buy, the one that has a lot more room in the back seat or the one with more room in the glove compartment?
Whichever one you buy with someones recommendation will always be the wrong one. Select the one you want based on your needs and buy it and be happy with your decision.