How to configure a notebook

Brian Nadel CNET

Published: 16 Jan 2006

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Go to section: Introduction The need for speed More than meets the eye Suggested configurations How we tested Performance results

Suggested configurations

Testing components individually can show you how each affects performance and battery life, but it's really how they work together that counts. After evaluating eight different configurations, we settled on the optimal configuration for three types of users.

Budget configuration
Basic performance and superior battery life

CPU  1.73GHz Pentium M
Hard drive  60GB 4,200rpm
Memory  512MB RAM
We recommend this configuration if cash is tight or you're interested only in basic computing tasks, such as emailing, surfing the Web and word processing. A system configured this way may drag if you edit video, have too many windows open at once, or work on a particularly complex spreadsheet. Still, this is the least-expensive setup, and you'll get maximum battery life.

Business configuration
A smart compromise between performance and battery life
CPU  1.73GHz Pentium M
Hard drive  60GB 5,400rpm
Memory  1GB RAM
By doubling the amount of RAM and opting for a faster hard drive, your system will be able to handle more multitasking and the CPU-intensive tasks that business requires. And you'll still get decent battery life.

Power configuration
Top-notch performance, inferior battery life
CPU  2.13GHz Pentium M
Hard drive  60GB 5,400rpm
Memory  1GB RAM
This power user's configuration is good for working with multimedia and virtually any other demanding application. Take note, though: you'll pay a premium and sacrifice battery life.

• Introduction


• The need for speed


• More than meets the eye


• Suggested configurations


• How we tested


• Performance results

Go to section: Introduction The need for speed More than meets the eye Suggested configurations How we tested Performance results

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