Pentium 4 vs Mobile 4 In Laptop

Hi,

I'm looking at an HP Pavilion zv5160. I can pick it up today at Circuit
City with an Intel Pentium 4 2.8gHz, or I can get it on the HP website and
substitute a Mobile Pentium Intel 4 2.8gHz (for $25) but the delivery is
three weeks.

Question...my understanding is that although the Mobile P4 will save
battery life ,it is not the same as the Centrino package and that the
Centrino package runs better, but uses a slower clock speed to save power.

There are some other items I'd like on the site, that aren't on the Circuit
City model (internal floppy, 12 cell battery instead of 8), but I don't
know if the Mobile Pentium 4 is better than the Pentium 4.

Yes? No?

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm looking at an HP Pavilion zv5160. I can pick it up today at
> Circuit City with an Intel Pentium 4 2.8gHz, or I can get it on the
> HP website and substitute a Mobile Pentium Intel 4 2.8gHz (for $25)
> but the delivery is three weeks.
>
> Question...my understanding is that although the Mobile P4 will save
> battery life ,it is not the same as the Centrino package and that the
> Centrino package runs better, but uses a slower clock speed to save
> power.
>
> There are some other items I'd like on the site, that aren't on the
> Circuit City model (internal floppy, 12 cell battery instead of 8),
> but I don't know if the Mobile Pentium 4 is better than the Pentium 4.
>
> Yes? No?
>
> Thanks,
> Bruce

The P4M is a cooler chip than the P4. The P4 laptops are literally
blowtorches. IMO, either outperforms the Banias/Dothan Mobile Pentium M
(i.e., Centrino) in everything except battery life and operating
temperatue, and the Dothan version (1.7Ghz) will still not quite match
the overall performance of the P4s www.tomshardware.com. The 2Ghz
Dothan will end the debate, IMO. I would spring $25 for the P4M since it
runs cooler than the P4. Internal floppy drives are generally not
available - an external USB floppy is less than $50 (HP had a coupon
making it free except for shipping). The 12 cell batteries have been
replaced by the smaller batteries and a CD/DVD slot that doubles as a
second battery slot in many laptops. Serial ports have disappeared.

Interestingly, the Banias/Dothan reportedly have battery life of 3+
hours in routine use, compared to *maybe* 2 hours in a P4M. In 3D
gaming, the Banias/Dothan battery is reduced to a bit over 1 hour which
about the same as my 2.6Ghz P4M Sony Vaio. The Banias/Dothan produces
routine battery life by extensive speed stepping which cannot be
maintained in gaming although the power consumption is significantly
less than the P4M and the fan presumably is much quieter.

Anyway, given the price differentials between say Centrino/Mobile
Pentium M laptops and P4M laptops, the choice of the P4M is obvious
unless battery life or temperature is a significant issue. Most laptops
are rarely removed from AC power if that says anything.

The following responses will be from the Mobile Pentium M groupies! (To
their credit, the P4M/PM issue is resolved since the P4M is a dead end
in June).

Q