John,

I do not think that the processor is your major issue: AMDs work just fine. If you are looking at budget, I would concentrate more on RAM amount/type, Video capability, peripherals CD/DVD read or read/write/re-write? and the screen size/resolution.

Remember that replacing the screen is really NOT an option with a laptop and that all components are relatively expensive to upgrade (compared to a desktop).....I guess that the screen would be the main choice factor for me?

For example: This is a PII/266MHz............now I could go upstairs and get a tower with a P4 2.26, or an Athlon 2200+............I haven't even bothered

I could walk 30 feet (9.2Metres) across the room, and pick up the IBM PIII/533 lying there...I cannot be bothered.....it is not worth the effort, except that this one only has 128Mb of memory?.......and I have been upgrading the other one so it will do DVD/CD R/RW/W and it has yet to get its 60Gb HDD.

I have upgraded a Digital PI/133 to run within 15% of this PII/266 box.

What I am trying to say is that you really won't notice the difference unless you are doing something quite specialised.....then I would question the choice of a laptop over a desktop?

You do not tell us what your usage requirements are? At work I would demand a moderate desktop in every location, rather than a laptop?

Good luck, hope this helps a little, and please continue this thread until YOU are satisfied

Cheers,

Johnno