Laptops and Netbooks

I had done my research and made my selection. The Asus Eee 1000ha. $430. Take it anywhere, 5 hour battery life, 160 gb HD at 5400. Then I'm on stupid Yahoo! today and see that Wally World (aka Wal-Mart) is having a one day (Really early this year, the 8th) and the Compaq CQ50-139WM (which I'll assume stand fors Wal-Mart) is going to be $298. Now it's not an ultra portable netbook. Not that big of a deal, I was basically looking to replace my 4 year old HP DV1000 that has become my desktop. But, it's running a Celeron. I had a Celeron once. Once. It was in an Emachine (I was in desperate need of a cheap upgrade). And it sucked. I hated it. However, things have progressed. My question is, can anyone tell me how the Intel Celeron 575 will compare to the ASUS Eee 1000HA's Intel Atom 1.6? The Celeron is "clocked" at 2.0 mhz. I know RAM plays a factor as well. The Compaq has the following stats:

Intel Celeron Processor 575

2.00 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 1MB Cache

2048MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)

Expandable up to 3072MB with 2 accessible memory slots

15.4" Diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display

Viewing is enhanced with the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (shared) with up to 765MB Total Available Graphics Memory

160GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)

Store all of your digital media on this expansive drive

Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic with Service Pack 1

Makes your computing experience more efficient, more secure and more fun

SuperMulti 8X DVDR/RW drive

With double-layer support

Additional Features

HP Imprint finish & Integrated Microphone
Multimedia Drive - with Double Layer Support
Display - 1
Network Card - Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Option - 802.11b/g WLAN, Audio - Altec Lansing
Fax/Modem - High speed 56k modem
Keyboard - 101-key compatible
Pointing Device - Touch Pad with Touch Pad with dedicated vertical and horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad
External Notebook Ports: 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
1 Headphone out
1 microphone-in
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
Security - Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
Power-on password
Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Power - 65W AC Adapter
6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 (including 60 days complimentary live update)
HP Help & Support Center
HP PC Recovery (SoftThinks Restore Solution)
HP Wireless Home Network Setup
HP Total Care Advisor
Microsoft Works
Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition: 60 Day Trial Version
HP Smart Web Printing
HP PhotoSmart Essentials
HP DVD Play
Muvee autoProducer, Cyberlink DVD Suite
Adobe Acrobat Reader
HP Games powered by Wild Tangent


The ASUS has:

Operating system: Windows XP Home
Internal memory: 160 GB hard disk drive (HDD)
RAM: 1 GB DDR2
Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Atom (N270)
Memory expansion: Slot for MMC/SD(SDHC) cards
Screen: 10 inches, 1024 x 600 pixels, LED backlight
Networking: 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), 10/100 Fast Ethernet
Bluetooth connectivity: No (Planed on getting a USB adapter)
Peripheral connectivity: Three USB 2.0
External video: One VGA
External audio: One headphone and one microphone port
Webcamera: Yes, 1.3 megapixels
Battery: 6 cells (6600 mAh), up to 7 hours
Weight: 3.19 pounds (51 ounces)
Dimensions: 10.5 � 7.5 � 1.5 inches

No Optical drive as it is a netbook, but I had planned on getting a slim external for $99.

Those aren't perfect comparisons but they should suffice for someone who knows their stuff to tell me, would I be out of my mind *NOT* to take a chance on the Compaq? I'm only looking to have a portable web surfing, Word running laptop. But at $298? Am I missing something? Could the processor be *that* bad? Any input is appreciated!

For the Hard Core techies, here are teh processor specs.

Celeron 575:

General information
Type CPU / Microprocessor
Family Intel Celeron M
Model number ? 575
Part number LF80537NF0411M
Specification number ? SLB6M
Frequency (MHz) ? 2000
Bus speed (MHz) ? 667
Clock multiplier ? 12
Package 478-pin micro FC-PGA
1.38" x 1.38" (3.5 cm x 3.5 cm)
Socket Socket P
Introduction date Aug 19, 2008
Price at introduction $86

Architecture / Microarchitecture
Manufacturing process 0.065 micron process with copper interconnect
Data width 64 bit
Number of cores 1
Floating Point Unit Integrated
Level 1 cache size ? 32 KB instruction cache
32 KB write-back data cache
Level 2 cache size ? 1 MB
Features MMX technology
SSE
SSE2
SSE3
Supplemental SSE3
Execute disable bit ?
EM64T technology ?

Low power features Core C1/AutoHalt, C1/MWAIT, C2 and C3 modes
Stop Grant mode ?
Sleep mode ?
Deep Sleep mode ?
FSB low-power enhancements


Electrical/Thermal parameters
V core (V) ? 0.95 - 1.3
Min/Max operating temperature (�C) ? 0 - 100
Min/Max power dissipation (W) ? 26.41 (Deep Sleep mode) / 45.31
Thermal Design Power (W) ? 31

Notes on Intel LF80537NF0411M
Bus frequency is 166 MHz. Because the processor uses Quad Data Rate bus the effective bus speed is 667 MHz
Part LF80537NF0411M is an OEM processor

And the Atom N270:

General information
Type CPU / Microprocessor
Family Intel Atom
Model number ? N270
Part number AU80586GE025D
Specification number ? SLB73
Frequency (MHz) ? 1600
Bus speed (MHz) ? 533
Clock multiplier ? 12
Package 437-ball micro-FCBGA8
0.87" x 0.87" (2.2 cm x 2.2 cm)
Introduction date Jun 3, 2008
Price at introduction $44

Architecture / Microarchitecture
Processor core Diamondville
Manufacturing process 0.045 micron
47 million transistors
Data width 32 bit
Number of cores 1
Floating Point Unit Integrated
Level 1 cache size ? 32 KB instruction cache
24 KB write-back data cache
Level 2 cache size ? 512 KB 8-way set associative
Features MMX technology
SSE
SSE2
SSE3
Supplemental SSE3
Hyper-Threading technology
Execute Disable bit ?

Low power features C1/AutoHalt, C1/MWAIT, C2 and C4 thread states
Stop Grant state ?
Enhanced Stop Grant state
Sleep state ?
Deep Sleep state ?
Deeper Sleep state
Enhanced Deeper Sleep state
Enhanced SpeedStep technology ?


Electrical/Thermal parameters
V core (V) ? 1.1
Min/Max operating temperature (�C) ? 0 - 90
Min/Max power dissipation (W) ? 0.5 (TDP for Deeper Sleep state) / 5.1
Thermal Design Power (W) ? 2.5

Notes on Intel AU80586GE025D
Actual bus frequency is 133 MHz. Because the processor uses Quad Data Rate bus the effective bus speed is 533 MHz
Part AU80586GE025D is an OEM processor
The processor runs at 0.8 GHz in the Lowest Frequency mode

Anyone able to put that in English for me?

You can't really compare the two. They are different lines for different users. You're comparing an ultra portable to a regular laptop. Of course the larger laptop will have better specs and hard/performance wise will be better. The EEE PC was really designed for travel. It really is based on your preference. I am in IT and have 2 work laptops both are 15 inch and 17 inch respectively. I just recently bought a personal laptop and ended up getting a new Macbook. It really depends on your usage and what you're trying to do with it. I know prices are nice but you have to keep in mind what you want to do and what features you want. Keep in mind with the 2 laptops you are looking at, they are both low end, low power usage CPUs. They weren't meant to have blazing performance like if you had a Core2Duo.

I went from using a HP 6715b laptop to my brand new MSI Wind. I got the Wind for $450, but you can probalby find it cheaper. It has been amazing. It is so portable, quick, and very fun to hack. For the money I think it is a great deal. I will eventually get another desktop (Mac Mini) but for now the MSI Wind is great.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the Wind.

I'm not concerned about how much it can do. I'm not looking for a gaming machine. Just an extension of my current laptop turned desktop HP DV 1000. And at 430 price balanced with performance was my main motivator. I'm just thinking I could get more for less with the Compaq. My concerns with it lie in the thought that it's extra components HP had lying around and wal mart subsidized pricing to get it to sell at 298. But if it would perform as well as the reviews for the asus show I would be interested in picking it up.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Bought the Asus. Will get it in a week.