Quote:
Originally posted by General Lee
RAM is Random Access Memory? Can you elaborate the difference between GHz and RAM. I am thinking GHz deals w/ speed, RAM deals w/ memory. Am I way off? |
GHz is the speed that the processor runs at
RAM is the amount of memory you have. this is what all your software programs will use when they are running. If you don't have enough, the computer needs to keep transfering infomation from RAM to your hard drive. this is called swapping, and it's slow. 512MB is a must, especially if you plan on running Windoze
Now, to confuse things a bit, your processors also has some memory on board. This isi known as cache. You will probably see this in the range of 1MB to 2MB. The computer wants to keep information that's going to use often close by so it's faster. the more cache a processor has, the more it can keep close by and assuming this is done correctly the faster the computer runs.
if you want a good system, like everyone else has said, you don't want a dell. dell makes great desktops, but their laptops are so so. most large companies actually use IBM becsaue, even though they are a bit priceier, they are designed to work. We abuse our laptops at work and they still keep chugging.
as far as processors go, use a pentium M. this is designed for mobility to use less power and is designed to be a bit faster for general purpose computing like you're doing then other processors that may have faster clock speeds (higher GHz)
good luck