Thread: newbie, laptop spec

Appealing to your Evil side, I'd go for a hi-end low power core with enough RAM (say 4G) and maybe downclock it for lower power consumption.

Appealing to your Genius side, can you provide more info? Screen size & res, intended use (DVD?), battery reserve time, environment, portable etc?

The "ideal specs" are what meets your performance needs, your budget, and your aesthetic requirements.

Think of it this way:
You have certain tasks you want the PC to perform. So look at hardware configurations that are capable of providing the performance you desire for the tasks you intend to perform.

ok then, this is what i want.

sat nav system
my music collection on a hdd (sub 32gb of music)
dvd playback
bluetooth

want the sytem to have a quick start up and enough ram to cope with the above and maybe a bit more.

can a system be a overkill. as in to much power and ram? would big of a spec cause to much heat and consume alot of power compared to a lower spec machine?

thanks
ian

You last para of questions...
No - you can never have overkill. It's like saying you have more space than you can ever fill.
You can never use too much power or RAM nor have too much heat etc.
Unless it costs too much, or your air con can't keep up (or have a 2 door whose 2WD only cools half as much as 4WD) or you battery flattens too quick or your alternator is too small.
RAM size is usually not that relevant anyhow unless running on laptop batteries. Despite claims to the contrary, RAM does not consume hundred of Watts - they usually mean milli-Watts.

A higher spec machine may consume less power despite higher speed & more RAM... but I'm interpreting "spec" as in performance (and maybe price).

Others can answer the specifics. I know nuthin'.