ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:A AU$580 MSI Wind U100 will get you:
- Intel Atom 1.6GHz
- 1GB DDR2 RAM
- 120GB HDD
- 10in screen
- Windows XP Home
- 802.11b/g + Bluetooth
- Card reader
- 1.3MP Camera
- Laptop Keyboard/mouse

Let's say wee add another 1GB DDR2 RAM stick for AU$20 bringing the total to AU$600.

Compare the desktop:
- Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 @2.5GHz (AU$105)
- Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L M/B (AU$78) [includes integrated video & sound]
- 2GB DDR2 RAM (AU$29)
- WD 160GB SATA HDD (AU$57)
- Coolermaster CAC-T05 with CM 460W PSU (AU$117)
- Windows XP Home (AU$155)
- Netgear WG311 Wireless PCI Card 802.11G (54Mbps) (AU$29)
- Webcam + Card reader (~AU$16)

TOTAL AU$586, and that doesn't include the screen, keyboard or mouse (let's assume you buy one of these for the netbook as well).

The desktop really isn't that much better...

Actually, in that example, it is quite a bit better.

E5200 is more than twice as good as a 1.6GHz Atom, and the 2GB ram compared to 1GB is twice as good. 160 > 120 for HDD, and desktop HDDs are faster. The webcam and wireless aren't crucial. And the good thing about upgrading a desktop is that you can carry stuff over, stuff like DVD drive, HDDs, PSU and chasis are often carried over, saving you a bit of money.

And the CPU difference here is sort of different from your Core2 vs i7 comparison. A decent core2 (lets say E8400) can do pretty much everything you want. It can run you 2 or more 1080 vids at the same time, and play the most hardcore games out there, just as good as an i7 (games are mostly GPU), and can encode videos decently fast. So going up to i7 doesn't offer all that much benefits... But the Atom doesn't do everything you want, (you have trouble playing even one 720p vid, you can't play hardcore games, and you encode slow as hell). So going up does give you benefits.

(This post was last modified: 02/04/2009 10:22 PM by Assassinator.)