I am very very set in my ways and all I ever buy is AMD to me they are the top, I have had both and just love AMD processors, that is something that would probably be one of those things you have to decide on your own but to answer your question is AMD even OK yes AMD is much more than OK AMD has beat the pants off of Intel many times in benchmark tests.
It is just all I will have.

Thank you. Any idea which is better, the turion, or anthalon?

See if the link is helpful, Because there is a bunch of information presented.

zep

Here is a link that might be useful: hardwaresecrets.

I suppose this debate would be much the same as should I buy a Ford or a GM. You will have those arguing for both sides. I personally have had all Intel processors in all my laptops to date and have yet to experience any problems.
With Intel mobile processors you will notice that there are:
Starting with the cheapest and slowest:
Intel core solo
Intel core 2 solo
Intel core duo
Intel core 2 duo
Tou will see numbers like T2350, T5300, T7200, T8100
Obviously, the higher the number, the faster the processor
Intel core 2 Quad mobile
Intel core 2 Extreme
I have yet to see the bottom two, and would imagine them to be in the real high end gaming/extreme laptops which would
sell for $3000 plus

Thanks for the link on the AMD processors. A lot of the info was way over my head, like all the places I found Googling, before I came here, and just asked, but there was enough stuff that was "at my level", and I think I understand now.

Thank you also for the "top ten" Intel chips. I saw a quad core, I've looked at about a thousand laptops, but I think I remember it was in a $1500.00 laptop. About 3 times my budget.
this is what I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on.

Here is a link that might be useful: HP at Office Depot

Bob411, I can't get to the Office Depot site via your link, but I'll share my experience with you. I have a HP notebook that I bought almost 2 years ago. It has the AMD Turion 64x2 processor, and it is a fast, dependable computer. In fact, I call it the "Screamer" because it is so fast compared to others I have had. I believe the Turion processor is preferred for notebooks. Mine came with 1GB of RAM and runs XP. I upgraded it to 2GB of RAM about 6 months ago. I really like this computer. I'm sure the one you are looking at has Vista, and I'd go for Vista Home Premium with at least 2GB or Ram, preferably 3GB. Hope you are happy with your new laptop.

I guess the sale is over. Tomorrow Office Depot has a 17" for around the same price,maybe a little more, one day only, but it doesn't say that it has HDMI, for hooking it up to the TV. Or for $50.00 more I can get first one at Buydig, or wait for Black Friday.

Here is a link that might be useful: HP at Buydig

You have to be comfortable with the fact that there's always something about to come out. That does NOT make what you buy obsolete the next week.

Quad-core processors are overkill and woefully underutilized at this point. A quad-core essentially is four processors in one, but it takes software that is written to take advantage of each core to see any advantage. Without that software, nearly all software will simply not utilize those cores. There is a way to specify to the system which application will use which core, but that means its processes are not spread among the cores, which is where you would have found speed benefits of the quad-core.

No matter what flavor of processor you end up with, AMD or Intel, you'll be pleased. AMD tends to have a price advantage, but Intel for the past year or so has been designing some very efficient performers.

My suggestion is to look for dual core units, called Duo by Intel and x2 by AMD. Ignore any marketing material that claims a processor is more desirable because it's 64-bit. Unless you were specifically seeking out 64-bit software, including a 64-bit version of Vista, there's no practical advantage at this time. The speed, or MHz, is not a literal guarantee of how fast the system will run. There are so many variables that a system with a higher MHz number really can perform worse than one with a lower number. I suggest you also find a system with as much RAM as possible. No less than 2 GB if you're getting a system with Vista installed.

Other than looking for a dual core unit with at least 2 GB of RAM, just go by price point and, in the case of notebooks, how the screen looks to you. (Is the screen dull or crystal clear? Does text appear too small for you to comfortably read for long lengths of time? Is the whole notebook too large or is the keyboard too small for your hands?)