Do you think the new 45nm computer chips being launched by Intel and AMD next year will affect the price of laptops when they come on to the market? I don't want to spend £500(ish) if it will be £250 in a few months' time. Nikki Horrobin
For the past 30 years, there has always been a hot new processor on the way, making people wonder whether to wait. But there has never been less reason to bother. First, chip suppliers and PC manufacturers try not to change their "price points" -- they just bring in the new stuff at the top of the range and let the older technology filter down. In the short term, the PC you want will still cost £500 (or whatever), you will just get a bit more for the same money. Prices come down over the long term as people find the cheaper stuff does all they need.
In any case, extra processor speed is unlikely to make any difference unless you habitually do processor-intensive tasks such as encoding video. If you already use a PC, even a crude guide such as the performance tab on the Windows Task Manager will show the processor is running at 1% to 5% utilisation most of the time. You will usually get better results by spending any extra money on more memory (ie, 2GB) or on faster graphics than on a faster processor.
Fortunately there is a simple way to test the suitability of any machine for running Windows Vista: Microsoft has built in a test suite that gives a rating, the Windows Experience Index. This gives ratings for the different components, so check the graphics score in particular. This is most likely to be the weakest link, especially on cheap notebooks.
Remember, your PC is really only as good as the slowest component.
