Celeron vs mobile Pentium 4

[nnnewbie]

Hi,

I hope this is the right forum for my question. Am buying my first laptop. Want something as powerful as I can afford. With my budget being a key decision factor, I am willing to compromise on the weight factor.

I think the Toshiba Satellites are looking pretty good. Am now trying to decide between
- A45 S130 - 2.8 GHz Celeron
vs - A45 S150 - 2.4 Ghz Mobile Pentium 4.

I expect to use the laptop mostly for MSOffice, and a statistical software, surfing and email.

Should I pay the 200 bucks more for the P4?
Thanks
PS- Should I also spend on the service plan (best buy/circuit city)

[[Neo770]]

If you dont care about heat, battery life or weight then the REAL pentium4 will be quiet abit faster then a celeron.

Considering you have no interest in gaming or other compute-intensive tasks, I recommend saving your money by purchasing the Celeron system. I perform the same tasks as you with my notebook, and I am still using a Pentium 3 with no performance complaints.

The service plan is a personal choice question. I do not purchase such agreements, but I also service my own equipment.

If the notebook is going to be abused or used daily, then a service plan may prove beneficial. Notebook replacement parts can be quite expensive, especially if something happens to the system's screen or motherboard for whatever reason.

Robert Richmond