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Tech News & Commentary
Amy in North Pole, Alaska listens on KFBX 970 AM asked us: “I have a question about a laptop I’ll be getting. One says Intel Pentium, and one says Intel Core i3. The price difference is $110. Which one is better to have inside my laptop?”
Amy, A modern Pentium processor is not the kind that came out in the 90s, and is not that far behind an i for simple tasks, but if you do several things at once, the i3 might be better for you.
The Pentium will likely only be able to handle 2 threads at once, to the i3’s 4 threads, so on single tasks the performance will be similar, but if you’re running complex software, or several things at once, you’re likely to get better performance from the i3. The modern Pentium is basically a low end version of the i3 with some features such as Hyper Threading disabled, and with less cache and worse video support.
$110 is a pretty big price difference though, we’ve seen i3s listed for around $100 to $150, and that’s the whole price. There are many different models, some more expensive than others, but $110 difference is pretty surprising if all that’s different is the processor itself. The i3 is probably a better choice. Although, if you don’t do anything too complex, you may be just fine with the Pentium.
It’s always worthwhile, when deciding what specs you want in your next computer, to begin with the question of what tasks you want it to perform. For web browsing and email, and running the basic Microsoft Office apps, nearly any processor will do. A Pentium, as we said, will be fine.
That being said, there is also the issue of user experience. How long does your computer take to do something? How quickly does it respond? The processor is less important in this than the storage device (an SSD vs. a traditional hard drive), but it is still a major contributing factor.
So, while you might be able to use the Pentium and save the $110 over the cost of the Core i3, we really believe that it might be penny wise and pound foolish, given how much snappier the performance of the i3 will be. Unless, of course, the Pentium is in a laptop with an SSD and the Core i3 is in one with a traditional hard drive. In that case, the Pentium will run rings around it’s newer, faster cousin.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Facebook Participation:
Car manufacturers are set on creating vehicles that drive themselves! Safe or scary? Would you want to travel in one?
Here are some of the answers we shared:
Eddie said: “I would for vacation and work commutes.”
Richard said: “I wouldn’t mind riding in one, but wouldn’t want to be in a crash involving one. Who would be responsible?”
Alonzo said: “Verdict is still out for me…waiting to see the final product.”
Amme said: “Ah, has anyone driven i-95 lately? I think they’re already out there.”
Dorothea said: “Kinda scary…”
Guest Segment:
Jacqui Cheng, Editor-in-Chief – The Wire Cutter
CEA Update:
What happens when everything is digital? In the Consumer Electronics Association’s provocative new book, CEA’s chief economist has a straightforward answer… Everything will change! Krista Silano explains…in this week’s CEA Update.
Product Spotlight: V-ALRT & Lumenplay App-Enabled Christmas Lights
Chris helps you stay safe and festive for the holiday season with two prodcut spotlights.
Claudia in San Jose, California listenin on KLIV 1590 asked us: “I have a Samsung Note 2, for some odd reason my contacts are always duplicating. What am I doing wrong?”
Claudia, What might be happening is that you may have several accounts on your Samsung phone that are syncing your contacts and causing the duplication. Most times apps like Facebook, Whatsapp, Google, and Tango to say the least can cause such frustration. To fix this problem, simply go into your setting and then into “Your Accounts” and uncheck the “Sync Contacts” box.
It MAY be that it’s simply Google being Google. Your Google account, which you do have when you have an Android phone, has contacts. Your smartphone itself has a contacts app. It’s very common for Google to synchronize your smartphone contacts with your Google contacts in the cloud.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it makes it possible for you to have access to your smartphone contacts when using Gmail on a computer. But it can be confusing. You might want to open your Contacts app on the phone and see if it has an option for “groups.” If it does, deselect either your smartphone contacts or your Google contacts, so it only displays one of them.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Breathometer: Several of their Breeze – Smartphone breathalyzers
NewPotato Technologies:Classic Match Fooseball Turns your iPad into a fooseball table
Firefold:Ultra High Performance HDMI Switcher
NewerTech:Voyager Q – SATA Hard Drive docking solution