Go for Core i3 for LGA 1156. 775 is older technology so it only makes sense for future expansion.

A 2.13-GHz Core i3-330M processor is a little faster than a 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T6600. Of course, retail prices change frequently, but if the Price difference isn't all that much, like say 50$, then get the newer of the two architectures. CPU in a laptop is one issues, but perhaps a bigger issue is battery life and a good fast hard drive. Look into a laptop with a SSD Solid State Drive because it will improve the performance greatly, more so than comparing these processors. I also recommend Windows 7 over XP and Vista for any new laptop. Keep these things in mind and your girl friend will have a good laptop.

Second thought maybe just try to find a laptop with a fast HDD. Seems like the prices are still high for some reason on most, I don't know why. You could just get a cheap SSD and install it into any old laptop and install a copy of Windows 7 pretty cheaply and easily IMHO.

Lol, I don't think I'm going to try and go for anything extreme like an SSD. A 7200rpm hard drive should be sufficient for what she's going to be using it for. She's a college student at MSU and she doesn't game. All she wants is a reliable laptop that can do microsoft office, stream video and movies, and surf the web.

And yeah, if she ends up getting a new laptop it's definitely going to have Windows 7 on it. The Core i3 laptop ends up being cheaper than a Core 2 Duo laptop, so I'll probably tell her to get the i3. Well...actually now it comes between the Core i3 and an Athlon II X2. It's probably going to come down to price at this point. The Athlon II is $600 and the i3 is $680. It's up to her and her parents to see how much they want to spend.

Here are the specs of each:

Intel Laptop:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU: Core i3-330m dual core 2.13Ghz, 3mb L2 Cache
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
GPU: Intel HD Graphics
Display: 15.6" HD LED Display (1366x768)
ODD: SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Other: Built in Webcam and Microphone, Wireless-N Card, 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

AMD Laptop:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU: AMD Athlon II Dual-Core M320 2.1Ghz, 1mb L2 Cache
RAM: 4GB of DDR2
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4200 128MB
Display: 15.6" LED Widescreen Display (1366x768)
ODD: SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Other: Built in Webcam and Microphone, Wireless 802.11 b/g/n Card, 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Hmm...now that I look at it, the Intel version seems like a much better deal.

I'd go with the Intel for newer CPU+newer Ram

Core i3 for sure... Its the newer technology

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking now. I forgot that the AMD laptop came with DDR2 ram, and now that I've looked at it, it's definitely the better choice. I just wanted to make sure that the Core i3 measured up to a Core 2 Duo because they were making it sound like it was a lower end cpu at CES. They were talking about using it primarily in netbooks or something like that, but looking at the specs it's definitely a dual core and it has hyper-threading. So with that in mind I'm pretty sure it will perform better than a Core 2 Duo.

i3 without a doubt. Not only is it a future technology, it's also more comes with more features and consumes less power. You can also think of it as coming with a free graphics cards xD.

Core i3 all the way. 32nm technology means it's going to be faster and run cooler.

Lol.

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