"He doesn't address long-term reliability specifically, however, which is of course a critical consideration. " I spent 10 years in the semi industry (not at AMD) in jobs related to reliablity. If the chip lasts 3 months it will last until obsolescence unless something silly like heat dissipation is not handled correctly. All your mechanical devices like drives are more likely to fail first. I've built an 1Gig Athlon system a year or so ago. 1 Gig RAM. I run XP, TWS, Esignal, Amibroker and a bunch of other stuff. No problems whatsoever. Shreddog
I have four AMD laptops (one Sony and three HP). The Sony is my personal computer and the HP's are used in a lab running peptide synthesizer's 24/7. No problem with any of them. I have to laugh when I read posts that say P4's are more stable than AMD. I guess the money Intel spends on advertising works.
Here is something to consider - There were in fact a number of problems with AMD chips and Windows 9x OS. We have a specific test we have the users do when we get certain errors from users on Win9x machines. However, those issues do NOT exist on Windows NT, 2000, XP. So, if you hear bad reviews, the OS used by the reviewer is something to consider.
Both Intel and AMD laptops can be made to run the software that they are purported to. In the past (and even to some extent now), AMD has had its troubles/issues that have given it a bit of a reliability concern. But not enough to pull it from the marketplace or declare it unfit for use. Without a doubt, and evidenced by many users, AMD has had more noise and heat considerations to overcome. Again, not enough to give the line a blanket thumbs down. Companies like Sony do take the time to test their offerings better than most so they do have fewer major flaws in their product line. But that's Sony! Until some water passes under that bridge known as time, the reliability overall and long term is still a question that needs to be answered. I would suspect that if they have it out there, it can handle the task. But the likelihood of you getting a bad AMD machine is greater than with an Intel one from a chip standpoint. Can you have more issues with one or the other? Overall, I'd say no. Not if you are a casual user. But as a power user with a lot on your mind I'd say to you, "If you have some concerns, take solace in the Intel product offerings for now." MHO!
I was working in internet cofee shop, we had many computers there and AMD is nothing near so good like intel, believe me, i am poor but never will buy AMD. Intel pentium is worth the money.
I do have both I do not find any difference at all . So , maybe , AMD is the answer. P4 assure -on the other side- virtually no conflict at all with programs and hardware produced having in mind P4
Ironic thing, my CPU fan died on my AMD Athlon for over 10 days and was "cooled" (loosely termed) only by the heatsink. The computer was on, running charts, and everyday activity, left on all night, 24/7 -- and Windows never crashed or missed a step. Maybe I was just lucky, or AMD really did step up their quality control. Note to self: Enable Motherboard temperature sensing in bios.