Which one to choose: Intel's Pentium M, D, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo or AMD's Sempron, Athlon and X2?

You have probably noticed a huge price drop on all the Pentium M, D, AMD's Athlon and Sempron processors after the release of Dual Core processors by both the brands. For newbies, the attractive prices of Pentium M or D could easily lure them to buying one. However, the performance of a dual core processor beats all those of the previous types. But, even between the dual core processors, one has to decide whether to go with Intel's original Core Duo processors, AMD's X2 processors or the new Intel's Core 2 Duo processors. The short answer is that Intel's Core 2 Duo processors out run all the others. As a result, for a laptop, core 2 duo would be the best choice. It's even better if you can get hold of a Core 2 Duo Centrino processor. That's because, centrino processors are designed to provide more battery life than a regular core 2 duo processor. AMD's Turion brand provides the same feature. The good news is that the prices for core 2 duo laptops are going down. You should be able to purchase one for under $900.