CPU Experts please help me. T2250 vs. Intel Core 2 Duo confu

[NickLL1]

I have an Acer laptop which is about 1.5 yrs old with the T2250 1.73Ghz Intel Centrino processor. Recently I have seen some Core 2 Duo laptops with 1.8GHz or more CPU.
My T2250 has a 2MB L2 cache as well as some newer Core 2Duo processors. Is my processor also a core 2duo since it has a 2MB L2 cache?
Will I benefit from buying a new laptop with non core 2 duo i.e T3200 over my existing laptop?
Will a laptop with the AMD TL-60 running at 2.0Ghz with 1 MB L2 cache be any better than my T2250.
I do a lot of photoshop and illustrator work so will a good video card make these programs run faster or does it strictly depend on the CPU? Please help me with my confusion.

[Wizzard1]

Your processor is a Pentium Dual Core- it has /basically/ the same architecture, but it lacks some fancy features, and is 32-bit ONLY, while the Core 2 Duo is 64-bit (and 32-bit compatable).

Yours suffers from at most a 10% difficiency compared to a Core 2 Duo of the same speed and generation, due to your processors 32-bit architecture.

A TL-60 is inferior to your T2250 processor. I would pair a TL-60 with a PDC 1.6GHz, or a C2D at 1.5GHz.

Buying that new T3200 processor would offer you marginal benefit- You want a T7xxx T8xxx or T9xxx generation processor, Vista or Windows XP in 64-bit flavor, and 4GB of RAM. You would then see a great difference, even if the processor speed was only 1.8GHz. The 64-bit mode, OS and extra RAM is key. Also, make sure you get a 7200RPM drive.

Personally, though, a laptop is ill-suited to be a powerful machine- high power equates to shorter lifespan, shorter battery life, more heat and significant cost increases. If you want power, get a desktop.

Also, some graphics cards for Desktops (Quadros) now can aid Photoshop operations- But you cant add these cards to laptops (but SOME have them built in).

[NickLL1]

Thanks Wizzard1. I have found a Gateway with a Intel Cdentrino T5750 with 4GB RAM and a dedicated 512MB RAM for $550. That would be an upgrade, right?

[Wizzard1]

Yeah, that'll be nice What's the graphics, Nvidia?

[NickLL1]

I believe it is the ATI 2600HD.

[Wizzard1]

That's a good one :-d I personally prefer Nvidia, but a 2600HD is acceptable, and very good for a laptop.

[NickLL1]

Thanks. I won't be gaming on the laptop but I hope I will see an overall improvement ecpecially in Photoshop and Illustrator.