best bang for buck is definitely acer for ur price range..
but i do think getting ur budget to near rm3k makes a better bet for a long term run...(better cpu,more ram,better gpu etc. u could probably get a 9cell batt too, if u r a wireless guy who likes to sit in the toilet and surf the net )

188tx - reason is because there is a gpu. altho 5340 is entry level, but sufficient for the things u mentioned u r gonna use ur laptop for.

also, i've come to notice that those entry level i3 and i5 does makes very little difference in performance as long as u got a whole bunch of ram.

abt heating issue, compaq does haf a slight heating issue (i mean those cq 42 series). im using 177tx and i notice there is a significant amt of hot air at the vents eventho im just fb-ing and mafia war-ing. however easily overcome with a cooling fan and unless u r gonna use ur lappie in an oven, i dun think it posed any explosion hazards.

there is definitely significant difference. but if u asked to what extent,i think that depends on how u can accept the graphics (very subjective to different individuals).
but as far as ur intentions with ur 'future lappie', i dont think it will make any significant difference. however my bet is still with an external gpu. u get more of ur proc to do some other stuff than rendering graphics. never know when u need ur proc to do something else...
and jus fo references, its better u head to intel website and check both the proc. there are alot of overlapping processor from them lately. eg. take some of the higher end i3, compare with a entry level i5. they are practically the same! similarly for the i5s and i7s.

the turbo boost is 'up to ur proc to decide'. u cant get it to turbo boost 24/7. eg. as to when and where ur processor 'feels' like it needs additional processing power, then it will go into turbo boost mode.

my call will still be the external gpu, i.e 188tx.

just fyi, with ext gpu, it drains battery faster.

as far as the laptop stack-up is concerned, a dedicated gpu does generate more 'distributed' heat (i.e. ur proc doesnt generate all the heat). then again, as long as u dont block the venting holes, it shouldnt the least bit affect ur decision.

lol you do want to take in 'alot' of considerations prior buying dont u?

if u r considering the processor, why dont u head to intel website and see the differences in the i3 and i5 offered in both machines? they have a comparison chart where u get to see what both can offer. i5s have the HT where u can get 'virtual' cores for multitasking. i.e i5 m430 is a dual core processor but if u open ur task manager, u will see 4 cores. 2 virtual duplication of both physical cores. if i am not wrong, only the most high end i3 has that feature.

and i do agree with u, the design is not as boring as other laptops with just black and white colors.

to xk2:
i doubt u can find any pictures in websites. even hp website doesnt offer images for cq42

im too lazy to upload.. so i made a text of my WEI

Component Details Subscore Base score
Processor Intel® Core™ i5 CPU M 430 @ 2.27GHz 6.4 5.1
Determined by lowest subscore
Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB 6.4
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430 5.1
Gaming graphics 1786 MB Total available graphics memory 6.0
Primary hard disk 421GB Free (454GB Total) 5.9
Windows 7 Home Premium

System
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
Model Presario CQ42 Notebook PC
Total amount of system memory 4.00 GB RAM
System type 32-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 2
64-bit capable Yes

Storage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total size of hard disk(s) 466 GB
Disk partition (C:) 421 GB Free (454 GB Total)
Disk partition (D:) 2 GB Free (11 GB Total)
Disk partition (E:) 96 MB Free (99 MB Total)
Media drive (F:) CD/DVD

Graphics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter type ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430
Total available graphics memory 1786 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 1274 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.681.0.0
Primary monitor resolution 1366x768
DirectX version DirectX 10

This post has been edited by Arcueid000: May 9 2010, 06:25 PM