Quick question (please answer)

I'm getting a laptop for school and i want to be able to play a few of my old games that don't work on my current computer, so which is better...

AMD Athlon(TM) X2 Dual-Core Processor for Notebook PCs QL-60 (1.9GHz)

and

256MB ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3450 Graphics

that's what i'm leaning towards now

or

Pentium(R) Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2390 (1.86 GHz)

and

256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS - For Core 2 Duo Processors

the rest of the specs are pretty much are the same, my main question is what's more powerful, a Radeon HD 3450 or Geforce 8400M GS. I like AMD better and that's cheaper but i still want okay graphics. I have a lot of older games like Age of Empires III that i'd love to play better than now, my settings are on all low.

this is a big question:

do either gpu have it's own memory (dedicated), or are they shared memory, this is important especially on a laptop since gpu's on laptops are always less powerful than their desktop counterparts, and if they use shared memory, well obviously, less system memory is available.

But in a nose to nose test, the ATI chipset edges out the nVidia chipset in almost every test. although I typically prefer the intel chips over the amd's for two reasons, when comparing "like" cpu's, the amd's usually require more power to run and a s a result expell more heat.

Edit:

Here is a link to one source:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

i know the 8400 is dedicated and the Radeon says this

256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 3450 Graphics allows you to play amazing graphics and 3D imagery from the latest games with DirectX(R)10.1 support. Experience the enhanced audio performance through the built-in HDMI port with standard 5.1 pass through audio for an immersive sound experience. DISCLAIMERS: Shared video memory (UMA) uses part of the total system memory for video performance. System memory dedicated to video performance is not available for other use by other programs. Note - this disclaimer affects system memory, and graphics.

I would probably lean towards the intel/nvidia combination in this case just for sake of the dedicated/shared memory issue.

Models of these machines could help narrow down the choice, as there should be reviews of each.

Just as long as you do understand that both are relatively lower end systems, at least from a gaming standpoint, but you did say it was for school afterall. Older games will do just fine, and maybe some of the more recent ones at lower resolutions.

here are links to them, and i'm not looking for a power house machine, i'm just getting a school one and would like low gaming capabilities.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=From+price&v1=%24500-%24800&series_name=dv6700t_series

and

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&series_name=dv5z_series&a1=From+price&v1=%24500-%24800

the only thing i'mchanging about the configuration is the free 2 gb upgrade and 160 gb hd upgrade, plus the graphics cards. So which one would be better? Also what would be the difference on these comps if i used the 64bit Vista?