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Old 04-27-2003, 06:53 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Centrino?

I've been seeing all these commercials for Intel Centrino-powered laptops. Is this just a P4-M rebadged? What's so special about this technology?
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Old 04-27-2003, 07:31 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Centrino is a a Processor, Chip Set, and Wireless thingy. Main features - POWER, LOW ENERGY USE, and wireless (blah)
Laptops and tablets that only have the Processor and Chip set will be label Pentium M or something, but I know it will have the M. Centrino has to have all three parts.

From http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109606,00.asp

Intel's much touted Centrino mobile technology is making its debut, promising better notebook performance and battery life. Most top-tier vendors--including Toshiba, Dell, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, and Acer--are readying notebooks based on the technology, and exclusive PCWorld.com tests show that mobile users have reason to be excited.

Two of three test notebooks using the new 1.6-GHz Pentium M processor outran all previously tested notebooks. Even more important to most mobile users: Initial battery results are exceptional, too.

The new technology's biggest weakness may be its confusing naming scheme. The Centrino technology, formerly code-named Banias, includes a CPU, chip set, and wireless hardware. The chip is called the Pentium M, (not to be confused with its Pentium III-M and Pentium 4-M predecessors), the chip set is the 855, and the wireless hardware is named the Intel Pro/Wireless 2100 Network Connection.

To call a notebook a Centrino, and to reap the benefits of Intel's marketing muscle behind that name, vendors must use all three parts. Notebooks using only the processor and chip set will carry the Pentium M label.

The PC World Test Center tested three preproduction units: the 6.2-pound IBM ThinkPad T40 (priced at $3395), the 6.5-pound Dell Latitude D600 ($2267), and the 7.1-pound Toshiba Tecra M1 ($3500). Both the ThinkPad and Latitude carry Pentium M branding; the Toshiba is a full Centrino product.
Extra-Long Battery Life

For frequent travelers, a notebook is only as good as its battery life, and our three thin-and-light test systems with high-capacity batteries post marathon run times. The Tecra M1 lasted an eye-popping 7 hours, 6 minutes, and the IBM ThinkPad an impressive 6 hours, 33 minutes in battery tests. The Dell, using a notably smaller battery, ran for a respectable 3 hours, 15 minutes.

How does Centrino help battery life? For starters, the 1.3-GHz, 1.4GHz, 1.5-GHz, and 1.6-GHz Pentium M chips draw an average of less than 1 watt of power. (Intel also offers 1.1-GHz and 900-MHz versions, which average one-half watt, for subnotebooks and tablet PCs.) The older Pentium 4-M processors gobble an average of 2 watts.

Intel has also improved its SpeedStep technology, which lets the notebook adjust the speed and voltage supplied to the processor to suit an application's needs. Original SpeedStep notebooks had two speeds--fast and slow--but the Pentium M notebooks offer four to five power steps.

For further power savings, Intel has tweaked its CPU transistor technology and added Mobile Voltage Positioning 4, a technique to lower the voltage supplied to the processor based on current CPU activity. As a final touch, Centrino and Pentium M machines use a 400-MHz power-optimized system bus, which powers down portions of the bus when they're not in use. (Existing Pentium 4-M notebooks have a 400-MHz bus and Pentium III-M models have a 133-MHz bus; neither bus varies its power consumption.)

All Centrino and Pentium M machines use the new 855 chip set, either an 855GM version with integrated Intel graphics or the 855PM, which lets the notebook vendor choose the graphics technology. (The Dell and IBM test units use ATI Radeon graphic processors; the Toshiba M1 uses Trident.) The power-saving 855 chip set also adds support for USB 2.0 and up to 2GB of 266-MHz or 200-MHz DDR memory, whereas older mobile chip sets support only 1GB.
Power Boost, Too

Most mobile users don't want to sacrifice performance to get long battery life. That won't be an issue for Pentium M-based notebooks, thanks to a more efficient processor architecture built from the ground up to be a mobile part (Intel's previous mobile chips are reconfigured desktop parts).

The new chip completes more instructions per clock cycle than today's P4 chips (which favor higher MHz instead), and the Pentium M has a 1MB Level 2 cache (twice that of the P4's 512KB L2 cache). As a result, the three 1.6-GHz test notebooks landed impressive PC WorldBench 4 scores, outpacing notebooks with faster-running P4 and P4-M processors.

The Dell Latitude, the highest-performing notebook we've tested to date, scored 125--a noteworthy 13 points higher than our previous top mobile performer, a 9.5-pound desktop replacement from Toshiba with a 2.5-GHz desktop P4 processor. That's about 12 percent faster, a performance gain any user would notice.

The IBM is close behind at 124, and Toshiba's Tecra M1 machine landed a still zippy 111--a significant hop from a comparison Tecra 9100 unit's score of 95. Another comparison machine, Gateway's 600XL desktop replacement with a 2.4-GHz P4-M, notched a 107.

In additional tests focusing on processor-intensive tasks, the Pentium M notebooks performed well with Adobe Premiere 6, Nero Burning ROM 5.5, and AutoCAD AUGI Gauge work. The Dell Latitude flew through the AUGI Gauge test in a cool 251 seconds; the IBM ThinkPad finished in 253. The Toshiba Tecra M1 completed this test in 288 seconds--compared to 456 seconds for the Tecra 9100.

Differences between the Pentium M and Pentium 4-M notebooks are not as dramatic in Adobe Photoshop 7.01 and our VideoWave DivX tests; the new and older Toshiba notebooks stayed within 3 seconds of each other on the VideoWave test.
Wireless Lowdown

Before you choose your next notebook, you need to understand the wireless options--confusing as they may seem. Intel's Pro/Wireless 2100 Network Connection, the third piece of the Centrino puzzle, provides Wi-Fi-compliant 802.11b connectivity.

With wireless access points, or hot spots, popping up in hotels, airports, cafes, and stores, Intel says it wants to validate that all the pieces will work together well. Packaging the wireless component with the chip and chip set also helps Intel muscle into a hot market--much as it did with chip sets.

But not all notebook makers favor Intel's implementation of 802.11b technology, and still others prefer different standards altogether.

The corporate-oriented 802.11a standard provides faster connections--up to 54 megabits per second maximum, 20 mbps average--compared to a maximum of 11 mbps, or 6 mbps average, for 802.11b. The two technologies operate in different frequency ranges, so a .11b-compliant notebook can't tap into a .11a access point and vice versa. A third Wi-Fi variant, the up-and-coming 802.11g, delivers the same speed as .11a, but it's backwards compatible with .11b.
More to Come

The IBM test notebook contains IBM wireless hardware compliant with both the .11a and .11b standards. Intel says Centrino notebooks with this "dual-band" support should arrive in the second half of this year. IBM decided its customers couldn't wait.

Dell provides the Intel wireless hardware as the default option with the Latitude D600. But it also offers, as a no-cost alternative, a Dell-branded part that complies with 802.11b and 802.11g standards. Intel has yet to announce plans to support the .11g standard.

Despite the confusing naming convention, and the messy wireless situation, early Pentium M and Centrino-based notebooks show great promise. Excellent battery life and unprecedented mobile performance mean any road warrior should be pleased to travel with one of these notebooks.

Those seeking yet another processor option, however, can wait until the third quarter of this year when Intel rival Transmeta launches its next-generation mobile processor, code-named Astro.
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