Centrino
 

I will be purchasing a laptop by the end of the year and have stumbled across the "new" Centrino technology. My question is, is this new breakthrough in mobility really worth the extra $$$? I could purchase a Pentium 4-M 2.6GHz laptop for about the same price as a Pentium Centrino 1.4GHz (considering all other options are similar).

Which will be faster in "processing" data? I've read that the latest trend in skyrocketing processor speeds have not been all that efficient as there is a bottleneck from the chipsets used. The Centrino is supposed to have the advanced 855 chipset while the P4-M utilizes the 845MP chipset.

I understand that the Centrino Family offers more than just an upgraded processor, but that's all I'm questioning on this thread.

I am fairly new to the world of laptops, so feel free to correct any of my findings...

Thanks

I would say it depends on your main use for the laptop. If you are using it mostly as a desktop replacement, then I'd go for the P4. I believe the major benefits of their mobile chips are power and heat reduction. I've had a desktop chipset laptop and a mobile chipset laptop and you do notice the extra heat and battery consumption, but if it was in a docking station all the time, I wouldn't care. Another thing to think about though is that the hardware in all these laptops are really so powerful, you may be able to give up some speed in order to get a Centrino chip that's a little more affordable in order to still get the benefits of Intell's mobile technology. Personally, that's probably what I'd do, just because I've been rather impressed with the developments they've made in mobile chip technology. Again, I'd say it all depends on what you want to do with the latptop though. Good luck :thumbup:

Nick

In one word: YES.

Centrino (Pentium M) has been designed to eb a mobile CPU from the ground up. Whereas Pentium 4M is a derivative of the common desktop CPU. The Centrino patform has much better battery life and thermal controls. The GHZ speed is not directly relevant between the P4M and Centrino. This is due to the fact that the Centrino CPU can do more computations per cycle than a regular Pentium 4M even if it's running at a much higher GHZ. There are literally hundreds of pages on the specifics, but the overall consensus is that the Centrino platform is the best for a mobile solution, only caveat is price.

Ok, thanks for the info guys.

From their, I believe I'm going to go with the Centrino line. Since I've originally posted, I've read several more good things about the Centrino package, so it looks like it will work well for me.

Now onto the next phase...what brand of laptop do you guys recommend? I understand that I will need to pick a specific model for myself to fit my needs, but what brand do you trust...or don't trust. I've researched several different laptops from Sony (Vaio) and Dell (Inspiron), but I don't know how their reputation is as far as laptops go.

Any comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Wow. This site has answers to everything. Could someone please explain women to me? Maybe that would take up too much memory space for this site. Nevermind.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gomarlins3
[B]Wow.

I agree - if you're considering a laptop - especially for mobility, Centrino is a good choice. Having said that - Centrino is actually a Pentium M process with an Intel wireless card for 802.11b wi-fi capabilities. If you get a third party wireless option, it's technically not a centrino. :rolleyes: *cough* Anyways, a centrino package should give you the longest battery life, and unless you already have 802.11a deployed where you work/live, I wouldn't bother with 802.11a/b capability. 802.11g is probably the next major standard after 802.11b.

Now, between laptop brands.... here's my 3 cents:

Sony is pretty cool - I had a VAIO SR-17 (and it still works haha). There was some heat issues - and generally, Sony notebooks perform slower than other brands with the same configuration.

Dell - might have heat problems too. Customer Service is pretty bad these days. waited 30 min just to talk to a rep who ended up telling me to call somewhere else.

IBM - I think I still prefer IBM's.... they are workhorses and I'm quite happy with the Thinkpad I use for work. T40's are really nice, and if I had the money, I'd get a T40p for myself.

Toshiba - Pretty reliable, haven't used one lately... My dad's old portege 200Mhz Pentium laptop still works hehe.

no no no!!! the trouble is that men don't listen. trust me, i'm one of them. I have some of the answers but no one, especially those who need them most, will listen.

*shrug*

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Flayer
[B]
Dell - might have heat problems too. Customer Service is pretty bad these days. waited 30 min just to talk to a rep who ended up telling me to call somewhere else.

my vote goes for IBM T40 series.

Built like a tank, you get what you pay for. T40p is the ultimate which I have in the model 2373G5U. :)