CUSTOMER COMMENTS

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The Intel Centrino Mobile Platform

We've all seen a lot about Intel's new mobile platform the "Centrino". Intel is in the midst of a $300 million promotional campaign for Centrino, which chairman Andy Grove recently described as "second only to the introduction of Pentium." So what is Centrino and what can it do for you?

Centrino was created by Intel to foster a new generation of portable PCs that run longer on battery power and connect more easily to wireless networks. Virtually all of the major manufacturers will sell notebooks based on the Centrino bundle, which contains Intel's new low-power Pentium M processor and the Intel wireless Ethernet chipset.

The Centrino's new Pentium M processor will be available initially from 1.3 to 1.6GHz speeds, but it boasts performance equal to Pentium 4 processors. The Pentium M has architectural differences that allow some components within the processor to shut down altogether when not in use, creating much less drain on the battery.

The Centrino systems will include 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless Ethernet. This built-in capability will allow users to take advantage of wireless "hot spots" as well as wireless networking options in their home or office. By 2005, research firm Gartner expects that there will be 44 million users of wireless "hot spots" worldwide and that 80 percent of all commercial notebooks sold will be wireless-enabled.

The main benefits of a notebook computer containing the Centrino bundle are reduced power consumption and built-in wireless capability. The reduced power consumption can provide laptops with today's performance and an increased battery time of up to 50%. Manufacturers can also use the lower power consumption to their advantage in building smaller, lighter notebook computers. With less power requirements, portable computers can be built with smaller batteries and still get the same battery life as their predecessors.

You may see a slight premium on Centrino systems as compared to systems based on the Pentium 4; however, the convenience of extended battery life and the included wireless Ethernet capability may make a Centrino-based notebook a bargain in the long run.

This article originally appeared in the July, 2003 issue of FrogTalk.