Laptop Help

intel

A couple here and a tad cheaper http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/cp_113501_brand_sony.html

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Whats the difference between a Intel Centrino and a Intem Pentium M? Which one should I be looking for?

intel

All of the previous mobile processor offerings from Intel to date have been based around processors that were originally designed for desktop computer usage. It wasn't until the development of the Pentium IIIM and the later Pentium 4M that Intel really started to work on processors that would work around the needs of the mobile platforms. The core architecture of these processors were still based on their desktop counterparts which restricted the amount of re-engineering that Intel could do to improve energy usage. The Pentium M on the other hand was designed from scratch by Intel to try and avoid the limitations of their previous mobile processors.

Much of the purpose of this was to improve the power usage of the processors. Many of the earlier mobile processors from Intel were designed to incorporate SpeedStep. This was a method where the processor could be scaled to various levels of power consumption (thus producing varying levels of performance) depending upon how the system was being used. This helped reduce the amount of power used. The Pentium M improves upon this SpeedStep by allowing a greater flexibility in the steps as well as better control of the speed based on computing tasks.

Another major area of the architecture change was done to lower the amount of voltage the processor needs to run. The current batch of Pentium M processors uses only 1.5 volts of power to run. Future Low and Ultra-Low versions will only require 1.18 and 1.1 volts respectively. This combined with the Intel 855PM (.5 watt) and 855GM ([2 watts) use very little overall power. The overall effect will allow many of the systems built on the platform to run for 5 or more hours on a single battery, something only previously available to systems that used twin batteries.

1.6 GHz Pentium M = 2.4 GHz Pentium 4M?

According to the various tests done on the initial Pentium M laptop computers, it appears that the real world performance of the 1.6 GHz Pentium M is at or above the performance levels obtained through the current Pentium 4M 2.4 GHz. This is an amazing achievement for the processor since it is running at only 60% of the clock of the Pentium 4M. This was obtained through their ability to completely redesign the processor architecture from the previous mobile processors.

To help enable the increase in performance, Intel used a number of new technical features inside of the processor. An improved stack manager and branch prediction is able to run more efficiently compared to the previous processors. It includes the SSE2 instructions to make it full compatible with Pentium 4 optimized software applications. The most important of the features is the 1 MB of level 2 cache on the processor. All of these combined are able to push the performance levels past those of higher clocked Pentium 4M processors.

It was recently rumored that Intel may consider moving away from the straight clock ratings on its chips. With the performance levels obtained from the new Pentium M processors, this may well push them to change. Many consumers use the clock ratings to judge the performance of the processors, but now Intel has demonstrated that clock speeds are not the most important factor since a lower clocked Pentium M can outperform previous mobile chips.

Many people assume that Centrino is a form of processor or chipset from Intel, but in reality it is a badge that specifies that a certain set of products is included in the laptop. In order for a system to obtain the Centrino badge, it must use the following:

Intel Pentium M processor
Intel 855PM or 855GM chipsets
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 (or Future Versions)
This has caused a problem with a lot of the vendors because the current PRO/Wireless 2100 chipset only supports 802.11b while many competing products are available with 11a/b, 11b/g or 11a/b/g support. In fact, several of the key laptop manufacturers have opted to not include the Intel wireless chips or to use other wireless controllers and thus not have the Centrino badge on the system.

These requirements for the Centrino badge will end up confusing the consumers in the long run.

The major aspect of the release is the chipsets and the Pentium M processors that are able to delivered outstanding performance while retaining very lower power usage levels. While wireless is becoming more standardized in the marketplace, it is still not fully accepted by many corporations that don't wish to use wireless due to its security problems.
Conclusions

Overall the new Pentium M platform is a huge leap forward for mobile computing. Computer systems built around it will have a high level of performance previously unavailable while producing longer running times from all its energy saving functions. The problem comes from the confusion the new processors and Centrino naming and the clock speeds. Many users purchasing systems that are used to looking at clock speeds for processor comparisons will not realize that the Pentium M processors will actually outperform the higher speed Pentium 4M. Also, few retailers or even manufacturers use the battery life ratings in their advertising, something that the new processor really excels at. If you are serious about using a notebook system, be sure to take a look at the newer systems featuring the Pentium M processors.

From http://compreviews.about.com/od/cpus/a/PentiumM.htm

Dark_Forces

intel wrote:

All of the previous mobile processor offerings from Intel to date have been based around processors that were originally designed for desktop computer usage. It wasn't until the development of the Pentium IIIM and the later Pentium 4M that Intel really started to work on processors that would work around the needs of the mobile platforms. The core architecture of these processors were still based on their desktop counterparts which restricted the amount of re-engineering that Intel could do to improve energy usage. The Pentium M on the other hand was designed from scratch by Intel to try and avoid the limitations of their previous mobile processors.

Much of the purpose of this was to improve the power usage of the processors. Many of the earlier mobile processors from Intel were designed to incorporate SpeedStep. This was a method where the processor could be scaled to various levels of power consumption (thus producing varying levels of performance) depending upon how the system was being used. This helped reduce the amount of power used. The Pentium M improves upon this SpeedStep by allowing a greater flexibility in the steps as well as better control of the speed based on computing tasks.

Another major area of the architecture change was done to lower the amount of voltage the processor needs to run. The current batch of Pentium M processors uses only 1.5 volts of power to run. Future Low and Ultra-Low versions will only require 1.18 and 1.1 volts respectively. This combined with the Intel 855PM (.5 watt) and 855GM ([2 watts) use very little overall power. The overall effect will allow many of the systems built on the platform to run for 5 or more hours on a single battery, something only previously available to systems that used twin batteries.

1.6 GHz Pentium M = 2.4 GHz Pentium 4M?

According to the various tests done on the initial Pentium M laptop computers, it appears that the real world performance of the 1.6 GHz Pentium M is at or above the performance levels obtained through the current Pentium 4M 2.4 GHz. This is an amazing achievement for the processor since it is running at only 60% of the clock of the Pentium 4M. This was obtained through their ability to completely redesign the processor architecture from the previous mobile processors.

To help enable the increase in performance, Intel used a number of new technical features inside of the processor. An improved stack manager and branch prediction is able to run more efficiently compared to the previous processors. It includes the SSE2 instructions to make it full compatible with Pentium 4 optimized software applications. The most important of the features is the 1 MB of level 2 cache on the processor. All of these combined are able to push the performance levels past those of higher clocked Pentium 4M processors.

It was recently rumored that Intel may consider moving away from the straight clock ratings on its chips. With the performance levels obtained from the new Pentium M processors, this may well push them to change. Many consumers use the clock ratings to judge the performance of the processors, but now Intel has demonstrated that clock speeds are not the most important factor since a lower clocked Pentium M can outperform previous mobile chips.

Many people assume that Centrino is a form of processor or chipset from Intel, but in reality it is a badge that specifies that a certain set of products is included in the laptop. In order for a system to obtain the Centrino badge, it must use the following:

Intel Pentium M processor
Intel 855PM or 855GM chipsets
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 (or Future Versions)
This has caused a problem with a lot of the vendors because the current PRO/Wireless 2100 chipset only supports 802.11b while many competing products are available with 11a/b, 11b/g or 11a/b/g support. In fact, several of the key laptop manufacturers have opted to not include the Intel wireless chips or to use other wireless controllers and thus not have the Centrino badge on the system.

These requirements for the Centrino badge will end up confusing the consumers in the long run.

The major aspect of the release is the chipsets and the Pentium M processors that are able to delivered outstanding performance while retaining very lower power usage levels. While wireless is becoming more standardized in the marketplace, it is still not fully accepted by many corporations that don't wish to use wireless due to its security problems.
Conclusions

Overall the new Pentium M platform is a huge leap forward for mobile computing. Computer systems built around it will have a high level of performance previously unavailable while producing longer running times from all its energy saving functions. The problem comes from the confusion the new processors and Centrino naming and the clock speeds. Many users purchasing systems that are used to looking at clock speeds for processor comparisons will not realize that the Pentium M processors will actually outperform the higher speed Pentium 4M. Also, few retailers or even manufacturers use the battery life ratings in their advertising, something that the new processor really excels at. If you are serious about using a notebook system, be sure to take a look at the newer systems featuring the Pentium M processors.

From http://compreviews.about.com/od/cpus/a/PentiumM.htm

Many thanks Woo and Intel A Sony Laptop it will be.