What Exactly is an Intel Centrino Mobile Notebook?

There has been a lot of confusion over the use of the term Intel Centrino and what it actually means. An Intel Centrino mobile notebook is actually a combination of Intel products, including what is marked as the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor, put together to create a wireless networking, high performance Intel Centrino mobile notebook.



When wireless networking became popular, Intel introduced the Intel Centrino mobile notebook concept to make it easier for people to get a wireless networking computer. Instead of fishing around for the right parts and the like, Intel effectively made a package that would give them these things they were looking for. The specifications for an Intel Centrino Mobile Notebook cover an Intel chipset, a Pentium M Processor (often referred to as an Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor) and Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection. In fact, any Intel Centrino Mobile Notebook is basically an all Intel machine. Practically all of the internal parts will be Intel parts.

The Intel Centrino Mobile Laptop processor is an Intel Pentium M Processor. Confusion between the Pentium M processor and Centrino is common, but the Pentium M is part of the Centrino package. This processor is a variant on the Pentium processors from their desktop range, but with lots of different technologies and additions, making them quite different from the desktop versions. There are a number of Intel Centrino mobile laptop processors offered with the Sonoma revision of Intel Centrino mobile laptop technology. Intel Pentium M processors 780, 770, 760, 750, 740 and 730. They also offer Low voltage models in the 778 and 758 as well as two Ultra Low voltage models, the 753 and 733J. All of the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processors use 90nm manufacturing process, 2MB of L2 cache and various other technologies, including the Execute Disable Bit with the models that have a J at the end.

The Intel Centrino mobile laptop processors have some specific benefits which make them suitable for the mobile environment. One of the most obvious of the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor is the low volatage design. Low voltages allow Intel Centrino mobile notebooks to have lower power consumption, lengthening running time. As well as this there is technology to raise of drop the voltage of an Intel Centrino mobile notebook as necessary, further saving power.

Intel Centrino mobile notebooks also come with the Mobile Intel 915 Express Chipset. This chipset specifically designed for Intel Centrino mobile notebooks provides many new features that the older Intel Centrino mobile notebooks did not offer. Some of the most notable are the addition of SATA, PCI Express X16 for graphics, PCIe for the other cards internally and DDR2 400/533MHz. It is desgined specifically with the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor in mind.

For Intel Centrino mobile laptops SATA provides an increase in the performance of hard drives and DVD drives. This technology allows for faster transfer of information which speeds up all applications. PCI Express X16 is a breath of fresh air for those who are looking to get better graphics from their system and in particular, those who would like to play 3D games, which using the more recent Intel Centrino mobile notebooks has become more feasible. The internal PCI Express should also allow for speed increases for parts, and helps to pass more strain away from the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor.

Most beneficial for the Intel Centrino mobile laptop is the addition of DDR2 400/533MHz memory. DDR2 not only offers speed increases over the older DDR, but most importantly for mobile technology is that it consumes less power, just like the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor. Power saving is an everpresent concern for laptop users who have to work with limited battery life.

Intel Centrino mobile notebooks also include technology for wireless networking. Although this is nothing new, the technology has been improved and updated, supporting the latest technologies. There is much increased security from the newer Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG and 2200BG which increase security, have higher performance, better ease-of-use and better power management, allowing power saving. In short it is a fully featured card that gives everything you could need. It is specifically aimed at meeting the stringent needs of the business user who chooses an Intel Centrino mobile notebook.

The benefits of the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor and Intel Centrino mobile laptop technology are clear and although you can get the same things from other combinations of parts there is a certain comfort in the combination. It allows you to be fairly certain of what to expect from your laptop and how much it will perform. Intel Centrino mobile notebooks have been around for a while now and on the whole there is a good reason they are so popular. The Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor in an Intel Centrino mobile laptop has become almost synonymous with mobile networking for laptops.