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AnchorDesk

Patrick Houston
Inside Intel: Here's the truth about Centrino

Patrick Houston
Editorial Director, AnchorDesk
Wednesday, April 2, 2003
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When next I get a new notebook, it must have Centrino inside. It must because it will change my life. It will let me unwire, unburden, and unwind.

I know this because my bus stop told me so--through the giant Centrino ad plastered on its side. I trust my bus stop. It's reliable. It's always there, rain or shine. I can count on it to stop a lumbering vehicle that I could never wave down on my own.

But I shouldn't take my bus stop at its word. The reason: My bus stop has been co-opted. It has joined the legions of billboards, TV shows, Web sites, and magazines hired by Intel as part of a $300 million marketing campaign that began in earnest two weeks ago.

With that campaign now in full swing, Centrino slogans are everywhere. Short, simple, and concrete, they aim to distill a few base benefits of Intel's Centrino technology. But, like with auto ads, the real message is an emotional one: Don't buy this car because it gives you good mileage. Buy it because it'll give you happiness.

Yet buying a notebook shouldn't be a matter of the heart. It needs to be a matter of the head. And that's why I want to make sure you understand Centrino--for what it really is, what it really does, and whether it's worth the premium you'll pay for it.

What is Centrino?
Because of Intel's history, it's easy enough to assume that Centrino is a single chip, like the Pentium. It's not. It's a three-part package, consisting of the Pentium M processor, an Intel 855 chipset, and an Intel-certified 802.11b wireless transceiver.

Based on Intel's marketing message, you might also assume that the 802.11b chip is the premier part of the package. It's not. In fact, that chip may well be the least important and most expendable component here; other companies make Wi-Fi transceivers that are as good or even better. No, the preeminent virtue of Centrino is that it's an innovative power-saving technology.  By extending battery life, it makes mobile computing more fruitful.

How does it work?
In the past, Intel execs freely admit, the company made some rudimentary modifications to its power-hungry, heat-generating desktop processors and labeled them for notebook use. But the Pentium M and its accompanying 855 chipset represent Intel's first effort to design chips for mobile use first, not second.



What does Centrino mean for mobile computing? Pat takes a look.
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This means that power savings took precedence over speed. For example, data makes its way through a microprocessor's millions of transistors along various paths, some of which are faster than others; some paths actually exceed the chip's designated clock speed. But to save power, Intel's Pentium M designers took the unheard of step of (gasp) actually slowing down these faster paths. This is one of the reasons that the Pentium M tops out at 1.6GHz.

More significantly, as one Intel official put it, the Pentium M was designed to be lazy. Desktop chips are created to be awake and working all the time. By contrast, the Pentium M was programmed to sleep until it's awakened to work, and then to stay alert only as long as necessary to complete its task before hitting the sack again.

Does it really work?
Intel has made some legitimate breakthroughs. Our ZDNet labs tested seven Pentium M notebooks (three of them contained the entire Centrino package, the rest were simply Pentium Ms). As a group, the Pentium Ms outperformed the last-generation Pentium 4s and 4-Ms by 20 percent. Even better, the batteries lasted anywhere from three-and-a-half to a remarkable seven hours.

Because Centrino notebooks are more power-efficient, they generate less heat. This allows notebook designers to save weight and space by eliminating heat sinks, fans, as well as bigger or redundant onboard batteries. This means Centrino systems can be thinner and lighter, a big plus for notebook users.

If there's a potential weakness in the Centrino technology, it lies in its wireless transceiver. Intel doesn't have a track record of building those chips. What's more, Centrino only offers one flavor of Wi-Fi for now--the 11Mbps 802.11b, not the faster "a" or imminent "g" versions. And, do you want Wi-Fi integrated into your system anyway? After all, removable Wi-Fi PC cards are cheap. They're easy to plug in and out, and they're eminently upgradeable.

Do you need it, and is it worth it?
Centrino's performance and battery-enhancing virtues come at a cost. The ZDNet-tested systems priced out at about $300 more than their predecessors. Prices range anywhere from $1,299 to $3,200--this in an era of sub-$1,000 notebooks.

There's an increasingly compelling case to make for notebooks in the workplace. IT researchers at The Aberdeen Group figure wireless notebooks can help meeting-bound corporate bureaucrats squeeze 30 extra minutes of work out of the day. Others who move and keep records--such as doctors--may save up to an hour.

But that advice applies to any wireless notebook, not only to Centrino systems. Your Centrino decision needs to hinge on this question: How long do you need to remain untethered? Make a lot of transcontinental flights? Then it's a no-brainer: Get a Centrino system. But if mobile computing means hopscotching from one short meeting to another, then, no, you probably don't need Centrino--no matter what my bus stop might say.

What do you think? Do you believe the hype? Will your next notebook be a Centrino? TalkBack to me! 

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