Centrino v. Pentium 4-M

**DigitalVyper** · April 7th, 2003, 01:23 PM

Hello,

Maybe I am just a little slow, but I don't really understand what all the fuss about the Centrino is about. I mean ok, it runs faster than the P4-M and its lighter and thats about it. Now, some might argue about the extra batt life but since most P4-M Desktop Replacements offer room for a second batt its only a matter of weight.

So what does the P4-M have over the Centrino... well, I have yet to see a Centrino with the Mobility 9000 64 MB on a 15" screen. I plan to use a my laptop as a desktop replacement for college papers, gaming, internet, and everything. My backpack is heavy in high school (I weighed it the other day at 16 lbs.) and I walk 2 miles a day with it to and from school. So I don't see weight as an issue.

Right now I am looking at the Gateway 600XL as my dream machine. Large 15.7" screen, 2.4 Ghz P4-M, Mobility 9000 64 MB, DVD Burner, intergrated wireless, etc. I fail to see what makes the Centrino better. Dell's Inspiron 600m has a small 14.1" screen and Latitude D800 is only available to business users. The Gateway 450XL is only packaged with a Mobility 7500.

So for my needs for a desktop replacement for school work, gaming, and internet, does the Centrino have anything new to offer me?

Thanks,
DigitalVyper

**kieran** · April 7th, 2003, 03:05 PM

no

**lastEvolution** · April 7th, 2003, 06:14 PM

Wrong dream machine. You sound like you have cash to burn, so I recommend the 8887-V from pctorque. 16.1"UXGA, 128MB Mobility Radeon 9000, 3.06GHz w/HT, space for two 60GB 5400RPM hard drives, DVD-R, the works. This uses a real desktop P4 processor, but the battery is probably good for up to two hours, if that is enough. ~12lbs. if I recall correctly. $3000 or so. Interested? 8887-V

The Centrino has intergrated wireless I think, and it works more like an AMD processor: more instructions per cycle. That's why it's offered from 1.3Ghz-1.6Ghz. Uses less power. I think that the centrino does outperform the P4M on some things though, can't recall off the top of my head.

**DigitalVyper** · April 7th, 2003, 06:42 PM

lastEvolution - While the 8887-V definitely looks like a rockin' machine. I need the thing to last more than two hours on a batt. One of my friends tried out the 600XL and had its bays configured to have a prime batt, a 2nd batt, and an optical drive. It last 5 hours.

Also, I want to be able to put the thing on my lap with out burning my legs. If the 8887-V is like any of the other laptops I've seen with the P4 Desktop chip, it runs extremely hot.

**rastorize** · April 7th, 2003, 06:42 PM

Here's what Centrino is:

Intel Centrino mobile technology... three components work together to deliver a breakthrough in freedom and connectivity. These components include the Intel® Pentium® M processor, the Intel® 855 Chipset Family and the Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 network connection.

The goal is " delivering an integrated wireless-mobile-computing experience. "

"The Intel Pentium M processor is available at speeds of up to 1.60 GHz, and includes performance enhancements such as a power-optimized 400 MHz system bus, Micro-Ops Fusion and Dedicated Stack Manager for faster execution of instructions at lower power. "

See http://www.intel.com/products/notebo...iumm/index.htm

It's all about being wireless and ease of use...easy connectivity to wireless 'hotspots', longer battery life, thinner and lighter notebooks...

it also supports DDR now...

**DigitalVyper** · April 7th, 2003, 06:46 PM

rastorize - I've read all the info on intels website and other laptop makers, but no one can seem to tell me one way or the other how it will handle gaming. I feel the same way as kieran, but I was wondering if anyone had tested a Centrino out. I read the article on Tom's Hardware, but I was wondering about real hands on experience, not just benchmarks.

**Bizkitkid2001** · April 7th, 2003, 09:54 PM

I thought the centrino is the Pentium4-M but with the wireless network card built into the chip?

**airman97** · April 7th, 2003, 10:01 PM

It prolly doesnt make a difference to you but I know that the Centrino runs cooler than the P4-M.

**BobOmega** · April 7th, 2003, 10:03 PM

if i recall. the centrino name can only be given if the laptop has all of intels parts in it. the pentium M and the wireless chipset. there might be a 3rd but i dont remember. they seem to be geared more towards mobility.

you do not seem to want mobility. so you might want to not get one. and i think the centrino is more expensive anyway. try a www.powernotebooks.com they are about the same thing as the pctourqe ones.

if you can go out and try to play with a few laptops. i had a "desktop replacement" and i just got a mobileility one. (12" screen vs 15") i can tell now that i'm going to enjoy the mobility one more. but thats just me. i got sick of luging around a 7lb laptop in a big case. i think the new one weighs as much as my case dose.

again go out and play with them. ask people (which you are doing

) maybe even ask people at a store... (ugh)

**gyoung** · April 8th, 2003, 12:41 AM

Centrino is nothing but a marketing gimmick. It really serves to confuse people. I'm not saying its bad, it is actually good. It has many benefits, but Intel is just using a name (Centrino) to try and identify a product. Most will think it is a CPU but it is a whole package, like mentioned above. The name just refers to the package that includes three things:

1. Pentium M processor
2. Intel's wireless solution
3. Intel's 855 chipset

You have to use all three to use the Centrino name and logo (and get the benefit of Intel's marketing beast).

The Pentium M does what Intel says is wrong with the Athlon. It is as fast as the Pentium 4 but more efficient like the Athlon so it can do more work in fewer cycles. Thus a Pentium M 1.3Ghz is about equivilent to a Pentium 4 2.3Ghz or so. I saw a quote from an Intel exec that said, "We will not start rating our CPU's speed according to our competitors." It is funny that Intel is now going to suffer the same megahertz problem that AMD has had with the Athlon. It will be interesting to see how Intel spins the Pentium M as being as fast as a much higher clocked Pentium 4.

The main benefit is power savings in the chipset and the CPU itself. Battery life on Pentium M is said to be 4.5 to 5.5 hours compared to roughly 2 hours for a Pentium 4. Pretty good deal of an upgrade!

I've been looking at the Centrino as an option for a new laptop and battery life is the main consideration since you aren't really giving up too much in terms of speed. For me the Radeon Mobility 9000 is a must have.

So I am looking at the Acer TM800 from CompUSA. This one has been getting pretty good reviews. I am also looking at a Sony that is $100 less, but it doesn't include wireless capability so that makes up the difference. Plus the Acer has 4 USB 2.0 and includes a 4in1 flash reader.

**samwichse** · April 8th, 2003, 01:03 AM

By the way, the irony here is that Intel's new "P4 killer" mobile processor is actually just a souped up P3.

What can I say, I've never liked the P4 design at all, something about it just seemed wasteful and... I dunno, but I do like the Pentium M (and liked the P3 as well).

**gyoung** · April 8th, 2003, 01:12 AM

Intel's strategy with the P4 was to ramp up the clock speed to pressure AMD. This worked because the P4 has more cap room and AMD's Athlon is running out of Mhz. They have effectively stopped AMD's advance.

I think the Pentium M is an entirely new processor, not a souped up P3. Though it sticks with what the P3 and Athlon did before the P4 came along and is more efficient in it's branch predictors. This is something the P4 sacrificed to get high clock speeds to convince the public that Megahertz matter. Now they are saying with the Pentium M that Megahertz don't matter.

I don't have a favorite manufacturer, I will buy the best product on the market. I do like AMD and Intel to push each other. That gives me options and keeps the prices more reasonable!

**samwichse** · April 8th, 2003, 01:26 AM

A good technical writeup on the Pentium-M is here

**kieran** · April 8th, 2003, 09:29 AM

another centrino link:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20030205/index.html

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**pickel** · May 29th, 2003, 12:12 AM

I give it more battery life, that's all. My P 4 laptop with a Microsoft
MN-520 loads pages and applications with the blink of an eye and was alot less expensive. The advertizinig is just one BIG Intel gimmick.

Sitting on the diving board ... what pure BS

**zaheerm** · June 17th, 2003, 05:45 PM

If I were you, and I had a few bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I would definately go with the Centrino chipset. I mean everyone loves battery life, most agree the Pentium M processors can run circles around the Pentium 4M and I am a big fan of WI-FI. I have a Gateway 450 SX notebook, but mine has a 2 GHZ P4m because I bought it before the Centrino's made their debut. On a minor note, if you buy a gateway, configure it with as little RAM as possible and put it in yourself. It was going to cost me $200 extra to go from 256 to 512 with two sticks. I went out and bought the ram myself and put it in. It took me less than 3 minutes to put it in and cost me $60.

**nick0** · June 17th, 2003, 07:10 PM

yes, get the chembook 2050 at www.discountlaptops.com

you can get a good configuration with a 15" sxga+ and m9000 64 mb chip inside, all for around 1600

**Sinestr** · July 14th, 2003, 07:19 AM

Originally posted by DigitalVyper
Hello,

Maybe I am just a little slow, but I don't really understand what all the fuss about the Centrino is about. I mean ok, it runs faster than the P4-M and its lighter and thats about it. Now, some might argue about the extra batt life but since most P4-M Desktop Replacements offer room for a second batt its only a matter of weight.

So what does the P4-M have over the Centrino... well, I have yet to see a Centrino with the Mobility 9000 64 MB on a 15" screen. I plan to use a my laptop as a desktop replacement for college papers, gaming, internet, and everything. My backpack is heavy in high school (I weighed it the other day at 16 lbs.) and I walk 2 miles a day with it to and from school. So I don't see weight as an issue.

Right now I am looking at the Gateway 600XL as my dream machine. Large 15.7" screen, 2.4 Ghz P4-M, Mobility 9000 64 MB, DVD Burner, intergrated wireless, etc. I fail to see what makes the Centrino better. Dell's Inspiron 600m has a small 14.1" screen and Latitude D800 is only available to business users. The Gateway 450XL is only packaged with a Mobility 7500.

So for my needs for a desktop replacement for school work, gaming, and internet, does the Centrino have anything new to offer me?

Thanks,
DigitalVyper

I would check out powernotebooks.com. I have bought 3 laptops from this company and will buy my next when the time comes. Because I am a gamer and I need the most powerful laptop out there with the most power in the video subsystem. These are it. 128mb or ram on the ATI 9000 is more then enough for any game and the configurations you can get in their laptops you cannot get anywhere else. They are some of the fastest and most reliable I have seen. I have the 5660, 8887 and the new 8890 when it comes out. Check them out and see if you can find a 3.06ghz with any other laptop. And if you can, do the comparrison where you configure Powernotebooks and the other and see if you do not get more for your money. I have done it. I was going to buy a Dell Inspirion 8200 but decided after seeing what power had decided to go with them.
I guess the most important part of buying anything that has a high dollar value is customer service. Powernotebooks has a 9.8 out of 10 on Resellerrating.com. Check it out. The exceed normal customer satisfaction by leaps and bounds. If I was going to drop over 1500-3000 dollars on a computer I would check out all my options, and see who gives the most for the money and the best customer satisfaction. www.powernotebooks.com
Oh, and here is a link to a Centrino with an ATI if you would like to see it. I am sure someone has already sent you one but just in case they have not.
http://www.powernotebooks.com/produc...essor=centrino