Benefits of Centrino? - Hardware

On Sun, 01 Aug 2004 21:42:07 GMT, Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net>
wrote:

>Can anyone give me some practical advice on whether it's worth it to get
>a centrino?
>
>What exactly are the benefits? I was under the impression that centrino
>computers could access the internet from just about anywhere,
>wirelessly, but I think I was wrong--it appears that they only work in
>designated "hotspots"? So if I'm on the road and I need internet access
>I need to search for a "hotspot" and then pay an hourly rate? It seems
>to me that Kinkos and other places have LAN access, so centrino wouldn't
> give me much more mobility than a regular network card? Am I missing
>something?

Centrino is "wi-fi" technology. IOW, rather than having to put in a
PCMCIA 802.11 card in your computer, Centrino means the technology's
included internally.

By far the biggest provider of paid wi-fi service is T-Mobile, who has
agreements with Kinkos, Starbucks and other locations. You can pay a
flat rate that gives you unlimited wi-fi service, or the "pay as you
go" option. Check here for details:
https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/services_plans.do
>
>Apparently Centrino systems have much better battery lives--is this
>noticeably true?
>
>I've heard that there are laptops which can access the internet
>wirelessly from just about anywhere--what technology is this, and what
>do I need to make it happen?

Either a Centrino equipped laptop or an 802.11b wi-fi card in your
PCMCIA slot.

Check here:
https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/services_need.do

Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net> wrote:
> Can anyone give me some practical advice on whether it's worth it to
> get a centrino?

<Snip>

While NGs are an excellent place to get help with specific problems, no one
is here to give you a basic education in modern laptops.

Spend a few minutes of your time googling for laptop reviews and the
keywords "Centrino", "WiFi", etc. and you should get a few hours of reading
as a result.

IOW, do your _OWN_ "freaking" homework!

--
Regards,

James

Checkout the NEW Thinkpad Forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com

Well, I came to the NG for the sake of getting practical advice from
real people who have used Centrino systems.

I've read all the technical information from Intel, I've read magazine
reviews and internet reviews, I've googled the heck out of "Centrino"
and "WiFi" already.

This NG is my final step, where I hoped some real live Centrino owners
could cut through the BS and give me some down-to-earth advice on
whether Centrino really lives up to or falls short of its promises,
whether people have actually found it useful in practical situations,
whether it is reliable or not.

IOW, I AM doing my own "freaking" homework. I absolutely refuse to buy
something as expensive as a laptop based solely on reviews and spec
sheets--a little human advice goes a long way.

chris.



JHEM wrote:
> Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net> wrote:
>
>>Can anyone give me some practical advice on whether it's worth it to
>>get a centrino?
>
>
> <Snip>
>
> While NGs are an excellent place to get help with specific problems, no one
> is here to give you a basic education in modern laptops.
>
> Spend a few minutes of your time googling for laptop reviews and the
> keywords "Centrino", "WiFi", etc. and you should get a few hours of reading
> as a result.
>
> IOW, do your _OWN_ "freaking" homework!
>

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 15:42:27 GMT, Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net>
wrote:

>Well, I came to the NG for the sake of getting practical advice from
>real people who have used Centrino systems.
>
>I've read all the technical information from Intel, I've read magazine
>reviews and internet reviews, I've googled the heck out of "Centrino"
>and "WiFi" already.
>
>This NG is my final step, where I hoped some real live Centrino owners
>could cut through the BS and give me some down-to-earth advice on
>whether Centrino really lives up to or falls short of its promises,
>whether people have actually found it useful in practical situations,
>whether it is reliable or not.

Centrino is based on time-tested technologies and is really nothing
more than a marketing name invented by Intel that represents
convenience. IOW, instead of you having to get your own 802.11(b) card
and pop it into a PCMCIA slot, they built it into the computer for
you. Their technology really only adds the step of automatic detection
of wireless signals. That's convenient, especially for free, public
hot spots.

Alabaster wrote:
> Well, I came to the NG for the sake of getting practical advice from
> real people who have used Centrino systems.
>
> I've read all the technical information from Intel, I've read magazine
> reviews and internet reviews, I've googled the heck out of "Centrino"
> and "WiFi" already.
>
> This NG is my final step, where I hoped some real live Centrino owners
> could cut through the BS and give me some down-to-earth advice on
> whether Centrino really lives up to or falls short of its promises,
> whether people have actually found it useful in practical situations,
> whether it is reliable or not.
>
> IOW, I AM doing my own "freaking" homework. I absolutely refuse to
> buy something as expensive as a laptop based solely on reviews and
> spec sheets--a little human advice goes a long way.
>
> chris.
>
>
>
> JHEM wrote:
>> Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Can anyone give me some practical advice on whether it's worth it to
>>> get a centrino?
>>
>>
>> <Snip>
>>
>> While NGs are an excellent place to get help with specific problems,
>> no one is here to give you a basic education in modern laptops.
>>
>> Spend a few minutes of your time googling for laptop reviews and the
>> keywords "Centrino", "WiFi", etc. and you should get a few hours of
>> reading as a result.
>>
>> IOW, do your _OWN_ "freaking" homework!

As a 2.6Ghz P4M owner, the available "quantitative" research benchmarks
(i.e., Tom's Hardware) on the original set of Pentium-M chips showed
that they just about reached the performance of the P4M at 1.6Ghz. With
the advent of the 1.7Ghz and greater Pentium-M chips, there is no
question that the chip is at least the performance equal of the P4Ms.
Given that the P4/P4M laptops are also having cooling issues as they age
is the reliability death knell of the P4/P4, even if there were no
Pentium-M for performance comparisons. IMO, with the improved battery
life, equivalent or better performance, cooler operation of the
Pentium-M one would be wise to avoid the P4 laptops like the plague.

Now, Pentium-M vs. Centrino is an altogether different question. I have
not seen any non-Centrino Pentium-M laptops recently, so the question
might be moot. The question basically resolves from the cost of
equiping a non-Centrino Pentium-M with wireless AFIKS.

Q

Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net> wrote in message news:<PsdPc.8249$Je5.7861@nwrddc03.gnilink.net>...
> Can anyone give me some practical advice on whether it's worth it to get
> a centrino?
>
> What exactly are the benefits? I was under the impression that centrino
> computers could access the internet from just about anywhere,
> wirelessly, but I think I was wrong--it appears that they only work in
> designated "hotspots"? So if I'm on the road and I need internet access
> I need to search for a "hotspot" and then pay an hourly rate? It seems
> to me that Kinkos and other places have LAN access, so centrino wouldn't
> give me much more mobility than a regular network card? Am I missing
> something?
>
> Apparently Centrino systems have much better battery lives--is this
> noticeably true?
>
> I've heard that there are laptops which can access the internet
> wirelessly from just about anywhere--what technology is this, and what
> do I need to make it happen?
>
> Thanks,
> chris.

Hi Chris,
Centrino has better battery life. You could, however, add a
battery to another type of laptop and double the battery life. It
would just weigh more.
The Centrino wireless thing is more advertising and less
substance. If you want to use your notebook wirelessly, without using
a "hotspot", you will need a wireless plan, cell-phone, and adapter.
Otherwise you could carry around a satellite dish but that seems a
little awkward.
Don't forget that there is the Intel P4 Mobile processor. It is
sort-of middle of the road between the Centrino and "standard"
processor based systems.
Oh, and as a note to the poster who said "do your own homework",
if you don't have the patience to reply to someone's post and be
helpful, why post a reply at all? Didn't your Mommy tell you, "If you
have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."? Who do you
think you are anyway, the online forum police?

Hope this helps,
Silicon Alley Computers
www.siliconalleycomputers.com

Hi there--
I can give you some insight...
I just bought a centino system. Basically "Centrino" is a fancy way
of referring to Intel's new notebook computer chipset. The Centrino
label is nothing great in reality.

....So what does "Chipset" mean? The chipset includes the main CPU as
well as the other devices that make the processor work. For example,
the Centrino chipset is designed so that the cpu can easily interface
with the internal wireless networking card. Truly, a Centrino system
is more elegant than last generation systems because of the
integration of parts designed specifically for notebook use rather
than a "hodge-podge" of desktop elements morphed into devices for a
notebook.

So you may wonder why Centrino processors at 1.6 or 1.7 GHz can
out-perform the P4's in the notebooks. There are several reasons.
First and foremost (IMO) is the heating issue. When a processor heats
up it slows down. Notebooks were notorious for this (which is why
this is my first notebook; couldnt stand the heat!). Second, Centrino
processors use lower voltages and clock speeds so they do not heat up.
Also, they "adapt" to the applications running so they dont have to
be operating at max performance all the time.

This is something that Apple users understand but PC users never can
seem to grasp. Faster clock speeds do not always improve performance.
In fact, the lower clock speed Centrino processors will work BETTER
than their faster "buddies" (as mentioned by another person on this
forum).

One thing to note: I'd advice getting a lot of RAM. I configured my
system with 512 MB of RAM. Windows XP can hog it sometimes and it
compensates for some of the slower clock speed. DEFINITELY do not get
anything lower than 256MB.

As for wireless connectivity, the Centrino systems usually have 802.11
b/g cards. 802.11g can run supposedly (I figured it out and I dont
buy this but that is something that us EEs are notorious for and I
wont get into that now) at 54Mbps... so they claim. Instead of having
a funny card stick out of your notebook, the card is internal and it
looks like your computer is "magically" online.

I'm a fan of the Centrino machines and if I were you I wouldnt get
anything different if you are looking for something that is
state-of-the art, slim and sleek and performs great. You will enjoy
the logner battery life and IMHO the slim and sleek design is the only
way to go. What's the point of having a notebook computer that isnt
portable? Look into Apple Powerbooks as well. They cost more than
PCs but you may find them attractive as well. A friend of mine owns
one and I am very impressed with it.

Hope this helps!

Chris R.

Chris,

Alabaster <none@nofreakingemail.net> wrote:
> Well, I came to the NG for the sake of getting practical advice from
> real people who have used Centrino systems.

Well, that's a bit of a far cry from your original request of "Can anyone
give me some practical advice on whether it's worth it to
get a centrino?" Knowing what you're going to do with the laptop would go a
long way in answering your question, as would a hint as to your present
level of knowledge.

> This NG is my final step, where I hoped some real live Centrino owners
> could cut through the BS and give me some down-to-earth advice on
> whether Centrino really lives up to or falls short of its promises,
> whether people have actually found it useful in practical situations,
> whether it is reliable or not.

First thing we have to accomplish is to disassociate the term "Centrino" as
a generic reference to the Intel PentiumM processor. Centrino is a marketing
term devised by Intel to identify laptops that use _only_ Intel products in
three key areas, to wit: the laptop's basic chipset, the processor and the
WiFi 802.11b card. There are far more PentiumM based laptops available that
are _not_ Centrinos than ones that are, so don't just limit your search for
a laptop to Centrinos.

I have a Thinkpad 1.5GHz PentiumM T40 laptop that is not a Centrino because,
while it is built on the Centrino specified Intel 855PM chipset and has the
correct Intel PentiumM processor, I use an IBM branded 802.11a/b/g WiFi
card. It's the elimination of the Intel 802.11b WiFi card for the (better
IMHO) IBM card that is the only step necessary to break the Centrino
branding.

(To further confuse the issue, Intel is in the process of adding their own
802.11a/b and 802.11a/b/g cards to the Centrino definition!)

Does the PentiumM live up to the hype? Yes! It runs faster, cooler and
longer than any of the other Thinkpads I have lying about to compare it
with, up to and including a 2.2GHz Pentium 4M T30. My real world comparisons
show that my 1.5GHz PentiumM laptop with 1.5GB RAM runs at _least_ as fast
as my 2.6GHz P4 desktop with 1GB RAM and simply smokes all of my other
laptops.

With the WiFi antennae in the laptop's display assembly, the internal WiFi
support is seamless and I have no problems accessing public and private WAPs
when I'm on the road, which is frequently. At home I have no difficulties
switching between my DSL connected 802.11b WAP normally at approx. 30ft and
my Cable connected 802.11g WAP normally at approx. 50ft. I can access either
WAP at "good" or better signal strength when sitting lakeside at approx.
100ft.

I commonly get 6.5 hours or better of runtime with the 9 cell extended use
battery in my T40. This can be pushed to almost 9 hours with the addition of
the UltrabaySlim battery. The "normal" 6 cell battery is good for up to
approx. 4.5 hours. All of these times can be bettered to an extent by simply
turning off the WiFi NIC.

> IOW, I AM doing my own "freaking" homework.

Sorry that my addition of "freaking" to my response wasn't noted as a comic
attempt at referencing your munged return addie.

HTH

--
Regards,

James

Checkout the NEW Thinkpad Forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com