You have probably heard the term 'Centrino' thrown around the laptop world lately. It seems to be the new craze in notebook technology, but do many people actually know what it is?

In this article we will take a look at this advanced technology, as well as discuss its advantages.

Introduced in March of 2003, Centrino was marketed by Intel to be best new thing since laptops themselves. Centrino machines were described as lighter and faster while conserving more power and running much more efficiently.

The fact is that Centrino actually does work just as good as its creators claim. Not only does the technology allow notebooks to run much cooler, but they are also lightning fast. Let's take a closer look at what components make up a Centrino equipped machine.

Pentium M Processor – This is definitely the most important piece of the Centrino puzzle. The Pentium M processor uses about ¼ the power of a P4 Hyper-Threaded processor and is so efficient it offers almost a 2 times increase in performance. That's right, a 2.0 GHz Pentium M Processor is going to be faster than a 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 laptop processor.

Since the Pentium M processor is much more efficient than its counterparts it also has the advantages of running cooler and conserving more battery power.

Intel 855 Chipset – The 855 chipset works so well because it is just as efficient as the Pentium M processor. It uses less power than the standard Intel chipset, and only runs the parts of the chip that are actually needed. This equals out to even more battery time.

802.11b or b/g Wireless Card – This is an Intel brand wireless network card for connecting to "hotspots" otherwise known as WiFi hubs. The Intel wireless network cards are not the fastest, so if you use yours a lot you may want to take a look at a faster one.

If you do not currently own a Centrino equipped machine you may be wondering whether or not it is worth the price. I would say yes, provided that you will actually use the benefits provided by Centrino. Do you:

- Use your laptop battery a lot?
- Connect to the internet through WiFi a lot?
- Need a super fast processor?

If you answered yes to these, then getting a Centrino equipped notebook may be your best move.

One more thing worth noting; a second version of Centrino has just been released, called 'Sonoma'. What this means is that Intel takes this technology very seriously and is most likely planning even more features in the future. This technology is definitely here to stay.

Whether or not you need a Centrino equipped notebook is up to you. Think hard about what you generally use your laptop for and make a sound decision based on what you come up with.

About the Author
Cody Kahl is creator and writer of Toshiba Laptops Guide – A site
dedicated to providing only the best toshiba laptops information.
Cody believes in quality, and this free resource proves it.