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TECH21
Centrino not new era yet
Henry Norr Monday, March 17, 2003
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To hear Intel tell it, last week's launch of a new series of chips for notebook PCs -- collectively marketed as Centrino Mobile Technology -- heralds the dawn of a new era for on-the-go computing.
That may turn out to be true, if Intel delivers on ambitious plans for follow-up versions of the new technology later this year and beyond. For now, though, while Centrino does deliver some real benefits -- above all, better battery life -- it's hardly a revolution.
At least that's my conclusion after trying out notebooks built around the new chips by Gateway, IBM and Toshiba. And a fourth new notebook -- a super- small, dockable Sharp model that doesn't use any of the new Intel technology --
suggests that there will still be compelling innovation without Centrino.
As to wireless networking -- a prime focus of the $300-million ad campaign Intel has initiated to promote Centrino -- the new products will undoubtedly accelerate what's already a strong trend: Wireless will soon be as common in notebooks as network jacks or even modems are today.
Technologically, however, Intel is breaking no new ground in this area. On the contrary, in some ways it lags behind competitors, and for some buyers that may be a good reason to avoid Centrino notebooks.
WHAT'S A CENTRINO?
The heart of the Centrino platform, as Intel calls it, is a new processor dubbed the Pentium M, but the term also covers two additional components: new chipsets, the housekeeping and traffic-control chips that link the central processor to the rest of the computer, and an internal wireless-networking card.
Intel officials like to say the Pentium M (previously known by the code name Banias, after a national park in Israel, where it was developed) was designed from the ground up for notebooks. That's not quite true -- its core was derived mainly from the Pentium III, and some of its features come from the Pentium 4.
But the Pentium M is more distinct from its desktop cousins than previous Intel mobile processors. For one thing, the new chip runs at relatively modest clock speeds, at least by recent Intel standards: It starts at just 900 MHz, in an ultra-low-voltage version designed for the lightest notebooks, and even the fastest version reaches only 1.6 GHz, barely more than half the frequency of the fastest Pentium 4 desktop processors.
That's because Intel's engineers found ways to boost performance without the increased power drain and heat that higher clock rates entail. For example,
they expanded the chip's Level 2 memory cache to 1 MB, improved its ability to anticipate tasks and boosted the speed at which data moves to and from the chip.
As a result, a 1.6-GHz Pentium M delivers about the same speed in real-life operations as a 2- or 2.2-GHz mobile Pentium 4 -- another reminder that megahertz and gigahertz aren't necessarily good indicators of actual processing speed (a point Intel rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices and Sun have been making for years).
Second, while Intel for years has included power-management circuitry in its notebook chips -- to reduce power consumption when running on batteries -- these technologies had to be grafted onto what were originally desktop designs.
With the Pentium M and its chipsets, they're designed right in -- and considerably more aggressive than before.
To measure their effectiveness, I tested the battery life of new Pentium M notebooks in two ways. First, I ran MobileMark 2002, a benchmark program developed by Bapco, a nonprofit consortium that includes Intel and AMD, other industry heavyweights and leading trade publications. It measures performance and battery life by running common applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook and Photoshop.
Second, I devised my own simple test: playing streaming audio received wirelessly from the Internet with the screen left on. I tried both tests with a variety of power-management settings in Windows XP's Power Options control panel.
LONGEST TEST 6 HOURS
I managed only once to get the five hours of battery life Intel boasts that some Centrino systems deliver -- in one test the Toshiba Tecra S1 ran for more than 6 hours! -- but I consistently got more than three hours and sometimes topped four hours. With normal real-life interruptions and the screen set to dim during idle time, you should easily get four or more hours of work time from midsize Centrino systems.
Those aren't totally unprecedented numbers -- a few older PC notebooks match them, and some of Apple's Macintosh portables do even better -- but they're a lot better than most Windows portables currently offer.
The wireless component of Centrino chips is more problematic -- and confusing.
Intel's wireless circuitry is not built into the Pentium M or the companion chipsets -- it's on a separate card that plugs into an expansion slot on the notebook's logic board. Technically, it's just an option -- you could run a Pentium M notebook just fine with no card in that slot, or, because the slot is based on a common standard called Mini-PCI, the manufacturer could install a card from another wireless-networking supplier.
Under the terms Intel has set for PC-makers, however, only machines that have all three Centrino components -- the Intel wireless card as well as the Pentium M and associated chipset -- can carry the Centrino brand and sport the brightly colored, butterfly-shaped logo that identifies it.
The Gateway 450 notebook I tested included the Intel card, and it worked fine (contrary to rumors gleefully spread by Intel competitors). In fact, I got better reception with that unit than with any other wireless notebook I've ever tested: I carried it 2 1/2 houses down my block before the connection dropped.
But there are good reasons some customers might not want the all-Intel solution. For now the only wireless card the company offers is based on the IEEE 802.11b standard, which delivers a maximum speed of 11 Mbps. But several competitors make cards that support both 802.11b and 802.11a, a related standard that offers speeds up to 54 Mbps. (Intel originally planned to include just such a dual-band card as part of the Centrino package, but it didn't get the necessary chips finished in time for this week's introduction. Until they're ready, Intel's Centrino wireless cards are based on an 11b-only chip from Philips Semiconductor.)
Meanwhile, 802.11g, another flavor of wireless that delivers up to 54 Mbps but (unlike 11a) can also work in 11b networks, has burst on the scene. Even though its technical specification hasn't yet been approved, several manufacturers have come out with products based on the final draft, and by all accounts they're selling like hotcakes.
While nearly all of the wireless networking infrastructure -- in homes, schools, businesses and public "hot spots" -- is based on 11b, many customers are likely to think twice about spending $1,500 to $2,500 on a new notebook that's limited, in effect, to last year's standard. (That's especially true because upgrading internal Mini-PCI wireless cards isn't easy, in part because of Federal Communications Commission regulations. At a minimum, an upgrade will involve returning the notebook to the factory or to an authorized service center.)
And some customers, particularly in the corporate arena, may be happy to stick with 11b for now, but may have chosen wireless cards from another manufacturer -- Cisco Systems, for example -- as their company standard.
All of this puts notebook manufacturers in a bind: Do they stick to the Intel solution, and benefit from the buzz the chipmaker is trying so hard to build around the Centrino brand, or do they offer alternatives even at the cost of losing that logo? It's a particular problem for companies that let customers configure their purchases over the Web: One click on a pop-up menu listing wireless technologies (or none at all) and a notebook pitched as a Centrino system instantly ceases to be one.
I'm happy to report that most manufacturers seem to be dealing with this dilemma by leaving the choice up to their customers. IBM and Toshiba, for example, rolled out some full-fledged Centrino models last week, but the IBM ThinkPad T40 I tried came with a Cisco 11b card, while the Toshiba Tecra S1 had a dual-mode (11a and 11b) card made by Atheros.
Both of these cards also worked fine for me. And while Intel officials imply that competing cards use more power than the Centrino, I got better battery life with the non-Centrino Toshiba and IBM models than I did with Gateway's Centrino system.
BOTTOM LINE
These days the notebook marketplace is crowded with processor options, and the introduction of Centrino and the Pentium M won't change that in the foreseeable future. The biggest, fastest "desktop replacement" models will continue to use desktop Pentium 4 chips; many mainstream notebooks will still come with mobile Pentium 4s or AMD Athlons; mobile Celerons or Athlons will keep filling low-priced models; and the smallest, lightest machines -- like Sharp's tiny but elegant new Actius MM10 -- will still rely on Transmeta's Crusoe.
What the new Intel technology adds is an option that combines very good performance with fairly long battery life. If that's what you're after, the Pentium M is a fine choice. And if you want wireless, the Centrino package will do the job, but don't be afraid to choose an alternative -- the only thing you'll lose is that butterfly sticker.
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SPRING CROP OF NEW NOTEBOOKS
Gateway 450
-- Configuration: 1.5-GHz Pentium M, 256 MB RAM, 30-GB hard drive, DVD- ROM/CD-RW combo drive, 14-inch display, USB 2.0, FireWire, V.92 modem, 10/100 Ethernet and integrated Intel 802.11b wireless.
Weight: 6.1 pounds.
OS: Windows XP Professional
Price: $1,599
Assessment: Gateway's only Pentium M offering for now, a true Centrino system, is packed with features, and current promotional pricing on certain configurations makes it a real bargain: A unit like the one I tested, except with a 15-inch display, is just $1,599, and an extra battery that fits in the CD/DVD bay is just $1 more. A little big and heavy for frequent travel, but a good choice for home and business use. Note, however, that the warranty on consumer configurations is only one year.
Test configuration not available. Price is for similar unit with 15-inch screen. .
IBM Thinkpad T40
Configuration: 1.5-GHz Pentium M, 256 MB RAM, 40-GB hard drive, DVD-ROM/CD- RW combo, 14-inch display, USB 2.0, 56K modem, wired Gigabit Ethernet and integrated Cisco 802.11b wireless
Weight: 4.9 pounds
OS: Windows XP Professional
Price as configured: $2,429
Assessment: Slimmer and noticeably lighter than the Gateway 450, the latest addition to IBM's "thin and light" T Series, always popular with corporate travelers, offers the same elegant black styling, superb keyboard, 3-year warranty and relatively high pricing as its predecessors. A Centrino version --
i.e., the same machine but with Intel's wireless card -- costs $30 less, but the configuration's Cisco card will appeal to companies that have standardized on Cisco 802.11b gear and its extra security protections.
IBM also introduced Centrino models in its lightweight X Series and its bigger but cheaper R Series. .
Toshiba TECRA S1
Configuration: 1.5-GHz Pentium M, 256 MB RAM, 40-GB hard drive, 15-inch display, USB 2.0, V.92 modem, wired 10/100 Ethernet and integrated Atheros 802. 11a/802.11b wireless
Weight: 6.3 pounds
OS: Windows XP Professional
Price as configured: $2,197
Assessment: The Tecra S1 is comparable in size and features to the Gateway 450, but the higher price buys you a 15-inch screen, a three-year warranty and a nine-cell battery (versus six cells in the Gateway). With its extra-big battery, the S1 actually ran for an amazing 6 hours, 26 minutes on one of my tests, although Toshiba claims only "up to 5.1 hours." Note that the Atheros wireless card in the configuration tested adds $150 to the price.
Toshiba also offers Centrino technology in its Satellite Pro line and in the Portege R100, a new ultrathin, 2.3-lb. model that replaces the Portege 2000.
1.5-GHz Pentium M not currently available in this model. Price is for a similar configuration with 1.4-GHz Pentium M. .
Sharp ACTIUS MM10
Configuration: 933-MHz Transmeta Crusoe 5800, 256 MB RAM, 15-GB hard drive, external DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo free with registration, 10.4-inch display, USB 2. 0, PC Card modem, wired 10/100 Ethernet and integrated 802.11b wireless.
Weight: 2.1 pounds
OS: Windows XP Home
Price: $1,499
Assessment: Powered not by Centrino technology or even a Pentium M but by a Transmeta processor, the Actius MM10 is definitely not for everyone, but its ultralight weight, small size (only a half-inch thick) and clever docking system may appeal to users who just want an easy-to-carry adjunct to their main PC. When it's plugged into the USB 2.0 docking cradle/battery charger that comes with it, it shows up as an extra hard drive on the Windows desktop, and the Iomega-developed software that's included can automatically synchronize files and folders you specify between the two drives. Screen and keyboard are small, processing speed is only a fraction of the Pentium M's, and battery life is limited (about 2 1/2 hours in my tests, although Sharp offers a secondary battery that adds only 1 pound to the system's weight but increases total run time to 9 hours, according to the company).
If nothing else, the MM10 shows you don't need a Centrino or even a Pentium M to come up with an interesting new approach to mobile computing. Source: Chronicle research |
