Intel has decided to brand the new Montevina notebook platform under the same Intel Centrino branding that most people are familiar with, but positioning the Montevina platform as the second generation, so called the Centrino 2.
Faster overall performance: The new Mobile Intel 45 Express chipset increases the frequency of the front-side bus to 1,066MHz, which helps all the components of the system communicate more quickly. The point is moot if you’re using DDR2 memory, which currently tops out at 800MHz. But the new chipset also supports DDR3 memory, which has a higher peak throughput than previous memory technologies. Intel is always reluctant to quantify performance improvements, but company representatives have promised “dramatic” performance gains.
More flexible graphics. One of the big developments with Centrino 2 is support for switchable graphics. The new chipset enables systems that switch–either automatically or user-controlled–between integrated Intel graphics (to conserve battery life) and discrete graphics (for more powerful performance). Lenovo and Sony have already promised this feature in some of their latest models.
Enhanced network connections: The two wireless options available with the new platform support the 802.11n standard, and Intel promises you’ll be able to roam up to twice as far as you could with the company’s previous Wi-Fi chip. It’s also poised to start offering WiMAX support in the fall. (Yes, WiMAX that’s why I introduce this… LoL 
)
On the wired side, support for high-speed Gigabit Ethernet–a feature that’s likely to appeal to business users–is standard with Centrino 2.
Lenovo’s 15-inch ThinkPad T500 allows the user to switch between using the onboard integrated graphics and the discrete ATI Mobility Radeon graphics.
Toshiba’s Qosmio G50 which is using an Intel P8600 mobile processor which features an 18.4-inch Full HD panel and a NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT.
HP’s addition to the Centrino 2 platform was the 14.1-inch HP Pavilion dv4 which features a Blu-ray combo drive.
The ASUS G50V featuring the Montevina platform with a NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT and up to 8GB of DDR3 1066 RAM.
The Acer Aspire series was also updated with the Centrino 2 platform and again, you’ll note that it’s also WiMAX capable.
If you plan to get a laptop, remember the one with the Centrino 2 platform. No more Centrino or Centrino Duo… -_-”
Simon Seow says:
Yeap. Been waiting for Centrino2 to be launch.
Sep 05, 2008, 5:15 am