Note: This will be updated as frequent as I start seeing multiples questions of the same topic.

Q: What is the different between all these intel platform? Intel Pentium-M, Centrino, Sonoma, Intel Pentium 4, etc?

A: You would have to first create two separated category. One for Intel Mobile Technology Platform, the other one is for Processors. The Intel Pentium-M and Intel Pentium 4 w/HT, Intel Pentium 4, etc are Intel's processors. Centrino and Sonoma are Intel's Mobile platform. Some will call it Intel marketing strategy name. In order for a notebook to be able to utilize the "Centrino" name, it must have 3 components. Not 2 and Not 1, but all 3. It must have:

1) Intel Pentium-M processors
2) Mobile Intel 915 express chipset family or Intel 855 Chipset family
3) Intel Pro/Wireless Network Connection Family

Right now, there are these available processors for notebook:
http://www.intel.com/products/notebo...sors/index.htm

More Information On Centrino:
http://www.intel.com/products/notebo...rino/index.htm

Q: What is the differences between Centrino and Sonoma?

A: Nothing really. Centrino is Intel Mobile Technology Solution. It is also Intel marketing terms used to signify the notebook has Intel Mobile Technology. Sonoma is the actual Intel Mobile Technology code name. The original Centrino 1st generation code name was Carmel which utlized the Intel 855 Chipset. The 2nd generation code name now is Sonoma which utilized the Intel 915 Chipset code name Alviso. The next or so called 3rd generation in the Centrino family is called "Napa". This will utilize the DUAL CORE Processor technology.

With the introduction of Sonoma and the new chipset Alviso is the support for DDR2 memory and PCI-E.

More Info: http://www.a1-electronics.net/Intel_...noma_Jan.shtml

Q: What is Turion?

A: Turion is AMD Codename for their next generation of mobile processor. Similar to how Intel branded their mobile notebook "Centrino", AMD will call their thin and light notebook Turion which will operate @ 35watts or less. Which is much more efficient than their current mobile processor now which are around 62watts. One differences between Intel "Centrino" vs Turion is AMD will not require you use a specific chipset and Wifi to be label as "Turion".

More Info: http://www.c-enter.hu/center/0237984.html

Q: LCD Resolution of XGA, SXGA, WXGA, UXGA, etc. What does all these mean, my head hurts!

A: These are screen resolution that have evolved through the years. They are screen size in pixels.

• VGA - 640 X 480
• SVGA - 800 X 600
• XGA - 1024 X 768
• QVGA - 1280 X 960
• SXGA+ - 1400 X 1050
• UXGA - 1600 X 1200
• QXGA - 2048 X 1536
• QSXGA+ - 2800 X 2100
• QUXGA - 3200 X 2400

The settings above all have an aspect ratio of 4:3. There are also a few other funky settings, with either a 5:4 or 16:9 ratio:

• WXGA - 1280 X 800
• SXGA - 1280 X 1024
• WSXGA+ - 1680 X 1050
• WUXGA - 1920 X 1200
• QSXGA - 2560 X 2048

More Info:

• http://www.projectisle.com.au/projec...resolution.asp
• http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/howmanydots/

Q: If I buy a Sonoma which comes with DDR, can I upgrade to DDRII.

A: No. Plain and simple. Even though they are both 200pin memory, their voltage are different. Due to this, the manufacturer moved the pin configuration around so it won't even fit in the slot. Right now the options are:

DDR -> PC2700 -> 333Mhz
DDR -> PC3200 -> 400Mhz

Some laptop manufactures come with standard PC2700, so you could opt to upgrade to a faster DDR PC3200. At the moment, that is the fastest for DDR. Check out popular memory companies like corsair, muskin, or crucial for more details.

More Info:

• http://www4.tomshardware.com/mobile/...alviso-04.html
• http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...-rmma-1ch.html
• http://notebookforums.com/showthread...786#post744786

Q: What is Alviso?

A: Alviso is the code name for the new Intel chipset to use in conjuction with the new Intel Pentium-M. It comes in 3 flavors.

http://www.intel.com/products/notebo...sets/index.htm
* Performance Series -> Mobile Intel® 915PM Express Chipset
* Mainstream Series -> Mobile Intel® 915GM Express Chipset
* Mainstream Series -> Mobile Intel® 915GMS Express Chipset

Mobile Intel® 915PM Express Chipset
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/915pm/index.htm
http://intel.com/products/i/chipsets...iagram_760.gif

• Support 533 MHz Front Side Bus
• Support for dual channel DDR2 400/533 MHz memory technology
• Support Serial ATA
• Support Integrated high speed USB 2.0
• Support PCI Express Bus Architecture

Mobile Intel® 915GM Express chipset
http://intel.com/products/chipsets/915GM/index.htm
http://intel.com/products/i/chipsets...iagram_760.gif[list][*] Similar To Above, however utilized Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900, rather than allowing you to use ATI or nVidia PCI

For A Full Comparison: http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets...comparison.htm


Q: If I buy a Sonoma which comes with DDR, can I upgrade to DDRII.

See above.

Edit: Add link to info on DDR vs DDR two test.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...-rmma-1ch.html

DDR2 vs DDR. Test Results in the Single-channel Mode





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Additional Information:

• Code Name Cheatsheet

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Anyone feel free to chime in and add your piece. I will update it slowly.

Updated....

This'll definitely come in handy what with the Turion and dual-core notebook processors on the near horizon. gj

Updated: 03/07/2005
* Added LCD Resolution Explaination

Seems a lot of people been asking this question: Updated

Q: If I buy a Sonoma which comes with DDR, can I upgrade to DDRII.

See above.

Edit: Add link to info on DDR vs DDR two test.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...-rmma-1ch.html

DDR2 vs DDR. Test Results in the Single-channel Mode

Updated: Add info on Alviso and the comparison chart of these chipsets.

Sending this back up. Soo many questions that is already answer here.

Those wide screen resolutions listed are 16:10, not 16:9. other than that, everything looks good and is very useful.

ok i got a question if u was to go wid a AMD x2 4800+ or a Intel® Pentium® M 2.26 780 wid 2 gig of memory and a 7800 gtx which would you chose and why?

I think you should perhaps emphasize that Centrino is a marketing name for a platform while Turion is a marketing name for the processor. Turion is analogous to Pentium. AMD does not yet have a platform name for the mobile space yet.

kenrom: This is a FAQ for mobile technologies. If you wouldn't mind, just start up a different thread to discuss recommendations and opinions. Thanks.

Does any one know about the backwards compatability of core duo with regards to games? Will older games still work on a core duo system?

thanks

A core duo simply means that your computer now has 2 processors instead of 1. This has absolutely no effect on most games, since they are single-threaded. You might see a slight slowdown/speedup, depending on what you previously had.

For new multi-threaded games, you will see an increase in speed (I would imagine).

In short, all your games will still work, and might be a little snappier than they used to be.

Excellent thread, especially for anyone who's been "out of the loop" awhile, or new to notebooks. Glad I read the article at Tom's, I thought my 855GM chipset was ancient history. Keep up the good work.

I am a web developer.

I do graphics, flash, etc.

I also run a local server for testing etc.

I check emails.

I need complete and powerful wireless.

I need a large HD

I need a lot of memory

I would like a wireless "ready" laptop. - minimal setups etc for hotspots. Built in wireless card etc etc..

Not concerned about cost.

XP Pro

If anyone can name a specific model/brand that could fit this bill. I would really apprechiate it.

DOES IT REALLY HAVE 2 PROCESSORS? OR WAS IT JUST LIKE HAVING-2-PROCESSORS WORKING AT THE SAME TIME? COZ FOR EXAMPLE, YOUR PROCESSOR IS AN INTEL CORE DUO T2300, IT'S JUST A SINGLE PROCESSOR.