Dual-core Centrino raises bar for laptops

Early tests suggest Centrino Duo models will gain speed and battery life

New Centrino does appear a leap ahead

Intel’s new laptop platform looks set to offer buyers significantly improved performance compared with its previous Centrino technology. Early tests suggest new dual-core systems are more than 40 percent faster at the same clock speed, while maintaining or extending battery life.

Centrino Duo models feature a new Core Duo mobile chip that fits two processor cores onto a single piece of silicon. More extensive power-saving features have been included in both the processor and its companion chipset, according to Intel.

In tests conducted by VNU Labs for IT Week’s sister publication Personal Computer World, a dual-core Acer TravelMate laptop achieved a performance score 42 percent higher than a Pentium M system with the same clock speed. The Acer system also showed a similar improvement in battery life, although this was partly due to it having a slightly larger battery.

While vendors such as Acer and Fujitsu Siemens have unveiled Centrino Duo laptops, HP said it did not have any new models to announce yet and Dell declined to disclose its plans.

However, Apple intends to use Intel chips in future Mac systems, and industry watchers speculate that chief executive Steve Jobs will this week unveil the first Intel-based PowerBook laptops during his keynote speech at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco.

Apple tends to keep its new products under wraps, but analysts and others said the first Intel-based Macintosh systems are likely to be unveiled at the show because of its timing just after the Core Duo launch.

Last year’s announcement that Apple would move from Power to Intel processors pegged June 2006 as the latest arrival date for products, but experts believe commercial shipments could arrive well before then. Supporting evidence includes the need for a performance refresh to the iBook and PowerBook notebook families.

The AppleInsider web site has suggested that Intel-based iMac and Mac Mini machines will also be released in the first four months of this year.