| Centrino 2 comes out in early June from all of the major makers, and the new Montevina chipset that accompanies the platform adds several minor performance tweaks and features (for example, WIMAX support, DDR3 support, SSE4.1 support, and faster FSB speeds). The updated Penryn processors will get a speed boost as well, ranging from 2.26 to 3.06 GHz, and will consume less power in the process (29w TDP vs 34w TDP of current generation Penryn).
What this means in overall terms is that laptops using the Centrino 2 platform will perform 5-10% better and get about 5-10% better battery life than similar Santa-Rosa (the current Centrino platform) laptops. Whether this additional performance and battery life is worth the price difference is up to you. If you want the latest and greatest, then go for Montevina. If price is a concern, you can save money by getting a slightly older Santa Rosa laptop. If the latter is the case, I would suggest that you wait until after Centrino 2 is released to buy because the current models will become outdated and command very low prices at the outlet stores of each manufacturer (even though they don't perform much worse). |