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If you haven’t been keeping up to date on the latest Intel Montevina Centrino 2 based laptops, the offerings that are coming out are quite impressive in number. Engadget has been covering them all day as they come out. Susprisngly absent is Dell who hasn’t said a peep all day. My two favorites so far have been the Lenovo X200 and the Sony Centrino 2 line. I hope to hear what Dell has to offer this week, please don’t disappoint.

Full Coverage: Engadget

As notebook shipments have begun to significantly outpace the sales of desktop computers, each new notebook platform launched by Intel becomes more important to the company. This Monday July 14 marks the launch of Intel’s Centrino 2 platform, previously known by the code-name Montevina. The launch comes weeks after Intel had planned due to a problem with Intel’s own integrated graphics for the platform.

In fact, the Centrino 2 notebooks running Intel’s own integrated graphics will not be available on Monday. Only Centrino 2 systems running discrete graphics from NVIDIA or ATI will be available on Monday.

According to eWeek, the Centrino 2 platform is aimed at enterprise users, but it will find its way into consumer focused notebooks as well. The Centrino 2 platform will be the first mobile platform to take advantage of Intel’s new 45nm Penryn CPUs and the CPUs will run from 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz.

Also supported by the Centrino 2 platform is DDR3 RAM along with 802.11n and WiMAX. The move from the 65nm CPUs used in previous mobile platforms to 45nm parts in the Centrino 2 platform should lead to increased battery life and lower heat output — both very important to notebook users. The first 45-nm processors in the Centrino 2 platform will be dual-core parts, but quad-core CPUs will be available for the platform later.

Full Article: DailyTech

These delays for their integrated graphics definitely aren’t good, but it is reassuring to see that they are still going to launch the platform and not delay it entirely again. It also looks as if Sony might be the first to deploy notebooks with the new tech according to this article from Engadget. Since I am more of a Dell person, I eagerly await what they may have to offer in regards to a refresh in their XPS line, hope it is soon.

Sources close to Intel have confirmed to TG Daily earlier reports that Intel’s Montevina notebook platform, referred to as Centrino 2, will see a substantial delay. Montevina will not make it to Computex next week and will miss its originally planned debut date later in June. Intel has decided to delay Centrino 2, providing AMD with an opportunity to pitch its Puma platform and Turion Ultra processor.

Full Article: TG Daily

It appears Intel won’t be putting out their newest platform next week as expected. Apparently there are some technical problems with the wireless aspect of the chipset as well as the integrated graphics card. It will be interesting to see if AMD uses this delay to make up some ground on Intel since they already have their Puma platform ready to go.

Intel is planning to rename its brand name for the upcoming notebook Montevina platform to Centrino 2 in order to clear up confusion for consumers, according to sources at notebook makers.

Intel has used the brand name Centrino for four generations of its notebook platforms including Carmel, Sonoma, Napa and Santa Rosa. Although the technology and specifications have continued to improve, the unchanging brand name has left consumers unable to identify the differences, which has also lowered recognition in the market.

Notebook makers agree with Intel’s decision, since they believe most consumers do not familiar with the specifics of each platform and codename. The new marketing strategy should give consumers the feeling of a tangible upgrade and will hopefully spur replacement demand.

Intel is set to launch the Centrino 2 platform in Computex Taipei 2008 along with six 45nm notebook CPUs, all with a 1066MHz FSB. Core speeds will range between 2.26-3.06GHz and prices between US$209-851 in 1000-unit tray quantities.

Intel will then launch seven 45nm SFF (small form factor) notebook CPUs, similar to those used in Apple’s MacBook Air and soon other ultra-portable notebooks, in the third quarter of this year.

In additional news, Intel shipped over 100 million notebook CPUs in 2007. Shipments are expected to increase to 123 million units by the end of 2008. The company also expects to ship 145 million, 169 million, and 195 million notebook CPUs in 2009-2011, respectively.

Intel declined to respond saying it cannot comment on unannounced products.

Source: DigiTimes

Should make for an interesting summer to see the release of new products featuring these chips. I’m glad Intel has continued to innovate given the lack of competition from AMD in the past few years after many years of intense competition between the two chip makers. One can only hope that AMD can counter Intel’s recent streak of dominance to continue to spur innovation or else we will begin to see lackluster products and higher prices. Recently, I bought an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ending my seven years of using only AMD in computer builds. The Phenom series is decent and cheaper, but just cannot match the performance of Intel’s Quad series.