If you google intel core 2 duo you would get hundreds of pages relating to core 2 duo articles and probably not find the answer you are looking for. I will now attempt to demystify the core 2 duo mystery. Since this blog is laptop / notebook related I will be only referring to notebook processors.
Firstly I would like to define the term 'CENTRINO' or' CENTRINO2'
Just what the hell is Centrino? Many laptop has got that Centrino or Centrino2 sticker pasted somewhere near the Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Core 2 Duo.
Ripped off shamelessly from wikipedia:
The Centrino brand represents Intel Wi-Fi and WiMAX adapters. It was formerly a platform-marketing initiative from Intel until January 7, 2010.
Previously, CENTRINO covered a particular combination of mainboard chipset, mobile CPU and wireless network interface in the design of a laptop. Intel claims systems equipped with these technologies deliver better performance, longer battery life and broad wireless network interoperability. ( obviously all made by intel )
Now that we got that out of the way lets get down to business.
We will leave the Core Duos / Solos behind as they are 32 bit processors and cannot run the latest 64 bit Operating systems ( 2006 and earlier ). Any Core 2 Duo with 2 GB and above can run the newest Windows 8 64bit OS.
To simplify things I will divide the core 2 duos in two generations:
____________________________Early Core2Duo_________________________________
2006 - centrino codename NAPA - Intel Core 2 Duo processor codename YONAH
2007 - centrino codename SANTA ROSA - - Intel Core 2 Duo processor codename MEROM
___________________________________________________________________________
We will call this Core2duo First generation
This includes the T7100, T7200, T7300 and some other variants like the T2xxxx and the T5xxxx processors.
Speeds are mainly 1.6GHz to 2.2GHz
Maximum ram supported by a 64bit OS is 4GB
___________________________Late Core2Duo__________________________________
2008
2009 - centrino codename MONTEVINA - Intel Core 2 Duo processor codename PENRYN
_________________________________________________________________________
We call this the Core2Duo Second generation
Processors include the P8,9xxx (P series perform cooler using 25W vs the normal 35W) and the T6,8,9xxxx series, which are all faster at over 2-3GHz
Maximum ram supported by a 64bit OS is 8GB
( Apple was still selling their Core2Duo Pxxxx series 2010 Macbook White into early 2011 )
After this came the Core i7 in 2009 which started the Core i3 / i5 / i7 generation, which I will cover in my next article.
While the Intel processor has grown more powerful, the battery technology has not. Intel has resorted to overclocking tricks and variable frequency to save power thus lengthening battery life. In the technology world, it is said that processor power doubles every 18 months but in the case of the mobile processor, this is not true due to limitation of the battery technology.
A first Gen Core 2 Duo at 1.8 GHz Geekbench scores at 2850 (2007)
A first Gen Core i5 at 2.53 GHz Geekbench acores at 5600 (2010) less than double
Speedup should be 4 times but it is not.
So what can I do with a 1.8Ghz Core 2 duo machine wigh 2GB of memory?
A LOT.
Web browsing
Flash games
Full HD 1080p movies ( older Intel Atom processors cannot do this )
Compiling MP3 songs
Word Processing
Photoshop your mobile phone images
Backup your mobilephone
itunes to sync your iphone
Updating Android phone
Email
Creating powerpoint slideshow
Preparing govt tender documents
Hook to printer for printing / scanning images
Hook to projector for corporate presentations
Working with Microsoft Excel
Online stocks trading
Online banking
transferring media to friends
viewing and tagging and cataloging all your digital camera photos
720x576 SD ( non-HD ) video editing
Video chatting ( with USB camera or built in camera )
Typing or blogging long articles.
Social media
Network administration
Programming
Tasks below takes more time but still doable ( upgrading to 4GB ram helps):
Video / movie conversion
music conversion
720p video editing and conversion
High resolution Photo editing
In conclusion, the core 2 duo processor is still very powerful and a laptop with this processor coupled with proper keyboard and good quality trackpad with good buttons still provides enough oomph for most your daily needs, especially with speed and responsiveness of the new Windows 8 OS. Your old machine will feel new and fast again. Unless you are an avid gamer playing the latest games, The core 2 duo will be the best bang for your buck.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
How To Select A Laptop or Notebook for Your Needs
People buy computers for different reasons. Here's what I can think of...
1) Movies / Music / Web Surfing / Email / Video Chatting / Facebook
2) Heavy Gaming
3) Surfing / Emailing
4) Video Audio and 2D/3D Design and animation work.
5) Software development
6) Online shopping / Online selling
Now that tablets are very popular, are there anyone still interested in laptops or notebooks? There are times where I find that I need the full power and keyboard of a laptop when I need to do things fast like using Photoshop and putting my products online to sell. For normal web browsing I still use my Android tablet.
There are several categories of users I would like to cover. These are:
Senior citizen
Lower powered laptops are required for this group of users as their only need to do mainly emailing, some websurfing ( like checking recipes seen on tv ) and filling out government related application forms. Most services in Singapore are now online eg CPF Inland Revenue Department, ICA, MOM and some others. I recommend the lower cost range of 'Core 2 Duo' 1.8ghz 2gb ram laptops because these processors are very fast for what they do and they are fully 64 bit processors which can be upgraded to the latest Windows 8 if needed. The older 'Core Duo' is not 64bit therefore I dont recommend it.
These laptops are usually priced in the $200 range and easy to move from point to point. The screen is also larger and easier to look at. Older folks like to type on a physical keyboard instead on a touchscreen. Netbooks are all still very slow to this day and the older Core2Duo is anytime faster than the fastest Intel Atom processors.
Students (5-10yrs)
This category can use the same specs as the Senior citizen category as this will be in introduction to the world of I.T.
Students (teenagers)
Students use laptops for the most number of reasons. From watching movies to downloading many types of content to backing up Android or Iphone contacts and chatting on yahoo to school work and light games. This best kind of laptop for this group would be the newer 2009 -2010 faster core 2 duo laptops. The first gen Core i3 or i5 also suits this group if they have more budget.
Gamers
This group demands the highest configuration possible. Laptops must have discreet graphics like the Nvidia or ATI for fast 3D gaming performance. Laptop of choice would be at least a first generation Intel Core i5 2.4ghz with Nvidia or ATI graphics
Graphic Designers / Web Designers
Graphics and Web designers require laptops to be fast, about similar to the students category. Processor speed should be the faster 2009-2010 core 2 duo processor (2.4ghz) with 4gb of memory as minimum. Discreet graphics not required. The faster Core2Duo processors actually outperform the first generation Intel i3 processors. The only advantage with the i3 tis the newer manufacturing process which results in lower power consumption. Webcam not needed.
Video Editors / 2D & 3D animations
This group needs the most power possible. Recommended configurations are Intel Core i7 quad core processors and 8GB of memory. 2nd Generation i7 and newer is recommended. Webcam not needed
Corporate Workers
This group of people need the newer faster core2duo and first generation i3 or i5. The chipset that come with these processors support VGA output as well as HDMI output. This is important for powerpoint and video presentations. 4gb memory recommended. Webcam might be required for webinars.
1) Movies / Music / Web Surfing / Email / Video Chatting / Facebook
2) Heavy Gaming
3) Surfing / Emailing
4) Video Audio and 2D/3D Design and animation work.
5) Software development
6) Online shopping / Online selling
Now that tablets are very popular, are there anyone still interested in laptops or notebooks? There are times where I find that I need the full power and keyboard of a laptop when I need to do things fast like using Photoshop and putting my products online to sell. For normal web browsing I still use my Android tablet.
There are several categories of users I would like to cover. These are:
Senior citizen
Lower powered laptops are required for this group of users as their only need to do mainly emailing, some websurfing ( like checking recipes seen on tv ) and filling out government related application forms. Most services in Singapore are now online eg CPF Inland Revenue Department, ICA, MOM and some others. I recommend the lower cost range of 'Core 2 Duo' 1.8ghz 2gb ram laptops because these processors are very fast for what they do and they are fully 64 bit processors which can be upgraded to the latest Windows 8 if needed. The older 'Core Duo' is not 64bit therefore I dont recommend it.
These laptops are usually priced in the $200 range and easy to move from point to point. The screen is also larger and easier to look at. Older folks like to type on a physical keyboard instead on a touchscreen. Netbooks are all still very slow to this day and the older Core2Duo is anytime faster than the fastest Intel Atom processors.
Students (5-10yrs)
This category can use the same specs as the Senior citizen category as this will be in introduction to the world of I.T.
Students (teenagers)
Students use laptops for the most number of reasons. From watching movies to downloading many types of content to backing up Android or Iphone contacts and chatting on yahoo to school work and light games. This best kind of laptop for this group would be the newer 2009 -2010 faster core 2 duo laptops. The first gen Core i3 or i5 also suits this group if they have more budget.
Gamers
This group demands the highest configuration possible. Laptops must have discreet graphics like the Nvidia or ATI for fast 3D gaming performance. Laptop of choice would be at least a first generation Intel Core i5 2.4ghz with Nvidia or ATI graphics
Graphic Designers / Web Designers
Graphics and Web designers require laptops to be fast, about similar to the students category. Processor speed should be the faster 2009-2010 core 2 duo processor (2.4ghz) with 4gb of memory as minimum. Discreet graphics not required. The faster Core2Duo processors actually outperform the first generation Intel i3 processors. The only advantage with the i3 tis the newer manufacturing process which results in lower power consumption. Webcam not needed.
Video Editors / 2D & 3D animations
This group needs the most power possible. Recommended configurations are Intel Core i7 quad core processors and 8GB of memory. 2nd Generation i7 and newer is recommended. Webcam not needed
Corporate Workers
This group of people need the newer faster core2duo and first generation i3 or i5. The chipset that come with these processors support VGA output as well as HDMI output. This is important for powerpoint and video presentations. 4gb memory recommended. Webcam might be required for webinars.
About this Blog
This all started when I had to go overseas for a week and needed to be on standby to make changes to a video project that I had just delivered. My last laptop was a Dell XPS 1210 and it died some years back because some water dripped into the keyboard. I do my video editing on an Imac so I needed something portable like a Macbook or Macbook Pro with Final Cut Pro 7 on it. Since I am in Singapore, the place of choice to check out some used notebooks / laptops would by Sim Lim Square.
After walking around I found that used macbooks are all way overpriced as I was not about to fork out $800 - $900 on a core 2 duo Macbook Pro. Even a Core 2 Duo macbook white unibody was priced around $500. The windows laptops were cheaper but the price were too high for the spces provided. I decided to buy and sell quality notebooks / laptops to friends should they require. After a month of buying I have a number still available so I decided to create this blog to sell them. Please check out my other articles on how to select a laptop for your needs without having to pay more than what you need.
After walking around I found that used macbooks are all way overpriced as I was not about to fork out $800 - $900 on a core 2 duo Macbook Pro. Even a Core 2 Duo macbook white unibody was priced around $500. The windows laptops were cheaper but the price were too high for the spces provided. I decided to buy and sell quality notebooks / laptops to friends should they require. After a month of buying I have a number still available so I decided to create this blog to sell them. Please check out my other articles on how to select a laptop for your needs without having to pay more than what you need.
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