Impressions and Conclusions
Intel has done it! While in our early look at the T7400 showed rather poor battery performance the T7600 we have tested today, which is heading into production, has made drastic improvements. We can now say without a doubt that Intel’s latest mobile CPU has nailed the holy grail in mobile computing – it performs faster, consumes less power, and generates less heat. What else is there to say besides that?
On a normal office productivity, we see a massive improvement of 37 minutes in battery life compared to the old Core Duo CPU. Floating point operation has improved drastically from the Core Duo to the Core 2 Duo making Intel’s latest mobile processor a more capable and versatile CPU that puts it on the same footing as desktop CPUs. Heat remains on par with the Core Duo CPU, so don’t expect the next generation laptops to run any hotter than they are now.
|
Core 2 Duo Product Line | ||
|
Model |
Frequency |
MSRP |
|
T7600 |
2.33 GHz | $637 |
|
T7400 |
2.16 GHz | $432 |
|
T7200 |
2.00 GHz | $294 |
|
T5600 |
1.83 GHz | $241 |
| T5500 | 1.66 GHz | $209 |
Now with power and heat issues all sorted out, there’s no reason why you should consider the Core 2 Duo in your next laptop. With price points as low as $209 for the T5500 up to the T7600 at $637, there’s a Core 2 Duo mobile CPU to suit all budgets and designs. It really looks like Intel has another hit CPU on their hands and with all the design innovations from laptop vendors, it’s hard not to be a little excited when looking forward. It’s definitely a good time to be looking into a notebook computer and Intel has given us many reasons to with their Core 2 Duo CPUs!
So in the end, we’re giving this CPU an Editor’s Choice Award. The latest Core 2 Duo mobile CPU is cooler, faster, and runs longer than the older Core Duo. Not only that, it has technology improvements under the hood like a larger level 2 cache (4MB) and 64-bit extensions to support 64-bit OSes like the upcoming Windows Vista. If you’ve had reservations before about getting a laptop, the Core 2 Duo should have you convinced. Intel’s track record in this arena is strong, and their latest CPU just solidifies their lead.
