Centrino 2 vs C2D?

I'm getting confused. I am trying to soon get my lappy. Big question though for me is what is the main difference between the Centrino 2 and Core 2 Duo?
Also, is the difference so extreme that is should be a deal breaker?

 

They're referring to different things. Centrino is the chipset (processor, wireless card, bus speeds, RAM support, etc...), Core 2 is the processor.

 

Basically, Centrino (2) = Intel Mobile CPU + Intel Mobile Chipset + Intel Wifi

Core 2 Duo = Only CPU

 

As others have mentioned Centrino 2 is Intel's brand name for systems which ship with a Core 2 Duo + Intel chipset(45 series for Centrino 2) and Intel wiif(5100/5300). Core 2 Duo on the other hand is just the brand name for the cpu.

Generally, systems without Centrino branding usually have either Atheros or Broadcom wifi's instead of Intel. In such cases it makes little difference whether you go for Centrino 2 or Core 2 Duo branding. However, Core 2 Duo's can also ship with older chipsets(965/945) as well. In this case it will make a slight difference but again depending on what you use the system for nothing that would make a huge difference.

 

Centrino 2 is a chipset and specifies what features your laptop can support in terms of RAM, bus speeds, etc. So for example in the Lenovo T400 you can get a Centrino 2 feature called 'Switchable Graphics' which allows you to specify (on-demand) whether you want dedicated graphics (to play intense games) or integrated graphics (to save power).

 

Thanks everyone for clearing this up. With Dell for example, is it usually listed somewhere in the specs list? I'll have to look closer and see.

 

For dell, it will be centrino if you get an intel wireless card and core 2 duo sticker if you get the dell wireless. Really it makes no difference it is just marketing by intel to get people to buy more of their wireless cards.