intel 3945 vs dell 1490

What is the difference between the Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Dual-Band Mini Card and the Dell Wireless™ 1490 802.11a/g Dual-band Mini Card? Why is the Dell card $18 cheaper?

 

The Dell card is made by Broadcom and doesnt come with the "Centrino" sticker. The Intel card however qualifies for the "Centrino" branding. There are no other differences between them. Either of them should work pretty good. If you are a Linux user then get the Intel card as it is much more compatible with linux than the Broadcom(Dell) card.

Performance wise both cards should be similar, each might have some problems picking up some networks but nothing is majorly different between the Wifi cards. Pick the Intel card if you want the laptop to be branded as a centrino, otherwise choose the Dell 1490.

 

does it matter if it is a centrino or not? what does that mean?

 

Centrino is latin for "Ha ha suckers!"

Or in Italian, it means "doily". See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino

Jokes aside, it's pretty much a nifty marketing catchphrase. A "Centrino" computer is one that has the combination of a Pentium M/Core processor, Intel chipset, and an Intel-brand wireless card. If a computer meets this "standard", it gets a nice little Intel Centrino sticker on it. Yay!

 

So having Centrino status doesn't make your computer better or anything?

 

Nope! you get the Centrino sticker and according to Intel bettert battery life. But in reality you are going to get the same battery life whether you choose the Dell or Intel's Wifi card. So, no it does not make your computer any better.