Buying a Notebook Just Got More Confusing - Intel Eliminates GHz Measurements

In the end it became just too hard for Intel to explain to its customers how a 1.4 GHz Pentium M processor wasn't necessarily half the speed of a Pentium IV 2.8 GHz or faster chip. Consumers always became confounded and confused when they looked at the various Intel chips for notebook computers and saw wildly different processor speeds for chips that were supposedly close in performance, but just based on a different chipset. Intel Corp. will now assign model numbers to its chips and eliminate measurements of raw speed from its product names, the world's largest chip maker said on Friday.

The question now is, will this move really help or confuse consumers further? After all, thismove marks a break from decades of chip marketing strategy. However, this movecomes at a time when Intel is trying to pack into its chips more features, such as security and multi-tasking, that fall outside what has long been the primary measurement of raw speed -- the number of megahertz or gigahertz -- so it does make sense for Intel to focus less on the chips speed.

No doubt that the movewill better position Intel's Pentium M, which has lower "clock speeds" than other Intel mobile chips. But the new marketing strategy could also confuse computer shoppers used to treating chip speed as the only marker of performance.

"It is confusing, and it's going to take a tremendous amount of education on the part of Intel and Intel's customers for this to sort of get assimilated into the marketplace," said Nathan Brookwood, who runs the research firm Insight 64.

Intel's new model numbers give each Intel processor brand a series number. Within desktop computer chips, for instance, the low-end Celeron chip will be given the 300 series, the high-end Pentium 4 will be given the 500 series label, and its Pentium 4 Extreme Edition will be given the 700 series.

Within each series, a higher number -- a 350 series versus a 330 series, for example -- will signify a broader array of features in the chip.

While chip speed will no longer be included in the chip's name, Intel is not eliminating chip speed from the description, and said personal computer makers are unlikely to strike speed from their own advertising.

So buckle up everybody, if you were confused about notebook computer shopping before, then as we get adjusted to these new naming conventions and deemphasis on chip speeds we'll all have to get a little more confused for awhile and just hope that in a year or so it all begins to make sense!