entrino

Entrino, more commonly written as Centrino or Intel Centrino, was a brand name used by Intel to denote a standardized laptop computing platform. Introduced in 2003, the Centrino platform combined three key components: a mobile processor (initially the Pentium M), an Intel mobile chipset, and an Intel wireless network interface (the PRO/Wireless family). The integration aimed to improve battery life, thermal efficiency, and wireless connectivity, enabling longer use between charges and simpler marketing for laptop makers.

The platform bundled hardware and software to optimize power management and wireless performance. By certifying laptops as Centrino machines, manufacturers could advertise a coherent set of capabilities, such as extended battery life and built-in Wi-Fi. The Centrino branding evolved through successive generations, including Centrino Duo (dual-core mobile processors) and Centrino 2 (Montevina), expanding to later Core-based architectures while maintaining the emphasis on mobility and wireless connectivity.

In the broader history of Intel’s laptop technology, Centrino helped popularize wireless-enabled notebooks and established a framework for standardization across manufacturers. Over time, Intel began phasing the Centrino branding into broader product families, aligning it with Intel Core processors and related technologies such as vPro, while continuing to emphasize wireless capabilities and energy efficiency in portable computers. Today, Centrino is largely a historical term, its influence reflected in the integrated approach to mobile performance, power management, and wireless networking that persists in modern laptops.