Intel Celeron Based Notebooks

The Celeron brand refers to a range of Intel's CPUs for budget/value personal computers. Intel has given the brand the motto, "delivering great quality at an exceptional value." Celeron processors can run most computer programs, but their performance is somewhat lower when compared to similar, but higher priced, Intel CPU brands.

For example, the Celeron brand will often have less cache memory, or have less advanced features. These missing features have had a variable impact on performance. In some cases, the effect was significant and in other cases the differences were relatively minor.

Many of the Celeron designs have achieved a very high "bang to the buck," while at other times, the performance difference has been noticeable. For example, some intense application software, such as cutting edge PC games, programs for video compression, video editing, or solid modeling (CAD, engineering analysis, computer graphics and animation, rapid prototyping, medical testing, product visualization, and visualization of scientific research), etc. may not perform as well on the Celeron family. This has been the primary justification for the higher cost of other Intel CPU brands vs. the Celeron.

The latest Celeron design (as of January 2008) is based on the Core 2 Duo (Allendale). This design features independent processing cores (CPUs), but with only half as much cache memory as the comparable Core 2 Duo offering.