Computex 2006 Asian notebook manufacturers are wondering why they should wait for Intel's 'Merom' next-generation notebook processor in future laptops when they can use 'Conroe' instead and gain not only better performance - higher clock speeds, at least - but also pay less for it.

So claims DigiTimes, citing sources from among Taiwan's laptop manufacturing community, adding that a 2.67MHz Conroe will cost $107 less than a 2.33GHz Merom.

They're not talking about using Conroe in thin'n'light machines, of course, but its 65W power consumption should be fine for desktop replacement machines, just as desktop Pentium 4 chips increasingly found their way into large-size laptops several years ago.

And since Intel is planning to brand both Conroe and Merom as Core 2 Duo processors, albeit with different model number sequences, how's a consumer to know? This, of course, may be exactly why Intel has taken this approach - to bring down the barriers separating mobile and desktop CPU lines.

Merom shouldn't be left out in the cold - it will certainly find a home in lighter, more portable notebooks, and in any case is part of the next generation of Centrino Duo products due H1 2007. ®

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