I’m on my fourth Apple laptop, but I think that’s where it will stay for a quite some time. Apple doesn’t have anything new that interests me.
I’ve had:
G4 iBook 800
Macbook Pro 15″ 2ghz
Macbook Pro 17″ 2.4ghz (gamerDNA provided, and thus i sold the 15″)
Macbook Pro 15″ 2.5ghz, mid – 2008 model(purchased after gamerDNA)
This isn’t the monobody slick new one. Yet- I think it is far better than what is currently offered. The good news is that you should be able to pick these up for under $1,000 easily if you look in the right places.
Why is it better? So many reasons:
Far better keyboard – The keys have more travel, the keys are curved inward and provide better feedback.
Real mouse button – I often don’t use it, but when I want it it really is nice.
ExpressCard/34 slot – The 17″ is the only model to offer it now, which is $3K
Firewire 400 and 800 ports, two USB ports – The new ones only have a single FW800, which is backward compatible, but annoying since I have a FW400 audio interface and several hard drives that don’t like being chained with an audio interface
Matte Screen – I hate gloss screens. You can pay more for the 17″ model to have a matte these days, but it isn’t worth the cost.
512MB Video Memory – I know the new ones have a slightly faster graphics card, but the memory is only 256MB on the 15″ models.
Same processor – The processor is still an Intel Core 2 Duo. They offer the 2.53ghz standard now. Mine is ‘just’ 2.5ghz. Big deal.
DVI Output – Sorry Apple, but DisplayPort isn’t as common as DVI. I carry around adaptors anyway for VGA, but I don’t see what DisplayPort buys me today. I do rather like that the new 27″ iMac allows you to use the screen as an external monitor for another computer. I hope they do the same on laptops soon.
Easier to play Operation – I really can’t imaging that the Monobody is all that easy to get inside or work on. I haven’t tried, but it is probably either really easy, or really hard. I’m guessing really hard. I’m thinking of hacking mine to put in some SSD drives instead of the optical drive soon. Or maybe I’ll just get the ExpressCard/34 SSD.
Removable Battery – I don’t buy the argument that everyone will carry about extra batteries. They don’t. How many people do you know carry charged extras? Yet, it is nice to be able to replace yours easily. I threw a new one in mine and rather enjoy being able to do so without a reset even.
About the only thing I like about the new ones better is that I can pay out the nose for 8GB of memory in them instead of the 4GB that I have in mine. If you’ve got 2GB in your Macbook Pro you can upgrade for around $100 from Crucial and installation takes about 3 minutes. I recently put a 500GB 7200rpm Western Digital drive in mine, which has made for a nice speed boost in loading applications. They haven’t upgraded the stock hard drive size since mine was purchased either.
My Macbook Pro does everything that the new ones do and more. They’ve done firmware updates lately and added in things like 4-finger mouse controls and such. I’d like an 8-core Mac Pro with 24GB Ram and 4 video cards, but really this machine does 99.9% of what I realistically need on a daily basis. Oh and it plays modern games just fine!
If you do happen to pick up one however, try as hard as possible to find one with Applecare. I had my keyboard/mouse die the other day and because of Applecare I was able to get a repair within 48 hours. 100% worth it.
Your personal computer, television and the internet have never been so close to being intertwined. Yet, there is still a vast distance to be breached before they are really are the same and connected as one. I have gotten a bit closer to getting things set up at my apartment to make this so, and I’d like to share it with you.
Not too long ago I was introduced to Boxee. Boxee is a media player, similar in concept to Apple’s Front Row or Microsoft’s Media Center application. It’s currently in private alpha, but anyone in the program already can send you an invite, so you can contact me for an invite. As being alpha software it has a few bugs, but they are being worked out quickly and the massive functionality allows you to overlook those easily for the time being. Boxee plays almost any DRM-free media that you can throw at it, including 1080p H.264 video with 5.1 surround output.
Additionally, Boxee is social and allows you to see what your friends have viewed and recommended for you, and for you to stream in content from nearly any RSS feed/torrent, and other popular services including Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube. Oh, and you can control it all through an Apple Remote.
Then there’s the Usenet. The Usenet is a nearly 30 year old discussion and filesharing service. It isn’t a peer to peer service like bittorrent, but has much of the same content that you might find through various bittorrent search engines. Basically, this is a great place to get files of almost any type, including audio and video.
The Usenet can be accessed publically via your ISP’s usenet servers, but that generally isn’t the best way. Most ISPs have caps on access and the speeds aren’t that great. Also they don’t archive the files far back. Basically, that’s not a great way to access the Usenet. To better access Usenet you need to use a Private Usenet server. At first I tried Giganews as a private server, and they were ok, but a bit expensive. I’ve found a better deal with NewsDemon. They have unlimited access from $17.99/month, with plans starting as low as $8.99. To better organize them and interface with them you should use something like Newzbin which helps search, sort and access NewsDemon/Usenet. It isn’t free either, but it’s about a dollar a week or less. Both are reputable services and work well. Also with a private usenet server you have much less of a chance with the RIAA/MPAA should you choose to download copyrighted material since you aren’t forced/encouraged to re-share the files and there is no public record of you having downloaded the files.
As a client I use SABnzbd+ which is an automatic newreader. It is a free python program that is cross platform and is accessed once running through your web browser. It can be easily configured and can automatically pick out the bookmarks that you set in Newzbin, auto initiating downloads from NewsDemon. SABnzbd can automatically unrar files and move them to a completed folder upon download. Boxee can be configured to automatically scan these folders upon launch, and will pick up anything new that you’ve downloaded; unlike iTunes that would require that you manually add the new files if they weren’t downloaded via iTunes.
What this all ends up in is the ability to download high quality music, and even 1080p 5.1 surround full movies quickly, securely and with confidence. You can then play them back in an easy to use, flexible and social media player that works with a remote control so you aren’t tied to your computer at all times. I download at speeds in excess of 7 to 15Mb/sec consistently.
I store all of my media on an Ubuntu file server that has over 2TB of attached storage. My friend Rich and I both share this server and queue up SABnzbd from Newzbin. We are connected between our rooms with gigabit copper ethernet. 1080p takes about 3MB/sec over this connection, so it never skips a beat. We have a gigabit switch connecting all of our systems (Wii, Xbox360, PS2, two macs, a router running DD-WRT and the Ubuntu server). I also use this server for backups and my Aperture storage of vaults. Adding storage to a system like this is super easy with external USB drives. I picked up a 640GB drive the other day for just $99 from Best Buy and they get cheaper every day. Surely I could have found it even cheaper online.
We are using DD-WRT’s built in tracking of bandwidth per month to make sure that we don’t go over Comcast’s 300GB/month cap (resets on the first of each month). We only of course download open source, creative commons, and public domain materials via this service but should you choose to download commercial sources they are fully available. I no longer have to worry about completing downloads using my laptop, having my laptop overburdened space-wise with HD content.
I connect to my TV with a DVI cable, and to my studio monitors for audio via a Mackie 400F interface. You can also use a 3.5mm to TOSLink optical cable to use the built in output of the Macbook Pro/Macbook to connect with 5.1 to your reciever for full quality surround output. Boxee and OS X fully support this.
So there you have it. Content, delivery, simplicity and control. All the HD and surround sound goodness that you’ve been dreaming of your computer doing for years. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Umm, pretty much just what the title says. It’s smooth, it’s good, it’s free, it’s beta. Run, go get it. Kick MSFT in the balls. Who needs their Office?
So what has Apple released that I feel is worthy of my money? I am a pretty hardcore Apple guy, on my 4th Apple (5th if you count the iPhone) since 2002 now. I love their products, my friends use them, my co-workers use them. They are great. They just had all of their product releases, so what is worth it? What will I get (or beg my boss to buy me)?
The AppleTV seems to be more viable than ever. For my to use my computer with my 37″ Westinghouse 1080p screen, it has to be over there. I sometimes like to watch movies and surf at the same time. I’d like a dedicated piece, and with the new price drop- it’s pretty much right on. I wish it supported 1080p, and perhaps it will. With the new HD movie rentals from Apple, it seems like a winner to me.
The new 8-core Mac Pro. Not new from today, but new in the past 2 weeks. I have a Macbook Pro currently, and I love it. However when I try something like Motion or FCP it still gets killed. There’s still a few tasks that just having raw power rocks. Apple has really hit the one out of the ballpark for me. Yea, some PC kid could cobble together ‘something’ for a few hundred bucks cheaper- maybe. But it’s not the same as having a Mac that will rock for years to come.
iPhone update (1.13?). I’m not jailbroken as I had some severe problems getting mine jailbroken. I’ll upgrade. I’m hoping that with the API next month (which details weren’t released on) that new apps will be released. I can wait. The GPS doesn’t really excite me, but I live in Boston and always know where I am.
Time Capsule- I need somewhere to back up my computer anyways that will work well. The wireless part is even better, and it seems reasonably priced. The gigabit ethernet is key and I need to find if the AppleTV can mount it.
The iTunes rentals are cool. For me personally, the Macbook Air is a non-item. I need more power, not less, and I don’t personally care about weight/thickness. It’s sexy for sure, but not for me. I’ll keep my Macbook Pro. I think the Air is overpriced, has too big of a screen, and missed what was really wanted.
Today the betahouse had our own MacWorld party. About 20 people came over, including 2 former Apple employees and one current one. Twitter was up and down (come on, it goes down on random days, of course it was going to go down today). The “leaked” keynote was totally fake.
So what happened today at MacWorld? What am I placing an order (or hoping someone places me an order) for?
New iPhone software. Mainly just the features that were leaked prior. Quasi-GPS support, Lyrics, better SMS, blah. I’ll upgrade. Nothing exciting. I know where I am normally
The iPod Touch got Maps, Mail, Weather, etc… but it’s a $20 paid upgrade. Boo. That’s non-standard and kinda lame
Time Capsul- An Airport Extreme base station + 500GB/1TB drive for wireless Time Machine backup. Not bad. I’ll bite and get one. I’ve been looking for a good network backup and storage solution that will work well with Macs
Apple of course touted their sales and Steve gave lots of numbers
iTunes Movie Rentals, and it supports HD! Goodbye Netflix!
Details, 30 days to start watching, 24 hours to finish
2.99/3.99/4.99 for HD rentals
Near instant streaming
Available to watch on iPhone/Mac/PC
All major studios
Starting today
Apple TV update that seems to rock pretty well. Might have to get one. Does it do 1080p?
They lowered the price, AND the updates are free. I’m getting one…
New Software out in 2 weeks. Price on eBay to adjust soon?
Macbook Air confirmed
3rd series of notebooks, in addition to MBP and MB
I love my MBP, so I don’t really need something smaller. It is stupidly thin however. I like the Multitouch trackpad
I hope they upgrade the MBP software to allow multitouch motion on the trackpad
The rumors of a huge multitouch surface seem wrong
64GB SSD drive. “Pricey but fast”. Now that could ROCK for video editing.
Just wondering… why do I want this again? If I wanted a small notebook, sure.. but the standard MB is fine imho
No Firewire. Looks like Apple really has gone to USB. Too bad. Death of Firewire.
Optional Superdrive (No BluRay),$99
$1799. I paid that much for my Macbook Pro (after student discount and selling the “free” iPod)
People seem to wish thatthe screen was smaller and that it was more of a ‘sub-notebook’
Better for environment. Nice, but not huge news.
Site updated… no more “just one more thing”?
MORE UPDATES COMING AS I WATCH
In the Spring, Jack Hodgson is organizing MacCampBoston. It’s going to be an “unconference” based on Mac stuff.
