MOBODOJO » hardware

The MacBook Pro Is Dead! Long Live The MacBook Pro!

Tyler Regas — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:12:08 +0000

Apple, oh Apple. What hath thou done. Fine, I realize that I’m being a little over-dramatic, but I think its very well worth knowing that Apple has gone and taken the Pro out of the MacBook Pro line-up. Not by word, have they done this, but by act. Apple has removed from the MacBook Pro the one and only significant advantage it had over the lowly MacBook line, and it was a doozy; discreet graphics.

If I’m preaching to the choir right now and you didn’t already know this, your jaw is likely on the floor about now. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, then I shall explain. There are two kinds of computer graphics systems which can be installed in a computer by the manufacturer, discreet and integrated. Starting with the latter, integrated graphics is a simplified set of chips which generate video for the computer. These are installed on the mainboard and cannot be replaced. Integrated graphics also share RAM from the system, so if you have 1GB of RAM (1024MBs) and your integrated graphics system uses 256MBs of RAM, then your computer ends up with a mere 768MBs of RAM to run on. All cheap laptops and netbooks use integrated graphics.

Discreet graphics, on the other hand, is like its own separate computer whose only job it is to create the graphics for your computer. It has its own RAM and it is usually installed as a separate board which can later be replaced if necessary. In this case, if you have 1GB of RAM and 256MBs of VRAM (Video RAM) then you still have 1GB of RAM for your system. It is the discreet video systems which professionals rely on from Apple because they are powerful and are capable of things which integrated systems simply aren’t. That’s a huge part of the Pro in MacBook Pro.

What Apple has done by bringing the unibody MacBook models into the MacBook Pro fold is to bring the concept of integrated graphics into the Pro line-up. Witness on the Apple Store page or in Phil Schiller’s keynote at yesterday’s WWDC 2009 kickoff the introduction of the NVIDIA 9400M chipset in not only the 13″ models but now also the entry-level 15″ model which starts at US$1,699. If you take a closer look you will see that the 9400M integrated chipset is on every single MacBook Pro in the entire line. Sure, they are alongside the more potent, discreet 9600M GT chipset and you can select which one to use, but the game has still been changed.

Integrated video is significantly cheaper than discreet video. Apple has always charged a relatively fair price for the cost of quality components, a consistency which no other computer company has ever been able to match, and a level of reliability which isn’t fair to the competition. Two things emerge from the change. First, to call a MacBook with integrated graphics just because they look the same, have SD card slots, and can use 8GBs of RAM is more like a bait-and-switch scheme. Second, to put only integrated graphics into the larger, Pro-level 15″ model is almost lying.

Business users who don’t need the powerful graphics sub-systems didn’t have a problem with using a computer called a MacBook. I know of few people who were unhappy that they had a MacBook when they knew that what they had was what they could afford. In fact, I know quite a few MacBook users who don’t like the larger, heavier MacBook Pro line and are quite pleased with what they already have. The only thing Apple did here was arrange a little smoke and mirrors with no real updates to anything, just a name change. I suppose its possible that Apple was feeling the pressure of not delivering on Snow Leopard and only having the iPhone 3Gs to announce.

Then again, they’ve also had the pressure put on them from Microsoft about the cost of their computers compared to what Microsoft’s hardware partners offer in a recent spate of ads. Apple seems to be responding (they’ll deny it) by evening out their pricing structure. If there’s anything to be said about Apple’s product line-up now, its well spaced.

FeedReaders #5: OSen Galore, Gathering ARMs, Deeperest Apologies For Tardiness

Tyler Regas — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:28:06 +0000

Here it is! Finally!! I wouldn’t blame you if you marched on my headquarters to smash me. Okay, so you’re not an invading army, but a slightly disappointed cadre of dedicated listeners. I am truly sorry. I am working towards rectifying the issues which keep blocking me from actually getting these podcasts done on time. Here, then, are the links for this weeks episode:

[podcast]http://www.mobodojo.com/feedreaders/fr_0005_20090429.mp3[/podcast]

FeedReaders #2: Small Stuff, Space Nerds, & Fiesta

Tyler Regas — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:15:38 +0000

That’s knocked another one out of the park. This episode sports a simpler format. Soon I’ll be adding ads and organizing the sections better. I hope to have a few guest hosts soon, as well. It really comes down to managing the time of some friends of mine and getting Skype or Google Talk to work. We’ll see. Here are the links for this week’s episode:

[podcast]http://www.mobodojo.com/feedreaders/fr_pcast_20090408.mp3[/podcast]

Review: Insignia Blu-Ray Player

Tyler Regas — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:40:11 +0000

Insignia, if you didn’t know, is a brand name of Best Buy. Think of grocery stores and their in-house brands and you get the idea of how Insignia works for Best Buy. Of course, Insignia doesn’t make peanut butter and their products should not be considered generic. Insignia’s new Blu-Ray deck is an excellent example of this fact. When I removed it from the box I was struck by how sleek it looks. The front panel is almost entirely featureless and is glossy black. There are power and eject buttons and a basic control pad and, of course, the disc drawer.

Technically, the Insignia NS-2BRDVD is a very capable deck. Aside from the obvious Blu-Ray disc playback functions, it is also capable of playing standard DVDs. Its also capable of handling DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD and CD-R/RW discs and can read MP3, WMA and JPEG formats. It is also able to upconvert standard DVDs and outputs digital video in 720p, 1080i, and 1080p via the HDMI output port. Sadly, it does not come with an HDMI cable, but it does ship with a Composite set in the box.

The real business comes when you disconnect your old DVD player and plug in the BR deck using an HDMI cable. I connected the deck to my Westinghouse 32″ 1080i LCD TV. I was initially concerned that not having a 1080p capable set would limit my experience with Blu-Ray, but I was very, very wrong. I did not have to see the output of my old HDMI-capable Sony DVD deck next to the Insignia deck’s output to see the difference. It was immediately obvious to my wife and daughter and myself when I pushed in Over The Hedge.

The upconversion quality itself is astonishingly good. The colors are cleaner and sharper. The blacks are deeper. Even the surround sound is better (or that could have been in my mind). The overall clarity of the picture is just plain better without question. My PR rep had assured me that it would improve picture quality on 1080i, but now I knew for sure. What I was not prepared for, though, was an actual Blu-Ray disc. I’ll say it this way: I now feel bad that I don’t have a 1080p set of at least 42″ in size.

The picture is so good and clean and clear that I want to fill up my living room wall with it. This is the kind of good that makes you want a home theater very badly. I’m not heading in that direction any time soon, but I will definitely focus some of my energies on getting that upgrade in place as soon as I can. In the meantime, I can now marvel at the fact that I talked crap about Blu-Ray for no clear reason.

Okay, it was mostly because I’m sick of Sony constantly trying to take over existing markets with proprietary technologies which are incompatible. They couldn’t do VHS. They had to create BetaMax. They couldn’t get in CDs. They had to do the MiniDisc. They couldn’t jump on board with SD cards. They had to create the Memory Stick. It appears, however, that it was just time which would tell in the case of HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray… but I digress.

It turns out that there is something about Blu-Ray which I didn’t know; there are versions. There are versions 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 and not all Blu-Ray players are capable of all of them. One purchaser/reviewer on Best Buy’s website stated that, while this Insignia deck has Ethernet and USB ports specifically for software updates and BDLive, the hardware is currently using Revision 1.1. If it is, I can’t tell. Of course, when I get more Blu-Ray discs I’ll likely be able to test this.

In the meantime, I’m going to deeply enjoy what I already have and see where it takes me. The one thing I would ask Best Buy and/or Insignia to do is to add about 5 oz. of weight to the remote. Either that or change from AAA batteries to the slightly heavier AA batteries. Retail price for the Insignia Blu-Ray deck is US$250, but Best Buy is offering a US$50 discount so you can the deck for US$200. Not too shabby.

What’s Palm Up To?

Tyler Regas — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:04:00 +0000

CES 2009 is just around the corner and consumer electronics companies are scrambling to get their new kit ready for the largest show of its type in the world. Palm is no stranger to CES, but in recent years the legendary company which brought us the consumer-friendly Palm Pilot and sucked up HandSpring to get the popular Treo and morph it into the first truly popular smartphone has been steadily sliding towards oblivion. According to Palm, this is about to change.

Palm has announced an invitation-only press event to be held at CES 2009 to unveil something new. I didn’t receive an invite, but I don’t feel bad, despite being a HUGE fan of Palm since Day 1 (I have a working Palm Pilot 500). I have a feeling in my gut that Palm might be on the verge of a real, viable, tangible comeback. I’m not the only one, either. Engadget got an invite, as did PalmInfoCenter.

While nothing specific is known about what Palm will be doing behind closed doors, my own personal speculation and the educated speculation from PIC strongly indicate that they will be introducing a radically updated version of their OS. I’m going to put my two cents in and state that I believe that they will also show either a working prototype or a near-term pre-release version of brand new hardware to support the new platform.

As is always the case, we just have to wait and see. I will say, however, (and this is directly at Palm) you’ve disappointed me in the past. Please, please, please, don’t do it again.

Review: Peek

Tyler Regas — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:54:28 +0000

It is rare when a product comes along and completely reinvents the way we already do something which is already simple in the first place. Email holds a special place in the world today. Everyone, with exception to the most staunch luddites, uses email to communicate. The written word is so deeply ingrained in the human animal as a primary and required form of communication that our most popular forms of getting out the word are either in visual or written form. We IM, SMS, and email all the time. Email is so pervasive, it almost hurts the brain to try and figure out how to make it easier.

Its not hard, however, to figure out how to make it more complicated. Convergence takes care of that, and what used to be one of the most beloved mobile messaging devices and an indispensable tool for the Federal government, the RIM Blackberry, has lost its way in a fight to remain relevant in a writhing sea of multi-functional nano devices which can play music, watch TV, fetch email from several accounts, browse the web, pick your teeth after a fine meal, and, if you’re lucky, make a call or two. They have cute, cloying names like Bold, Storm, Chocolate, Shine, and Behold, and they all (at least according to the manufacturers) do everything better than the Apple iPhone.

Until now. I introduce to you the one and only Peek. Its not an iPhone. It doesn’t play music. It doesn’t organize your life. Its not designed to make phone calls. Its more like 2G then 3G or 4G. It doesn’t sport a touchscreen, have any number of GBs of storage space, can’t find out where you are because it doesn’t do GPS, and doesn’t even take pictures. What it does do, and quite well, is email. If you can recall back to the mid-90′s when RIM’s Blackberry devices was just becoming hot with its two-way pager service on its neato 850/950 models then you might also recall that they weren’t phones back then. Not until 2001 did RIM add phone support.

The Peek brings back the concept of the old Blackberry and reboots it with a fresh, thin, clean, easy to use new device. For US$79.99 and US$20 a month you get unlimited wireless service which gives you access to up to three email accounts, unlimited SMS, and they’re adding features all the time. In the most recent update they added the SMS feature and the ability to view images attached to emails. My hope is that they add additional file types in the near future. Feature-wise, the interface is very clean. In fact, if you’re familiar with how the Blackberry works, you’ll be instantly at home on the Peek.

Setup of email accounts is very, very easy. The device itself has a number of configurations built into it, such as Gmail, AOL, NetZero, and many others. Just enter in the details and, if it recognizes the email address, it takes care of the rest. If you have your own mail server, just call up the service folk and they’ll set up the account for you. Word from their PR people is that they are working on adding Exchange access, as well. This should make some Crackberry addicts rather happy. I didn’t think to ask if they were also working on Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise account access, though.

The hardware itself is very well made. The device is nicely this and light. The screen is 320×240 and has excellent backlighting and color. There are some things which could be slightly improved. The thumbwheel could be a moved from the traditional side of the unit to the front middle, which would make it easier to use for lefties like me. The battery cover, which is nice and solid, would benefit from having a strengthened locking mechanism. One odd choice was the placement of the extended characters which are located above the numbers across the top of the keyboard. All of the keys are backlit, but the aforementioned characters are not, so you can see what they are in the dark.

There are also some things which the Peek developers could do to improve the interface. First, there are only three built-in color themes, none of which are particularly attractive, to choose from. There’s also not font control, which I’m assured by my PR contacts they are working on now. One thing which they could fix, however, is the status bar at the top of the screen. Its quite a bit taller than it needs to be. If they could trim it down and modernize the icons and status elements there would be more room on the display for email. It would also be nice if there was user control over the colors.

The Peek is one of the nicest, simplest, cleanest devices to come out in a long time. It fills a hole which used to be filled quite nicely but has become ridiculously overwrought. It also fills the gap which the costly iPhone has created. Some people just want a simple phone to make calls a a nice way to access their email on the go. The Peek has no contracts and it comes in a few colors. The Peek is a very elegantly simple solution to a problem which doesn’t need complex solutions, and I’m happy to have one. It very quickly became one of my most used devices and I don’t foresee a time when I stop using it.

Review: Sony mylo 2

Tyler Regas — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:14:39 +0000

Disclaimer: I don’t generally pick products just so I can review them. If you look back over the long history of PDA Handyman/Mobility Handyman/Mobodojo you’ll see that I rarely give products a bad review. This is because I select products to review as if I were selecting to purchase for my own use. If you want to read repeated stories about humping dog USB toys, then Gizmodo and Engadget are your best bet. I prefer to review products which can hold real value for my readers. There are, however, occasions when a product has promise but cannot, for whatever reason, deliver. At times I choose to just not review the product, but in the case of the Sony mylo 2, I feel compelled to warn people of the cost they are about to incur, mostly for naught.

If you see one of these under your tree this Christmas, don’t bother unwrapping it. Take it back to where it was bought from and buy yourself a Sony PSP. The new Mystic Silver PSP-3000 model which comes with a new Ratchet & Clank game and a movie sells for the same price and offers infinitely more functionality and fun. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I won’t even bother going into the specifications or any real details about the device. I will, however, state that it is not what it says it is. The Sony mylo 2 is not a smaller version of a laptop, as Sony would like you to believe. That would suggest that its a MID, and it is most certainly a MID, just not a very good one. The reasons for why it is not good are simple and clear, and I will outline them for you here.

To be entirely frank, I don’t have many issues with the hardware itself. If I had to be picky, I’d complain about the poor range of the Wi-Fi module and the lack of Bluetooth. The slider snaps open with an annoyingly loud sound, and the unit us twice as thick as Nokia’s N810 Internet Tablet, a product its supposed to compete directly with. Sadly, where the Nokia N810 shines, the Mylo 2 falls very, very flat. One of the biggest failings the device has is the complete lack of any additional software in any way, shape, or form.

Yes. That’s right. There’s no software you can add. There’s not even a decent Mylo 2 site or, from what I’ve been able to tell, a development site for the version of Linux which the Mylo 2 uses. I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure that utilizing any related open source code requires that you make that source available. This means that Sony should have a developers site for the version of Linux the Mylo 2 uses. Nokia (I’m sorry I keep dragging them out, but they’re an excellent example) has a complete project for the Maemo project and almost all of the software is available in source form.

Apparently Sony has found a way around this by using Linux as the core, but designing every single bit of UI software in-house and using entirely private and proprietary code. Its possible to do this as long as they don’t use any open source code at all. What this boils down to is that Sony doesn’t have to give out the code, offer any SDK for developers, or really do anything at all. And that’s just what Sony has done… nothing.

The interface is annoying. There’s no software. There are no 3rd party developers. There are no games. There are no tools to convert media. You’re forced to use Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick for storage. There’s really nothing at all that the Mylo 2 can offer. So, either get the aforementioned PSP or go pick up an Acer Aspire One from Costco for a measley US$349. I’m serious. For once, I’m actually telling people to stay away what appears to be a very cool gadget. Please trust me.

Can Microsoft Stop Linux At The MID?

Tyler Regas — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:09:02 +0000

A sea change is welling at the source, and Microsoft is not in a good place to weather it well. Now, before you start tossing rocks in my general direction, I’m not going to suggest that Microsoft is going away anytime soon. After all, anywhere from 96-84% of all PCs in the world (depending on who you speak to for statistics) is running anywhere from Windows 95 to Windows Vista. Part of the problem, however, is that most of them are running Windows XP and Microsoft doesn’t want that. No, indeed. Its no surprise that Vista isn’t doing well, mostly because it sucks and people know it… okay, so Microsoft itself doesn’t seem to get it yet.

Where, then, does Linux come into the picture? Do you see all of these tiny little lappies hitting the market? OLPC started it with their little green bug and kicked it into gear when they started offering the Buy-Two-Get-One deal where one goes to a child in a 3rd world country and you get the other one. ASUS saw something in that and ponied up the Eee PC, a tiny little lappy with a 4GB solid state hard drive and an eensy weensy price tag. Buyers freaked and they flew off the shelves, and other fabbers took notice and made their own. They are called MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) and are meant to be companions to your online life.

I would say that this is simply bad timing for Microsoft, but its also bad marketing. Microsoft, as usual, isn’t giving users what they want, the Redmond giant is demanding that the users do what Microsoft wants. It has numerous ways to leverage this desire, but its primary tool is its resellers like Dell, HP, Acer, and hundreds of others. Microsoft says jump, and they all ask how high, or at least they used to. At no time in Microsoft’s long history has it had to deal with a wide-open market, a bum new OS, a re-upstart in the form of Apple, the assumed arrival of Linux for end-users in Ubuntu, and a realization in end users that they don’t have to buy Microsoft to be “in the loop”.

Of course, that’s not all. The economy isn’t helping, either. People are either buying ultra cheap and sticking with Windows XP or they’re spending more on Apple, knowing that Mac OS X systems last longer and have a better resale value. Only those who honestly don’t know any better are moving to Vista, thinking that anything coming from Microsoft must be better than the previous version. However, more and more seniors are being dragged into the market by their tech-savvy children and getting into Ubuntu is very, very easy for first time users. The people behind Ubuntu have even created a new MID-specific version which has a new UI for smaller screens. There are plenty of other small screen UIs for MIDs, as well.

What’s Microsoft’s response to this major threat? To still cancel Windows XP Professional and continue to offer Windows XP Home Edition for MIDs, and it far from clear how long they’ll even do that. MIDs, by definition, are small, ultra low power devices which are not meant to be full portable systems or to replace desktop systems, so how does Microsoft expect MIDs to effectively run Vista, one of the single most resource intensive operating systems of all time. I mean, really. Considering what you can do with Vista that you can’t do with XP and what Vista sucks up just isn’t warranted. In the meantime, Linux runs faster on slower hardware, taking the utmost advantage of whatever resources it has access to.

What can’t Microsoft do, then, when faced with this threat. It can buy Yahoo!… oh, wait. That deal’s all finished, and Yahoo! is supposedly talking to Google about a team up. Hmm. I’d suggest that MS come out and say they made a mistake then take back their cancellation of XP and announce a new version of XP based on the Pro edition. Oh, and sell it retail for US$49. You’ll make bank, dawg! Everyone will get the OS they want, and even pay for it, since US$49 ain’t a high price to pay for a commercial OS. Hell, Apple users pay US$129 for each major upgrade, and happily!

I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Really. I’m just a pundit so I’m not qualified to read the future. What I can tell you, though, is that if Microsoft continues on the path it is traveling, Apple and Linux-based systems are going to start to gain some major marketshare. No, Apple isn’t going to dominate the market next year or even by 2012. Apple will have a very large marketshare, then, though. Keep that in mind. Keep watching the iPhone and the iPods which are now as necessary as underwear. Just keep watching.

iPhone, AT&T Hilarity and 3G Networks

Tyler Regas — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:33:04 +0000

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that AT&T is completing their 3G network now, just ahead of the WWDC? In case you don’t see the humor, I find it a laugh riot because everyone was absolutely sure that the reason Apple didn’t include 3G in its first hardware release of the iPhone was over battery life considerations. Apple certainly wanted to guarantee a long battery life, yes? It appears that the answer to that would now be no. The new 3G iPhone is likely going to be thicker, meaning more radio and more battery, and there’s a switch which allows the owner to turn off 3G. So, if all of this turns out to be true, then the real reason Apple waited is so that AT&T could finish its 3G network. Did anyone have any clue that AT&T was still building their 3G network? I certainly didn’t!

Can Apple Be Considered A Monopoly?

Tyler Regas — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:22:51 +0000

I’ve been mulling over this idea that has been postulated amidst the Psystar dust-up regarding the idea that Apple’s EULA restrictions could constitute a monopoly. I’ve come to the conclusion that it cannot. The definition of the word ‘Monopoly’ yields many clues to how this is possible:

mo•nop•o•ly

n. pl. mo·nop·o·lies

Exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service: “Monopoly frequently … arises from government support or from collusive agreements among individuals” (Milton Friedman).

Law A right granted by a government giving exclusive control over a specified commercial activity to a single party.

A company or group having exclusive control over a commercial activity.

A commodity or service so controlled.

Exclusive possession or control: arrogantly claims to have a monopoly on the truth.

Something that is exclusively possessed or controlled: showed that scientific achievement is not a male monopoly.

Exclusive possession or control: arrogantly claims to have a monopoly on the truth.

Something that is exclusively possessed or controlled: showed that scientific achievement is not a male monopoly

Somehow, I just don’t see how Apple’s EULA falls into this definition.Apple doesn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, own the personal computer market. Back in the 80′s and early 90′s it may have been considered to have owned the personal and education markets, but even then Apple didn’t control corporate markets. In fact, estimates both liberal and conservative, peg Apple’s marketshare at around 5-15%. This doesn’t even fall into Microsoft’s radar for threat control.

Apple owns both its hardware designs and its operating system, Mac OS X. Apple even open sourced the core, dubbed Darwin, and the Darwin elements of certain server programs so they could have a significant foot into the FOSS community. They do not, however, open source anything else. It is well known that Apple controls everything which is customer facing in any way. If Apple controls it, they can guarantee quality.

This hasn’t worked out for them in terms of the iPhone, though. Steve Jobs somehow is able to see the writing on the wall and modify how Apple does things before they become issues. Thus, we have the iPhone SDK available which will allow developers (any developers, mind you) to create fully fledged applications for the popular handset. This is a pretty open methodology for a monopoly, is it not?

So, tell me how I’m wrong and how Apple can actually be a monopoly. I’m interested in all arguments, either for or against.

Source material for our definition of the word “Monopoly” came from these kind entities:

American Psychological Association (APA):

monopoly. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monopoly

Chicago Manual Style (CMS):

monopoly. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monopoly (accessed: April 16, 2008).

Modern Language Association (MLA):

“monopoly.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 16 Apr. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monopoly>.