On Mac Book Air

There are certain things that are constant in life: death, taxes, Bill getting the latest CPU, Steve Jobs putting on his January Apple show, and me criticizing something. Today it's the Mac Book Air intro that's got me wondering if Jobs is the best snake oil salesman ever.

Before you jump to the comments and blindly defend Apple, hear me out. I saw one look at it, and I'll agree that it has an intriguing design. However, when I saw the tech specs, I just couldn't believe what they're trying to sell for so much dough. To make my point, I'm going to compare it to my three year old notebook.

My regular readers will recall that my notebook is an Averatec 3250HX, purchased for less than $1000, back in 2005. I'll also agree that it was no barnstormer, and most computers are ready to be a doorstop after three years. Anyway, here goes.

The new MacBook Air has a Core 2 Duo processor standard, it's the ULV one, with a clock speed of 1.6 GHz. My Averatec shares the 1.6 GHz clock speed, but the single core of an Athlon XP 2200+ won't keep up with the C2D.
Winner: Apple

All right, my Averatec took a beating on the processsor, but there's more than just that. How about storage? Both notebooks feature an 80 gig hard drive with a 4200 spindle speed. The Mac is a 1.8" one, while my Averatec is a more standard 2.5". And don't even get me started on the optional 64 gig flash hard drive for a mere grand!
Winner: Tie

In the RAM department, the Mac with its 2 gigs clearly has my Averatec's 512 mb beat, and I'll give it to them. However, just recall that you can't upgrade the Mac.
Winner: Apple

Form Factor: Ok, the Apple clearly wins this one too with the "thin is in."
Winner: Apple

Optical Drive: Ok, the Apple doesn't have one, and my Averatec has a LiteOn DVDRW in it. Finally, a clear win for Averatec.
Winner: Averatec

In the ports department, I'm also disappointed in the Apple with only one USB port, and no audio connections except for a mic. I'll stop complaining about my three USB ports being crowded, and my on board audio.
Winner: Averatec

Speaking of audio, did Apple really expect us to buy into mono sound? That's so AM, 1970's that I've got to give it to the Averatec again.
Winner: Averatec

On the battery, the Apple claims five hours, and my Averatec new was under three hours, so I'll give it to the Apple. However, deduct some points for a battery that can't be replaced in the MacBook Air.
Winner: Apple

In the wireless networking, both have wireless built in. The MacBook Air features N, and my Averatec b/g so it must be better, right? Unfortunately, the N is really draft N, so don't count on it.
Winner: Tie

In the screen department, the Apple is 13+", and my Averatec is 12". I'll give to Apple, but it's hardly a bloodbath here either.
Winner: Apple

The conclusion is that the Apple Mac Book Pro is clearly a better product than my 3 year old notebook. However, for something costing twice as much, with three years of technology advancement built into it, I was expecting a bloodbath. However, it's not objectively. Unless you need the super slim lines, look elsewhere for a better deal. As for me, I'll hang on to my Averatec a while longer.

Jonas

NudgeCast 9/11/07

Click To Play

--Jonas

Comments On the New iPod Line

After flipping between web pages, and coverage, I made a chart of the iPod line comparing prices and capabilities. Once I did that, my thoughts crystallized, and this is what I'm thinking.

iPod Shuffle

I think the bottom end was in need of an update, at least in the form of some memory expansion. When a Sansa Express, with a screen and the same 1 gig of memory is going for $50 (not to mention their upcoming Clip), and the Creative Stone with 1 gig of storage is $40, the Shuffle, sans screen, becomes a hard sell. I wouldn't be surprised by a post holiday season update that brings the capacity up to 2 GB.

iPod Nano

I was pleased to see that the Nano gained video capability. I didn't understand why it didn't have it last year as the SanDisk e2x0 line did have video support already.
The price points are ok for the storage, although SanDisk offers their 8 gig player for $149. I'm also divided on the new form factor. I liked the previous Nano better, as it looked more elegant, but the new one looks like it fits in the hand better. The new Nano is one of two iPods that I would seriously consider parting money with for.

iPod Classic

I know that the iPod Classic is not getting all the press, and the scroll wheel on it is not as sexy as the new touch interface. Still, on a bang for the buck, this is the iPod to get as it features the lowest price per gig. If I was buying one today, this would be my first choice. The 80 gigs for $249 will simply dominate the hard drive player market. Unless Microsoft's Zune pulls off a miracle (and their recent price drop of their 30 gig player to $199 is a mere desperation move), they might as well pack it up and go home. Also supporting my opinion is that from the chart, it is easy to see that the iPod Classic has the longest battery life for audio playback. It is a little curious that the 160 gigger last longer than the 80 gig model, but they both have more endurance than any of their flash brothers. That's right, despite the inherent advantage of flash memory over spinning discs, according to Apple's numbers, the "old" iPod Classic has the longest audio playback of any iPod ever.

iPod Touch

This is the iPhone, without the phone. We get all the gee whiz of the touch interface and the WiFi connectivity, without the AT&T contract and phone, make that iPhone with 300 page bills, service. I truly believe that this is the iPod of tomorrow, but I'd wait to get it. The 8 gb iPod Touch, going for $299 seems like a lousy deal when I can get an iPod Classic for $50 less, with 10 times the storage. Still, those fashionista teens, and those that need the latest look in electronics, will pay the premium for this one. I've heard more than one Apple devotee complain that they wish that Apple had put the touch interface on a hard drive model, but then what could they release next year? I think it's also a safe bet that there will be a 32 GB model of the iPod Touch down the road.

iPhone

I thought a $600 phone, no matter how cool, was simply too expensive. I'm happy to see that the price is already more affordable, though still beyond what I'll part with for a mobile telephone. See our review section to hear one user's thoughts after owning an iPhone for a while. Remember this price drop before you camp out in front of an Apple store to overpay for their latest creation next time.

--Jonas

Making Sense of the New iPod Line

I've been following the new iPod line story, and quite honestly, I'm having trouble making sense of it. I think this is because there are now so many models, with different capacities. Other folks are also complaining that while the iPod Classic has the most capacity, the iPod Touch has the best interface, so there is no longer one "ultimate" iPod (Would that be iUltimate? Naah, forget it.). I kept comparing specs in my mind, so I decided to make it easy, and set up a chart. Click on it to make it larger if you're on a smaller monitor.




Ahh! Now it's making sense. I'll have some more comments tomorrow as to which one I'll be saving my pocket change for. In the meantime, notice the battery life specs...

--Jonas

NudgeCast 9/3/07

This week's episode looks at a networking company that stands behind their gear, some thoughts about the upcomng iPod line, an incoming consumer electronics product, and a podcast service.

Click To Play

--Jonas

On the Eve of New Media Players

With AMD's Barcelona stuck in the starting gate, the major tech news story for next month is going to be digital media players. You know, the cool iPod versus "everyone else." Both camps have done a great job of keeping their new stuff under wraps, but speculation is rampant, and according to the Apple lawyers that keep handing out "cease & desist" order like Altoids at a garlic festival, some correct info just might be floating around.

Apple has a press event scheduled for 9/5, and it is widely believed that new iPods will be featured. Looking at the iPhone for clues, it does seem likely that the Video iPod, which was shafted on the last upgrade with minimal changes will get a full, no, make that full screen makeover. Whether it gets a virtual scroll wheel, or the iPhone interface is still up to speculation. The Nano is expected to grow to a healthy 16 GB capacity, and the Shuffle is expected to add a new color, red. The addition of the Mac OS X to the line should also add in some new possibilities. the open questions are what will be the hard drive capacities of the Video iPod which currently tops out at 80 gigs, and could double if they wanted it to. The other wild card is if the iPod line will incorporate WiFi like some other players have.

This brings us to the Zune. Microsoft's original Zune, a rebadged Toshiba Gigabeat, never really lived up to expectations in functionality. Still, it has a devout following among the anti-Apple crowd in search of hard drive capacity. What should we look for in Microsoft's sophomore effort? The Zune is widely expected to expand the lineup to include an entry level flash based player. This is clearly a good idea, and much needed to complete the lineup as the flash based players outsell the hard drive gear. The open question is what will happen to their flagship player. Will the hard drive capacity expand, and by how much? I'm hoping for a capacity that the Apple folks don't currently have, such as 40 to 60 gigs for the entry level, and a top end 120 or 160 gig player. That type of capacity at an affordable price should make up for its chunkiness, and less than svelte lines. The other issue is if it will continue to include WiFi, and will they make better use of it, such as internet radio, like the Sansa Connect does. Finally, is the Zune going to offer a full screen like the Video iPod is expected to, or else they will look like last year's Christmas with the same old screen size. Unless Microsoft gets more competitive here, and tries to leapfrog Steve Jobs & Crew, they will be perpetually playing catch up.

See you in September. I'm sure it will be an interesting month as we follow the introduction of these new players. Of course, I'll have plenty of analysis of whatever gets introduced, so stay tuned.

--Jonas

NudgeCast 8/21/07

This time we're guessing at Apple's next iPod, and talking about a new flash memory review I'm devising.

Listen here.

--Jonas

Or, I'm trying something new, and you can take a listen on blip.tv:




Click To Play

If you have a preference, go ahead and give a shout in the comments below.

NudgeCast 7/31/07

It's hard to believe we're at the end of July, but we are. This time out, I talk about NewEgg and some price gouging, the 6th gen iPod, and answer "KnightRider" about RAM requirements.

You can check it out here, or via the embeddable player below.

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iPhone's Dirty Little Secret

One of the bigger criticisms of the iPod has been the battery that is challenging to replace. Remember the iPod dirty little secret video? Pretty much every other mp3 player now has a removable and easily replaceable battery- most notably the SanDisk Sansa and the Microsoft Zune. I'm also seeing more and more digital cameras getting away from proprietary batteries and using standard AA's.

While I'm not holding my breath for any cell phone to run off of a standard battery, I'm dismayed to see history repeating itself. Steve Jobs and crew start with a blank sheet of paper and built the iPhone from the ground up. Why do we have the same problem with the battery. Do they really expect folks to send in their phones for a week of inconvenience and an $85 shakedown? Is this a way to keep someone from using the phone too long and mandating an upgrade? This is simply one more reason to stay away.

With that said, this will be my last iPhone post for a while. I'm ready to move on to something else, anything else.

--Jonas

NudgeCast #3

This time out, I'm taking a break from processors, and turning my attention to the iPhone. I know we're all sick of hearing about it, but there's simply a few things that I need to get off of my chest about it before I can put this story to rest forever.

Take a listen here.

--Jonas

iHype For the iPhone

Well, here we are on the long awaited day that the iPhone would be introduced, June 29th, 2007. There has been no shortage of coverage of the device, and the "iHype" is just about everywhere. During this last week, this little mobile device has dominated the tech news by a healthy margin.

I wrote a piece about the iPhone several months back, and for the most part, my initial conclusions have not changed. The one exception is the battery life, which Apple appears to have gotten under control, and makes the device eminently more usable.

I still think the darn thing is simply too expensive for what it is- a phone. And not even a great one at that. I saw on the news the other day the four screens that must be gotten through in order to be able to place a simple phone call, and I'm frustrated just watching it. In this day and age, $500 to $600 for a phone, with a built in iPod Nano is just not that exciting to me. I spent a similar amount of dough on my last computer parts order from NewEgg, and that money is much better spent to me. Not to mention that the service contracts are also way overpriced in typical Apple fashion. Sixty bucks a month for 450 minutes has got to be the most overpriced plan in the industry, and it's the cheapest one!

Sure, save the comments. I realize it's more than a phone, and we can be connected all the time to the internet, the one real "killer app" that this device promises to deliver in my mind. And don't even get me started that the AT&T Wireless data network is one of the slower ones, and they would have been better off with another company. When the commercials show this thing flying through web pages, they're doing it via WiFi, which you don't need an iPhone for anyway, my Palm T/X does that just fine with no monthly fee.

Many of us that cover technology are relieved that in a few days, all of this iPhone nonsense will fade back into the background. I would like to see some elements, such as the larger screen and WiFi connection incorporated into the new iPod. They've been very mum about the sixth generation device because they don't want anything to detract away from iPhone sales, and the lucrative contracts. Now that the iSheep can stop camping out, and get on with their lives, it's time to get back to something I find more interesting.

--Jonas

What Should a Phone Really Do?

Back in the 1980’s Reagan was president, the Russians were the enemy, and the Colecovision was the state of the art gaming system. One of the key pieces of consumer electronics was the digital watch. While they all could tell time, quite accurately, manufacturers kept coming up with additional features to pack into the time pieces. Common ones included stopwatches, alarms, hourly chimes, and countdown timers. Later on, we got calculators, and even temperature readouts. What happened to digital watches now? They have fallen off the radar as there is very little innovation, and no new features. I’m guessing that at least some consumers simply got overwhelmed with a watch that does too many things, and really just wanted it to tell time.

While the “buy once” model of watches is far different that the current “perpetual pay” prices of cell phones, I do see a parallel. No matter what else the smartest phone will do, it really needs to do one core feature well- make and receive phone calls. The rest is all gravy, and matters little in the end to the vast majority of users.

Many phones come with all kind of extra capabilities these days. Phone cameras are commonplace. Downloadable game capable phones seem to be everywhere. So called smartphones that combine in elements of a PDA make up a significant minority of the mobile phone market. The latest trend in phones is to combine them with music players to play your mp3’s, or better yet, to be able to download music tracks to the phone so that the carriers get a piece of the action. There are even phones that combine navigation tech into them, using cell towers as a terrestrial based GPS system.

This now brings us up to speed with the present. For the last few months, the iPhone has been all the rage. Perhaps that is the understatement of the year. One electronic brick to enable us to have phone, PDA, iPod, and more all at our fingertips. As electronics mature, is this iPhone the next device in the evolution as we seek even more mobile and longer lasting computer power?

Not so fast. While teenagers use all of these next generation phone features, most folks I know don’t even know their phones can do this. Take me for example. I don’t have a camera phone. I’ve never sent a text message, downloaded a game, or even a ringtone. If I want to use the internet on the go, I wouldn’t use my cell phone, I turn to a laptop, or my Palm which uses the more affordable WiFi. If that is not available, then no internet is what I accept.

The iPhone is also tied to one carrier- Cingular (which is being renamed as AT&T, again). I have a two year contract to T-Mobile, and I wouldn’t pay the outrageous early termination fee ($300!!!) to be able to sign up with Cingular to get the iPhone, or any other phone. While I’m sure the Apple faithful will line up to get one of these, I’m not sure the masses will run to it in droves.

I suppose I’m just not that eager to have the elusive “Swiss Army Knife of Electronics” that has been talked about for so long. I have two digital cameras, a PDA, a GPS, and an mp3 player or two. Oh yeah, and a cell phone. I’m happy to have all of this separate because I can’t use all of it simultaneously anyway. As each needs to be upgraded, I can do so on a separate schedule without worrying about a contract and some early termination fee, buying the best product for me in each category.

In the end, I really only use my cell phone for phone calls, and nothing else (I really have to concentrate to even retrieve my voicemail). I’m suspecting outside of a few “electronic fashionable” teens, and some “gotta have it” businessmen that the masses will not flock to a $600 phone that requires a new cell phone contract.

I surely will go check it out when the iPhone debuts. I’m also quite sure that I don’t need to own one. Time will tell how many others think their phone only needs to make phone calls. If I were Nokia or Motorola, I’d focus on a small phone, with a ridiculously long battery life, and make it easy to dial with large and clear raised buttons. With our aging demographic in the US, this is more the phone of the future as far as I’m concerned.

--Jonas

Alternatives To The Apple TV

In their typical "Greatest show On Earth" routine, "Chief Snake Oil Salesmen" Steve Jobs have captured the spotlight with their latest Apple TV product. However, as soon as I saw the $300 price tag and the functionality restricted to the iTunes content, I decided it wasn't for me. Seriously, I really don't have that much interest in watching Quicktime movie trailers. Some have put their efforts into remaking the Apple product with a larger hard drive, and a hacked OS is not far behind that is more open to non-Apple formats. That got me searching for some possible non-Apple media boxes that could get the content off my desktop's hard drive to my TV. Analogous to the iPod segment, digital media on TV is starting to stack up as an Apple vs. "everything else" contest.



First up is the Netgear's Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000. The $399 price premium is a little too close to the down payment for a home theater PC, but it still is an intriguing set top solution. my buddy Jeremy over at Live Digitally logged in some serious hours with the device, and posted twenty minutes on video including hooking it up, and tons of screen shots. While the EVA8000 has no hard drive of its own, it relies on a wireless network to stream data both from your desktop hard drive, and also directly from the internet. While the interface isn't quite Apple smooth, in the videos, he is able to stream from his hard drive still images, music files, and video quite nicely with only a few color and frame size issues that may improve as he fine tunes the settings. I am also impressed that the device can get internet content directly, even RSS feeds and YouTube videos (a glaring omission from Apple TV I might add), which could make TV commercial time far more entertaining. Notably, Amazon already dropped the price to $349 so they may also realize that the price needs to be closer to the Apple TV product to be competitive.

The other product that I encountered is from Hauppaugue, makers of those quite reliable TV tuner cards. It is called the Wireless Media MVP. There has been a wired version available for a while now, but most folks probably don't have a wired ethernet connection by their television set, so the wireless model is a lot easier to get connected. The idea is to load some software onto the desktop which turns it into a media server that the Wireless Media MVP can grab the content from. It is a little less ambitious in the types of files supported, but it has the essential audio and image formats supported. It does support the DivX format for videos (Apple TV doesn't) which is popular on BitTorrent downloads, and also mpeg 1 and 2. While it doesn't appear to support streaming videos like YouTube, it is compatible with internet radio. While the Wireless Media MVP is not the most robust solution, I think the best part is the price. It retails for $149, and includes a remote control. At half the price of the Apple TV, and support for more open formats, in my mind, this product could potentially beat the Apple TV by a mile, although without the media attention, they may not get their 15 minutes in the spotlight like Apple always commands.


So, before making a plan to hack the Apple TV, I think it is important to take an objective look at what else is out there. I also think that we need to realize that as we're approaching the $500 mark for a set top box, we're getting into home theater PC territory, and perhaps the money would be better spent the ultimate open and upgradeable device. I think one of the keys with these dedicated set top boxes is that they need to keep their pricing around $200 and below to gain significant market acceptance and share.

--Jonas

Top Ten Reasons To Stay Away From the New Apple TV

For quite some time now, a lot of effort has gone into creating products that get the media content stored on your computer's hard drive, and get it onto the television in the living room. With a few exceptions, they have not really succeeded, at least from a mass market perspective. With images, compressed audio, video clips, and internet content all potential candidates for entertainment on that new 50" plasma HDTV with the surround sound system, it's just a matter before some company "gets it right."

This week Apple introduced their long anticipated Apple TV product. Before you rush to give Steve Jobs some hard earned dough, let's take a look why I'm not all that impressed.

1. First of all is the price. At $299 this is not an impulse buy, this is a more serious electronics purchase. For three Franklins this better be something really great. With households buying new flat panel TV's for the next year or two, and replacing their VCR's as the analog signal goes away, I'm not sure they'll want to devote this much money to the Apple TV.
2. Maybe it's just me, but there is no more functionality in this Apple TV than in a dock for your iPod. Sure the idea of wireless transfer of content is way cool, but you're simply getting access to the music, pictures and videos from your iTunes account. Like I said, a decent docking station will get you that.
3. I was rather disappointed to hear that the hard drive capacity is a mere 40 gigs. Seriously, I've thrown out drives that held more. The largest iPod is 80 gigs. What's a serious user to do? On top of that, consider that this Apple TV is really designed for television use, which means video, and more capacity becomes a necessity. In this era of super large hard drives that hold 750 GB for a desktop, and 160 GB for a notebook drive, I just don't get the small size. It should have held at least 100 gigs, and the cost difference should be minimal. Is this planned obsolescence holding something back for Apple TV 2.0?
4. While I think it is great that the output is 720p, the problem is that this limits the output as well. The Apple TV has to be hooked up to an HDTV. This excludes the majority of TV set owners out there, at least for the time being. The movies or TV shows downloaded from the iTunes store are formatted for a video iPod so we're hardly talking hi def there so there must be some serious upconversion going on or the picture is really gonna be subpar.
   
5. The Apple TV, like so many electronics today, doesn't even include the cables to connect it to the TV. They are an "accessory." Seriously, while this is common practice among printer companies, this should not be. For a pricey piece of electronics, it should come with the cable in the box, and consumers should demand nothing less.
6. The only content that can come live from the internet are movie trailers. I'm presuming that it's restricted to the ones in the Quicktime format directly from the Apple. While YouTube and company would a killer app, there's no chance of that happening here.
7. The Apple TV presumes to conform to both the WiFi G and N standards. Maybe I'm nitpicking here, but the official N standard hasn't even been finalized yet, so this is more like G Plus networking gear as far as I'm concerned.
8. The music played is restricted to the iTunes formats. That means that WMA's and OGG files have no chance of being streamed through this. While this may benefit the iTunes store, there's no reason other than greed to lock out these other popular formats. Also, there's no support for streaming internet radio.
   
9. There are no other supported video formats. Windows Media and Divx would be obvious choices.
10. While there is a USB interface on the rear, external storage is not supported. Too bad, a nice fat hard drive could really fix the limited 40 gig internal drive. I'm not sure why this would be. Oh wait, maybe they'll release an iExternal Drive which comes in a white case which has another 40 gigs for a mere $200.

All right, there you have it. To me, it seems like the Apple TV is a beta product, and the final one will be released next year. Sure, for a basic user who only wants to get their iTunes content to their living room, it will get the job done in simple Apple fashion (although a dock would be cheaper and work with more TV's). However, most power users would be better off building a home theater pc. Then they can avoid all of these restrictions and enjoy their content, all of it, without these iRestrictions.

--Jonas