[geek]nerd[/geek]

[DisplayofCharacter]

Meant to ask: what's the problem of running Windows on Intel Macs and playing virtually any recent game for Windows?

Well, I don't mean iMacs, but recent (aluminium) MacBooks and MacBook Pros oughta do the job.

Mac Pros can be configured with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB, and I'm pretty sure you can plug in the latest NVidia cards as well (driver situation needs further clarification, but new Pros got some extra power cables, as 8800 GT I found needs a 6-pin cable, which is a problem with my G5).

There isn't any problem in theory, because in Windows you can just use the windows driver. I know there is proprietary hardware involved, but the video card drivers should concern only that. They sell plug converters also, from the six pin to the four-pin HDD power connectors. You can get them online somewhere and they are often packaged with the cards themselves.

 

[Matse]

My first post written on my brand new laptop (LG P310 Camini for those who care). I love it, it is fast, looks good and is small and light. Takes some time to get accomodated with Vista, but just in case there is always an XP CD that came with the notebook.

Also, Guitar Hero: World Tour is probably is probably the geekiest game ever, I got it with some friends and it is awesome. Singing is not that much fun (probably alcohol could help there though) since it is not that well made in the game, but drumset and the two guitars (we already had one) are nice.

 

[plintus]

Wii is the best selling video console this year. Who didn't expect that? :Smug: I didn't play myself, but when I walked in on to two married guys around 30 years old playing boxing on it... well, I should have rounded up their wives and have an orgy - I doubt they have any experience with THAT, still playing games and stuff

Trying to find a good MacBook for my obscure needs - thinking Pro, but they want a ton of money for used ones, even for previous generation, even on Craigslist.

Also, Guitar Hero: World Tour is probably is probably the geekiest game ever, I got it with some friends and it is awesome. Singing is not that much fun (probably alcohol could help there though) since it is not that well made in the game, but drumset and the two guitars (we already had one) are nice.

That's not geeky - that's just lame.

I have GHIII, and the only excuse I got it was Christmas and... well, two excuses - Take This Life (did care at that time).

 

[Defiance]

Trying to find a good MacBook for my obscure needs - thinking Pro, but they want a ton of money for used ones, even for previous generation, even on Craigslist.

I'm going to buy one of the new ones (MacBook), but I hate that they took out the Firewire.

What was the bloody point of doing that? :Smug:

Mac and Sony spent so much creating something different (and better) than USB, and they just throw it away now!

I'll wait until the Mac Expo (January 5th) ends and then I'll get it (well, my uncle from Canada will bring it. Computers cost 50% more here, so I have to take advantage of his coming here hehe).

 

[DisplayofCharacter]

Mac and Sony spent so much creating something different (and better) than USB, and they just throw it away now!

Better? No way. Its neither as ubiquitous nor as cheap as USB, therefore it has much less utility. USB 3.0 is coming out within a year or so anyway, so that will practically be as fast (though in all honesty I haven't seen any specs, just speculation).

Firewire was always meh IMO anyway, if you want it for an external HDD then e-SATA is faster. It doesn't make any sense for MP3 players, so I guess it makes sense for them to phase it out.

 

[Misanthrope]

I really hate Microsoft ( and I am indirectly on they payroll ) and their "Genuine Advantage"

Also on the people I would like to tear their eyes out and skullfuck: Broadcom wireless and their stupid, bullshit wireless drivers. I wish it was easy for me to get a laptop ( mini pci-e I guess? ) intel wireless card...Why can't we get a "Huevonuevo.com" or a newegg that ships internationally?

So I am now stuck between ethernet Linux and a "deactivated" wireless xp copy. I guess I will just have to re-attempt ndiswrapper and other methods to get wireless working on Arch.

Or just patch the 3 dll files for WGA...but I don't want windows anymore out of general principle.

 

[Defiance]

Better? No way. Its neither as ubiquitous nor as cheap as USB, therefore it has much less utility. USB 3.0 is coming out within a year or so anyway, so that will practically be as fast (though in all honesty I haven't seen any specs, just speculation).

Firewire was always meh IMO anyway, if you want it for an external HDD then e-SATA is faster. It doesn't make any sense for MP3 players, so I guess it makes sense for them to phase it out.

Even though it obviously has less presence than USB, it's still much faster. I agree with what you mention, but I still think Firewire is much better.

 

[plintus]

Better? No way. Its neither as ubiquitous nor as cheap as USB, therefore it has much less utility. USB 3.0 is coming out within a year or so anyway, so that will practically be as fast (though in all honesty I haven't seen any specs, just speculation).

Firewire was always meh IMO anyway, if you want it for an external HDD then e-SATA is faster. It doesn't make any sense for MP3 players, so I guess it makes sense for them to phase it out.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire

"However, the royalty which Apple Inc. and other patent holders initially demanded from users of FireWire (US$0.25 per end-user system) and the more expensive hardware needed to implement it (US$1–$2), both of which have since been dropped, have prevented FireWire from displacing USB in low-end mass-market computer peripherals, where product cost is a major constraint."

They are not making the same mistake with DisplayPort:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/01/apple-ponies-up-free-mini-displayport-spec-licenses/

 

[DisplayofCharacter]

They are not making the same mistake with DisplayPort:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/01/apple-ponies-up-free-mini-displayport-spec-licenses/

That's better at least. Thanks for the info, but its generally what I suspected (in fact I am unsure if you were trying to supplement or just explain, regardless I appreciate it). I never got into Firewire, it is faster than USB 2.0 and its not bad, but I still think USB is better because of its utility. That's just how I approach it. Just as I said before, e-SATA is much faster than USB also, for external hard drives, and even though its being more widely implemented, its still more expensive and limited in its utility which is a turnoff to me.

Its all good though, in the future peripherals will communicate wirelessly as soon as its fiscally feasible.

 

[plintus]

My point was that we didn't see FireWire everywhere and it was more expensive because of Apple's royalty policy. It was and remains faster than USB 2.0 and has been for a long time that way. As of DP - I'm just showing that Apple is more open these days to implementing new standards of it's own, and if that was the case back in the day - we'd be living in FireWire world.

I didn't catch the speeds of the next generation of USB, but I'm pretty sure it will require some MB upgrades (but it's still in development).

In other news: I'm expecting MacWorld's keynote tomorrow and booking a maxed out MacBook Pro as soon as I know there's nothing cool coming

Oh, and I ran some video editing/compression tests on my G5 tower - I was quite impressed: it compressed 3.5 minutes video with some color adjustments using a MPEG-4 codec from 720xSMTH to 640x480 in under 4 minutes in Final Cut Pro 2. It's a 4-year old tower. Wow.

 

[Defiance]

In other news: I'm expecting MacWorld's keynote tomorrow and booking a maxed out MacBook Pro as soon as I know there's nothing cool coming

I read in Mac rumours that they'll eliminate (well, phase out) the old MacBook and lower the cost of the new one. But you don't need that price reduction, do you?

 

[plintus]

I read in Mac rumours that they'll eliminate (well, phase out) the old MacBook and lower the cost of the new one. But you don't need that price reduction, do you?

I'm actually expecting it - I'm planning to get previous generation (early '08) Pro @ 2.5 GHz one with 512 MBs of VRAM and 4 GBs of RAM and 3 years of Apple Care, which is the best deal right now in a local Apple reseller store (local to Philly, and it's located in my neighborhood), and beats pretty much any price I found anywhere, and if main line goes down a bit - I expect it to go even lower, which would be great.

Plus my boss knows the owner of that joint, so there might be even a greater deal for me

 

[Defiance]

I'm actually expecting it - I'm planning to get previous generation (early '08) Pro @ 2.5 GHz one with 512 MBs of VRAM and 4 GBs of RAM and 3 years of Apple Care, which is the best deal right now in a local Apple reseller store (local to Philly, and it's located in my neighborhood), and beats pretty much any price I found anywhere, and if main line goes down a bit - I expect it to go even lower, which would be great.

Plus my boss knows the owner of that joint, so there might be even a greater deal for me

Haha ok, at least you seem somewhat humble. Ahhh lucky you, I hope you get a good deal.

How long do you think it'll take them to reduce the price? (If there is a reduction at all). Will it be by Wednesday or what?

 

[plintus]

Haha ok, at least you seem somewhat humble. Ahhh lucky you, I hope you get a good deal.

How long do you think it'll take them to reduce the price? (If there is a reduction at all). Will it be by Wednesday or what?

Even if it happens - I'd say it will be on right away.

Ugi is a member of some national Photographer's Association, and they had a Mac special - you could go on the official Apple Store using link they provided, and prices were slashed for around $150-200, depending on a model (new units only, as far as I remember). Amazon had rebates for $50-150 as well after a little discount, all that was at the end of 2008 and was comparable (Black Friday discounts were bullshit), but I'm still not sure about if Apple officially goes with permanent reduction (laptop sales were down only 1% at the end of November compared to last year's, if I recall that correctly).

Anyway, I'd like to see something revolutionary or at least a netBook or something like that, but I don't really expect that to happen.

 

[Defiance]

Even if it happens - I'd say it will be on right away.

Ugi is a member of some national Photographer's Association, and they had a Mac special - you could go on the official Apple Store using link they provided, and prices were slashed for around $150-200, depending on a model (new units only, as far as I remember). Amazon had rebates for $50-150 as well after a little discount, all that was at the end of 2008 and was comparable (Black Friday discounts were bullshit), but I'm still not sure about if Apple officially goes with permanent reduction (laptop sales were down only 1% at the end of November compared to last year's, if I recall that correctly).

Anyway, I'd like to see something revolutionary or at least a netBook or something like that, but I don't really expect that to happen.

Yeah there were a lot of discounts, but my dad thought it was better to wait until the expo.

Maybe they'll release some netBooks, there's still a chance. Only 14 hours!

 

[DisplayofCharacter]

Anyway, I'd like to see something revolutionary or at least a netBook or something like that, but I don't really expect that to happen.

They already have a netbook, its called the Macbook Air. Its really expensive and doesn't have full utility unless you buy peripherals. But it is extremely thin and trendy.

I doubt they'll have a netbook and besides I doubt they'll go into that market because its comparatively inexpensive and there are already quite a few good ones out there in Windows and Linux variants.

The Macbook Pro is, IMO, Apple's best product and the one you should invest your money in. They are actually good for the money and beat nearly every competitor. Its the only Mac product I really endorse outside of the iPod and I'm sure you'll enjoy your purchase.

Mini-Mac-Rant follows, if you are a Mac homer please don't read further

The biggest problem I have with them is that their towers are overpriced (hey, 100$+ for a 2GB stick of RAM, SURE!) and the quality per price is comparable to Dell (that is shitty, I should say). Most Mac fans don't care about price but in many circumstances they are being blatantly ripped off. Its not worth the culture or any enjoyment one might get from owning one. If you shop around Newegg and the various other online retailers you can make a comparable model for substantially less money but you have to actually put it together which is a caveat for some. And before anyone calls me a hypocrite, I put together the computer I'm posting from. Not that its any big feat because it certainly isn't, rather this is a ploy to gain credibility.

Eh whatever. Too much Mac talk does that to me...

EDIT: USB 3.0 is slated for 5 GBPS (that's Gigabits, NOT bytes) according to Wikipedia. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0#USB_3.0

 

[Defiance]

I haven't exactly read the news, but there's a new 17" ( ) MacBook Pro model starting at $2800. Seems nice, but I'll still get the "new" MacBook.

Check the info. here:

Mac Book Pro 17"

 

[plintus]

That 17" looks decent and that 8 hours battery sounds pretty impressive. But only 1000 carges? Not bad, I say. But it will be tricky buying them used

They already have a netbook, its called the Macbook Air. Its really expensive and doesn't have full utility unless you buy peripherals. But it is extremely thin and trendy.

I doubt they'll have a netbook and besides I doubt they'll go into that market because its comparatively inexpensive and there are already quite a few good ones out there in Windows and Linux variants.

It's not that expensive, but as of netBook I had something more compact in mind (not that thin, but more compact). I'd pay ~$800 for a decent netBook from Apple (or twice of price of others), but looks like they aren't going to bother with that.

The Macbook Pro is, IMO, Apple's best product and the one you should invest your money in. They are actually good for the money and beat nearly every competitor. Its the only Mac product I really endorse outside of the iPod and I'm sure you'll enjoy your purchase.

PCs were a waste of money, all the time, and Pro indeed looks like an investment. Honestly, I want to be done with PCs for good - I don't know how many machines I bought over the years, and even newer ones are painfully slow at times. So, I'm hitting the store tomorrow (if I manage to wakee up on time, yawn, as they close at 6 in the evening).

EDIT: USB 3.0 is slated for 5 GBPS (that's Gigabits, NOT bytes) according to Wikipedia. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0#USB_3.0

It's Gbps then - B stands for Bytes AFAIK.

 

[Defiance]

That 17" looks decent and that 8 hours battery sounds pretty impressive. But only 1000 carges? Not bad, I say. But it will be tricky buying them used

Yeah it's really nice .

But look at this new model they announced later today!!!

Another new MacBook!!!

 

[Zach.Zhang]

no keyboard ?
it's not that convenient.
that thing is a huge iPod ..