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Old Hardware

I'm surprised that Dell hasn't gone out of business if their products are so terrible.

I know people that still use Windows 98 SE. The average user at work is on a 2003-2004 Pentium 4 with 1-2 GB of RAM. I don't see a need to replace those towers.

Please share with me on how you know the system requirements for Windows 7. I'd like to know!

Once again what prevents someone from using old PC hardware?

Nothing. I am still using a P-II 350MHz, 512MB RAM, Matrox MGA-G100 AGP, 2 HDDs (20GB and 15GB), running Win2000. I have an older P-II 200MHz, 64MB RAM, 1 HDD (4GB), running Win95 from 1997 (the first computer I purchased custom BTO), which is currently collecting dust. Until recently, I have had no need for a faster computer. Now I am getting into video editing, video photography, and require programs on both Windows and Mac OSX, so I am upgrading all of my equipment and software. From P2 to C(entrino)2!

Mind you, I do work on current hardware (Mac and PC) when I do IT work for family, friends, and business, but I refuse to work on Vista (except for my father who had no choice on his business computer).
 
How many televisions and monitors support DisplayPort vs. HDMI?

Thought so....


DisplayPort may be the future, but if you want to connect today, DisplayPort is *very* limited compared to the more established alternatives (especially since a simple dongle will connect HDMI to DVI if you don't have HDCP to worry about).

I don't want to hook my laptop to my TV, and if Apple adopts DisplayPort then I'm sure they will include a way to hook it up to the TV anyway (DisplayPort to HDMI cable? or include an HDMI port as well since both ports are so small).

DisplayPort is the future. "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it is." (Gretzky?)
 
"Perhaps most impressive is the Vaio Z which has a 1-inch thick, 3.4 pound, 13.1-inch 16:9 form factor, but manages to pack in Blu-Ray, HDMI, Nvidia 9300M discrete graphics, a full size hard drive bay, and the pricey option for dual SSD drives in Raid 0. It retails for $1,800, or $2,300 with dual SSDs."

Wow! Apple better release updates soon or they are going to be blown away by the competition. I'll take a Sony Vaio Z installed with OS X please!

Just think how sick this makes the current MBA look.
 

F**K

That Sony notebook is AWESOME!

I think it competes with the MacBooks more than the Air of course but I just couldn't see myself paying for anything other than that notebook for $2600.

The press release didn't say dual SSDs, just dual channel 128GB SSD (in the singular) so that's not too clear.

It's typical of Sony to blow away the competition with this book. The fact that these machines are running Windows is fast becoming less of a downside. I think I'd have to get used to Windows to get my nerd/geek hands on a machine like that.
 
Since you guys know Apple's history better than me (I'm a _recent_ convert), would it be Apple-like to release the new MBPs in September? I mainly ask this because they would be missing out on back to school... I work at BestBuy and back to school with laptops is much busier than at Christmas. Like, would they care that they are missing back to school or do you think (based on history) they would try and get them out before september starts?
 
That Sony notebook is AWESOME!

Oh how quick people are to forget. Remember the Sony Rootkit fiasco? Remember the repeated Sony DRM cockups? That VAIO will come stuffed with DRM and other irritants.

Having said that, you also quoted it comes with 'full size HD' - does that mean a 3.5'' HD or 2.5''?
 
"Perhaps most impressive is the Vaio Z which has a 1-inch thick, 3.4 pound, 13.1-inch 16:9 form factor, but manages to pack in Blu-Ray, HDMI, Nvidia 9300M discrete graphics, a full size hard drive bay, and the pricey option for dual SSD drives in Raid 0. It retails for $1,800, or $2,300 with dual SSDs."

Wow! Apple better release updates soon or they are going to be blown away by the competition. I'll take a Sony Vaio Z installed with OS X please!

Just think how sick this makes the current MBA look.

I agree.
 
How many televisions and monitors support DisplayPort vs. HDMI?

Thought so....


DisplayPort may be the future, but if you want to connect today, DisplayPort is *very* limited compared to the more established alternatives (especially since a simple dongle will connect HDMI to DVI if you don't have HDCP to worry about).
The downside and most of the reason why the Cinema Displays haven't been updated? HDMI doesn't support dual link displays. So you would still have to have a DVI port in addition to the HDMI port to drive Cinema Displays. There is a dual link HDMI spec, but no one uses it. Plus display port supports much higher resolutions than HDMI.

Some Nehalems will support the new memory fabric interconnect, others will plug into existing FSB chipsets.

The roadmaps haven't been clearly defined yet, but you should expect to see FSB-based systems on current chipsets initially, then "extreme" and multi-socket workstation systems with the new interconnect, and eventually the new interconnect moving down into the desktop and mobile space.
Wait, what? AFAIK, they won't recycle current chipset for Nehalem. FSB as we know it is going bye bye. As an aside, it is looking like the Mac Pro will get updated at the end of the year.
 
"Perhaps most impressive is the Vaio Z which has a 1-inch thick, 3.4 pound, 13.1-inch 16:9 form factor, but manages to pack in Blu-Ray, HDMI, Nvidia 9300M discrete graphics, a full size hard drive bay, and the pricey option for dual SSD drives in Raid 0. It retails for $1,800, or $2,300 with dual SSDs."

Wow! Apple better release updates soon or they are going to be blown away by the competition. I'll take a Sony Vaio Z installed with OS X please!

Just think how sick this makes the current MBA look.

I agree that they've packed an incredible amount into a small package, including a removable battery and slots. If I could easily run OS X on it, I'd strongly consider buying one. Apple's hardware is getting further behind the curve, especially in the laptop space. Come on, Apple - give me a reason to get excited about your computers other than OS X.
 
I don't want to hook my laptop to my TV, and if Apple adopts DisplayPort then I'm sure they will include a way to hook it up to the TV anyway (DisplayPort to HDMI cable? or include an HDMI port as well since both ports are so small).

DisplayPort is the future. "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it is." (Gretzky?)

Another reason for the Mobility HD 3850!!!1111!!11
 
Wait, what? AFAIK, they won't recycle current chipset for Nehalem. FSB as we know it is going bye bye. As an aside, it is looking like the Mac Pro will get updated at the end of the year.

I think that you are right, and I was wrong. Some time ago there were rumours that some low-end socket 775 Nehalem variants would be introduced. It appears now that Intel is going to use the integrated memory controller on all Nehalems.

Not all Nehalems will have QuickPath though - the lower end single socket chips will use DMI only.

Some great info at http://www.nehalemnews.com/2008/04/nehalem-faq.html, including diagrams of Nehalem architectures.
 
I think that you are right, and I was wrong. Some time ago there were rumours that some low-end socket 775 Nehalem variants would be introduced. It appears now that Intel is going to use the integrated memory controller on all Nehalems.

Not all Nehalems will have QuickPath though - the lower end single socket chips will use DMI only.

Some great info at http://www.nehalemnews.com/2008/04/nehalem-faq.html, including diagrams of Nehalem architectures.
Nice link! No worries. Although you had me concerned for a moment there :D. Sadly enough I had to look up what DMI was. Intel deciding to change what a southbridge is called :rolleyes:.


I am surprised no one has commented on the possibility that Mac Pro will go Nehalem in October/November. Along with that no one is commenting that the DP system wont use FB-DIMM. Does anyone here think Apple is going to migrate to MP systems over DP systems?
 
Since you guys know Apple's history better than me (I'm a _recent_ convert), would it be Apple-like to release the new MBPs in September? I mainly ask this because they would be missing out on back to school... I work at BestBuy and back to school with laptops is much busier than at Christmas. Like, would they care that they are missing back to school or do you think (based on history) they would try and get them out before september starts?

Apple will release when they feel they will get the most media attention and profit. While looking at their history is valuable, they will do what is best at the time regardless of what they've done in the past.

Though if what you say is true, and back to school notebook sales outmatch holiday sales in general, then Apple may be releasing before the end of the promotion. But, as I say in almost all my posts, no one really knows.
 
We haven't because nothing will be out by then. If they go with Gainestown, it'll be done right before MacWorld 2009.
Hmm. Unless Intel is late we should see Gainestown (the only DP option available) by December. I am more curious to know if Apple is going to continue with the DP system or go to a SP system. Anadtech had noted that the 2.6Ghz 4 core 8 thread system wasn't too far behind the 3.2Ghz DP Skulltrail system. Personally I hope Apple goes with the MP systems as I need something nice to upgrade my R900's to in about two years.
 
"One interesting feature of the GM45 chipset is the ability to dynamically switch between integrated and discrete graphics, similar in nature to features announced by AMD and NVIDIA (e.g. NVIDIA's Hybrid Power)...

While I expect this would improve battery life (especially if the discrete chip was optimized for gaming and required a high power draw), it seems to be an overly complex solution, to me. Plus it adds cost since every motherboard now comes with two GPUs and their associated support hardware.
 
While I expect this would improve battery life (especially if the discrete chip was optimized for gaming and required a high power draw), it seems to be an overly complex solution, to me. Plus it adds cost since every motherboard now comes with two GPUs and their associated support hardware.

One GPU is the integrated one in the CPU chipset, so that one is more-or-less free.

Also, think about current laptops - you can already control whether the video signal goes to the internal monitor, the external port, mirrored across both, or spanned across both. Most laptops have both VGA and DVI/HDMI support on the external port.

So the laptop already has a one-to-many video switching capability, a two-to-many switch would just be a few more transistors on the IC.

Dual graphics sounds like a big win for a small cost.
 
Agreed. I've said it in other places, college students rarely use their macbook pro for anything that the macbook could not do just as well.

But still you see them everywhere around campus. It could be because I'm sexist but every girl with a macbook pro doesn't seem to need it at all but just had the money to spend on the 'nicer one'.
There are three reasons why a person would get a MacBook Pro over a MacBook and they are: 1) screen size, 2) dedicated graphics, and 3) the ExpressCard slot.
 
There are three reasons why a person would get a MacBook Pro over a MacBook and they are: 1) screen size, 2) dedicated graphics, and 3) the ExpressCard slot.

Reminds me of a friend who got one. Boasted about all those but never used those features. Boastability sounds like the name of the game rather than getting something to fulfill a set of requirements.
 
Reminds me of a friend who got one. Boasted about all those but never used those features. Boastability sounds like the name of the game rather than getting something to fulfill a set of requirements.

So he never looked at the screen or even ran an external monitor?

I know what you mean, but it's not always about bragging rights. Some people actually need a computer with a GPU.
 
So he never looked at the screen or even ran an external monitor?

I know what you mean, but it's not always about bragging rights. Some people actually need a computer with a GPU.

True, but not a student. I can tell you that even the MacBook I have right now is more than what I need - heck, my brother is an engineering student with a 2.2Ghz MacBook and it is plenty powerful.

Like I said, there is a difference between want and need. Some people claim they "need" a dedicated GPU when in reality, they don't really "need" it. Heck, I was tempted to get a MacBook Pro the first time around because of a crappy experience i had with integrated video cards (which put me off them for life) but having used a modern iteration of one - and gotten over my phobia about them, it does the job quite nicely.
 
Some students do need MBP

For those that have proclaimed that "students don't need MPBs" : I'm starting at a film school in the fall, and our school mandates the MBP, no PCs, no MB. This is because FCP is "industry standard" (even though we work on Avid with PCs too)

I do like FCP and it's the only reason I'd ever buy a mac willingly. I nearly bought an eMac 3 years ago, but the PC I got instead was over twice as powerful, and I wouldn't have to use OSX, so it was an easy call.

I know I'm different from most everyone here, as I love my PC, haven't had any headaches with Vista (and in fact have been running it since beta stage) and love edting on Sony Vegas... Some of us that have been with Windows our entire lives (and don't make a sport of bitching about it) can find the small differences in OSX to be quite annoying actually. It always takes me longer to do things on a mac because I have to remember the new way, but hopefully owning one will help with that.

So I always knew the only way I'd ever get a Mac was basically if someone put a gun to my head - and now it's finally happened.

We're also req'd to get FCS. Considering the amount of rendering I'll be doing on this laptop (they want us to be able to have it in classes, on set, etc. hence the laptop req.) I'd like it to be the fastest possible which is why I'm hoping the release is before mid-sept. So any increase in specs, even marginal helps when it comes to big video renders.

I think I'll feel better once I get boot camp going and slap a nice Vista sticker over the mac logo... that ought to piss a few people off :D

I still feel odd obsessively checking the rumor sites for the slightest hint about when we'll see these things... *sigh*
 
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