Apple talk

[P. J. Head]

Dammit. I was waiting for them to release an even bigger iPod Classic. Instead, they REDUCE the maximum available size. Now I have to go on craigslist to find a 160gb one. What the fuck is that about?

[MrDys]

iPod Classics have movable parts that are prone to failure. Good riddance. Apple refurbished is selling 160GB for $249 if you still want one.

I've flip flopped on my new iPod selection. While the new touch is nice and has lots of features, what I really need is a music player and what I really don't need is a new distracting toy to play with. Just put in an order for a nano.

[nathansmart]

yeah, I'm pissed about the iPod too - it sounds like they are going to phase out the old iPod and get rid of hard drive players.

Whatever, just please don't act like there aren't people that want their entire collection on hand at any given moment. I love my 160 and it's pretty much full already.

[Americas Team]

http://gizmodo.com/5047611/toshibas-...the-240gb-ipod

Today, right after Steve J. rolled out a "thin" 120GB iPod classic, Toshiba announced its 120GB 4200rpm 1.8" drive, a new high for that slimmer single-platter config. Everybody knows that's the drive for classic iPods. But Toshiba also showed off a fatter 240GB that would fit snugly in the spot where that 160GB drive fits in today's classics. So, tell us, Toshiba or Apple, where's the damn 240GB classic? What good is the classic line if it isn't the most storage you can get?

[Darryl]

OK, Mac-heads. It's about 14 hours till the new notebooks are announced. Any predictions? Inside info? There's plenty of rumors already.

Let's hope it's good. I'll be upgrading in the next couple weeks.

[isoS]

I was hoping for a smaller (10" or 12") and cheaper (under $1000) MacBook (if not a tablet), but the $899 MacBook rumor has been smashed: the $899 product turns out to be a new Apple Cinema Display. Come on, Mac, get on the netbook bandwagon!

I think these updates are going to be a big snore. Maybe internally the laptops will be better, faster, more efficient, but I don't see a lot of innovation. A glass trackpad that is clickable (no button)? Who cares?

[Darryl]

Yeah, the clickable pad isn't a big deal, but the multi-touch will probably be a big help for me in photo retouching and graphic design uses.

I like my 13 inch MacBook. It's about the perfect size for portability and usable screen size. For heavy duty work I plug in an external monitor and can spread my workspace out between the 2 screens.

Waiting to see if there's a new non-pro MacBook. Pro is too big, and too expensive for me.

[man124]

I haven't seen any rumors about is, but I am hoping for a macbook pro with a much bigger hard drive, like at least 500 gb.

[Darryl]

Well, they are all up at the store.apple.com now. The 13 inch MacBook (which they are calling the MacBook Pro Mini - ugh!) can be configured up to 320 gigs. I'll probably go with the lower end 13 inch and give it 250 gigs. With my Federal employee discount, that will bring it in within my budget.

[nathansmart]

okay, so the trackpad actually pushes down and clicks like a real button? Because I HATE not having a button.

[isoS]

yes. I'll have to play with that before I decide if I can live with it (I'm guessing it takes some getting used to but isn't that big a deal).

What is a big deal is that they dropped FireWire from the MacBook. That's a deal-breaker for me, since my mixer is FireWire. I can't believe Apple, the inventors of FireWire (or at least the company that trademarked the name, which killed its propagation to other computers because other companies didn't want to pay to license the name, and IEEE 1394 isn't very sexy-sounding) are abandoning it for the slower USB 2. The MacBook Pro has FireWire 800, but I'm sure they'll phase that out once USB 3 reaches the market and takes over. That seems very un-Apple to me: it's not really the same, but it feels like choosing to support VHS over Beta.

[nathansmart]

What I always liked about FireWire over USB was that you could control the device that was hooked up to it (like a video camera) from the computer. I've never had anything other than a FireWire-enabled video camera so I wouldn't know - can you do that with the USB 2.0? or 3.0?

[Darryl]

I'm not sure about control, although I think it should work, but my understanding is that Firewire is superior to USB for sustained throughput, such as from a video camera. But, since iPods went to USB, I haven't used by Firewire port at all. I hate seeing anything dropped, though. You have to go Pro to get Firewire, then you're into a 15 inch screen.

But... my reasons for upgrading are twofold: my daughter gets my old one, and I need to upgrade now, while cash is in hand. Otherwise, my old white Macbook runs perfectly fine. If I swapped in a bigger hard drive I could probably get another couple years' use out of it.

The pad-as-button issue does require some investigating. I read one quick hands-on report that said it was pretty good, and that you could designate a certain area of the pad to be a right-click. I'm sure it will take some getting used to, but in my case I think the gestures will be worth it.

[ericluxury]

I like Apple as much as all nerds, but acting like every product launch is equal is weird. There is a difference between an innovative one (like the iPhone or the iPhone 2.0 and even the MacBook Air) and upgrading your MacBooks just a little bit. I was hoping they'd release like a MacBook Basic or something under $1k, so that people like my parents could buy a Mac and I wouldn't have to constantly fix minute things in Windows.

I was bummed that FireWire has been abandoned, but I guess it makes sense. There was a point in which it wasn't inevitable that iPods would be the default portable mp3 player and people thought other brands might make equals. At that point, the fact that other companies wouldnt put a FireWire slot in their computers (and that old computers didnt have one) was a big enough hurdle that it seemed like ipods had to move to USB. I never understood why they made iPods only be able to use USB though.

[Darryl]

I was hoping they'd release like a MacBook Basic or something under $1k, so that people like my parents could buy a Mac and I wouldn't have to constantly fix minute things in Windows.

Well, they kinda did that. The white MacBook is now $999.
2.1GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB DDR2 Memory
120GB hard drive

That's what I have now, and it's great. I added another 512 of RAM, which helps the speed quite a bit. But I run Photoshop, Dreamweaver, plus all the "normal" apps with no problem at all. Solid as a rock; I think I only reboot maybe once a week.

[solmssen]

Key notes:

No love for the poor old Mac Mini! I am depressed about that.

$999 white macbook now has a superdrive, and still has firewire. Add 4GB of RAM from Crucial.com for around $100 and that's not bad. Old X3100 graphics still a stumbling point.

New MacBooks - yuck no firewire! USB hard drives are about half the speed on Macs they should be owing to Apple's inability to write a USB driver that works. In the past it didn't matter with the firewire option, but now, no eSATA, no Firewire, no high-speed local bus at all. Yuck, again.

I think my next Mac will be a Hackintosh. Some basic Shuttle box running Mac OS. I can build it for about 800-1000 bucks I think.

[forgetiheardthat]

What the fuck? No firewire? I've been waiting all this time to get a MacBook with a video card for a Final Cut machine and they make it so no camera worth using can import on it? I'm so very pissed.

[isoS]

I guess they want you to get a MBP if you need FireWire for video capture or some other "pro" application. I'm in a very small niche of audio engineer types who doesn't need the processor or graphics capabilities of the Pro (or the screen size even), but I do need the FireWire port (unless I get a new mixer that's USB 2). Even without the mixer, though, I do think FW is helpful -- as we discussed when the Air came out, target disk mode is the bomb.

[forgetiheardthat]

It just occurred to me that this update means I can get a refurb MBP for less than $1500 on the store. All is well.

[man124]

I hope my current macbook pro can last until usb 3. I can not use USB 2 for everything. I already have to use it for my little hd hard drive camera and it is slow as hell.