Need to Know Blog

ArsT Reviews MacBook Air w/ SSD [not worth the price]

Jacqui, over at ArsTechnica, compared the two MacBook Airs, one with the regular Hard Drive, and the other with (a $1300 extra greens) SSD Drive and a bit faster CPU.

Their Conclusion:

The Good:

• No more entire machine slowdowns! (well, most of the time…)
• Speedy boot, disk read, and build times

The Bad:

• The moderate gains in everyday use aren’t worth $1,300

The Ugly:

• Battery life. Still.

What I concluded from the article: MacBook Air is the slowest Mac EVER! SSD does not even help it; just look at the graphs. Buy yourself a MacBook Pro (but in 2-3 months) when the new one comes out

Via: ArsTechnica

Need another good review? Here’s one by yours truly: MacBook Air: Yesterday’s computer in Tomorrow’s Body!

 
Benchmark by: ArsTechnica

(more…)

Share:

Posted in MacBook Air, Review, SSD | 1 Comment »

The best places to shop for computers and electronics

Whenever I need to buy computer equipment, RAM memory, Hard Drive, or a Graphics Card, there’s only one place I go to right off the bat:

While the name may seem funny at the moment, NewEgg has become one of the best on-line superstores! They have everything and anything for your computer, electronics, digital cameras, and they sell software.

One thing you will find very helpful on NewEgg are thousands of customer reviews for almost every single product they sell. This has helped me many times before in choosing the right device.

Second thing NewEgg does better than anyone else: Lowest Prices You Can Find Anywhere + Fastest Shipping I’ve Ever Seen! Also, if you need to return something - these guys seem to be on "no questions asked" policy. I had a Shuttle PC break 11 months after I got it from NewEgg. I called them up and they sent me a new one!

Sincerely, what more would one wish for? All you may need in one place, great reviews, low prices, crazy deals all the time, and you get your things usually faster than they even estimate!

Sometimes though, they might not have what you’re looking for, or you just want to make sure that there is no way anyone would sell it for less. This is where my second most important shopping tool comes into place. Meet MySimon! He is my best shopping buddy. He knows all the good deals, has thousands of stores in it’s inventory (including NewEgg), and he knows all the prices! Narrowing down to the best deal just could not be easier.

Alas, sometimes even Simon does not know everything. In those rare occasions I search for things on the following sites:

1. NexTag.com (similar to MySimon)
2. PriceWatch.com - awesome for computers and electronics
3. Froogle.com - Google’s take on shopping
4. Buy.com - usually has great deals on bunch of items

There are two stores which deserve special mention. I’ve purchased numerous items from them and have been more than satisfied with both price and customer service!

MacMall, contradictory to it’s name, does not sell only Mac Stuff. They sell all kinds of computers and computer equipment, TVs, printers, software, etc. They offer good prices, but most of all, they are great for rebate lovers. Most of the items they offer include very generous rebates. I got a MacBook Pro last year and I got back $150 in rebates. They also love to bundle stuff together so if you buy a computer they will include some software, a printer, carrying case, and even some USB hubs to boot.

And finally, ButterflyPhoto, a company with the most ridiculous name which would make anyone wonder if they are trustworthy to even be visited on line. Take my word for it - They are! Again, the name does not explain much. They are do not sell butterflies, and they do not print pictures, but they do sell electronics for LESS than ANYONE out there. I’ve gotten audio equipment, digital cameras and camcorders from these guys for, at times, even 50% less than anywhere else!

One honorable mention, though I’m not too satisfied with their customer service or shipping, but as many other people I’m a sucker for low prices: AbesOfMaine.com.

There you have it… The sites above have been the main ingredients in my recipe for successful on-line shopping for years now; and I mean years! I go no place else!

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored entry. It’s all me, as expected

Share:

Posted in Deals, Review, Shopping, Sites, Suggestions, The best of the best | No Comments »

MacBook Air: Yesterday’s computer in Tomorrow’s Body!

Today, as many of you know, Apple released the long awaited and begged for portable computer dubbed MacBook Air.

At the first sight, MBA (short for MacBook Air from now on), is a beauty! There’s no doubt, Apple’s designs are always years ahead of the competitors. Lately, everything that comes from Apple is either drop-dead gorgeous (like the new iMac aluminum I am writing this article on), or incredibly fast (and pretty), like the new updated Mac Pro machines with 8 CPU cores as a standard!

While I watched the MacWorld 2008 keynote today, the beauty of MBA really stunned me for a moment, but after that initial shock, here’s the real deal.

The good:

• It’s super slick, beautiful, small, hot, sexy, you name it - it is!
• I personally like the black keyboard on the white design. Very nice retro touch.
• Backlit keyboard - a huge plus! I love my Mac Book Pro for this very reason too! Also it’s full size so it helps my bigger fingers
• 2GB RAM as standard configuration (very nice, the "standard" part)
• Multi-touch touchpad is finally here. It can come in handy!
• LED Screen ("finally" is all I can say! I had the very same display on my Sony Vaio SZ for over a year now!)
• Ability to fit it in a vanilla envelope = huge plus for Apple and You!
  - It cuts down on the cost of the wrapping paper for that special someone as well and it ads a huge sense of originality as well as surprise
• 5 hour battery life - I like it! No, wait, I love it!
• 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD) as an option: AWESOME! For all of those who think that $999 is too high for this add-on, do not forget this is a 1.8" SSD drive we are talking about, NOT 2.5"! The upgrade price IS competitive actually.
• I personally like NO CD/DVD Drive and I love the look of the external drive offered with it.
• The Price: starting @ $1799 and comparing it with others in the same category - makes it affordable!

The bad (maybe I am too picky, but here’s something you should know/consider):

• The Resolution: @ 1280×800 it’s just like any other out there. For me as a web developer, this is not an optimal resolution to work in. I expected more, something  in the line of Mac Book Pro’s, at least 1440 x 900 pixels.
• 1 USB port, NO FIREWIRE, NO ETHERNET PORT? C’mon! At least FireWire would be really welcome!
  
  Sure most of us have Wireless networks now-days so I can live without an Ethernet Port, but FIREWIRE? Wireless 802.11N standard cannot compare to the external FireWire hard-drives where most of my media is. With a slow hard drive (more on which I will mention later) it would be quite helpful being able to connect MacBook Air to an external faster FireWire drive!

  - If they just included a PCMCIA or, more standard now, ExpressCard - they would’ve solved a lot of issues. Where am I going to plug in my AT&T ExpressCard 3G modem? You could use the ExpressCard to expand this computer with some of the missing features, more USB ports, FireWire, Wireless 3G Modems, eSATA connetors, etc. This is probably the BIGGEST mistake Apple had made with MacBook Air! Again, NOT thinking about business people. Thought they’d learn from iPhone…

• Buying it with an 80GB (4200 rpm) 1.8" Hard Drive guarantees NO speed records. We all know that the biggest bottleneck of any computer is the Hard Drive.
  This makes the 64GB Solid State drive a Must-Have option for a serious computing. For day-to-day activities of most people, this won’t be necessary, but if you want to get things done - and follow the technology - SSD is the right option and the hottest thing today. 
• Intel GMA X3100 Graphics Card. No speed records with this either. I understand, this is the "portable" laptop and to get the 5 hour battery life, and the small volume it occupies, it can’t really have any better graphics - but it’s something you should consider if you’re expecting to edit movies with this baby. Just a tinny bit higher-end graphics is something I’d like to see in it.
• As far as I know, you can only have 2GB of RAM. No more. Bummer!
• AND THE BIGGEST PROBLEM OF ALL FOR ME: Intel Core 2 Duo; the main reason why I will NOT get the MacBook Air (unless I am so completely swept off my feet with it’s beauty when I go to the Apple Store in 2 weeks, and I forget about all I just wrote above).

  Why is Core 2 Duo a deal breaker? It is a speedy CPU, has 4MB of cache, it’s in my iMac and in my Sony Vaio SZ370, it performs well… Simply - It’s yesterday’s (or even Yester-Year’s) Technology!

  All of the manufacturers are starting to push out the new Penryn based CPU’s (also made by Intel) into their machines. Why did Apple have to include Core 2 Duo instead of Penryn? We are most likely to see most of their notebook lineup (MacBook Pro’s and iMacs) upgraded to Penryn CPU’s later on, couldn’t they just put it in MacBook Air right off the bat? If they upgrade this later on to Penryn I might be getting one.

The ugly (we had god and the bad right ):

• Well, sorry to disappoint, there is no ugly when it comes to MacBook Air. Only good, bad, and beautiful.

CONCLUSION:

Don’t get me wrong, MacBook Air is one helluva machine. As mentioned, it’s super beautiful and meant to turn heads where ever you go with it, but that’s not all one should look for in a computer.

It will be great:

• If you use it as a secondary machine (not as main computer)
• If you need a laptop for meetings, in-flight entertainment, browsing the net in your couch, Starbucks, Panera Bread, watching movies (especially those rented from iTunes since you don’t have a DVD drive integrated)…
• If you do not plan to edit movies too often. It will be usable for this too, but with the latest iMovie which makes a great use of your graphics card for processing the video - this one will not fly too high. Trust me, I have a 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme iMac with 4GB of RAM and the poopy graphics are killing me in iMovie.
• And it will be the best if you are looking for a new laptop, a head turner, a very light notebook.

It won’t be great:

• If you plan to use it a lot for editing movies (as mentioned it can do it, but don’t expect speed records)
• If you plan to transfer huge amounts of data to and from it (802.11N is not THAT fast)
• If you use more than one of your USB-based peripherals at a time [without the use of USB hub that is]
• If you have a FireWire based device (say, your Digital Camera or external Hard Drive) forget about bringing it too your vacation and offloading those movies to empty your camera.
• If you love the purple backlight on your MacBook Pro Keyboard (MBAir has a Blue light, yuck!)
• If you like to have the ability to exchange your Hard Drive for a different one without voiding the warranty!
• If you ever need to change the battery (though your Apple Care plan should nicely take care of this!)

While Steve compared it to Sony Vaio TZ, I think this is not a valid machine to compare it to. It should’ve been compared to the Sony Vaio SZ laptops, a little bit bigger, with integrated CD/DVD, and everything else pretty much the same, and MORE!

My Sony Vaio SZ370 has a 120GB Hard Drive, DVD RW, exchangeable battery, full size keyboard, Carbon Fiber body (even nicer than the Aluminum), thinner LED display, and to add to boot:

• Integrated Cingular (AT&T) 3G Modem
• Memory Stick Duo and 3-in-1 Memory Card Reader (Memory Stick, MS Duo, and SD) via ExpressCard
• Ability for me to upgrade both Hard Drive and CPU with taking out just a couple of screws

RECOMMENDATION:

• If you have to have it, well - you will get it regardless of what I says here
• If you have money to spend - get it … get me one too if you really want to. I’d love to have it!
• If you do NOT have to have it NOW, wait a little bit. Maybe, hopefully, at least the CPU get’s bumped to the Penryn (though who knows)
• If you really need something like this, but you do not know what’s better: Mac Book, Mac Book Pro, or Mac Book Air… The answer is simple:
  • Mac Book Pro is HEAVY, but one of the Best machines you will ever own.
  • MacBook is VERY comparable to the MacBook Air. Given that you can buy, very stylish, Black MacBook starting at $1499 with 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and 250GB Hard Drive, integrated SuperDrive, and have same graphics, longer battery life and ability to upgrade both battery and RAM - I’d go for the best MacBook out there instead of MacBook Air.
• Consider the PC’s too. Sony VAIO has GREAT computers, especially the SZ series which compare to both of these. Surely, you do not get the Leopard Operating System - but if you need a Windows Machine - this is a way to go. I switched all my major operations to Mac last year and I’m loving it, but I kept my Sony Vaio since it is simply amazing machine!

I hope this helps some of you. As always, this is something you NeedToKnow, on your NeedToKnowBlog.com

P.S. I am personally waiting/hoping for a revamp of the Apple’s notebook line. Either a bit lighter MacBook Pro’s, Penryn CPU’s in them, OR, even better, a "Take 2" on the Mac Book Air by Apple! I am sure that one will rock our worlds. It will most likely be as stylish, heck no changes needed in that department, but adding more options to it as mentioned above (faster and newer CPU’s, FireWire ports, ExpressCard, or some kind of integrated 3G modem and just a tiny bit higher resolution will hit a jackpot).

Share:

Posted in Mac, MacBook Air, Review, Suggestions | 18 Comments »