Mac Does it Again

by Stein on September 2, 2010

Unbelievable

So Apple came out with a huge bag of goodies today with the introduction of a whole line of upgrades:

Apple TV

iPod Touch

iPod Shuffle

iPod Nano

What is so special about this release? The smallest most effective personal computer in the world just got better: the iPod touch. I bought the first iPod touch (16 GB version) when it first came out, it instantly replaced 80% of what I ever do on my computer. Now even the original iPod touch does 90-90% of what the average user does on a computer. When applications came out for the iPhone and iPod touch, it got to the point where I could write papers and print them out from my phone.

Now writing papers is not the most efficient process on an ipod, other things are. The web browser (safari) works great, unreal considering its size, and the mail program is flawless. I can easily access all five of my mail accounts and do anything on my iPod about as easily as I can on my computer. That is with the original iTouch. Clearly I haven’t tried out the new one, but it uses the same chip as the iPhone 4 which I have spent some time using, and every application has staid the same or improved dramatically, speed is noticeably better.

Pretty much all laptops these days have the power to process and edit HD video, as does the new itouch, but I have yet to see one that takes HD video; the itouch has changed that. Just like the iPhone 4, the itouch has Facetime. For those of you living under a rock, facetime is videochatting, and used to be only available to iPhone 4 users. Now I was skeptical of it at first because you have to be on a wifi network to use it, so it seemed just as practical as video chat on every mac computer. The difference is going through a phone call instead of having to log into iChat. Back to the main point though; you can video chat on the itouch, just like skyping on a netbook.

On top of the non music related stuff, the itouch is an unreal music device. Every single new ipod device has improved its sound card and delivered improved audio each generation. You can buy music wherever you, and it even has a built in speaker just like a laptop (a laptop with pretty weak speakers, but a laptop nonetheless). The new display is called a retina display because it has more pixels than your eye can actually see, basically you can’t even scientifically see every detail it has to offer. This means it looks simply fantastic just like the iPhone 4.

It’s $220, pretty small amount considering what it is (I paid $400 for the original model and I was happy with it). If you are considering a netbook as a second computer to a larger notebook or a desktop, I would honestly consider looking at this depending on your needs. If I didn’t have my iPhone 3GS I would probably be first in line for it honestly, thinking about it, I might even be second in line.

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1989 Convention

Looking at clips from the fabulous 80′s of laptops is just as much as looking at 80′s clothing. It really is truly amazing how closely the change in laptop size reflects that of the size of people’s glasses who use them..chuckle, chuckle. As archaic as these machines look-and work-if you listen to the specs or goals of each machine, they are pretty similar to the goals of machines today. One of them, I believe it was the compaq, was bragging about 3 hours of battery life. 3 hours is pretty impressive, especially when just two weeks ago I was using a $800 Sony that got a little more than 2 hours on one charge.

The most interesting part is that usability and extra functions were as enticing then as they are today. One laptop (about the size of small desktop today) had a built in cell phone. Others were showing off their massive external fax modems, which is the equivalent to today’s built in cellular modems. Then screen readability was a bit more of a problem, but even today small laptops are still trying to be more readable because of their small size.

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Review of Lenovo X201

by Stein August 26, 2010

Introduction I’ve always been a 15 inch laptop kind of guy. I’ve always liked having a discreet graphics card for editing and the occasional game., 15 inch laptops have bigger keyboards, screens, and I’ve just always had the opinion that they were for me. I’ve seen friends and strangers in the past use the smaller [...]

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15 inch vs. 12 Inch Laptops

by Stein August 24, 2010

Is There a Right Choice? If someone came up to you on the street and asked you if you would prefer to have a 12 inch or 15 inch laptop, I would not be able to give him or her a one word answer. Clearly, I would start rambling on about how it would depend [...]

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Hard drive abuse

by Stein August 20, 2010

Hard Drive Test Ever had a hard drive fail on you? I’ve had about three. For a few years now companies have been making external drives that are supposed to put up with extreme physical abuse. This clip shows which ones will, and which ones wont.

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Review of Sony EB

by Stein August 18, 2010

Introduction So far this is what I like to see in a college notebook, two different kinds of black color options and an affordable blue ray drive. On more serious note, Sony may have stepped up to produce a notebook that is geared towards the college student with a very customizable inside (I would say [...]

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The most powerful Mac Ever

by Stein August 12, 2010

If you want the most powerful computer out there, the new Mac Prothat Apple came out with this week is what you want. OK ok, that may not be a fact so don’t quote me. But seriously, Apple took their most powerful computer and put it on steroids. With the ability to have up to [...]

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Toshiba M645

by Stein August 10, 2010

Introduction In 2009, the top five personal computer vendors included Lenovo, Dell, Acer, HP, and lastly Toshiba. Dell and HP are both based in the US, Acer is from Taiwan, Lenovo is Chinese, and Toshiba is Japanese. The Japanese have always been known as the leaders in electronics and gaming. This is obvious in the [...]

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Lenovo ThinkPad T410

by Stein August 2, 2010

Introduction ThinkPad was THE business laptop when IBM owned it, and not much has changed since Lenovo bought the ThinkPad in 2005. Lenovo continued producing IBM’s laptop line, sort of how Ford bought Volvo; Ford kept its name and roots. If you are looking for a powerful full size business laptop that can take a [...]

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Trackpads Replacing Mice?

by Stein July 31, 2010

So in 1952 the first mouse came out, and eventually changed personal computing because it improved the UGI ( User Graphic Interface) extensively. Mice were just not practical for a laptop, so companies used trackpads similar devices. They worked pretty well, but serious users carried wired mice, and eventually wireless mouses. This all changed in [...]

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