The parent's (Score:3, Informative) post seems to imply that AVG Free Edition does not have real-time/on-access protection/scanning as a free feature, but it does. It's called AVG Resident Shield. From Grisoft's Get AVG Free page (WARNING: promotional hype follows):
Some of the highlights of AVG Free for Windows include:
Rapid virus database updates for the lifetime of the product
Easy of use
No system slow down
Automatic update functionality
The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run
The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail
The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows you to perform scheduled and manual tests
The AVG Virus Vault for safe isolation and handling of infected files
And most of all... great customer satisfaction!
Users of AVG Free know this (real-time protection) already, but I don't see other Score:3+ posts that make this clear to those who haven't tried it. It works for me, but I haven't tried the others, so I can't say it's the best.
AAC is what Apple licensed and rips to by default in iTunes, making song files incompatible with any portable player other than an iPod.
That's a lie. AAC is just another name for "MPEG-4 Audio" (whereas MP3 is "MPEG-1 Layer 3"). There's no reason why any other portable audio player couldn't choose to support AAC
I don't think it's a lie, just unclear semantics. By "incompatible," I think generic-man meant that other portable audio players don't play AAC. They can play AAC if they acquire a license, but they don't.
In a related note, the Sony PSP plays AAC from it's memory card slot. Use iTunes to rip/encode AAC files. Play them on a PSP from a 4GB Memory Stick Duo card.
Related news: 4GB Memory Stick Duo now available
on
Everyone Hates UMD
·
· Score: 5, Informative
I'm surprised TFA didn't mention UMD's competition from high-capacity memory cards for playing movies. Note that the max capacity of UMD is 1.8GB and the PSP has a flash memory card slot for Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duo format. Movies can be played from these memory cards and several easy-to-use utilities exist for ripping DVDs and encoding into MPEG-4 at the PSP's 480x272 resolution.
Movies on memory cards don't have DVD-like menus like UMD movies do. However, I'm sure many users like the memory card's rewritability, PC compatibility, and ability to use existing DVDs to make PSP movies.
4GB Memory Stick Duo cards were released this month and Dell sells it for $136 (most sellers price it around $200). 2GB Memory Stick Duos have fallen to around $80-$90.
Also, the PSP displays photos and plays MP3 and AAC. UMD is not dead because they distribute their games on it. Remember, the PSP actually plays games, too.
sehryan got THAT number by choosing a base model and adding only the stuff he/she thought was needed to be comparable to the MacBook's specs. You chose a premium model, which has some non-removable features not found in the base model (or the MacBook), then you added some unnecessary features (not found in the MacBook) to make the Dell even more expensive. You also didn't mention some important features about the Dell that counters some of the MacBook "advantages" you touted. It almost looks like you did this on purpose, but I'm sure you didn't. That would be lame. You probably just rushed the configuration.
XP Pro, 100 Gig 7200 RPM drive, glossy screen,
I think you needlessly added $116 to the Dell's price by choosing Windows XP Professional over the default XP Media Center Edition. For the vast majority of buyers considering a MacBook (not "Pro") or Inspiron (from Dell's "Home & Home Office" store), XP MCE is the more appropriate OS choice. XP MCE adds more media features to XP than Front Row adds to OS X. XP MCE cannot join an Active Directory domain like XP Pro can, but how many Inspiron/MacBook buyers need this? XP MCE still has most XP Pro features like Remote Desktop and Encrypting File System.
The MacBook has a 5400rpm hard drive, but you chose a 100GB 7200rpm hard drive on the Dell (for $137 more) when the a cheaper 100GB 5400rpm drive was available.
You chose the "glossy screen" for the Dell (many users hate the glare), but you failed to mention this screen also has a higher resolution than the MacBook (1440x900 vs 1280x800). This only added $39 to the Dell, but the higher resolution should have been mentioned for a fair comparison... and not everyone wants glossy and glarey.
This doesn't include all the great software that OS X comes with like iLife, iWork, and more.
iWork is a 30-day trial version. You also didn't mention that the Dell you configured includes Microsoft Works Suite, which includes Word 2002 (from Office XP), Works 8 (includes an iCal-comparable calendar), Money 2006, Digital Image Standard 2006 (iPhoto), Encarta Encyclopedia 2006, and Streets & Trips Essentials. The "premium" Dell that you chose also comes bundled with non-free (and non-removable) software like Sonic MyDVD Plus (iDVD), Corel PhotoAlbum Premium (iPhoto again), MusicMatch Plus (useless iTunes competitor), and a useless (but non-free) 2-year subscription to McAfee Security Center (VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal).
That leaves the Dell with inadequate free or bundled competitors to iMovie HD (Movie Maker 2 can't measure up) and GarageBand, but the Dell does give you some decent software that the MacBook doesn't like Word, Money, and Streets & Trips. I've read that iWeb 1.0 is a buggy pile of crap, but it will get better. Free Windows alternatives exist.
the Dell is 50% thicker than the Mac.
..and has a larger, higher-resolution widescreen (14.1" 1440x900) than the Mac (13.3" 1280x800). Some people would gladly give up this extra screen space/resolution for a thinnner notebook, but others would take the Dell's screen. It's only 0.3 pounds heavier, for some strange reason. Also, I'm pretty
Seriously, I'm sick of the overly zealous statements when it comes to "OS vs. OS" "Company vs. Company" etc. debates. Why is it so threatening when another companies/organizations happen to produce something better than your favorite company/organization?
I'm sick of them too. Maybe they need justification/affirmation for their choice/investment in computing platform. Switching takes time and effort for most people. If they bought a computer recently, they might feel like they wasted money or made a bad decision if they admit the "other side" makes a (insignificantly) better OS/platform.
Some people are like baby ducks when it comes to operating systems. They got imprinted with whatever OS they learned to compute on. Other systems do things the "wrong way" in their warped minds and they believe people will switch to their OS if they just try it. I believe most "switcher" stories are bogus unless they're switching from a spyware-infested Windows 98 PC (or unupdated WinXP).
There should be dozens of 3rd tier Core motherboards out there by now for people to use to make their own PCs. Instead there is one, and it costs $300. Intel is not doing a great job indicating to the market which way they are headed.
I know there is at least one other Core Duo motherboard available. The Asus N4L motherboard is $145 at Newegg. It's ViiV-oriented, so it's microATX (one PCIe x16, one PCIe x1, two PCI) and has "media features" like digital audio out, Dolby Digital Live encoding, TV-out, and external SATA.
I think Intel has purposely restricted their promotion of Core Duo for desktops. The only type of Core Duo desktops that I've seen promoted (by Intel) are pre-built, small, quiet ViiV desktops. Since Core Duo is designed to be a notebook processor (low TDP), maybe they think the best way to promote its desktop use is to show off how fast and quiet it can be in tiny computers.
If they wanted to promote it as an all-around desktop CPU, they could have easily made faster versions for bigger computers. However, Core Duo's current weaknesses (32-bit and average floating point performance) would be more exposed when compared to desktop processors. I think they're waiting for Conroe, with its EM64T and improved floating point, to make their big bang on the desktop.
That said, I don't understand why more motherboard manufacturers are not offering ViiV-oriented motherboards like Asus's. Intel has been offering a desktop chipset for Core Duo for a while now. AOpen does offer a Tivo-sized Core Duo "media center" barebones using that chipset, but it's not cheap (around $400 without CPU, hard drive, and memory). It looks fantastic for building a HTPC with no external parts, though.
Uh, I think you missed the point of TFA. Core Duo motherboards are now widely available, so now direct benchmark comparisons can be made between Core Duo, Athlon 64 x2, and Pentium D (using identical high-end graphics cards, hard drives, OS images, power supplies, etc).
Yes, Apple and Aopen have been offering Core Duo desktops before everyone else. However, Intel has been promoting Core Duo for Viiv desktops since its introduction.
Until Linux rules the world or Microsoft produce a 64-bit version of Windows that actually works seamlessly, I think 64-bit instruction sets are overrated.
I might be wrong, but I thought Windows XP Professional 64-bit Edition does work seamlessly with decent 64-bit drivers. When it was introduced, 64-bit driver support was spotty and some parts of the OS (like Internet Explorer) were still beta-quality. I thought by now, these problems have been solved, except for some hardware companies lagging on driver support.
I do agree that 64-bit is perhaps overrated for most computer buyers. I think most computers (mobile and desktop) only have 2 DIMM slots and most popular applications won't get a huge 64-bit performance boost in this CPU generation. Dual-core is a much bigger feature.
However, since this is Slashdot and TFA is about desktop computers, I think 64-bit instruction sets are a very important consideration when "nerds" buy a new desktop computer. Even if Win XP 64-bit is unusable, most will upgrade their OS to 64-bit Vista, OS X, or a Linux distribution in the computer's lifetime. Nerd apps will see a 64-bit performance boost.
The Celeron D isn't dual core. It's just a Prescott core Celeron with 256KB of L2 cache.
Starting May 28, the Celeron D models 352 and 356 will use the 65nm Cedar Mill core with 512KB of L2 cache. All other model numbers (for now) will continue to use the Prescott core.
Time to update the firmware on our CPU name/model decoder rings.
It's funny the Dell finally agreed to use AMD when Intel is finally starting to catch up to AMD.
That reminds me of a reporter's question at Krusty's retirement press conference:
"The world wants to know: Why now? Why not 20 months ago?"
It was actually 20 years ago for Krusty, but why didn't Intel use Opterons 20 months ago when they were clearly superior to Pentium 4-based Xeons, and Woodcrest was still pre-vapor? Woodcrest is supposed to ship next month. Maybe it's because of AMD's improved manufacturing capability, but I haven't seen good proof. I always suspected Dell liked the simplicity and lowered support costs of using one CPU/chipset manufacturerer (Intel). When Dell uses Opteron, I'm assuming they will introduce new chipsets as well from NVIDIA, VIA, or ServerWorks.
Seriously - 1GB ram (512MB for low end installs) seems like an awful lot to me....
Note that these guidelines for "Vista Ready" and "Vista Premium Ready" PCs are for buyers of new PCs today. I've never seen a new PC sold with RAM that was not a factor of 2 (128/256/512/1024). I suspect the 512MB requirement means "dont buy a new Windows XP PC with only 256MB" because Vista (without without Aero) requires significantly more than that (but maybe less than 512MB), but nobody sells a PC with less than 512MB and more than 256MB. I suspect the same would apply to the "Premium" requirement of 1GB. Have you ever seen a new PC with 384MB or 768MB of RAM?
From the guide:
Are you looking to buy a Windows XP-based computer today but want to make sure that it can run Windows Vista? There's no need to wait. When you buy a new PC that carries the Windows Vista Capable or Premium Ready PC designation, youll be able to upgrade to one of the editions of Windows Vista while taking advantage of all the opportunities offered by Windows XP today.
Will the current Generation of Macs meet these requirements?
Definitely, if by "current Generation" you mean all Intel Macs released so far. In fact, they're "Vista Premium Ready" with enough RAM (1GB, not sure if this includes shared system/graphics memory). These Macs all use at least 1.66GHz Yonah-based processors (Core Duo/Core Solo/Celeron M 4xx) that are more "modern" than the Pentium 4. The weakest GPU in these Macs is the Intel GMA 950, which is DirectX 9 class, supports Pixel Shader 2.0, and has a WDDM Driver.
My oldest machine that would meet those specifications... Athlon 1200, 512MB RAM, Geforce 2 Ultra 64MB video card... It obviously won't be running Aero
I don't think so without an AGP card upgrade (Is this what you meant?). Do you mean your old machine will run Vista's Classic user interface (which looks like Windows 2000). The requirements for "Vista Capable" (Basic non-Aero user interface) require a DirectX 9 GPU. However, an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 or ATI Radeon 9500 should be an easy upgrade.
What's interesting is the HDD requirements increased 10 fold, the memory increased by a multipule of 8, but the CPU only tripled. Weird.
Just a reminder: a 233MHz Pentium CPU had a 66MHz front side bus, no L2 cache (Remember optional on-motherboard cache?), and no SSE (MMX was new).
An 800MHz "modern processor" has at least (if "modern" means P6/Athlon core) a 100MHz front side bus, some L2 cache, SSE, decoupling the front end from the back end, wider execution core, improved branch prediction, and other enhancements to improve its "performance per clock." In other words, while CPU clock requirements have tripled, CPU "performance" requirements have more than tripled.
Since the P6 (Pentium Pro/2/3) and Athlon cores struggled to exceed 1000MHz (Remember the race?), maybe "modern processor" means Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 cores. I hope not.
Believe me, you are going to need a hellified system to run Vista at this rate. Double the "Premium Ready" specs and you will have the specs you will need to actually run Vista.
If you've been following Vista's recent development (even on Slashdot), then that's a ridiculous assumption. "Premium Ready" means ready for the optional Aero user interface, which is a compositing UI that includes (optional) features such as 3D, translucency, UI animations, live thumbnails, and Flip 3D. Vista also has a new, very usable Basic user interface which will require less than the "Premium Ready" specs, not double the specs like you claim. Vista's interface can be scaled down even furthur by using the Classic user interface, which looks like Windows 2000.
As I was reading your comment, I just assumed you were a troll until I read your last paragraph:
Oh yeah, and I run Panther on a 300MHz iBook with 544MB RAM and a 30GB hard drive.
You need treatment from the effects of the RDF. So you run a previous version of OS X, without all of the optional eye candy, with more than the "required" RAM for Windows Vista (Basic user interface). Yet you act like Vista's user interface also doesn't scale down with the hardware.
By default, the Latitude's has a 3-year mail-in warranty with 3 years of free phone support. The Macbook comes with a 1-year limited warranty and 90 days of free phone support.
A 3-year On-site plan can be added to the Dell for $100. AppleCare costs $250 for the Macbook.
As others have pointed out, the Macbook offers more value for some people, the Latitude offers more value for others. They are way too different for a good comparison and they are targeted toward different markets.
Microsoft Works Suite 2006 is included with some low-cost laptops and is a cheap option for most configure-to-order laptops. If Works Suite is not included or a cheap option when the laptop is purchased, it can be purchased seperately for $75/$68 (retail/OEM) at Newegg (similar in price to iLife).
Works Suite 2006 includes:
Microsoft Word 2002 (Word XP)
Works 8 (like AppleWorks plus iCal)
Digital Image Standard (like iPhoto)
Streets & Trips Essentials 2006
Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2006
Money 2006 Standard
DVD creation software (like iDVD) is included with any laptop with a DVD burner. Decent movie creation software (like iMovie) is sometimes included with DVD burners, but not always. An inferior, IMO, movie creation app (Movie Maker 2) is included with Windows XP. For Front Row functionality (plus a lot more), make sure the laptop has Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (or wait for Vista Home Premium) and buy the optional Media Center remote.
I'm not disagreeing with what I think is your point. The Macbook is a good value if you want all of the included features and don't need things like an ExpressCard slot, memory card reader, or more configurable options. But I can't ignore the errors and omissions in your "Score:4, Interesting" post.
inferior Graphics (Intel GMA 900 vs GMA 950 in the Macbook)
The page you provided a link to shows the Dell Inspiron 640m has GMA 950 graphics. If another page says GMA 900, then it's a typo or error because chipsets with GMA 900 do not support Core Duo/Core Solo/Celeron 4xx.
the Macbook also comes with Bluetooth 2.0EDR, the Dell has no Bluetooth capability.
Dell's internal Bluetooth 2.0EDR module is a £28.38 option. It's not that easy to miss.
The Dell lacks:
- Bluetooth
- Remote
- iLife
- OS X
- I explained the Bluetooth option.
- The remote for Windows XP Media Center Edition is a £35.25 option. XP MCE 2005 is a £23.50 upgrade from XP Home (and £35.25 cheaper than XP Pro). Not everyone wants this option, but XP MCE does a heck of a lot more than Front Row.
- Microsoft Works Suite 2006 is a £47 option and includes Microsoft Word , Works, Digital Image Standard, Money, Streets & Trips, and Encarta. DVD creation software is included with DVD burners (Sonic MyDVD is this case). iMovie HD isn't all that great IMO, but it's better than Movie Maker 2, which is part of XP. Works Suite doesn't have GarageBand and iWeb, but many would trade those for Word and Streets & Trips.
- We know the Dell doesn't come with OS X. Isn't this redundant?
From the Dell UK website, for £802(the link page here says £649, when you go to the configure page, the price jumps to £802, wtf?)
Whichever of the two prices Dell.co.uk give you (£649 or £802) it's clear that the Macbook is very competitive price-wise
The "3-year Basic: At Home On-site service PLUS online Multimedia training option" is selected by default. Without this service upgrade, the price is £152.75 less, so I suspect that's the cause of the price jump. That reminds me, no price comparison should be done on notebooks without including AppleCare (£199) and roughly equivalent support plans.
The Dell is also bigger in every dimension. Heavier too.
You're comparing a new Macbook that was released today to a Dell Inspiron that's in a different sub-category. The Dell has an ExpressCard slot, a memory card reader, and a larger widescreen LCD. The Dell has more options like a faster (2.16GHz) or slower (1.66GHz) Core Duo, a higher-res LCD (1440x900 UltraSharp), a better battery (80WHr), and low-price MS Office options (£105.75 for Office Basic). The Macbook has DVI-out, gigabit ethernet, iSight camera, and optical audio.
(Ah just figured out the pricing difference on the Dell site, they 'automatically' select the highest service-level when you go to the configure screen... great.)
You mention this at the very end of your long comment, after mentioning the price jump twice? wtf?
Yes, resolution. And the integrated graphics chip. The Pros have Radeon Mobility chips as opposed to the Intel graphics in the new Macbook
I'm sure the Macbook Pro also has a better keyboard and overall build/case quality. And ExpressCard/34 slot. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pro's LCD was better, too.
Sure, not all home users need this extra stuff. But these little features aren't trivial to many "Pros."
I don't know why the article submitter said Opera 9 was the only compliant browser when the ACID2 Buzz page clearly shows other browsers (at least in beta form) have passed the test.
Anyhoo, the ACID2-compliant versions of Opera and Safari are beta releases and not displayed on their main download pages. Opera's download page displays Opera 8.5.4. Safari's download page displays Safari 1.2. IMO, I don't think ACID2 compliance is something to brag about if your compliant browser isn't stable enough for release.
...version 6 (6.4 specifically, I think) was when WiMP essentially reached maturity.
Windows Media Player 10's "Classic" skin makes it look like version 6.4, but I'm pretty sure it's not the default Skin Mode skin (several skins are included). To enable the "Classic" skin, click the "View" menu, select "Go To," then select "Skin Chooser." In the Skin Chooser, select "Classic." When you push "Apply Skin," Media Player will switch to Skin Mode and look like version 6.4. To go back to Full (bloated) Mode, select "Full Mode" in the "View" menu.
Really, what more possible features could you need in a media player other than the usual play, pause, rewind, etc. buttons...
Microsoft should take a hint from VLC or mplayer, and realize that we don't want the useless junk they're piling on. The reason why VLC and mplayer are so great is they do one thing and do it well: play media. Period.
I disagree if you include music playlists in you definition of "media." I think Media Player 6.4, VLC, and Media Player Classic are great at playing single video or music files, but not so great at music/CD playlists. I think Windows Media Player's problem is that it's trying to be the default player for both video and music. The version 6.4 interface is nice and simple for playing videos, but kinda lousy for displaying your music/CD playlist, album art, video/audio library, internet radio, music/video stores, etc. But if you just want to play a video, all that extra shit in Media Player's current version looks like a waste of space and resources.
I guess there are strategic reasons for having an all-in-one video/audio player, but I haven't seen a good implementation/interface yet. Maybe version 11 will get it right, but I have doubts. I think Microsoft would have been better off separating Media Player into two apps: Windows Video Player and Windows Music Player. For now, I'll keep using MPC for video and foobar2000 (with Columns UI) for music.
Unfortunately, as gamers upgraded to fancy, new 19" and 21" LCD monitors, they only look good at a single, native resolution...
This translates to needing a beefier graphics card to get the frame-rates you expect, vs. the "old way" of just playing all your 3D games at a lower resolution like 800x600.
Wouldn't setting your 3D games at "half" (actually one-fourth) the LCD's native resolution (and stretching to full screen) fix that nasty scaling/interpolation problem? I can't find a good answer from my google searches.
On most 21" (4:3 AR) LCDs, the native resolution is 1600x1200. I think you should be able to set your 3D game at 800x600, then stretch it to full screen. Each 800x600 pixel would then be simply traslated to four 1600x1200 pixels, right? If this works, then setting your 3D game at 800x600 (with some AA) would be a better experience (decent FPS and quality) than setting your 3D game at native 1600x1200 (bad FPS).
Considering the amount of tech in the box, the PS3 is decidedly a bargain. I mean, Toshiba has to sell their HD-DVD player, just a player mind you, for $499.99. An Sony can sell the premium PS3 for $599?
And, theoretically, Microsoft's HD-DVD add-on should require much less expensive tech than Toshiba's current $500 HD-DVD player. The XBox 360 should already have much of the technology needed to playback HD video, so the HD-DVD add-on should not be much more than a drive that reads the blue laser disc and feeds the data to the XBox 360. The XBox 360 then, theoretically, does the rest of the work. Photos of the XBox 360 HD-DVD player show that it's not much bigger than an external USB optical drive. Also, I would also expect HD-DVD technology to be less expensive at PS3's launch than it is currently.
My point is that the HD-DVD add-on for the XBox 360 should be considerably cheaper than Toshiba's $500 player. If the XBox 360 premium bundle gets a $100 price cut ($300) at the time of PS3's launch and the HD-DVD add-on costs $300 (or less), then Sony's PS3 might not look like such an outstanding value compared to XBox 360 with HD-DVD add-on.
I used the words "theoretically" and "should be" because I want to see the final shipping products before I call either blue laser bundle a bargain.
There are definitely bigger and better CPU to lust after, even in terms of price/performance. But then, picking a decent motherboard for say a Dothan or Core Duo that is stable usually takes you to the enthusiast territory and the total system ends up costing much more than you intended. Athlon is an exception, of course.
Actually, I think the Core Duo platform is now a reasonably priced option since Asus released their sub-$150 microATX "digital home" Core Duo motherboard:
Sure, that's not as inexpensive as one of the many decent Athlon 64 x2 motherboards, but a Core Duo T2300 (1.66GHz) can be easily found for less than $250 while an Athlon 64 x2 3800+ is around $300. If you want to go really cheap a Celeron M 420 (single core) will be around $130 when they become available (soon).
Some of the key "digital home" features of the Asus N4L-VH DH:
microATX form factor (one PCIe x16, one PCIe x1, two PCI)
Socket 479 (Core Duo, Core Solo, Celeron M 4xx)
Digital audio out with real-time Dolby Digital encoding
External serial ATA port
On-board TV-out (needs optional bracket to enable it)
InterVideo WinDVD Suite OEM
Bundled quiet CPU fan/heatsink
Quick Resume support (instant on from deep sleep)
Personally, I'd rather wait for decent reasonably-priced Conroe motherboards. But this Asus motherboard does give me a reasonably-priced, cool, and quiet Core Duo (Merom-compatible) option.
Slashdot Mirror
The parent's (Score:3, Informative) post seems to imply that AVG Free Edition does not have real-time/on-access protection/scanning as a free feature, but it does. It's called AVG Resident Shield. From Grisoft's Get AVG Free page (WARNING: promotional hype follows):
Users of AVG Free know this (real-time protection) already, but I don't see other Score:3+ posts that make this clear to those who haven't tried it. It works for me, but I haven't tried the others, so I can't say it's the best.In a related note, the Sony PSP plays AAC from it's memory card slot. Use iTunes to rip/encode AAC files. Play them on a PSP from a 4GB Memory Stick Duo card.
Movies on memory cards don't have DVD-like menus like UMD movies do. However, I'm sure many users like the memory card's rewritability, PC compatibility, and ability to use existing DVDs to make PSP movies.
4GB Memory Stick Duo cards were released this month and Dell sells it for $136 (most sellers price it around $200). 2GB Memory Stick Duos have fallen to around $80-$90.
Also, the PSP displays photos and plays MP3 and AAC. UMD is not dead because they distribute their games on it. Remember, the PSP actually plays games, too.
sehryan got THAT number by choosing a base model and adding only the stuff he/she thought was needed to be comparable to the MacBook's specs. You chose a premium model, which has some non-removable features not found in the base model (or the MacBook), then you added some unnecessary features (not found in the MacBook) to make the Dell even more expensive. You also didn't mention some important features about the Dell that counters some of the MacBook "advantages" you touted. It almost looks like you did this on purpose, but I'm sure you didn't. That would be lame. You probably just rushed the configuration.
I think you needlessly added $116 to the Dell's price by choosing Windows XP Professional over the default XP Media Center Edition. For the vast majority of buyers considering a MacBook (not "Pro") or Inspiron (from Dell's "Home & Home Office" store), XP MCE is the more appropriate OS choice. XP MCE adds more media features to XP than Front Row adds to OS X. XP MCE cannot join an Active Directory domain like XP Pro can, but how many Inspiron/MacBook buyers need this? XP MCE still has most XP Pro features like Remote Desktop and Encrypting File System.
The MacBook has a 5400rpm hard drive, but you chose a 100GB 7200rpm hard drive on the Dell (for $137 more) when the a cheaper 100GB 5400rpm drive was available.
You chose the "glossy screen" for the Dell (many users hate the glare), but you failed to mention this screen also has a higher resolution than the MacBook (1440x900 vs 1280x800). This only added $39 to the Dell, but the higher resolution should have been mentioned for a fair comparison... and not everyone wants glossy and glarey.
iWork is a 30-day trial version. You also didn't mention that the Dell you configured includes Microsoft Works Suite, which includes Word 2002 (from Office XP), Works 8 (includes an iCal-comparable calendar), Money 2006, Digital Image Standard 2006 (iPhoto), Encarta Encyclopedia 2006, and Streets & Trips Essentials. The "premium" Dell that you chose also comes bundled with non-free (and non-removable) software like Sonic MyDVD Plus (iDVD), Corel PhotoAlbum Premium (iPhoto again), MusicMatch Plus (useless iTunes competitor), and a useless (but non-free) 2-year subscription to McAfee Security Center (VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal).
That leaves the Dell with inadequate free or bundled competitors to iMovie HD (Movie Maker 2 can't measure up) and GarageBand, but the Dell does give you some decent software that the MacBook doesn't like Word, Money, and Streets & Trips. I've read that iWeb 1.0 is a buggy pile of crap, but it will get better. Free Windows alternatives exist.
Will somebody please punch me in the face?
Some people are like baby ducks when it comes to operating systems. They got imprinted with whatever OS they learned to compute on. Other systems do things the "wrong way" in their warped minds and they believe people will switch to their OS if they just try it. I believe most "switcher" stories are bogus unless they're switching from a spyware-infested Windows 98 PC (or unupdated WinXP).
I think Intel has purposely restricted their promotion of Core Duo for desktops. The only type of Core Duo desktops that I've seen promoted (by Intel) are pre-built, small, quiet ViiV desktops. Since Core Duo is designed to be a notebook processor (low TDP), maybe they think the best way to promote its desktop use is to show off how fast and quiet it can be in tiny computers.
If they wanted to promote it as an all-around desktop CPU, they could have easily made faster versions for bigger computers. However, Core Duo's current weaknesses (32-bit and average floating point performance) would be more exposed when compared to desktop processors. I think they're waiting for Conroe, with its EM64T and improved floating point, to make their big bang on the desktop.
That said, I don't understand why more motherboard manufacturers are not offering ViiV-oriented motherboards like Asus's. Intel has been offering a desktop chipset for Core Duo for a while now. AOpen does offer a Tivo-sized Core Duo "media center" barebones using that chipset, but it's not cheap (around $400 without CPU, hard drive, and memory). It looks fantastic for building a HTPC with no external parts, though.
Yes, Apple and Aopen have been offering Core Duo desktops before everyone else. However, Intel has been promoting Core Duo for Viiv desktops since its introduction.
I do agree that 64-bit is perhaps overrated for most computer buyers. I think most computers (mobile and desktop) only have 2 DIMM slots and most popular applications won't get a huge 64-bit performance boost in this CPU generation. Dual-core is a much bigger feature.
However, since this is Slashdot and TFA is about desktop computers, I think 64-bit instruction sets are a very important consideration when "nerds" buy a new desktop computer. Even if Win XP 64-bit is unusable, most will upgrade their OS to 64-bit Vista, OS X, or a Linux distribution in the computer's lifetime. Nerd apps will see a 64-bit performance boost.
Time to update the firmware on our CPU name/model decoder rings.
From the guide:
Since the P6 (Pentium Pro/2/3) and Athlon cores struggled to exceed 1000MHz (Remember the race?), maybe "modern processor" means Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 cores. I hope not.
As I was reading your comment, I just assumed you were a troll until I read your last paragraph:
You need treatment from the effects of the RDF. So you run a previous version of OS X, without all of the optional eye candy, with more than the "required" RAM for Windows Vista (Basic user interface). Yet you act like Vista's user interface also doesn't scale down with the hardware.A 3-year On-site plan can be added to the Dell for $100. AppleCare costs $250 for the Macbook.
As others have pointed out, the Macbook offers more value for some people, the Latitude offers more value for others. They are way too different for a good comparison and they are targeted toward different markets.
Works Suite 2006 includes:
DVD creation software (like iDVD) is included with any laptop with a DVD burner. Decent movie creation software (like iMovie) is sometimes included with DVD burners, but not always. An inferior, IMO, movie creation app (Movie Maker 2) is included with Windows XP. For Front Row functionality (plus a lot more), make sure the laptop has Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (or wait for Vista Home Premium) and buy the optional Media Center remote.
- The remote for Windows XP Media Center Edition is a £35.25 option. XP MCE 2005 is a £23.50 upgrade from XP Home (and £35.25 cheaper than XP Pro). Not everyone wants this option, but XP MCE does a heck of a lot more than Front Row.
- Microsoft Works Suite 2006 is a £47 option and includes Microsoft Word , Works, Digital Image Standard, Money, Streets & Trips, and Encarta. DVD creation software is included with DVD burners (Sonic MyDVD is this case). iMovie HD isn't all that great IMO, but it's better than Movie Maker 2, which is part of XP. Works Suite doesn't have GarageBand and iWeb, but many would trade those for Word and Streets & Trips.
- We know the Dell doesn't come with OS X. Isn't this redundant?
The "3-year Basic: At Home On-site service PLUS online Multimedia training option" is selected by default. Without this service upgrade, the price is £152.75 less, so I suspect that's the cause of the price jump. That reminds me, no price comparison should be done on notebooks without including AppleCare (£199) and roughly equivalent support plans. You're comparing a new Macbook that was released today to a Dell Inspiron that's in a different sub-category. The Dell has an ExpressCard slot, a memory card reader, and a larger widescreen LCD. The Dell has more options like a faster (2.16GHz) or slower (1.66GHz) Core Duo, a higher-res LCD (1440x900 UltraSharp), a better battery (80WHr), and low-price MS Office options (£105.75 for Office Basic). The Macbook has DVI-out, gigabit ethernet, iSight camera, and optical audio. You mention this at the very end of your long comment, after mentioning the price jump twice? wtf?Sure, not all home users need this extra stuff. But these little features aren't trivial to many "Pros."
Anyhoo, the ACID2-compliant versions of Opera and Safari are beta releases and not displayed on their main download pages. Opera's download page displays Opera 8.5.4. Safari's download page displays Safari 1.2. IMO, I don't think ACID2 compliance is something to brag about if your compliant browser isn't stable enough for release.
I guess there are strategic reasons for having an all-in-one video/audio player, but I haven't seen a good implementation/interface yet. Maybe version 11 will get it right, but I have doubts. I think Microsoft would have been better off separating Media Player into two apps: Windows Video Player and Windows Music Player. For now, I'll keep using MPC for video and foobar2000 (with Columns UI) for music.
On most 21" (4:3 AR) LCDs, the native resolution is 1600x1200. I think you should be able to set your 3D game at 800x600, then stretch it to full screen. Each 800x600 pixel would then be simply traslated to four 1600x1200 pixels, right? If this works, then setting your 3D game at 800x600 (with some AA) would be a better experience (decent FPS and quality) than setting your 3D game at native 1600x1200 (bad FPS).
My point is that the HD-DVD add-on for the XBox 360 should be considerably cheaper than Toshiba's $500 player. If the XBox 360 premium bundle gets a $100 price cut ($300) at the time of PS3's launch and the HD-DVD add-on costs $300 (or less), then Sony's PS3 might not look like such an outstanding value compared to XBox 360 with HD-DVD add-on.
I used the words "theoretically" and "should be" because I want to see the final shipping products before I call either blue laser bundle a bargain.
Personally, I'd rather wait for decent reasonably-priced Conroe motherboards. But this Asus motherboard does give me a reasonably-priced, cool, and quiet Core Duo (Merom-compatible) option.