The Specifications:

• Processor: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
• OS: Windows XP Home with SP3
• RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
• Screen: 10.1-inch LED Glossy 1024×600
• HDD: 160GB at 5400RPM
• Video: Intel GMA 950
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• Battery: 6-cell Lithium-Ion
• Card Reader: 4-in-1
• Ports: 3x USB, VGA, Ethernet
• Weight: 2.65 lbs with 6-cell

The Hardware – 4/5 stars
When consumers generally think of Lenovo, they imagine an ugly business-oriented machine with that infamous red-stub mouse. That’s no longer the case when it comes to Lenovo’s new lineup of IdeaPad Netbooks. The black edition we received features rounded edges and a glossy finish that evokes friendlier feelings. Plus, with an artistic pattern on the lid, it’s clear that the IdeaPad appeals to the mass consumer market. Opening the lid has a smooth motion that reveals a simple inner layout. The power button and mouse keys have a sliver finish offering a sharp contrast from the black body. There’s three stickers representing Intel Atom, Windows XP, and Dolby Audio that I would have removed immediately for a cleaner look if this wasn’t a review unit.

For the most part, weight is evenly distributed throughout the body. Unfortunately, the 6-cell battery offsets the balance towards the back of the unit. I generally despise any unit that has an accessory that departs from the general aesthetics and style of a gadget. Fortunately the 6-cell battery isn’t required, but rather is an upgrade from the 3-cell that sits flush with the casing. The extended battery also raises the netbook at an angle making it appealing for typing on a desk, however it ends up causing discomfort when on your lap. Plus, the bulging battery is always an awkward fit in backpacks, cases, or sleeves.

I generally would complain about the glossy finish since it’s a fingerprint nightmare, however that’s the trend just about every gadget manufacturer has taken. The chassis of the IdeaPad S10-2 is quite robust. It’s definitely heavier than the Dell Mini 9, but seems stronger and definitely won’t warp under pressure. I found the “feet” on the bottom and sides of the netbook a bit obtrusive and rugged. With some tweaks, the IdeaPad could have been as clean of a design as the Dell Mini 9. I was also glad that Lenovo kindly offers easy-access to replace or upgrade hardware components such as the RAM and Hard Drive which are hidden under two screwed in panels on the bottom. Overall, it’s a great layout and from what I’ve seen at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, the IdeaPad S10-3 only gets better.

Connectivity – 5/5 stars
The S10-2 netbook offers a standard set of ports that are found on most netbooks. There’s a total of three USB ports: one on the left and two on the right side. That’s a great idea to prevent too many cables from cluttering a single side. Ethernet and VGA connectors are on the left side along with a line in for microphones and line out for headphones. On the front there are some standard LED indicators and a 4-in-1 reader that supports cards including Secure Digital (SD) and Memory Stick (MS). The AC power connector, Kensington lock, and WiFi switch are on the right side. The IdeaPad is completely on par with most netbooks on the market, there aren’t any extras or anything missing.

Keyboard & Touchpad – 2.5/5 stars
I wasn’t exactly too impressed with the keyboard and touchpad. While it’s expected that a smaller body requires reducing the size of keys, there are some issues that are worth mentioning. Lenovo decided to take a regular keyboard and shrink it proportionally until it fits on this 10-inch netbook’s body. This makes typing especially difficult for those coming from a regular keyboard and for those with large hands. I should also mention that Lenovo laptop keyboards interchange the “Fn” and “Ctrl” keys, which may take some getting used for those who aren’t familiar with their ThinkPad products. (You can apparently tweak that setting in the BIOS to switch the functionality.)

Dell, for example, tried to keep the keys as large as possible on the Dell Mini 9, but ended up running out of space and removing the entire function key row. That was a diaster for Dell, but they fortunately took a fresh approach on the new Mini 10 netbook with a keyboard that runs nearly edge-to-edge with the frame. Lenovo seems to have struggled on this S10-2 netbook, but has cleaned up their act on the new S10-3 model which features a 98% full-size keyboard. Other than those layout quirks, the keyboard does offer a quality feel and it’s still comfortable to use once you figure out where the keys are. There’s a decent amount of tactile force feedback which is an important aspect of a great typing experience.

I am also disappointed to say that I found myself frustrated with the touchpad. Even I’m aware that this is a small device, the touchpad simply seems too small. Even the Dell Mini 9, which has a frame that’s an inch smaller than the IdeaPad S10-2, sports a larger touchpad. I often felt constrained and ran into the small raised border surrounding the touchpad when making quick movements. There’s support for the pinch multi-touch gesture to zoom in or out, which is an appreciated addition. The dedicated scroll region unfortunately limits the area available for regular movements even further. Implementing a two finger scroll could potentially have saved some space. The left and right-click keys were thankfully the best part of the touchpad area. They offer a nice quick click for feedback when pressed. Both the keys are large enough for regular use and are easily accessible. Lenovo should have allocated more space for the touchpad as they have with the new IdeaPad S10-3.

Display – 3/5 stars
The display on the IdeaPad S10-2 isn’t too extraordinary. It’s an average 10.1 inch glossy screen with LED back-lighting running at a 1024 x 600 resolution. There’s nothing that truly sets it apart from other netbook screens. The display is recessed into the casing with a thick surrounding bezel. Most new laptops and netbooks manufacturers are opting for the cleaner look of an edge-to-edge display with a single piece of glass. Although this display is glossy, it isn’t too difficult to use in bright rooms, but will almost always look dull under direct sunlight. The blacks are also brought out further due to the glossy screen. If you look closely, the grid-line appearance of the pixel arrangement is more noticeable than on other displays. The viewing angles are not a problem if the IdePad is on your lap or on a table directly in front of you. However, the colors quickly begin to deteriorate if the screen is tilted forwards or backwards. Fortunately, horizontal viewing angles are good enough to accommodate a person sitting besides you.

Speakers – 2.5/5 stars
As with most netbooks which are tight on space, the speakers on the IdeaPad are into a poor location. Instead of facing the user, the speakers are currently pointing downwards. Everything sounds muffled if the netbook is on your lap, on a bed, or a sofa. However, it wasn’t much of a problem if it’s on a desk since the netbook’s “feet” create enough of a gap. But the speakers could have definitely been outfitted in a better location. There’s nothing spectacular about the audio quality and the midrange is mediocre, but it’s not a problem for enjoying Hulu, YouTube, and other web video content. They get loud enough and get the job done. The audio card is decent and if you plugin a decent pair of headphones, everything sounds vastly better. Plus, you won’t be disturbing others either.

Webcam & Microphone – 3/5 stars
There’s no better way to put a webcam and microphone to the test without using Skype. I opted to use the 4.2 beta version that supports HD-like video quality. Although this laptop only has an underpowered .3 megapixel resolution camera, I hoped to stream some quality video. Unfortunately, I found myself quite disappointed with the quality. Images were dark, grainy, and pixelated even in a bright room. It’s definitely a problem if you can’t make out a face easily. After using this, I couldn’t possibly appreciate that improvements a decent 1.3 megapixel camera offers more. As for the microphone, it was actually fairly clear for conversations. If you want a better microphone, you can always plugin either a USB microphone or an analog one into the line-in port. But for the most part, the microphone will do just fine for having a voice conversation with someone from a quiet office setting.

The IdeaPad S10-2 also came with a VeriFace facial recognition login security software. I programmed it to myself to give it a run. Although I had never tried it, I was quite impressed with the convince factor. Just sit in front of the laptop and it jumps past the Windows XP sign-on screen in just a few seconds. To test it further, I had a few friends try their faces in place of mine. I’m Indian and I was glad to see that the software immediately dismissed all three friends who were Vietnamese, Palestinian, and Caucasian respectively. I then had another Indian friend try logging in and after a few failed attempts, it randomly decided to let him in. We attempted to reproduce the occurrence, but weren’t able to do so. While VeriFace was convenient, I don’t know all the details on the platform’s security precautions and I feel we should probably give this technology some more time in the oven.

Operating System – 3/5 stars
When the IdeaPad S10-2 came in from Lenovo, it furnished a bloated version of Windows XP Home. There were nearly 55 processes running and it was a mess. Some of these apps included an older version of Symantec Anti-Virus, a trial version of Microsoft Office, MSN Messenger, some browser toolbars, and a few often unused Adobe programs. A clean install of the same operating system on a netbook generally has about 30 processes running at startup with drivers and essential programs installed. For an experiment, I opted to install Windows 7 Professional for further tests. It installed surprisingly quickly and worked seamlessly. Just about all the drivers were automatically configured. Although the Windows Index Rating was a minimal 2.0, it still managed to run Aero for translucency and effects. Surprisingly, even Windows Media Center 7 ran fairly well. The largest downside of Windows 7 is RAM consumption, nearly using twice as much as XP, there’s not much left over for programs. I would highly recommend stripping out the 1GB dimm and upgrading to 2GB if you want to run Windows 7. For the most part, Windows XP still works great for netbooks and should be able to accommodate the average user’s needs. Although manufacturers are loading Windows 7 Starter on new netbooks, I would have been happy to use XP on this netbook if it weren’t filled with nearly as much bloatware. Lenovo should consider the toll bloatware takes on a netbook’s performance and battery life.

Performance – 4/5 stars
The IdeaPad S10-2 performs on par with most netbooks on the market. The lack of a SSD might make it take slightly longer for startup or shutdown, but it was still faster at both than my Dell XPS M1530. The laptop recovers from standby in just a second or two at max. Firefox played fairly well, but would often freeze up while the CPU catches up if I had too many tabs open. The currently stable version of Adobe Flash doesn’t have GPU acceleration so 480p Hulu videos were often hard for the netbook to digest. It would begin to jitter for a few seconds every few minutes. Although programs like VLC were able to handle playing large video files smoothly, the laptop really can’t handle Full HD 1080p content yet. However this netbook works great for word processing, web browsing, and a lightweight entertainment.

In terms of raw performance, the Atom N270 processor performed on par with just about all the other netbooks we’ve tested using the same CPU. See the image above for numbers. To my surprise, the 160GB 5400RPM hard drive was faster than the 200GB 7200RPM one in my Dell XPS M1530, so no complains there. The device did begin to get somewhat warm near the HDD when stressing it with resource intensive applications, however wasn’t anywhere close to being unbearable. That fan is to take credit for that and thankfully it was fairly silent as well. Some netbooks I’ve tested have gotten awful warm and become difficult to hold.

Battery Life – 5/5 stars
I was quite impressed with how long this laptop would keep running for. With Windows 7, I achieved a little over 6 hours with brightness lowered to about 25%, volume off, and WiFi on. I spend most of the time typing documents and browsing the web. I also achieved close to the same amount when I took this along with me to the Consumer Electronics Show to live-blog a few press conference using a Sprint 4G USB modem. I should mention that the original operating system, Windows XP, offered even more efficiency clocking in at 7 hours. In contrast, my Dell Mini 9 with a 4-cell battery only offers about 4 hours of battery life. If you plan to watch a CPU intensive flash video on Hulu or heavily multitask, the 6-7 hour run-time is not realistic. But for the most part, the 6-cell 47WHr battery is quite impressive. As the next generation of netbooks are beginning to reach the 10 hour mark, I couldn’t be more excited. However, I’m still turned off by the fact that this battery obtrudes from the shape and design of the IdeaPad S10-2.

Bottom Line
A netbook is by no means a replacement to a full computer. The IdeaPad S10-2 is a great complement for students to take notes in class, for business users to take on trips, and for young children to play around. I was quite satisfied with the style, durability, and quality of this netbook. With a superb battery life, you won’t be disappointed or looking for an outlet on those long commutes or trips. While the extended battery is a bit obtrusive, the benefits of the added run time outweigh the bulk. I was upset to find excessive bloatware and would highly recommend performing a clean install with the latest drivers and programs. The IdeaPad S10-2 price starts at just $330 through Lenovo.com and the specific configuration we reviewed is available for $300 on Amazon. The laptop is available in a few colors: Grey, Black, White, Pink and designer covers. Upgrades including a boost to Windows 7 Starter, a slightly faster CPU, Bluetooth, and a few other features are available. When it comes down to it, if you need a laptop that’s compact, affordable, and durable, you won’t go wrong with Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10-2.

Buy: IdeaPad S10-2 Netbook
Links: Lenovo.com IdeaPad S10-2

In addition to the new Atom processor, the 2010 refresh of Mini 10 claims up to 9.5 hours of battery life (6-cell), a new Broadcom HD media accelerator, surround sound, an optional built-in HDTV tuner, Bluetooth, and  WiFi with a GPS module. The Mini 10 is also available with Mobile Broadband as well. The current lineup looks like it will be available in 6 colors: Blue, Red, Pink, Green, Black and White.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Specs:

• Processor: Intel Intel Atom N450 @ 1.66 GHz
• Display: 10.1-inch 1024×600 or ‘HD’ 1366×768
• Sound: Built-in speakers with SRS Surround sound
• Extras: HDTV tuner and location-aware GPS
• Media: Broadcom Crystal HD for smooth HD playback
• Wireless: WiFi b/g + Bluetooth + Mobile Broadband
• RAM: 1GB DDR2 @ 800MHz
• Storage: 160GB or 250GB HDD
• Battery: 3 or 6-cell integrated with up to 9.5 hours
• OS: Windows 7 Starter, XP Home, or Ubuntu
• Weight: About 2.75 – 3.1 pounds (with 3-cell batter)

As Dell expects the starting price to begin at just $299, these should be a big hit. It might be time for me to upgrade my Dell Mini 9 soon. In addition, just about every other laptop maker should have a new iteration of their lineup freshly packed with the Intel Atom N450 available at some point next month. We’re publishing a few reviews of the Netbooks in the coming week. Plus, we’ll be on the show floor of the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010 bringing you the latest.

Link: Dell.com | Netbook Gift Guide

Project Colossus
To meet our needs, The Colossus had to be a versatile powerhouse that could multitask like no other with an emphasis on CPU rendering, all within my budget. I decided to go with a dual-socket Intel e5500 platform, keeping the cost to performance ratio in mind to avoid diminishing returns. Data redundancy was a must and extra scavenged hard drives are used to help keep costs down. After putting a plan together, it was time to do some shopping.

The Hardware:

• Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840 ($199.99)
• Motherboard: Supermicro X8DA3 ($449.99)
• CPU: (2x) Intel e5520 80w ($384.99 each)
• RAM: (2x) 3×2GB Wintec Industries ECC Registered DDR3-1333 ($199.99 each)
• CPU Heatsink: (2x) Noctua NH-U12DX ($69.99 each)
• Video Card: XFX ATI HD5870 ($379.99)
• PSU: OCZ Z Series Gold 1000W modular ($299.99)
• Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc 24x ($32.99)
• SSD + HDD:
  • -Intel x25-m G2 160GB ($479.40)
  • -Western Digital 1TB Black Caviar ($99.99)
  • -Western Digital 1TB RE3 Enterprise (2x) ($159.99 each)
  • -Western Digital 320GB Black Caviar (2x) ($64.99 each)
  • -Western Digital 500GB ($69.99)
• Miscelaneous:
  • Rosewill PCI RAID Controller ($19.99)
  • ICY DOCK 2.5″ to 3.5″ Drive Adapter ($24.99)

Total Cost: $3,835.21

Drive Configuration
To get the most out of our hardware and prevent a performance bottleneck, our operating system main drive will use a solid state drive (SSD). Unlike mechanical hard disk drives (HDD) that use physical platters, SSDs use flash-memory based storage that gives them much faster read and write speeds and incredible random access times, albeit at a premium price–$3.00/GB compared to around $0.10/GB for HDDs. We’re using a 160 GB Intel x25-m G2, the latest iteration of Intel’s MLC flash memory SSDs.

The latest firmware update for x25-m G2 drives enables TRIM support in Windows 7, hopefully without bricking the drive, as the first firmware update did with an unfortunate few. Along with TRIM support for Windows 7, Intel has provided a toolbox suite to execute a manual TRIM operation in XP and Vistato retain optimal drive performance. This will, for the most part, help the drive avoid the inherent performance degradation in all SSDs that occurs over time.

Whenever data has significant value, it’s wise to back it up. We’re going to do just that on the fly with data redundancy using two RAID 1 arrays, where the data on each drive is mirrored to another in case of drive failure. Using three 1 TB HDDs in RAID 5 was considered, but the cost of an extra drive and more substantially, the cost of a decent RAID 5 controller made RAID 1 our best option. Our two arrays consisted of a 320GB array, used for personal documents, and a 1TB array using Western Digital RE3 enterprise grade drives, that will store project files accessed by editing, modeling and rendering software. I also wanted plenty of space to store non-vital data, such as movies and music. For that I used a lone 1 TB and 500 GB drives.

This configuration already presented a problem simply because many of the dual-socket Intel 5500 motherboards only have six SATA ports and once we add a SATA optical drive, it will need eight. To solve this, I used an inexpensive 1.5 GB/s PCI RAID controller with two SATA ports and one IDE port that will also give us backwards compatibility with older drives. Despite its limitations, it’s just what we need for storage drives that won’t require high-speed transfer or complex RAID setups.

Building The Colossus
The Supermicro X8DA3 is a large eATX board, sized to accommodate two e5500 series Xeon processors and up to 96GB of ECC Registered memory, you read that right, ninety-six gigabytes. Supermicro had a particularly small list of tested compatible memory for the X8DA3, so we made our best guess with what was easily available. 12GB of Patriot ECC Registered memory was initially used, but ended up being swapped out for 12GB of Wintec Industries ECC Registered RAM due to incompatibility issues.

Taking a look at the board, right away we can see that the location of the 1394 FireWire pinouts is problematic as they get covered by whatever is placed in the secondary PCI-E 16x slot. On the bottom right corner of the board there’s an SAS controller under the green heatsink and ports to support up to eight SCSI drives. Supermicro actually makes an identical board, the X8DAi, that omits the SAS controller. Because of a discount, they just happened to both cost the same at the time of our hardware purchase and who are we to pass up SAS support?

The Noctua NH-U12DX CPU heatsinks we’re using are server variants of the popular Noctua NH-U12P. They’re certainly overkill, but oh so quiet. To have access to the primary PCI-E 16x slot and the CPU1 8pin power slot, we’ve opted for an odd heatsink and fan placement where one fan pushes air through the heatsink and the other pulls air through, both bringing hot air towards the top of the case where it’s exhausted by the Cooler Master ATCS 840’s two massive 23cm fans. That brings up the topic of our choice of case.

A full tower was the only option short of a rackmount that will fit an eATX board. There’s a substantial difference in size between a mid-tower ATX case and the ACTS 840 full tower. This thing could eat a mid-tower and still have room left over. It’s beautifully clean aluminum exterior does away with the plethora of plastic vents, lights and other cheap aesthetics that seems to plague cases these days. Additionally, the ATCS 840 has a removable tray which made life easier when installing the RAM, processors and heatsinks, not to mention the clip-on heatsink fans.

The OCZ Z Series Gold 1000W was chosen for its high efficiency and modular cabling. For a 1 kW PSU, it’s surprisingly small and light. Because The Colossus will also be used as a render rig, it may be at a heavy load 24 hours a day for weeks at a time, that means an efficient PSU is crucial. With an 80 Plus Gold rating, the OCZ ZSeries Gold 1000W has been reported to run at 87% efficiency at low and peak loads and barely surpass 90% during optimal loading conditions. The power savings alone easily justify the higher cost and the modular cable system helped keep the case clean and was easier to work with.

The ATI HD5870
Certainly the most controversial piece of hardware in our rig is the video card, ATI’s new-to-market HD5870, the most powerful single GPU card available and is currently in short supply–which would explain why it’s retail price has raised from $379.99 to $429.99 since we bought it, making it the best hardware investment we ever made.

Remember that even though Project Colossus is all about building a high performance computer, as a workstation, it should be a stable work platform. Using a brand new piece of hardware (with brand new drivers) as critical as the video card is questionable, traditionally one would use a professional workstation card that’s designed specifically to work with simulation, modeling and rendering software. So, are we crazy or something? While The Colossus is a workstation, our goal was to build an all around power platform for both work and play. For the same price as the HD5870, we would have been able to afford something along the lines of a Quadro FX 1800, which should deliver gaming performance close to the midrange 9600GSO, another G94b GPU based card. All in all, a desktop card is a compromise, trading professional software performance for gaming performance. It’s still a new card with potentially unstable and/or incompatible drivers. We could have gone with a card in the HD4000 or GT200 series that would have had mature drivers. So, why the HD5870? Because we’re crazy.

Now that The Colossus put together, it’s time to test it and offer some juicy benchmark results. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we make your computer look puny.

Earlier this month, Lenovo rolled out the IdeaPad S10, an entry-level ultra-portable laptop. The IdeaPad S10 sub-notebook is primarily intended for those getting into computing for the first time and for those seeking a secondary portable laptop. The laptop will allow performing simple tasks such as browsing the web, accessing emails, listening to music, and running basic applications. For college students, this S10 is a great tool to take notes in class and have WiFi internet access when away from their desk especially since it is just an inch thick and weighs approximately 2 pounds.

The IdeaPad’s keyboard is about 85% the size of a standard keyboard, so typing won’t be too difficult. The 10 inch display has a 1024×600 pixel resolution making it large enough to view most web pages and since it’s LED backlit, battery life will also be conserved. The laptop has the standard WiFi b/g networks built in, however it also supports use of Mobile Broadband through the Express Card slot. The laptop also features the standard tools such as a microphone, a webcam, a speaker, audio in/out, two USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader, and a VGA display output.

The S10 comes with Windows XP, which is still the most popular OS, so there shouldn’t be any complains. The performance won’t be too slow for basic apps, considering that it is running a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom processor with 512MB of RAM. (Upgradeable to 1GB+) The notebook doesn’t sport a Solid State Drive (SSD), but rather a standard 80GB 5400RPM HDD. Laptop Mag has a video of it booting up in about 35 seconds. The only downside might be battery life. A 3 cell battery apparently provides only 2.5 hours worth of juice. The unit comes in White, Black, and Red with more choices down the road.

The laptop has current MSRP of $400 for the current configuration option. Customization will become available later on. Units are expected to reach customers by early to mid-September. As implied in the title, Lenovo is now taking in pre-orders on their website for this notebook. We’ll be trying to get a hold of a unit for review soon, so keep checking back! Dell’s mini-Insprion (aka Inspirion 910) launch seems to be imminent and rumors indicate a $300 starting price point!

Links: Lenovo.com

I was in the market to buy a new laptop earlier this year and I came down to comparing to machines: the Dell XPS M1530 and the Apple MacBook Pro. I compared both of them to every aspect I could possibly come up with. Anyways both machines recently have received some upgrades so I thought I should update both comparison lists for those of you who might be looking for a new 15-inch notebook.

Update 4/20/08: Dell is now offering a 1440×900 LED and 1920×1080 Full HD displays.

I gave Apple a point for the Screen since they offer a non-glossy option which I truly prefer due to glare. Dell was expected to push out a LED screen over a month ago, however it hasn’t happened yet. The body of the MacBook Pro is cleaner, simpler, and lighter compared to the XPS 1530. In terms of Operating Systems, if you want OS X Leopard, chances are you won’t be able to get it working on a XPS; however it should a breeze to install Vista/XP on a MacBook Pro with Boot Camp. Leopard can use 4GB of RAM; however you’ll need 64-bit editions of Vista or XP to utilize all of it. Dell offers many more options for HDDs including a 64GB SSD which would be unusual for a 15-inch laptop. Dell also lets you turn your XPS into a Blu-ray player with an optional Blu-ray read/write drive which is great for watching high definition movies. I was irritated to find out that the XPS didn’t have gigabit Ethernet, which is great for transferring large files on a local network, especially when most new laptops have it. Apple won the keyboard war with its beautiful backlit keyboard with an ambient light sensor. However the XPS makes up with a Finger Print Sensor, which is great for bypassing typing passwords when people are around, and a better Web Camera. The XPS comes with a media remote control which tucks away into the express card slot while Apple now charges an additional $20 for their Front Row remote. The XPS M1530 can also be configured with a Sprint or Verizon mobile broadband card which will utilize the laptop’s antennas for better signal gain. I choose the 6-cell battery for the XPS since it was the best one which didn’t stick out. It offered only 2.5 hours of work time while the MacBook Pro gets about 3 hours.

If you didn’t already notice, there’s one major factor I left out on the chart: price. This part is what made me make my final decision which was to go with the Dell M1530. Dell offered a pretty good student discount in addition to their constant promotions. Apple also offers such discounts, but are incomparable to what Dell offers. With both configured to the highest similar specifications, the MacBook Pro was getting very close to $3000 while the Dell XPS was about $500 cheaper costing about $2500. In addition for those of you on a strict budget like I was, there’s more flexibility to remove unneeded components with the Dell to bring the price down. Anyways, that’s my two cents so please feel free to make comments.

Links: Apple MacBook Pro | Dell XPS M1530

It’s been a while since we’ve heard some positive news from the AMD camp, who’ve had a tough time recently. Back in 2005, the company was slowly eating away at Intel’s market share with their high performance processors. But sadly, this advancement woke up a slumbering giant. Intel responded swiftly and without an inkling mercy. Their launched a brand new Core 2 Duo, which rapidly fought back the AMD advancement and Intel hasn’t halted since. In addition AMD had an even more difficult time figuring out how to cut prices to create a comparatively better value than their large competitor.

Fortunately, the engineers over at AMD weren’t just sitting around; they were hard at work drafting plans for a counteroffensive. The weapon, you ask? “Barcelona”: the first ever native x86 quad-core microprocessor. “Designed from inception for the most demanding datacenters,” ready to battle Intel over every server socket with incredible energy efficiency and cost. Expect to start seeing these processors in server-oriented desktops, codenamed “phenom,” by December 2007.

That is AMD’s plan, anyway. If you’re eager to learn more about the new chips and their prices, processing speeds, and plenty more head on over to Tech-Talkers.com.

The New Apple iMac:
Apple’s sleeker and aluminum-enclosed iMac now sports Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo Extreme Processors, which support running up to speeds of 2.8GHz. The machine is a powerhouse as it has room for up to 4GB of RAM and 1 Terabyte (TB) of internal storage! With a fast processor, enough RAM, and storage space, the 265MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO makes the iMac perfect for video editing. In addition the iMac now comes standard with a built-in iSight, Bluetooth 2.0, 8x Dual Layer DVD/CD Burner, AirPort 802.11n (+ a/b/g), Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 400 & 800 ports, 3 USB ports, Stereo Speakers and a Microphone. Although Mac OS X Leopard won’t be available until this October, it will still be able to run both iLife and iWork 2008. The new iMac is available with a 20-inch or a 24-inch display. Pricing for the 20-inch starts at $1,199 while the 24-inch begins at a whopping $1,799.

The iMac can also become truly cable-free if you spend an extra $50 to replace the wired mouse and keyboard with Apple’s Mighty Mouse and new Wireless Keyboard, which connect to the computer’s internal Bluetooth receiver. In addition the ultra-thin aluminum keyboard includes special function keys such as brightness/volume control, disk eject, iTunes play/pause, Exposé, and more!

iLife 2008:
As iLife has been one of Apple’s strongest selling point for the Mac OS X, it was only appropriate that they released the 2008 edition just in time for the launch of Leopard in October. This upgrade brings a ton of new features to iPhoto and in fact completely redesigns iMovie. The main feature Steve Jobs touched on during his press conference was iPhoto’s ability to automatically organize libraries of photos into events based off time stamps. Events can be split into multiple events and separate ones can be merge back together and named accordingly. With this new feature users may now search for a event’s name and find a neat set of photo instead of having to search through filenames directly. Once photos are rated using the new star rating system, users can hide photos that they don’t like, but do not want to delete. (Just like the system in iTunes) And as for iMovie, the application now supports importing video from just about any HD camcorder in addition to DV and clips from Digital Cameras. With the new faster and more efficient interface, users can quickly skim through clips, preview the movie, drag/drop to re-organize clips, add tracks from iTunes, create voice overs, and use the new effects. The exporting function has been improved to support the iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, and YouTube formats in addition CD/DVD.

And as a bonus for .Mac subscribers, iLife 08 will support easy uploading to share Photos and Videos with both Mac and Windows users. iLife also includes an updated iWeb with new interactive Widgets and an updated GarageBand. iLife is now available online and in stores for a retail price of $79.

iWork 2008:

“Pages and Keynote make it incredibly easy, and even fun, for anyone to create stylish documents and presentations very quickly,” said Steve Jobs, Apples CEO “Numbers rounds out the iWork suite, which is far more intuitive and easy to use than anything else out there.”

And the final announcement was the new iWork 2008, which includes a new innovative spreadsheet application called Numbers and upgraded versions of Keynote and Pages. Numbers features a new concept called Intelligent Tables, which is supposedly revolutionary, while Keynote got new effects/transitions/animations and Pages got a word processing and a page layout mode. iWork 08 also retails for a price of $79 and is also available online and in stores now!

Links: Apple iMac | iLife 2008 | iWork 2008 | Keyboards

Today at the WWDC “06 Keynote, Apple announced the long awaited Mac Pro. The new Mac Pro, a G5 replacement, features a Intel Dual Core Xeon 3GHz Processor, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA 512MB Video Card, Up To 2TB (terabytes) of Storage, a 16x Dual Layer DVD SuperDrive, and PCI Express Expansion Slots. This new 64bit system is supposedly 2x the speed of the top of the line configuration of its predecessor. Also note that with the launch of this machine, Apple has finally fully transitioned over to Intel.

Apple Mac Pro Specs:

• Processor: Two 2/2.66/3GHz Dual Core Intel Xeon
• Memory: 2GB / 4GB / 8GB / 16GB Configurations
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB w/ Dual-DVI
• Displays: Dual-Screen Support (8 displays max)
• Hard Drive: Max 2TB (w/ 4 bays 500GB in each)
• SuperDrive: 16x DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW (2 max)
• Wireless: Bluetooth 2.0 + AirPort Extreme 802.11b/g
• Wired Communication: Two 1GB Ethernet / Optional Modem
• Peripherals: 2 FireWire 800 / 2 FireWire 400 / 5 USB 2.0
• Audio: Analog In/Out + Optical Digital In/Out
• Software: Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger

As stated at the keynote, the Mac Pro will begin to ship today and pricing will start at $2,500 with the bare minimum configuration. Apple also released a new Mac OS Xserve Server and previewed the upcoming Mac OS X Leopard. Getting back on track, this is an extremely powerful machine and therefore is expensive. However if you are like most average consumers you probably can’t afford to spend that much. I wouldn’t worry because knowing Apple, they most likley release a new product called the “Mac” within a few months just as they did by launching a low-end “MacBook” after the launch of the pricey “MacBook Pro”.

Links: Apple Mac Pro | Mac Pro Specs
Related: Apple Press Release | Bluetooth Mighty Mouse

Today, 05/16/06, Apple announced the second line of Intel Core Processor based laptops. The new “MacBook” line is more affordable than the MacBook Pros which were released in January. Although the MacBooks are cheaper and more compact, the new line now lacks many features and has less power than the MacBook Pros. The MacBooks have a 13″ widescreen display and are available in 1.83/2.0 GHz models and comes in two colors, black and white. (The MacBook is a replacment to the iBook)

The new MacBooks have many of the features the MacBook Pros had such as the built-in iSight camera, Front Row media center, Mag Safe power adaptor, FireWire, WiFi 802.11g, and Bluetooth. The white model is available in 1.83GHz for $1,099 and 2.0GHz for $1,299. The slightly higher-end black MacBook also has 2.0GHz processor, but costs $1,499 because of an extra 20GB of storage. MacBooks are customizable and are available 512MB-2GB RAM, 60-120GB HDD, 4x-8x DVD±RW Drive, and a 64MB Intel Video Card. If you do plan to order one you are in luck, Apple has stated that orders placed today will be delivered by the end of the week.

Links: Apple MacBook | MacBook Tech Specs
More: Apple Store | Comparision Chart | MacBook Pro
Related: 17″ MacBook Pro | Boot Camp

Today, 04.24.06, Apple unveiled a new 17″ MacBook Pro, which is about 5x faster than the original 15″ model. The new MacBook Pro has a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor, a whopping 1680×1050 display, 1GB RAM, 8x Dual-Layer SuperDrive, ATI Mobility Radeon 256MB, and a 120GB Hard Drive. This new laptop will run you about $2,799, but the specs speak for themselves. Although many were hoping for a smaller and cheaper MacBook Pro, a larger and more expensive one was released. However, this may be popular for those that wish to have a powerful portable machine that can now run both Mac OS X and Windows XP. Overall this new addition is an exact replica of the previous 15″ models, which still exist, except this model has a bigger/brighter display and better hardware specs. The 17″ MacBook Pro still has all standard MacBook Pro features such as the iSight Cam, MagSafe Power, Front Row Remote, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. If you do wish to purchase it, Apple will begin shipping them next week.

Links: Apple MacBook Pro | Apple Store
Coverage: Gizmodo | Engadget | TUAW | Slashdot
Related: Boot Camp | MacBook Problems

04.13.06 – Mozilla has just released a minor, but important update for Firefox. In this version, 1.5.0.2, Mozilla has made the application more stable and has several security fixes. However, the importance goes to the Macintosh edition, which now has native Universal Binary support for Intel-based Mac OS X machines. This means Firefox will be much faster and users will see much better performance than before because it no longer needs to run through Apple’s emulator (rosetta). This update is not that important for Windows users, but ALL Intel Mac OS X should update right away. (If you have Firefox 1.5 or above go to Help -> Check For Updates)

Links: Mozilla Firefox | Release Notes
Recent: Firefox 1.5 Released | Firefox Extensions

On Wednesday, (04/05/06), Apple released a new program, Boot Camp, which allows running Microsoft Windows on any of their Intel-based machines. Although the software is still in BETA, Apple has already included most of the standard drivers necessary to run Windows on their hardware. Boot Camp works by allowing the user to choose from either Mac OS X or Windows XP during startup. The performance of Windows XP on the Intel-based Macs should be equivalent to any standard Windows Computer since it is not emulation, but runs natively. People who want to dual boot on these new Intel-based machines will need to purchase a new copy of either Windows XP Home/Pro (Full Edition).

“Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple’s superior hardware,” Philip Schiller – Apple VP Marketing

A few weeks ago a hackers figured out how to do this using his own boot loader, but there was a risk of damaging machine data since it wasn’t created by Apple. Since this is an official update, which is supported by Apple, any Intel-Mac owner can safely create a dual boot. Apple has included every tool necessary, even including an easy to use partioner, making it simple for even novice computer users to use. If you do own a Intel Mac and want to run XP, I do recommend downloading Boot Camp (83MB) since it is very easy to setup and is completely free.

Links: Apple Boot Camp BETA
Related: Uneasy Slience Installation Video Tutorial

Today (February 28, 2006), Apple announced two new products at a special Apple event. The first product was an Intel based Mac mini (Intel Core processors) and the second was a stereo system called the iPod Hi-Fi (compatible with all iPods). Another minor release was $99 leather cases for the iPod nano & video.

“Fifty percent of our entire product line is now available with Intel processors, in less than sixty days,” – Steve Jobs, Apple CEO

Two versions of the Intel Core Mac Mini were announced. The first one has a 1.5GHz Intel Single Core processor, 60GB hd, DVD/CDRW, and costs $599. The second edition has a 1.67GHz Intel Dual Core processor, 80GB hd, dual-layer DVD±RW/CDRW, and costs $799. Both have 512MB of ram and an Intel 64MB graphics card. They also have WiFi, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 400, and more. The Mac Mini now has an infrared port for the remote which controls the Front Row program that it now includes. Front Row allows easy access to photos, music, and movies; a new feature now allows sharing content across networks.

The second product was the iPod Hi-Fi. The Hi-Fi is a stereo set, which as a dock atop to connect either the iPod nano or video. (iPod shuffle can be plugged in using a port on the back) When the iPod is plugged in, the backlight will be turned on and album art will be displayed. (will also charge your iPod) The Hi-Fi can also run on 6 D-cell batteries, but is unlikely most will carry such large speakers around. (17″x 6.6″x 6.9″) This is pretty much an expensive Apple branded pointless speaker set to compete with 3-party devices.

Overall the entire “special” event was a disappointment. The Mac Mini with an Intel processor was expected to be released eventually just as an Intel based Mac G5 is expected. Next, the iPod Hi-Fi was a completely pointless invention and is way too expensive for anyone. Finally, the new leather iPod case is unusable while in the case, making it useless! Therefore, nothing really impressive was announced at the keynote.

Links: Mac Mini | iPod Hi-Fi | Leather Case
Related: Apple.com | Apple Store
Recent: A Faster MacBook Pro | 1GB iPod Nano

Apple first announced the MacBook Pro in MacWorld in early January this year. This laptop was the first computer from Apple to be using an Intel Processor (Core Duo). The first two models Apple released offered either a 1.67 or a 1.83 GHz processor. The new faster model, which is now available on the Apple Store, has a 2.0 GHz processor. Apple also allows upgrading the 2.0 GHz processor to a 2.16 GHz processor for an additional $300. The 1.67 GHz model has been replaced with the 1.83 GHz model at no additional cost. Many will soon be upset with Apple for releasing a new MacBook Pro so fast and even before most pre-orders have even been shipped. Apple also stated that they would upgrade all the 1.67 GHz models that have not yet been shipped to a 1.83 GHz processor. More news should be released soon, so check back for updates.

Update: MacBook Pros are actually suppose to start to ship this week!

Links: Apple MacBook Pro | Buy at Apple Store
Related: Apple Announces 1GB iPod Nano