cwa107's Profile

  • Nov 16, 2009
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Latest comments made by: cwa107

  • Ironic, Dell just shut down the last of its US based manufacturing yesterday and is now no more unique than any other PC box assembler out there. At one time Dell made decent machines that were highly serviceable, backed by excellent customer service. Today the Dell logo will be slapped on any old piece of crap that competes in the low to no margin market. If any company should heed their own advice, it should be Dell.
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on Oct 08, 2009 Posts: 8
    October 6, 1997: Michael Dell offers Guidance for Apple Executives
  • Has HP ever actually led in any consumer space it has ever entered?
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on Sep 07, 2009 Posts: 8
    September 3, 2005, HP Explains Why It Dropped the iPod
  • The edges on the non-unibody MBPs are less than comfortable too. I can't imagine that the unibody edges are worse. Definitely food for thought. That's one thing that's always annoyed me about my 15" MacBook Pros. I do think the glossy screen is a very personal preference. I'll happily trade glare issues for the seemingly sharper picture, superior contrast and better astethics of the glossy display. My first MacBook Pro had a matte display (bought it refurbished) and having used a glossy machine prior to that, I always found it to be washed out and grainy looking. As far as the battery life is concerned, you're shooting yourself in the foot running Parallels while using the battery. Hardware abstraction requires CPU cycles, plain and simple. If you really use Windows that frequently, I'd strongly suggest spending some quality time looking for Mac replacements for your Windows software. I can think of few programs that don't have an (often superior) Mac alternative. Also, I use Firefox and Safari on battery all the time and don't find them to be a drain. In fact, I get a solid 4 hours of battery life on my 15" early-2008 MacBook Pro, even with a battery that's got over 100 cycles on it.
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on Aug 13, 2009 Posts: 8
    MacBook Pro: Warts and All
  • And how right he was (OK, not on his choice of dress, but certainly the latter comment).
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on Jun 11, 2009 Posts: 8
    June 10, 2000: Gassee Bashes Microsoft
  • @Ken I think the distinction between Microsoft forcing users to pay for what is more or less a refined version of the previous OS and what Apple is doing with OS X, is that in Apple's case, each of their major releases have been feature-rich and worthy of the relatively low asking price (usually $129). Comparing Vista to 7, there's really not much new in terms of features. Yes, there are welcome refinements in the GUI, and performance improvements are substantial, but there's nothing new to see here from an architecture or feature standpoint. Now if Grand Central, OpenCL and more thorough 64-bit support don't mean much to you, the same could be argued of Leopard vs. Snow Leopard - but we don't know how that's going to be priced either. Regardless, my main point remains the same, Apple has ceded no ground to Microsoft.
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on Jun 04, 2009 Posts: 8
    Snow Leopard and Windows 7: Two Flavors of the Same GUI
  • The fact is, Windows 7 is merely a spit shine on Vista. The tired, old NT kernel that has underpinned every Windows OS since 2000 remains relatively unchanged, and continues to underpin Windows 7. This is a significant problem, because truth be told, Windows has never handled multi-processing very well. As the x86 world continues to steer down the path of massive parallelism, this becomes increasingly important. Unfortunately, aside from the addition of GPU-based computing in DirectX, Microsoft has failed to address this inadequacy. Apple, on the other hand, took a step back with Snow Leopard and concentrated less on flashy new features and more on architecture. In particular, Grand Central and OpenCL will be a boon to developers, who until now, have basically had to address the challenges of multiprocessing within their applications. Now, for what it's worth, I agree - Windows 7 is a solid release from Microsoft. It's at least as good as XP was when it was first released, and it's definitely leaner and more polished than Vista. But how do you market a product like that after the travesty that was/is Vista? "Hey everybody, we FINALLY fixed Vista, and if you want to see what it should have been like in the first place, purchase a $200+ copy of Windows 7!!". Needless to say, it should be interesting to watch - but I don't think Apple is in any danger of losing the high ground - not by a long shot.
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on Jun 04, 2009 Posts: 8
    Snow Leopard and Windows 7: Two Flavors of the Same GUI
  • On the contrary, just about any wireless-equipped notebook sold for $50 would have caused a riot in 2001, when the majority of us were running desktops.
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on May 07, 2009 Posts: 8
    May 7, 2001: Henrico Public Schools go Mac
  • Most of your discussion assumes that a "budget Mac" must be a desktop. With notebooks now handily outselling desktops, and with the recent surge in popularity of netbooks, I would think that any analysis of a budget Mac should be focused on a portable of some sort. I know the Mac Netbook topic has been beaten to death, about as much as a mid-range Mac tower, but I just can't see Apple undercutting the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini *is* the budget Mac desktop, but Apple currently isn't competing in the sub-$1000(US) notebook market. I believe they could do that and still maintain very healthy margins. Perhaps it's time for a slash to the prices of the entire MacBook line, bringing the white MacBook down to $799.
    United Statescwa107 had this to say on May 04, 2009 Posts: 8
    What Would a Budget Mac Look Like?