Yep, they're at it again. Meet Lisa, a mom who thinks Apple computers are "popular at that age" (as she points to her whatever year old kid) and her son, Jackson, who wants a big hard drive, speed, and a computer that's good for gaming. What do they look at? Why, a Vista 64 laptop from Sony, of course! Doesn't everyone?
Unlike in the Giampaolo ad (surely you remember him? he's the "picky" and "technically savvy" guy who walked out of Fry's with an utter piece of slow heavy crap after saying he wanted speed and portability), these guys actually got a halfway decent machine. Of course, you'll never find that machine listed on the Laptop Hunters site; they don't put the machines there anymore, so you can't make fun as easily as you used to!
Either way, it has all the features of a typical "Laptop Hunters" ad. The stupid dig at Apple, the revelation that they need a PC, and the purchase of a PC at a big box store where your options are grossly limited to whatever they have in stock on the shelves. Should be interesting to find out, down the road, how well Jackson's gaming is going on a laptop (!?) running Windows Vista 64 (*sigh*), with a graphics chipset that's roughly 2 generations old (nice move). But hey, they have Blu Ray! On a 16.4" screen! With a remote!
Did I miss something and are Macs now suddenly great gaming computers? I know there are more games out now then there were two years ago, but it seems quite legitimate to go Windows if you want to play games. Sure, the ATI 3650 isn't top-end gaming graphics, but it should be decent enough for 1600 x 900 resolution. People like to play games, and for all the Mac platform is, it's not a gaming platform. I'm constantly surprised by the number of people that ask me questions about gaming on a netbook - even though it's the single worst platform for gaming put out in years, people still want to do it...and they're happy even if they're playing games at low resolutions, etc.
Oh, and by the way, which Mac laptops have Blu-ray playback again? Or a 16.4" wide screen display? I forget...
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Hmm, I guess that Microsoft needs to deduct extra charges for BluRay disks from their "Apple Tax" calculations. What, it's $48 a year extra for BluRay on Netflix now, right?
Windows gives you so many choices, including "pink". Thank goodness you can buy "pink".
Did I miss something and are Macs now suddenly great gaming computers? I know there are more games out now then there were two years ago, but it seems quite legitimate to go Windows if you want to play games. Sure, the ATI 3650 isn't top-end gaming graphics, but it should be decent enough for 1600 x 900 resolution. People like to play games, and for all the Mac platform is, it's not a gaming platform. I'm constantly surprised by the number of people that ask me questions about gaming on a netbook - even though it's the single worst platform for gaming put out in years, people still want to do it...and they're happy even if they're playing games at low resolutions, etc.
Oh, and by the way, which Mac laptops have Blu-ray playback again? Or a 16.4" wide screen display? I forget...
I never once said you wouldn't go to Windows for gaming, although I'd argue that computers in general suck for gaming anyway and you should by yourself a decent computer, an XBox, a PS3, and a Wii instead.
Truth is, this is a decent machine, as I said, but hardly a gaming machine. And no, Macs aren't great for gaming, although now, I reckon the integrated Nvidia 9400 in the lowest of low-end MacBooks would smoke the ATI card in that Sony. Secondly, yes, the 1660 x 900 could be lowered to play games, but why would you do that? If that's the plan, then the "small" Macbook would look just as good.
The Mac gaming landscape is getting better, though. I see plenty of newer titles in the Apple store, so unless Apple started selling Windows software, there are games out there. Maybe not the breadth and scope of the Windows world, but not completely absent, either.
I think the most interesting part of the Laptop Hunters site is that they aren't showing the machines these people buy on the page with their video anymore. I guess they got tired of getting beat up over the specs.
Oh yeah; one more thing... Who in the hell needs Bluray on a 16" display?
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
You won't find me defending this "Apple tax" push from Microsoft - there's a grain of truth to it, but they somehow inject that grain with a metric tonne of BS and made it seem like it's much bigger than it is. Yes, you pay more for the Apple ecosystem, but it's not as much of a spread as they're making it out to be.
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Originally Posted by doogald
Windows gives you so many choices, including "pink". Thank goodness you can buy "pink".
Why be derisive about colour choice? I always find it strange when people mock colour as a differentiator, as if it doesn't matter. Do you make fun of people who bought the black Macbook? Apple charged more for it, didn't they? So even the mighty Apple acknowledged that colour mattered to some people. And Apple's history with iMacs certainly showed that colour mattered. Need I even mention the iPod Nano colour range?
In the sub-$1000 price range, most computers run very similar hardware, so colour is a perfectly valid differentiator between one computer and another. A friend of mine bought a pink laptop for his wife - and the colour was the deciding factor in terms of which brand to choose. And why not? A Core 2 Duo CPU in one laptop is the same as the other. For Joe Consumer, most computer brands blur together and end up seeming pretty similar.
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...I'd argue that computers in general suck for gaming anyway and you should by yourself a decent computer, an XBox, a PS3, and a Wii instead.
That's a judgement call on your part. I think the 10+ million people playing MMORPGs around the world every month would disagree with you. I have an Xbox 360, and Gears of War 2 is huge fun on it - I wouldn't play that game on my PC. But I also play City of Heroes on my PC, and that game wouldn't be nearly as fun on an Xbox. Different games, different platforms. One isn't automatically better than the other - it depends on context. I personally do zero gaming on my laptops, but for some people, that's their only computer, so they'll be gaming on it...
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Originally Posted by Vincent Ferrari
...I reckon the integrated Nvidia 9400 in the lowest of low-end MacBooks would smoke the ATI card in that Sony.
But with what? Browser-based Flash games? There's so much less choice on the Mac for games, it hardly seems worthwhile comparing them. It's like me saying I have a V12, 1000hp engine but it takes ground-up unicorn horn to run...which means it's more or less useless. Without the games to run on it, that GPU isn't going to do anyone any good.
[I haven't done any comparisons of the top 10 selling games on Windows vs. what's available on the Mac, so I'm open to correction on this point if I'm wrong.]
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Originally Posted by Vincent Ferrari
Oh yeah; one more thing... Who in the hell needs Bluray on a 16" display?
Aww man, don't even go there...dismissing something out of hand as being useless just because you don't see personal value in it is ignorant - you're better than that! Everyone in the industry said the same thing about netbooks - look who's laughing now (that would be Asus).
I have a 17" laptop that I use to watch movies on when the wife and I go on driving-distance vacations, and it's great! I have a slowly growing collection of Blu-ray movies, so, guess what, I sure wish that laptop had a Blu-ray player in it. I tested an HP laptop last month, and it had an 18.4" screen at 1920 x 1080, and the Blu-ray movies looked GREAT on it. Anyone who says DVDs look the same as Blu-ray on a 16" or 18" screen doesn't know what they're talking about.
Just because Apple doesn't offer a techology, doesn't mean it's worthless - you know that. Apple has pioneered a lot of great technologies, but they've also missed the boat (purposefully on some, like Blu-ray) on a lot of technologies, and they deserve their lumps for that.
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Aww man, don't even go there...dismissing something out of hand as being useless just because you don't see personal value in it is ignorant - you're better than that! Everyone in the industry said the same thing about netbooks - look who's laughing now (that would be Asus).
No offense meant to anyone, but that's kinda what Vince does
As to the original question, considering that standard DVDs output at 720x576 or 720x480, Blu-Ray still makes sense. Especially since in some situations, such as airplanes or car rides, you will be pretty close to the display.
Just because Apple doesn't offer a techology, doesn't mean it's worthless - you know that.
I do know that, which makes me wonder why in one comment section of one post, you reminded me of it twice.
As for games, I admit it isn't "as good" and even said as much, but I'd say Command and Conquer and Spore are both new enough to disspell the myth that there are no Mac games. Then again, I also don't know a lot of people who play games on computers either (and not just people who have Macs; people in general). We could argue all day about the importance of computer gaming, but I can't help but feel that it's used more as a point against Macs than a point in favor of Windows. Maybe it's just the crowd I run with.
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
Aww man, don't even go there...dismissing something out of hand as being useless just because you don't see personal value in it is ignorant - you're better than that! Everyone in the industry said the same thing about netbooks - look who's laughing now (that would be Asus).
I'm not being ignorant, and I'm not dismissing. I'm literally asking the question: who the hell needs Blu Ray on a 16" laptop? There's a reason that Blu Ray hasn't taken off, dude, and contrary to people like you and I who won't watch one single thing if it isn't in HD, most people simply can't see the difference. Someone who buys an two-generation old laptop at a big box electronics store with a low-end video card probably isn't the most in need of Blu Ray.
Again, that's an assumption, not ingorance.
Blu Ray for data storage makes sense. Blu Ray for movies on a screen size and resolution of 16 inches seems, in my ignorant and uninformed opinion, like a waste of money whether or not Apple makes equivalent hardware.
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
No offense meant to anyone, but that's kinda what Vince does
Ummm... No offense, but it's my job. It's my job to analyze and bring things into context. Often that context includes my personal opinions, which is all anyone on here, including Jason, does. It's what makes it interesting. I could go all sterile and just report and not analyze, but I'd lose a hell of a lot of readers.
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Originally Posted by jdmichal
As to the original question, considering that standard DVDs output at 720x576 or 720x480, Blu-Ray still makes sense. Especially since in some situations, such as airplanes or car rides, you will be pretty close to the display.
Well then; if you're gonna be "generally" sitting that close to the screen, what do you need a remote control for?
Just sayin.
__________________
Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
I have a 17" laptop that I use to watch movies on when the wife and I go on driving-distance vacations, and it's great! I have a slowly growing collection of Blu-ray movies, so, guess what, I sure wish that laptop had a Blu-ray player in it. I tested an HP laptop last month, and it had an 18.4" screen at 1920 x 1080, and the Blu-ray movies looked GREAT on it. Anyone who says DVDs look the same as Blu-ray on a 16" or 18" screen doesn't know what they're talking about.
Here, Here. I have a Sony Vaio with a Blu-ray player with a 18.4" screen at 1080p resolution and the picture is amazing. The same quality picture as on my larger 52" HDTV.
Microsoft Unleashes New "Laptop Hunters" Ad
Everyone in the industry said the same thing about netbooks - look who's laughing now (that would be Asus).
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