No Macbook Air but.....

Back from Macworld Expo 2008 and still feeling the effects of the jet lag. Good to be home! As your probably aware if you've been following my blog, I've been waiting and waiting for Apple to release an update to the Mac Pro as my existing dual G5 system just wasn't cutting it for me. With the show, I do a lot of HD resolution video editing and video encoding and frequently get bogged down in post production work. So I've been planning to upgrade my production kit to at least a quad Intel machine. With the advent of the new 8 core machines, it was a done deal! But then of course, the new machines were released the week before Macworld! So I had to wait until after Macworld to take the plunge....just in case! Luckily, the updates to the Apple TV and the iPhone didn't cost me any cash and although the Macbook Air is a lovely machine, it's priced just out of what I would expect to pay for such a machine - and when you add the UK premium it's weighing in at £1200 GBP or $2338 USD. So with the decks cleared, the day after the keynote, I fired up the laptop and placed an online order for a new Mac Pro. For those that are interested, this is the spec I went for:

• Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
• 2GB (2x1GB)
• 2xATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
• 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb
• One 16x SuperDrive
• AIRPORT EXTREME-INT
• APPLE MIGHTY MOUSE
• WIRELESS KEYBD/ OS X-GBR.
• Applecare

Rather than pay Apples rather high price for memory and disks, I also ordered an extra 8GB RAM from OWC and another 3x500GB drives from eBuyer. Thanks to Apples Developer Connection, whereby members get a hardware discount to help pay for development kit, the cost of the base unit was extremely reasonable. So I placed the order and was given an estimated delivery time of 27th January. Much to my delight, the Mac Pro has arrived a week early and I'm in the process of configuring everything (except for the extra RAM which hasn't shown up yet). The obligatory un-boxing photos are here if you're that way inclined! Initial experiences are amazing with the machine feeling super responsive in virtually everything I do! I've created a three disk RAID 0 volume giving me 1.36TB of drive space and the throughput is 290MB per second! I'll get more of a feel as I start to install more applications and put it through its paces when video encoding. But suffice to say, I'm pleased as punch and looking forward to generating more content, more quickly with this beast of a machine. The only problem is after using it for less than half a day, I can't really see myself using the Macbook Pro very much now. I wonder how much I'd get for it on eBay and then perhaps that Macbook Air..........

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Macworld Update

Well that's Macworld for another year. Haven't blogged very much since the keynote although Twitter has been getting updates. Following a couple of days walking the show floor, visiting user conference sessions and finally today giving my Screencasting presentation - I'm pretty much done in and looking forward to getting back home and back to normal. Thanks to all my old and new Macworld friends for the company and making Macworld a blast!

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Tis the night after....

Whoo! What a day! Ended up waking at 3:15am and as previously mentioned, met up with a bunch of people at the Apple Store at 4am. By 4:20 we were at Moscone and discovered a couple of hundred people ahead of us. Great vibe in the line and eventually the line started moving properly at about 6:30am at which point I made my play to get into the Speakers Lounge to wait for my priority keynote access. No issues getting in and ended up sitting in the lounge observing various mac luminaries. Really surprised to find no coffee or any refreshments other than water - shouldn't complain but it just seemed strange for such an early start. Finally herded up to the keynote around 8:50 - starting to get concerned! Pretty much a free for all from that point on - not what I was expecting at all. So on to the keynote.... Great to actually be in the audience for a change and watching things unfold live. No real surprises and I suppose that was the major failing, there were no major surprises. Other than the Time Capsule, the other three announcements : iPhone upgrade, iTunes Rental/Apple TV2 and the thin Macbook, were all rumoured well in advance and it turns out most pundits were on the money. Why Apple can keep the design and manufacture of a brand new class of device totally secret last year, and yet be so totally transparent this year was bound to cause some disappointment. The free update of the iPhone and the Apple TV were nice touches although the inclusion of the $20 charge for the iPod touch seemed a bit strange - might be due to the accounting practices they have to follow. The iTunes Rental and Apple TV is a major play for the movie market and with the somewhat surprising adoption by all of the major studios it looks like it has a good chance of success. especially with the need to use a computer removed. MAcbook Air looks to be a very cool device. A brief hands on the device shows it to be deceptively light and the touch gestures are superb. However, the major issue I have being from the UK is the price differentials between the US and the UK. The US price is $1799 for the Macbook Air, in the UK it will run you £1200 or $2350 (yes $2350!!!). Sorry but that just lost a sale for me. Update: You can hear my initial reactions whilst the Reality Distortion Field was still in effect and before I heard about the UK pricing MacLevelten Post Keynote Review Hitting the show floor properly tomorrow and having an early night - knackered!

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Twas the night before.....

Just a quick update before grabbing a few hours sleep. Despite having the presenters pass, I've decided to go with the flow and meetup with the rest of the guys outside the Apple store at 4am. I know, I know but I promised! Fairly low key day today, starting to pace myself for the frantic week ahead. Finished off the day with a visit to the Smile on my Mac party graciously hosted by Philip, Greg and Jean. Met up with a few Mac podcastsers including Victor Cajiao, Adam Christianson, Dave Hamilton and Ken Ray, along with some previous ScreenCastsOnline sponsors. Ken grabbed me for a quick pre-keynote chat which will probably be posted on the Mac OS Ken feed before the keynote. I know of two other "events" happening tonight but it's a long day tomorrow so I'm being sensible and saving myself by having an early night. By the way, did I mention the Hotel has an iHome in the room? Pretty neat and although it's complaining it's not made for the iPhone, it works a treat. Might have to check one out when I get home.

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Overnight Scare and Badge Pickup Suprise

Following on from my extended 25 hour plus journey and arrival meal, I finally hit the sack and fell into a deep, deep sleep. Figured if I could sleep through until at least 9am, that should stand me in good stead until tomorrow. All was well until 2:30am when the phone rang with a call from home. Temporary automotive crisis! Why do these things happen when I'm away? All sorted and managed to get back to sleep until the alloted 9am - phew! Thanks to the power of Twitter, I discovered the lines to pick up the badges where horrendous so decided to leave picking them up for an hour or two. Leisurely got myself together and had a hearty breakfast on the way to Moscone. The queues had died down by the time I got there and my user conference badge was duly picked up. No printed schedules for the conference available - huh! Went upstairs to pick up my presenters badge for Friday. Given my badge, a ticket to the MacBlast party ($40), a ticket to the Cirque Du mac Party and a ticket to the Mac Life party - result! The icing on the cake was that I was told the pass will get me priority access into the Keynote - double result! The dillema is now due I still queue up at 4am and meet up with the people I'd promised to meet, or just saunter along at 7:15am. What do you think?

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