Phew....

The Apple store was down again on Wednesday and I received a couple of messages telling me so.

Oh no!

After spending out on the new Mac Pro last week, I have to admit, I was a bit anxious as to what was the reason behind the downtime as there hadn't been any recent rumours flying around.

Much to my relief, the surprise launch was for the new iPod shuffle... phew!

Never really had the need for a shuffle although the new voice technologies looks pretty smart.

Actually, looking into it, it isn't new technology at all. I wondered how they'd managed to cram the voice synthesis into such a small device. I also wondered why the voice on the shuffle was different if you sync'd via a Mac rather than with a PC?

D'oh!

Looks like all the heavy lifting is done on the computer end using the voice technologies built into OSX or Windows. Your computer generates the track information using the OS voice technologies, then transfers it back to the shuffle.

What a very neat idea!

PS Don't know why so many people are upset that you have to use the supplied earbuds. Apple have moved the controls to the earbud lead. Surely most people buying a shuffle are buying it for the convenience and not because they are audiophiles.

Sheesh!

PPS Looks like third party manufacturers will be coming out with new, higher quality earbuds to support the Shuffle.

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Another 24 hours.....

So the announcements are out with updates across the board on the desktop range.

I have to say that the Mac minis and iMacs were expected but I did think the Mac Pro updates whould be held back until perhaps WWDC.

So my thoughts....mixed and somewhat confused.

I need to spend a bit more thinking time before I decide what (or if) to upgrade to following the announcements, but I'll try and get down some initial thoughs.

Updated Mac Pro

I never even considered a new Mac Pro being announced, so this did come out of the blue. Had I known Leo had ordered one the weekend before, I would have had a better idea! I already have one of the original 2.8Ghz 2 x Quad Xeon models launched 14 months ago.

It's done me sterling service and is a pretty quick machine especially when video encoding.

I found the information for the new Mac Pro to be a little confusing, especially with the entry level 8 core machine now using the new "Nehalem" processors but only at 2.26Ghz. The optional faster processors added significantly to the price (2.66 GHz = $1400 and 2.93Ghz = $2600) Ouch!

Now I realise that you can't compare just the clock speed of the new processors compared to the old, as there are extras in the new machines such as its single-die, 64 bit architecture, integrated memory controller for reduced latency, increased memory bandwidth, Turbo boost mode, hyper threading and a whole host of new fangled technologies. But it's really difficult to assess the real life performance benefits of these new machines compared to my existing machine.

All the performance tests on the Apple site compare either a Power Mac G5 Quad or a Mac Pro 3.2 Ghz machine with a top of the range new Mac Pro (a 2.93Ghz machine - the one with the $2600 price premium). So really, I'm left clueless is there is any benefit in even thinking of upgrading.

Of course, I could always get a new Mac Pro and keep the old one and setup a Virtual cluster for my video encoding. Have all 16 cores bashing away at an encoding job!

Updated Mac mini

Apple don't want normal people or switchers to buy a Mac mini.

They just don't!

They want normal people or switchers to buy an iMac instead.

I mentioned in my previous blog post that I hoped Apple would price the Mac mini aggressively to give more people the opportunity to get into Macs.

They didn't! They did however price the iMacs very aggressively, but more on that later.

What they did do though was to make a statement showing that Apple are just not interested in building a cheap computer.

They want to remain a premium brand.

The Mac mini is a bit of a strange addition to the Apple line up now but I think the intention is for it to be a niche machine. It's the Mac that fits the bill where more traditional Macs don't. It's the Mac for using as a high powered media center, it's for using as a simple OSX server, it's for using as a dedicated keynote presentation installation (note the ability to run two displays), it's for installing in your car, it's for hooking up Firewire peripherals in your home studio.

It's everything but a cheap computer and only intended for those who have a specialist need.

Of course, there are people who will still switch over to the Mac using the Mac mIni but they won't be price sensitive.

My original plan before the announcement was to get two Mac minis, one as a Media Center and the other as a development/test machine to familiarise myself with Snow Leopard and potentially even set up to dual boot and use as my screencast capturing machine.

Media Center Mac Mini
Still on rack although more expensive than I had hoped. The form factor and quiet running of the Mac mini makes it ideal for the job. Add in the enhanced graphics capabilities and the 802.11n networking (although I will run it wired)

Low End Model: 2.0Ghz, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD = £538.99

Pretty expensive really, don't you think! I've gone with an extra 1GB RAM but no other extras

Development Machine Mac mini
Well I need it fairly beefy so lets go for the higher end model and add some extras in:

High End Model: 2.26Ghz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD = £849.01

Excuse me! That's with the highest processor spec and an extra 2GB RAM. Don't forget, that is just the base unit - no keyboard, mouse or monitor

OK, so how much would an iMac be with similar configuration:

20" iMac: 2.66Ghz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD = £1029.01

So for another £180 you get a faster processor, a 20" monitor, video camera, speakers, microphone, keyboard and Mouse!

24" iMac: 2.66Ghz, 4GB RAM, 640GB HD = £1199.00

So for another £349.99 you get a faster processor, a glorious 24" monitor, video camera, speakers, microphone, keyboard and Mouse!

I think for the extra £350, my development machine would most likely be an iMac!

Updated iMac

Apple really do want to push the iMac as a premium desktop machine but at a relatively affordable price.

Still miles away from the bargain basement machines but the iMacs exude quality. The inclusion of the 24" display as pretty much the standard now (three of the four machines in the range now have 24" monitors) is a bit of a surprise but everyone I know who has seen the 24" wants one!

Other updates including hard disk and memory bumps are a good move by Apple.

Decision Time

Not as cut and dry as I would hope, so it seems I need to spend some more time thinking on what I really need and what is the most cost effective way to achieve it.

In some respects, I'm hampered by having an Apple Developer Connection discount available - which is nice! This is a discount you get towards development hardware each year if you're a member of the ADC. The only problem is it can only be applied to a single order each year, so if I'm making any major purchases, it makes sense to roll them up into a single order.¹

At this rate, it looks like I'll be waiting until after the 24th March to see if Apple do hold a special event and anything comes out of left field. Mind you, that will also give me plenty of time to assess just what benefits the revised Mac Pro delivers in the real world, once early adopters start receiving them and putting them through their paces.

You never know, Apple may even release an Apple TV take 3 so removing the need for me to buy the Media Centre Mac mini.

You never know!

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1. Thanks to Paul Shadwell for a correction on this point. Looks like the level of ADC membership I have only allows for a single system to be purchased under the terms of the ADC discount - ho hum! At least that in some way makes it easier to decide in a perverse sort of way - Thanks again Paul?

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A Viewer Writes....

Thought this might be interesting to anyone else with similar thoughts, my response to someone asking about my stance on the MacBook Air now the new MacBook Pros are out...

Hi Don, I have an opportunity to purchase a brand new in the box Mac Book Air 1.86Gz 2GB RAM with 128MB Solid State drive. While I do a lot of traveling (oil worker), it would be perfect for that side of things (light) I also like to encode a lot of videos for watching. Most of these are done on my 3.06GHz iMac, so maybe not that many.

The MBA will take ages encoding - not it's intended usage but you probably know that!

So, when I look at this cost and then compare it to say a 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro with 4GB Ram and 250GB SATA 7200 drive, I’m thinking this would be a more useful machine, albeit heavier. Having said all that, I know you have the big Mac Pro and use the MBA quite al lot (I think) for your SC’s and when you travel to your respective Places for podcasts, Mac World’s etc. I just wondered given what the newer machines have if you would have gotten the newer MBP’s or still have Gone with the MBA.

That's a hard one? I love the MacBook Air as long as I don't use it for things that it's not really designed to accommodate. As a general purpose, travelling machine, it's fantastic. Used it for on the road emails, surfing, presentations, etc. and it's been fine. I also use it a lot for couch surfing. With it being so light it's great and is no problem to leave on the coffee table and lift up with one hand when the mood takes me. The 802n connection means it's pretty speedy. Sleeping and waking by closing the lid is fine and the full size backlit keyboard is great for low light situations.

The final item is ports and connections, do you find you have to take a bunch of additional equipment with you like, hubs, super drives, etc which tend To come standard on the MPP.

Ports can be a problem. I did buy a MBA superdrive but that was for a specific issue with a show I was doing. Don't think I've ever used it since! I once had an issue where I wanted to use a wired network connection and a USB headset so I needed a hub. When I use the MBA on my desk, I have a separate hub setup with my USB audio and network permenantly connected. I do carry a spare mini jack to mini jack audio cable as the clearance for the audio port is limited. You do need to buy special adapters for VGA and DVI connections for plugging it into projectors

So, if you have a sec, would be real interested in hearing from someone with your perspective, that has one, and mixes with people who have the higher end laptops.

However, I've recently been thinking of possibly swapping over to a new 15" MacBook Pro mainly for the boost in screen resolution. With working on a large monitor setup, it's quite difficult adapting to 1280x720 on the MBA. The performance boost would be great but I'm really not sure I need that level of performance in a laptop and would really miss the portability of the MBA. So I'm undecided at the moment. What I don't need is an additional laptop so I'd have to sell the MBA and I'd hate to part with it!

Thanks again, and regards Mike. PS – Really like the screencasts, as a recent switcher, I have learned a bunch from them.

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Colour Finally Corrected!

If you're familiar with my setup (and if not, here's a recent piccie), you'll know I have two graphics cards in the MacPro allowing me to run up to 4 monitors. The 4th monitor is now in place in the form of a very nice Sharp 32" LCD TV connected with a DVI to HDMI cable. The other three monitors are all Dells and although the monitors are superb value for money (the main reason why I went with Dell rather than Apple - even a fanboy has his limits) they are not particularly well supported on the Mac - especially the 30". The two smaller monitors do have inbuilt onscreen displays but the 3" basically has a brightness control and that's it. The main control for the monitor is via a software control panel and to the best of my knowledge, this only runs on Windows - FAIL!!! So I was left with a problem of how to match the colour settings between all three monitors? The solution (as usual via a response to a twitter question) was a special colour calibration tool and I was recommended to get the hueyPRO from Pantone. It looked to be priced mid range, was suitable for both Mac and PC and supported multiple monitor setups, so I took the plunge. This is a small USB device and software package that first assesses the ambient light in the room, then once you've attached the device to your monitor, runs a number of tests to allow the device to colour calibrate your monitor. Once finished on one monitor, you move it to the next and continue. Eventually, in theory you should have perfectly matched colour calibration on your entire setup. The first one turned up several months ago and I followed the instructions but to my dismay, it left all three monitors with a strong pink cast - not really what I was expecting. A quick search on the support forums led me to discover that this was a known fault with a batch of devices - just my luck. Anyhow, I followed the instructions on the support site to get a replacement but I have to say, the follow up service was appalling. I didn't eve get a response for a couple of months. Out of the blue, a replacement device turned up yesterday, I set it up and bingo! Worked a treat! In fact, the results are pretty amazing. The monitors look a lot clearer and somehow more sharp. The colours are pretty damm close on all three and I'm a pretty happy bunny. You can switch off the colour correction via the software and I'm amazed at the difference. The uncorrected display looks horribly bright and even yellow - how did I put up with that. The hueyPRO has a setting to periodically monitor the ambient light within the room so it should make adjustments during the day. If you have a multiple monitor setup, I'd strongly suggest trying out one of these. PS This (as with any posts I make on my blog connected with gadgets) is not sponsored or endorsed by the vendor. I paid for the hueyPRO with my own hard earned cash - just so you know!

Technorati Tags: Apple, ScreenCastsOnline, mac, Pantone

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Bill Gates and Me

Watched the interesting BBC documentary featuring Bill Gates last night. Extremely surprised that Apple didn't feature more prominently as a potential competitor for Microsoft, actually didn't feature at all! What did tickle me though was Bill's computer setup in his office when comparing it to mine: Bills Setup (via BBC iPlayer):

Mine:

So it just goes to show that even though I don't have $50 billion in the bank, at least I have the same computer experience as Bill. Actually no, he runs Vista and I run OSX Leopard. So without $50 billion, I have a better computing experience than Bill Gates

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