The new 17-inch MacBook Pro arrived a little late to the unibody makeover party—most of Apple’s laptop line switched to the thinner and lighter, precision-crafted aluminum design back in October 2008. But the new 17-inch laptop is not without under-the-hood innovation. The incremental updates that boost processor, system bus, and RAM speeds are all welcome, but the big news with the 17-inch MacBook Pro is its new battery design. Apple says the new laptop’s battery is 40 percent larger than the battery in its 17-inch predecessor, allowing the new 17-inch MacBook Pro to run for up to 8 hours on a single charge.

What’s changed

The new 17-inch MacBook Pro comes with the same 5,400-rpm 320GB hard drive as the model it replaces, though you can customize the laptop with a faster 7,200-rpm drive of the same capacity ($50), or choose between a 128GB ($300) or 256GB ($750) solid state drive (SSD). Like its predecessor, the new laptop comes standard with 4GB of RAM (you can upgrade to the maximum 8GB of RAM for $1,000), but the memory is now of the DDR3 variety running at 1,066MHz instead of the 667MHz DDR2 RAM used previously. The new laptop uses a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up from 2.5GHz in the last generation, though with the same 6MB of L2 cache, and for $300 more you can upgrade to a speedier 2.93GHz processor. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro also features a 1,066MHz front side bus, up from the 800MHz front side bus in the previous 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Like all of the unibody laptops, the 17-inch MacBook Pro uses an environmentally friendly widescreen display with mercury-free LED backlighting and arsenic-free glass. The screen has a native resolution of 1,920-by-1,200 pixels, and with that many pixels occupying just 17 diagonal inches, it’s easy to have multiple windows open at once. If you’re used to working at lower resolutions (like I am), you’ll notice that everything onscreen appears much smaller. I found myself having to zoom my Office documents to 150 percent in order to work on them, something I don’t have to do with my 15-inch MacBook Pro and its 1,440-by-900 native resolution.

The new MacBook design puts the glossy screen behind a thin sheet of glass. Glossy screens can look great with bright vibrant colors and deep, rich blacks.  For those gloss-phobic folks, Apple offers an anti-glare option for $50. We weren’t able to look at a 17-inch MacBook Pro with an anti-glare screen for this review.

The previous 17-inch MacBook Pro had the optical drive slot located on the front right; in the new laptop, it’s still on the right, but now on the side. All of the ports are now on the left side. I find it handy to have USB ports on both sides, but I’m sure I’ll learn to stop blindly stabbing cables into the optical drive before long.

For connecting an external display, the new Mini DisplayPort takes the place of the full-sized DVI port from previous generations. At this time, Apple is the only company using Mini DisplayPort, and the only Mini DisplayPort LCD is Apple’s 24-inch LED Cinema Display. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t include a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter to let you connect the new laptop to the more prevalent DVI connector found on most displays-the adapter costs $29 from Apple.

As with the 15-inch unibody MacBook Pro, the new 17-inch MacBook Pro has a dual graphics subsystem—a high performance Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT chip with 512MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory, as well as a lower-performing, battery-saving GeForce 9400M that shares 256MB of RAM with the main processor. The previous 17-inch MacBook Pro had a single graphics engine, the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT with its own 512MB of GDDR3 memory. Our tests found that the 9600M GT graphics offeres a significant boost over the 9400M; the 9600M GT was 45 percent faster in our Quake tests and 18 percent faster in our Unreal Tournament tests.

Bigger, better battery

The big story with the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is its battery life. The new battery is created with lithium polymer sheets instead of cylindrical lithium ion cells; this, according to Apple, creates less wasted space.

Another way to make the battery bigger is to make it a fixed part—it’s no longer user replaceable, a controversial decision to say the least. By not having to include the latches and other parts necessary to make a battery easily removable, Apple says it was able to increase the size of the battery so it can carry more juice. Apple also says that the battery’s new adaptive charging technology will significantly increase the overall life of the battery, claiming that it can be drained and charged at least 1,000 times before retaining 80 percent of its original capacity–that’s between 3 and 5 times as many charges as most laptop batteries.

Though it’s difficult to test Apple’s 1,000 charging cycle claims, we ran other battery tests to see how long a single charge lasts. Our standard test involves looping a video at full screen from a ripped DVD saved to the hard drive, the display set to full brightness, and the Energy Saver preferences set to never sleep and to use the lower-powered Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics. In that test the new 17-inch MacBook Pro lasted 4 hour, 43 minutes, while the previous 17-inch MacBook Pro lasted 3 hours, 36 minutes, and the new 15-inch 2.53GHz MacBook Pro lasted just 2 hours, 46 minutes.

Source: www.macworld.com

Apple seems to be happy with releasing iMac updates once per calendar year. The new iMacs replace models that were released 10 months ago, which is an eternity in technology. And before that, there was an 8-month gap between iMac updates. Fortunately, the new iMacs feature significant changes that result in a performance boost.

Changes inside

This is the third generation of the aluminum iMac, and the design hasn’t changed much since its introduction in 2007. The grey bezel, the black Apple logos front and back, the aluminum stand, the matte black plastic rear, it’s all there, including the big glossy screen—much to the chagrin of anti-glare proponents. And there’s no anti-glare option, either.

Apple offers four standard configurations of the iMac, three 24-inch models and only one 20-inch iMac. The iMacs still use TFT active-matrix LCDs. The 20-inch LCD is 1,680 by 1,050 pixels, and is a 6-bit color display that achieves millions of colors by dithering, like the previous 20-inch iMac display. And like that previous display, the new 20-inch iMac, when viewed at an angle, shows color and contrast shifts. But the display does look brighter than the previous 20-inch iMac display. The 24-inch LCDs, at 1,920 by 1,200 pixels, are 8-bit displays and look good at an angle.

Behind the glossy screen is where all the changes have been made, resulting in a performance boost that reinforces the iMac’s value. The iMac’s Core 2 Duo processor speeds start at 2.66GHz, and include 2.93GHz and 3.06GHz. Previously, iMac processor speeds started at 2.4GHz, and included 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, and a built-to-order 3.06GHz.

The system bus, used in communications between the processor and system memory is still at 1,066MHz, but now Apple uses 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM instead of the 800MHz DDR2 RAM in the previous iMac—this bump in RAM speed also contributes to the impressive speed increase over the previous iMac. Apple also doubled the amount of RAM in the standard configuration, with 2GB in the 20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz, and 4GB in the other three models.

The hard drives in the standard configurations received a nice jump in capacity, too. Previously, there was a 250GB drive in the entry-level iMac, and 320GB drives in the other models. Now, the entry-level iMac has a 320GB drive, the high-end iMac has a 1TB drive, and the two models in between have 640GB drives.

The iMacs no longer use ATI graphics subsystems as standard equipment. The two 2.66GHz-based iMacs use Nvidia’s GeForce 9400M, which shares 256MB of memory with the CPU. The 2.93GHz iMac uses Nvidia’s GeForce GT 120 and the 3.06GHz iMac uses Nvidia’s GeForce GT 130; those two iMacs have 256MB and 512MB of dedicated video memory, respectively. For artists and designers, and of course gamers, that means better performance for their graphics-intensive apps.

Apple made two major changes regarding the rear ports. First, the FireWire 400 port has been replaced by an additional USB 2.0 port, bring the total number of USB ports on the back of the iMac to four. The FireWire 800 port is still there, so you can use a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 adapter cable to connect your FireWire 400-based peripherals. The second change is that the mini-DVI port for connecting an external display has been replaced by a Mini DisplayPort. You can connect a DVI-equipped display by using—you guessed it—an adapter, like Apple’s Mini DisplayPort to DVI ($29).

The final major change is with the keyboard. The standard configurations now come with a compact wired keyboard that doesn’t have a numeric keypad, or the home/end/page up/page down/delete group of buttons. It’s as if Apple chopped off the right side of the keyboard. The full-sized keyboard is available as a customization option at no additional cost if you order an iMac through Apple.com.

Performance

It may sound trite to say that the new iMacs are the fastest iMacs we’ve seen—every new iMac is faster than the previous generation—but there are significant speed gains in this new generation. Let’s start with the fastest iMac, the 3.06GHz 24-inch iMac; it posted an overall Speedmark score that was 24 points (8 percent) higher than the previous 24-inch iMac with the same 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo processor (then available as a build-to-order model). The new entry-level iMac, a 2.66GHz 20-inch model, had a Speedmark score that was 26 points higher (11 percent) than the previous entry-level model, a 2.4GHz 20-inch iMac.

The new 2.66GHz 24-inch iMac doesn’t simply offer a bigger screen, more RAM (4GB versus 2GB), and a larger hard drive (640GB versus 320GB) than the entry-level 2.66GHz 20-inch iMac, which has the same processor speed. For the extra $300, you get a performance boost, too—the 2.66GHz 24-inch iMac posted a Speedmark score that was 14 points (5 percent) higher than the 2.66GHz 20-inch model.

Source: www.macworld.com

The newest product in telephone technology is the iPhone 3G from Apple and the Blackberry Storm. There was so much hype about these phones that they could not wait until the iPhone came out on July 11, 2008 and the Storm came out in November 2008. If you have seen the commercials for these phones then you know that they are pretty impressive phones. What which is one is better? You decide.

The iPhone 3G works on 100% touch screen for all of its applications. The techniques that are incorporated into the 3G allow the user to move the contents of the phone either in a vertical or horizontal movement or you can drag and drop anything you wish to move just by using a simple finger.

The iPhone 3G has a built in rechargeable battery that is not replaceable. If the battery needs to be replaced you have to purchase a new one. The phone is available with either a 4,8 or 16 GB of memory. You can choose which best suits your needs. With the iPhone 3G you can access Google Maps in satellite, street or hybrid form.

With the iPhone you get audio conference calls, call merging and caller ID. Voice Dialing and Video Calling are not supported by the iPhone 3G. The 3G has a multimedia package that includes access to songs, albums, play lists, pod casts and audio books. You can access any song you wish and if you don’t know what song is playing on a radio, simply hold the phone up to the radio and it can tell you what song is playing.

With the 3G you will also get Internet access with Wi-Fi or a wide area GSM or EDGE network. Some of the other great features of the iPhone include E-mail and Texting. For these functions you will use the virtual keyboard on the touch screen. It has a Spell Checker and Word Correction plus a dictionary that has the capabilities to learn new words.

The Blackberry Storm is available through Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, Telus and Bell Canada. The Blackberry Storm became available on November 14, 2008. Fans of the Blackberry flocked to the store to get the newest upgrade of their favorite phone. Like the iPhone 3G, the Blackberry Storm uses it’s patented SurePress Touchscreen. You can easily find anything you need just by the touch of the screen.

Unlike the 3G, the Storm has a user replaceable, rechargeable battery for easy storage and easy charging. The Storm uses a virtual keyboard in order to allow the user to send text messages by using the touch screen. When you hold the phone like a landscape position you have a full keyboard at your disposal. The Storm ‘s texting system also has a Spell Check built in. The Storm also has a 1BG of memory and a flexible memory slot capable of using a microSD card with an extra 16 GB. These are just some of the differences that the iPhone 3G and the Blackberry Storm have, if you would like more information talks a representative for both phones and decide which phone is better.

The Blackberry Storm, the new smartphone star of the Verizon Wireless world, has been compared to the Apple iPhone. In fact, many have decided that the Storm, created by Research in Motion, is the first true challenger to the iPhone. But what exactly can the Blackberry Storm do, and is it truly worth the price? Well, here are just a few of the things that make many choose the Blackberry Storm over Apple’s iPhone.

• It’s a Blackberry. The name itself has become known as the standard in smartphones. More than that, however, the Storm features tried and true Blackberry features. If you’ve used a Blackberry before, you’ll be able to simply pick up the Storm and go since the operating system is organized much like that on previous Blackberry models. There’s no huge learning curve like there is with the iPhone.

• A touch screen. The Blackberry Storm is RIM’s first touch screen smartphone, and its operating system looks very similar to the iPhone’s. To navigate through the various programs and applications, all you need to do is touch the correct icon with the stylus.

• The price. It’s no secret that the iPhone is expensive. But Verizon’s Storm is much more affordable. If you have a contract with them already, you’ll pay less than $200 for your Storm. If you’re running your own business and want to upgrade, you get even more of a discount-it’s only around $100. There are many other, less advanced cell phones that sell for more than that.

In addition to these three reasons, the Blackberry Storm has a number of other features that make it the phone of choice for many. They include the following:

• Music and video. The Storm can play MPEG4s, WMVs, and a variety of audio files. Instead of carrying around your phone and your MP3 player, you’ll only need to make room for one device in your purse or pocket. The Storm has plenty of storage space, too (1 GB), so you don’t need to worry about running out of room.

• A long battery life. You can take for up to five and a half hours with the Storm before it needs a recharge, and it has a 15 hour standby battery life.

• A camera. Every phone seems to have an integrated camera nowadays, and the Storm is no exception. The Storm has a 3.2 megapixel camera that takes both still images and records video.

• A built-in GPS. You won’t get lost with your Storm. It has a built-in GPS device and access to Blackberry Maps, an application that can tell you exactly where you are and give you directions to where you want to be.

These reasons and features alone are enough to make the Blackberry Storm stand out in its field, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg. If you’re looking for a great smartphone without the price of the iPhone, you may find the Blackberry Storm is exactly what you want.