11 days

Well, “Retyping” my product key didn’t work. Not that I expected it to.

Activate?

This little gem popped up tonight. I’m not quite sure how activating the Release Candidate is going to work though.

Oddly, typing in the product key actually worked. (Forgot to take a screenshot though.) Who knows what it achieved though…

Steam vs Steam

VALVe release a visual update to their content distribution client Steam. I felt like comparing the update and the old version.

	Old Steam	2010 Visual Refresh
Games Screen
Tools Screen (as you can see, it has no view options, just a list, which is fine actually).
The Store. Sorry, I don’t have the old store – I got the new store in the old client, since it’s really just a web page.
The old Mini Mode and the new Small Mode.
In the old version, when you right clicked on a game and chose Update News (release history), it would open in a new window. Now it opens in the News tab, but unfortunately switching back to Full Mode in the process.
The Chat window. Hasn’t changed much, but it’s neater.

Not much to say about the update really, if Valve played their part well, it was only a UI update (overhaul) and no platform functionality was lost.  Overall, it’s certainly a lot neater, a few issues usability which I should probably report, but, platform aside, it’s a game launcher.

Mac vs ‘PC’ laptop/notebook price and spec (maybe others) comparison

Something I’ve been thinking about for awhile is getting a Mac Book Pro – they are thin and different to Windows in case you want something different for some task. I’ve always been a PC person (I’d better say that up front) but I’ve always tried to be objective as much as possible.

Plenty of other people have done reviews, I just want to look at prices – I may caveat them though. If the benefits or negatives out way the cost or cheapness. I will try match the specs of the Mac Book Pro 15”. And base my prices in AUD at the time of writing. Note that I have emboldened the better spec in each row.

 

	Mac Book Pro 15”	Dell Studio 15 (customised)	HP Envy 15-1103tx	HP dv6-2114tx (WF601PA)
CPU	Core i5 2.54Ghz 540M	Core i5 2.53 Ghz 540M	Core i7 i7-720QM 1.60 GHz	Core™ i5-540M 2.53 GHz
RAM	4 GB	4GB	4GB	4GB
HDD	500 GB	500 GB	640 GB	640 GB
Card Reader?	SD	8 in 1	2 in 1 (SD, MMC)	5 in 1
Graphics	Intel + GeForce 330GT M 256Mb	ATI Radeon 5470 1GB	Radeon™ HD 4830 1GB	Nvidia GeForce GT 230M 1 GB dedicated memory
Size (cm)	2.54 x 36.4 x 24.9	371.6mm x 39mm 253mm	38 cm (W) x 24.4 cm (L) x 2.65 cm (H)	37.85 cm (W) x 25.8 cm (D) x 4.1 cm (max H)
Weight	2.54 Kg	2.51 Kg Plus	2.35 kg	2.88 kg
Display	15.4” 1440 x 900, mini DisplayPort	15.6” 1336 x768, HDMI, VGA	15.6”  1366 x 768, HDMI	15.6” 1366 x 768, HDMI, VGA
Connectivity	2 USB, 1 Firewire, BDR 1.1, Gbit LAN 802.11n	3 USB (1 combo eSATA), Firewire, Gbit LAN, Wireless N, BT	3 USB (1 combo eSATA), Firewire, Gbit LAN, Wireless N, BT	4 USB 2.0 (1 shared with eSATA), Firewire, LAN, Wireless N; Modem!
Cool Stuff	Backlit Keyboard, Genius Bar Support	Backlit Keyboard, Dell Carry-In Support 3 years, Windows 7 Ultimate x64		DVD burner has LightScribe; TV tuner, remote; keypad
Battery	8h	5.5h	unknown	unknown
Webcam	iSight	2MP	Night vision Webcam with IR LED for illumination	some sort of webcam
Cost	$2499	$1861.10	$2799	$1,699
Optical Drive	8x slot-loading SuperDrive	Slot Load CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW)	External SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support	Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW
Date Researched	22/04/2010	24/04/2010	24/04/2010	24/04/2010
Which part is the best?	Battery life, thinness	Graphics Card	HDD, Graphics card.	Graphics, TV Tuner, maybe HDD

 

“Oh, but in the long run, you’ll spend more time and money on security software for the PC”

Umm, no. Well at least I won’t.  I use Avast! Free Antivirus which is based on the same technology as their version for business use. (Just I’m not a business, so I can use it free).  Actually there’s one or two limitations, but I’m not overly concerned, so, I’m not really spending money on AV/Anti-malware.  Also, I don’t partake in dangerous activities online like pirating software or randomly clicking on links in emails/Facebook. (Also do the Windows update, just like Mac has to.) Having said that, if indeed (as I heard) it is very difficult for software on Mac to run on startup without user intervention then, I can understand that this would go a long way to keeping the Mac a more secure machine. (Also less malware generally for the time being)I just wanted to put this in to try to prevent flames…

Other cool things you could use to justify the extra cost of a Mac laptop.

8 hour battery life! I’ll have to give Apple credit for this, Acer has managed to get 8 or 9 hours out their Timeline, but it’s so underpowered you can’t use for much more than you would a netbook.  At least with the Mac Book Pro, you get 8 hours doing basic web browsing but you have the option of more resource hungry tasks if you aren’t interested in battery life.

It’s ridiculously thin. 2.5cm  - and it’s the same thickness all the way through.  I personally think that’s cool but I’m not sure if that makes it more portable, easier to carry in satchel though suppose. It seems that most laptops are expensive when they’re that thin.

Easy install of applications on Mac OS X, no installation wizards or uninstalling programs, just drag them to Applications (or wherever) and delete if you don’t want it anymore.  I don’t want to say too much about the OS, but think that Windows 7  and Mac OS X Snow Leopard are about equal – they each do some things the other can’t.

I think Apple is more environmentally friendly and conscience  than the other companies. If that’s true, I’d pay $100 to $200 for that.

But Seriously..

An extra $700 for thin-ness, battery (which they’re saving money on anyway, without having packaging on the battery (non user replaceable), and being free of some dangerous chemicals??  (Actually I was hoping to find a Mac the same cost as a non-Mac laptop, ‘cause I actually wouldn’t mind a  Mac.)  If anyone has ideas, feel free to comment.

Well, yeah. But thanks anyway.

I tried running DOOM 3 demo on Vista, should have worked, there is probably a patch for the full version though.  Still it proves that MS passes on the crash report data to the developer.

OK then

It should turn off soon.

13, 13, 13, 13 13 ….

OK then.  Following on from this time last night, I got this popup:

Interestingly in 13 hours it will be 9 o’clock on the 2nd January my time, and 3PM in Redmond, while being 11pm UTC. What happened to the 1st? Or did they just want to be sure?

Also what does, “… and then install any edition of Windows 7 Ultimate.” mean? The beta and RC were only released as the Ultimate edition, there were no Home Premium or Business Edition Release Candidates.

Those watching Australian TV will get the title joke.