My Office Is Complete.

A few weeks ago I finally got serious and bought an iMac.

I've been wanting one for a long time, I love my MacBook but a 13" screen just isn't big enough for everyday use.

20" is defiantly better and now I have two Mac in my office, I know you're jealous.

Maybe I should have got the 24"... ;-)

Apple's New MacBook Line.

Apple today announced a refresh to their entire notebook lineup this afternoon.  First up we have the MacBook Pro.

The specs are about in line with what they have been.  The only notable exception is the transition to the Nvidia GeForce 9400M in both the MacBook Pro and the MacBook.  Nvidia cooked up something really special here and it could help Mac's become a force to be reckoned with as far as computer gaming is concerned.  

Here's a spec rundown:

-2.4GHz Core2 Duo

-15" or 17" Screen

-2GB or 4GB of RAM

-250GB or 320GB HDD

-Nvidia GeForce 9400M

-Backlit Keyboard

-Glass LED Display

-Price: $1,999 - $2,799

The MacBook is almost identical to the new MacBook Pro's with a horsepower downgrade, no blacklit keyboard, and a smaller 13.3" display.  

Spec's:

-2.0GHz to 2.4GHz Intel Core2 Duo

-2GB RAM

-160GB or 250GB HDD

-Nvidia GeForce 9400M

-13.3" Glass LED Display

-Price: $1,299 - $1,599

And seemingly in an interest to be competitive in the market and to get the "Us too!" PR line into some press releases Apple is still selling the 'old' white MacBook for only $999.  So now Apple can add a bullet point saying that 'they too' have notebooks under $1,000.

What I am most excited about in today's announcement is the new all glass, multi-touch, buttonless, trackpad.   Let me explain: 

Glass - smooth, frictionless, and pretty.  Think iPhone.  

Buttonless - Apple trackpad's have always been on the cutting edge IMO and todays announcement proves that.  Apple went ahead and removed the button from below the trackpad and made the entire trackpad a clickable button.  That's right now you can click anywhere in the trackpad, you're no longer a slave to clicking  at the bottom.  Right-click you ask?  Simply press down with two fingers, and -blam- a right-click.

Multi-touch - Apple has added a slue of cool new touch features to the trackpad, it now has options for 1, 2, 3,  and even 4 finger touch gestures.  Use two fingers to scroll up and down, and  pinch to zoom in and out. Swipe with three fingers to flip through you photo libraries. Swipe with four fingers to show the desktop or switch applications.

Well needless to say I can't wait to get my hands on these bad boys, Jobs and Co. says they are shipping today and will be in stores tomorrow.  I might just have to buy one for 'review' yeah that's it.  ;-)

Best.Laptop.Speaker.Ever.

I searched the globe (well maybe just Best Buy and a bit of the internet) for some small, sexy, great sounding laptop speakers, and at first I could find any. All the ones I looked at were either 2.1 (with a sub) which I didn't want, or they were just too damn big. Even the Apple Store didn't have anything I wanted. Gasp!

So finally as I was leaving another failed attempt at Best Buy, I got a helpful (for once) salesmen who knew just was I was looking for. He pointed me to the Logitech V20 USB speakers, which are perfect for my needs. I don't need great speakers just something better than the built-in speakers on my MacBook. With these being USB powers makes them even more awesome, a fact I didn't even know till I got them out of the box! So no power cord to mess with, light weight, very portable, and sounds great. Just what I was looking for.

Amazing.

Here's link to Logitech's website for the V20.

Here's a Pricegrabber link that has them for only $44 bucks! I paid $65!

The Mac BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death)

I got this interesting little screen yesterday, it was an overlay on top of everything I was doing. I couldn't do anything; no mouse or keyboard input. The only thing left to due was follow the instructions, so I guess Mac's aren't perfect after all.

It's still better than the eye sore that is the Windows BSOD, unless you see one like this:

My Mac Setup.

When I was trying to decided which Mac to buy, screen size was one of my main issues. MacBook's only have a 13" screen while the MacBook Pro's can have either a 15" or a 17" screen. In the end I decided that the regular MacBook would be just fine for me, and since I now have an unused 19" monitor laying around I thought I could put it to good use.

So when I have the MB hooked up at my desk, I've got almost a desktop scenario setup: wireless keyboard/mouse, and a separate monitor.

Anyone know how I can only use my external display?

Oil And Water Do Mix.

Installing Windows on a Mac through Boot Camp has been out for around a year now, but that doesn't make it right. It just seems odd somehow, when you boot a Mac for the first time into Windows. The process was very strait forward (very Apple) and by far the best Windows installation experience I've ever had, and I've had a lot.

I have to still keep (grown) a Windows machine around so this is the perfect way to do it for me. Now I know, I could do Parallels or VMware Fusion but I like running everything natively. I have to say Windows runs fantastic on the Mac, which is no surprise given the spec's of the machine regardless if Apple made it or not.

Drinking The Kool-Aid.

So by definition I'm a Windows guy. I grew up with MS DOS, evolved to Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, and finally Windows Vista. Hell, I even own my own computer business repairing/fixing Windows computers. So how did I end up with a Mac?

Steve Job's has a plan, and it's working.

The iPod was Steve's Trojan Horse into the Windows users hearts. They took something everybody likes (music) and applied the Apple formula to it: ease of use, beauty, simplicity. It gave Windows users just a taste of how Apple works, but some people still weren't convinced.

So Jobs took it to the next level and took a device that everyone uses and everyone hates... Their cell phone. Most people can't/don't use 80% of the "features" built into their cell phones, not to mention 'smart' phone users. Then comes along the iPhone, and it just made everything so easy, so Apple.

So with Apple's market share up and with Windows looking so tired and outdated, it's only a matter of time.

So now when people ask me, "What's a Mac", I tell them it's their next computer.