Markus

A few things from Apple today.

Intel based Mac Mini

and

iPod Hi-Fi

There's also an updated Front Row application for the new mini and that will be available to all existing Front Row users. You can now access shared music via Front Row, something that was lacking in the current version.

Nothing major then, but more transition to Intel based.

Steve ended by saying "We'll see you real soon..." Which could mean April 1st, which is Apple's Birthday, so it'd make sense to announce any other things then (Intel iBooks/MacBook, updated MacBook Pro, and possibly info on Mac Pro desktops)

JackClark

I've been waiting for that Hi-Fi, the ones I liked before were over priced. That's spot on! Good work Apple.

The Mini would look rather nice under my telly, next to my Xbox.

Both will have to wait, I'm bloody skint.

AllanB

Thats a very interesting move from Apple with the ipod add on. Very astute move !



AllanB

chrisowe

I think they could of done so much more with the design of the hi-fi, looks like the Ipod is just perched on top of a speaker box. I'm sure there are better and more aesphetically pleasing products from third party manufacturers like Bose.

mattbeef

dual core mini

how nice cant wait till we get them in

JackClark

That's what it is. Simple. There are products from Bose but they cost a fortune for a speaker box with an iPod slot and my money says sound the same or not far off.

ChefDude

how will the 4x faster mac mini compare to a pc - from a working point of view? roughly equivalent to a 2ghz pc?

by working pov, i mean start up times, loading a 5meg image, filtering on it, mp3 conversion, etc. i'm talking about max'd ram on the mini too (obviously important)

messiah

Tempted by the mini but I still want to hold out for the PowerMacs - any idea when they'll be seeing the light of day?

ChefDude

there already is a macbookpro, it only has a 15" screen though.

I'd wait for the 17"+ screen

JackClark

I've not used my Intel Mac in anger as yet but can say that the start up time is amazing, my work laptop - around 2ghz and a gig of ram - isn't past the bios screen when the Mac is up and running. Loading of images is pretty much instant and any processing I've done - not much - is very fast. I tend to have everything open and running as I've not got used to closing applications - and like pressing the F9 key - and haven't seen anything slow down yet.

ChefDude

that's what we like to hear

RichB

Those of you thinking about a 17" Mac Book Pro.
I suggest you get your self along to somewhere selling the G4 Powerbooks and compare the 15" and 17"
Yes, the screen is bigger but the trackpad and button are nearer the center of the machine and you feel like your wrist is above the trackpad rather than on it, pressing the mouse button is less comfortable too.

The old G3 powerbooks were so comfortable to use, they had a 'dent' in the front edge that your thumb sat nicely in. The new machines are not as nice and the 17" exagerates this...

Any other Powerbook users noticed this or have I lost the plot completely?

Markus

Sounds like you're using photoshop, in which case, bear in mind that there isn't a universal build or even an intel only build of it, and won't be for at least another six to eight months. This does limit things somewhat. Photoshop is proably useable for a few light to medium tasks, but heavy duty stuff will probably be as quick as a G5 Tower. It's a case of waiting for the Pro machines, which may then run the PPC version of PS far more quickly, as one assumes the spec of the machines will be something akin to quad cores, or dual core duo's (if that's possible, not sure). Even still, for supreme performance an intel/uni build of PS is needed, and as said that is a little way off.

Other thing is that the intel mini's have integrated graphics, which means system memory is used, so even a fully loaded machine will not have the total ammount of RAM dedicated to the system, it'll be split, I *think* the max is something like 264MB to ther GFX card, but I could be wrong there, macfixit, and more likely other sites (Ars Technica will prob have a good write up) will have more detailed info on this and the impacts of it.

If I didn't have the iMac, I would be very tempted to go for the Mini, and if I had spare cash, I'd deffo get one. Perfect for next to the AV Amp and connecting it up to the HT setup. I could do that with the iMac, but it'd look silly next to the TV, whereas the mini would not.

As for the Hi-Fi, hmm, not too sure, it looks nice and I'm sure there's a market for it, but I don't like the iPod sticking out of the top, though I'm sure a cable can be purchased to relocate the iPod.

AllanB

Adobe have siad the Universal version won't be here til 2007.

We currently seeing a surge of demand for the G4/G5 based machines as some panic buying is starting already what with the G4/G5 Mac Minis, iMacs and PowerBooks being made end of life.

Expect more announcements in April !



AllanB

Graz

Regarding the hi-fi thing, this has to be the one to go for http://www.i-deck.com/ if you want something like that.

Some of the more traditional hi-fi manufacturers are also starting to incorporate iPod interfaces into their kit.

I'm not wanting to start the whole MP3 player debate, I don't have one myself, but I would find it a really tough call now as to what to buy. In terms of true audio performance it would seem a Sony player is the better choice, however I really like the whole concept with the iPOD of being able to plug it directly into you car set up (e.g. Alpine), your home hi-fi setup, and the whole Podcast thing just make it so much more than just an MP3 player. Just a shame they don't seem that reliable or have as good audio quality as some other units.

mattbeef

the ipod hifi is mint and p1ss's all over the other speakers we sell i didnt expect it to be any where near as good as it is and it eats the ideck for breakfast

boxst

Hello

And some of the things they SHOULD release: http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/t...of-apple-ideas





Steve

ChefDude

re 2 screens...


"Announcing the revolutionary iBattery"

KiwiGTI

Lets face it, if you want "true audio performance" you aren't going to get that from any MP3 players.

But the Apple is consistently the best rated device for sound quality by every Hi-Fi magazine, including the audiophile ones.

Markus

Well said that man!
I don't know what portable solution and audiophile would actually use, in car I'd expect some dvd-audio capable head unit, but then again, I doubt they'd do that as the motion of the car would upset things.

As for home use, they'd have some specialised setup if they were using mp3, but I doubt they'd use MP3, would probably be Ogg Vorbis, or some other high end encoding system, or no encoding/compression of the orginal file, which probably came from a dvd-audio disk.

chrisowe

They should definitely release that IPAD !!

mattbeef

with 4Gb of storage?? naa
80Gb yea

Daryl

I've just bought some of these. Not sure why you'd want to spend more, just so you can perch your iPod on top

messiah

Consider if you want to listen to Live perfromances of "Ministry Of Sound" stuff as the iPod doesn't support "seemless" listening to them, there'll always be a little pause in between as the iPod only has 1 memory buffer so can't line up the next track in time.

Sony's machines have 2 buffers so dont suffer this problem.

I have a 30gb iPod photo and the only problem I have with it is the one I just listed.

mattbeef

Cheat then

either rip the CD as one file (not good) or make it a podcaste with chapters

Markus

I thought the podcast method meant you did not see the names of the individual tracks?

messiah

I know you can make it one track but I like the proper track listings - I'm quite **** when it comes to my iTunes library