Hardware

Macworld reviews the Open Computer and we’ve had enough of it

Posted on May. 9, ’08, 12:00 PM PT by Aayush Arya

Category | Hardware

If the Psystar Open Computer is of any interest to you at all, you might want to know that Macworld has now tested one of these things and published the results, as promised. To lend the benchmarks a little bit of perspective, it has been compared to the Mac mini, the newest 20-inch iMac and Rob Griffiths’s infamous Frankenmac.

Overall, the Psystar’s performance was somewhere between the Mac mini and the low end 20-inch, 2.4GHz core 2 Duo 20 iMac. Speedmark 5 results show the Psystar to be 28 percent faster than the high-end Mac mini and 8 percent slower than the low end iMac.

And that’s pretty much it. Macworld has an elaborate chart detailing all the numbers in comparison to the other three contenders and analysis about its performance in various departments, but we all know they’re just doing it because its their job.

If we had our way, and the honkin’ huge machine could fit inside one of those blenders, we’d have been describing a very different type of test right now and it would have been accompanied by an amusing YouTube video.

In any case, if you’ve had enough of the Psystar coverage to last you a while, we assure you that we share your pain, so we’re hoping there won’t be any more Psystar stories from here on out—unless something really important happens, of course, like someone puts it in a blender.

More on Apple gobbling up PA Semi

Posted on May. 8, ’08, 8:47 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Business

Steve Jobs does not mess around. When the man wants a bag of chips, he buys a chip company. Disappointed to find that PA Semi does not in fact make Fritos, Jobs and co. decided to make lemoade by asking them to design some microchips for an Apple-branded toaster or something.

But why buy the company in the first place? The EETimes sheds some light on what went into the decision. Apple, which was allegedly an investor (potentially anonymous) in PA Semi before the acquisition, wanted the company to design a chip for them, but PA Semi had already exhausted their venture capital funds. At which point, Steve Jobs apparently sighed, beckoned over his manservant, and had them pay off the rest of the investors in solid gold ingots he has trucked around with him (why do you think he needs a private jet?).

Of course, that still leaves the burning question of what precisely the requested chip is for. Given Apple’s close ties to Intel for the Mac and the fact that PA Semi previously worked on PowerPC chips, it seems unlikely that it will be for anything in that line; much more likely are products in the consumer electronics division. Or, just maybe, something that we haven’t seen yet.

Celebrating a decade of the iMac

Posted on May. 6, ’08, 10:18 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Hardware

Well, iMac, you’ve finally hit double-digits. It’s been a long time coming. Er, ten years, to be exact. Right. In that time, you’ve gone through a lot of changes, from Bondi blue gumdrop to white-and-chrome desk lamp, to the Jay Leno-chinned current model.

Ten years ago today, Steve Jobs (who had been back at the company for about a year) rolled out arguably the most influential product of Apple’s last decade, and the one that would bring Apple back as a player in the computer marketplace—not to mention the only computer important enough to get Steve Jobs to wear a suit. It inspired dozens of computer manufacturers to follow in its wake, even if they erroneously attributed its success to nothing more than its coloring—“What, people want blue computers? We can make blue computers!”

It’s funny: I have this bizarrely vivid memory of sitting in my high school library reading an issue of Macworld about the iMac’s introduction in my senior year. I’d grown up largely in the era of Spindler and Amelio, the countless Performas and Quadras with inscrutable numbers and letters after their name, so the iMac felt like—well, in the words of an Apple campaign that was to come later—something different. Even given that, I don’t think I could have predicted just how important it would end up being—I kind of wish I could have, since then I’d have bought a metric ton of AAPL. Ah, well.

Apple #1 in tech support, again

Posted on May. 5, ’08, 6:21 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Hardware

We love lists here at MacUser, especially when Apple holds the top spot — or, in the case of People’s “100 Sexiest Men Alive 2008”, when Steve Jobs does.

Wait, what? Oh right, lists!

This time, it’s Consumer Reports surveying users on the quality of tech support. Among all the computer manufacturers, Apple comes in at number #1 in both desktops (81% satisfaction) and laptops (83%). In desktops, Dell is a distant second with 56% while HP and Compaq rot at the bottom of the pit with 47%. As for notebooks, Lenovo takes the second spot with 66%, while Gateway, last, receives a paltry 54%.

In its report, the magazine cites the Genius Bar as an example of great support, with 90% of problems solved. For more gory details, read Macworld’s full article or pick up the June issue of Consumer Reports.

What are your experiences with Apple support and the Geniuses? Personally, I’ve only had to deal with them for a dead iBook G3 out of warranty and a dead iPod, also out of warranty. Needless to say, I wasn’t very successful.

Psystar’s Open Computer has landed

Posted on May. 5, ’08, 10:36 AM PT by Brian Chen

Category | Hardware

We just received the Psystar Open Computer, the infamous and probably illegal Mac clone, here at Macworld Lab. Over the next few days we’ll be putting it to the test; we hope to have benchmark results soon. Stay tuned!

You want wireless ‘net? Here’s your stinkin’ wireless ‘net

Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 11:58 AM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Geekery

The MacBook Air is “truly” wireless — aside from the fact that you need to be near something wired (i.e., a WiFi base station) to access the Internet. Most modern mini-notebooks have some sort of cellular tech that enables ‘net browsing anywhere you can get a cellular signal.

The Air is an exception…‘till now. Intrepid (and brave) modder Jordan Bunnell ripped apart his AirBook and, using some extra unused USB controllers on the logic board, installed an internal EV-DO card for full location-indepedent Internet goodness.

I consistently get about 1,400-1,700Kbps vs. 1,800-2,000 when it was external, The hardest hit was the upload, I would get around 500Kbps, now I’m closer to 380Kbps.

I upgraded the firmware and activated the USB727 whilst still in USB form, and after I set-up and activated it I simply use the network controls under System preferences to “connect automatically when needed” which works like a charm when I close the lid to sleep, open to resume, and as soon as I make an internet request, a few seconds later I’m online!

Bunnell details the mod step-by-step, illustrated with photos, if you’re crazy enough to try it yourself. It seems he had to sacrifice the Air’s WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities — two steps forward, one step back, if you’re looking for “truly” wireless…but it’s all about priorities.

Check out this page for the steps, and this InsanelyMac forum thread for a discussion about the mod. Or, if you want EV-DO but don’t feel like voiding your warranty, you can check out a few external options as well.

[via Engadget]

Hacked OQO may be smallest Mac ever

Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 9:01 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

If the MacBook Air just isn’t portable enough for you, but you want something a little more than an iPhone, there haven’t been a lot of options in the Mac arena to date. Windows users, meanwhile, have had the choice of using handheld computers like the OQO. Of course, the OQO is really just a very small PC, and as the Psytar clone wars have shown us, you can run OS X on pretty much anything you can run Windows on these days.

A user at the OQO Talk forums, going by the handle trf, claims to have gotten Leopard running on an OQO, dual-booting alongside Windows. The process is apparently not for the faint of heart, and there are still some lingering issues (getting the WWAN support working seems to be the biggest of them), but you can take a gander at this video to see the setup in action.

From what I can see, the performance looks a wee bit sluggish in some aspects (look how long it takes the icons to appear in Cover Flow); I attribute that to the OQO’s fairly lackluster graphics chipset and the 1GB of RAM ceiling. It does, however, appear to work, which is admittedly pretty darn cool.

How about it, readers? Does this setup get your salivary glands working overtime, or is it merely shrugworthy?

[via Gizmodo]

Hey, neat: Open Computer is actually real

Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 1:15 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Hardware

We’ve written a lot about Psystar’s Open Computer Mac clone. I’d venture so far as to say we’ve written about it way too freakin’ much.

But I figure it scores pretty high on the “potentially interesting” meter, so it’s worth mentioning that the Open Computer may actually be a real, booting-and-computing machine that Pystar is actually selling and actually shipping.

Gizmodo seems to have video proof:

It’s alive. Reader Patrick (Whiskeyfrown) is lucky enough to be using one of the few Psystar Open Computing machines that have made it into the wild, and he was generous enough to make a video showing the machine (including the connections in the back to the monitor to show that it’s legit). The thing boots up and runs pretty damn fast, says Patrick, but Software Update won’t recognize it so you won’t be able to patch. System Profiler thinks that it’s a Mac Pro.

Obviously, the lack of a working Software Update means the machine is nowhere near “average consumer” class, but it still may be a viable inexpensive alternative to Apple-made Macs for serious hobbyists and technophiles. And who knows where the advent of the Open Computer may lead in terms of Mac clones.

The best thing about all this? I can hassle Derik for this post. Thank you, Psystar!

Jobs, Intel still k-i-s-s-i-n-g in proverbial tree

Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 12:35 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Hardware

As with every Apple move, the acquisition of processor-producer P.A. Semi spurred a lot of discussion and speculation as to why, and how this $278 million deal fits into Jobs’s Master Plan. My theory is that Apple is just having some relationship issues and turned — as many do — to shopping to ease the pain. I know when I’m upset I often go out and spend hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing small technology firms…it’s comforting, you know?

Some, though, think it’s Apple building a foundation for eventually moving away from Intel and producing its own line of processors. It’s kind of an impractical theory as it is: P.A. Semi designs processors suited for mobile devices, and Apple’s great at engineering…but this is a whole different ballgame. And after the company’s earnings report yesterday, Steve Jobs, speaking to The Wall Street Journal tech blog, worked to alleviate Intel’s worries that he’s is going to break its heart and run off with some cheap chip floozy:

“We have a great partnership with Intel,” Jobs said. “We expect that to continue forever.”

Jobs said Apple acquired P.A. Semi mainly for its chip designers and suggested it will rely on P.A. Semi’s expertise primarily for portable electronics devices like the iPod and iPhone for which Intel doesn’t currently supply chips (though they would like to). Jobs says Apple has long been involved in custom designing chips for iPhones and iPods and P.A. Semi will help enhance its capacity to do so.

(…) “I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over that,” he said. “We’re very happy with Intel.”

Jobs then hugged Intel and said “I love you” while kissing its forehead and whispering naughty things in its ear.

Check the WSJ blog post for more, then treat your Intel Mac to a movie followed by a romantic candlelight dinner…it deserves it.

Hawking takes 802.11n into the mini-space age

Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 11:29 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Hardware

Just in case you’re still in the dark ages and are running your WiFi on 802.11b or some such nonsense from 2001, you might consider throwing down a little scratch ($110) to get your N on.

Just pop down to your favorite electronics store and say that you want the new Hawking HWDN1A Hi-Gain USB Wireless-300N Adapter. They’ll know exactly what you mean—provided you don’t trip up over all those letters and such provided by Creative Naming Corp.

Plus, when you bust this out in a public place, you can tell people that you’re looking for aliens. Really tiny aliens.