PC gaming is dying, most big titles are console ports now. Sad, because if you choose the right components you get far better quality of graphics [potentially, it depends if the game supports it, nowadays even basic 2x antialiasing present in PC titles up to 5 years ago is missing] than an Xbox360 or PS3... for less than $700 easy.
You are not completely right.
Most PC games are console ports, correct... but while in not distant past those ports were clumsy, non-optimized ports full of glitches, new ones are usually bettering their console brethren with better graphics and added content.
Additionaly, massive on-line multiplayers are still pretty much PC-exclusive.
PC gaming is considered to be dying for the past 2 decades, however... not really happening.
Right, but which group is more plentiful, cannon fodder or executives?
Obviously cannon fodder. But if you consider number of executives world-wide (or just in US), with their fancy notebooks not being purchased from retail... I have no doubts Apple would still be very strong in high-end laptop market segment, but not remotely that strong.
Actually, size and weight is not a concern to me. Even a 1lb difference is not going to break my back, but if you do want to nitpick, the exact Apple mac book pro I compared it to does not have a machined aluminum case, does not have a LED back lit screen. Yes, I have a hard drive drop sensor, that has been around for years, and apple was not the first to use that technology. Yes it has an ambient light sensor, many laptops have for years. And battery life is comparable to the mac book pro that has the same hardware. Brushed aluminum case by the way on mine. I didn't say I am comparing to the current model, I am comparing to the model that released around the same time mine did. However the price differences are still intact. All those features you listed off are used by many manufactures. Just because Apple is doing it, does not mean no one else isn't. MY HP Elite book at home with LED LCD and SSD Hard Drive gets around 18-24 hours on a single charge depending on how I use it if you want me to go with newer technology. Look just because Apple advertises something specific, that does not mean no one else does it. In many cases, there are other manufactures that have been doing it long before Apple. The only thing special you listed off is the Aluminum case, which apple has fabricated an expensive process to make is cost a lot more than traditional machined cases to make. Seems wasteful to me. And just in case someone else is going to comment on the multitouch technology, that is an ability of all capacitive touch sensors, and the only thing needed to enable it is a driver. Capacitive touch sensors have been around since laptops had touchpads. If you want to tote the fancy features of your equipment, you should investigate how long it's been around, because you might find Apple more of a follower than a leader in technologies. It is all about marketing, and they sure fooled you into thinking you really had something special.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmf2
Not to nitpick, but is your Gateway laptop the same size and weight as the macbook pro? Does it have an LED backlit screen? Multitouch trackpad? Hard drive drop sensor? Slot loading drive? Machined aluminum case? What about an ambient light sensor? Does the battery have a similar energy density? etc.
There are a lot of things other than the Apple logo that contribute to the cost of a mac. Perhaps you don't find these features useful or necessary to yourself, and that is fine, but they do raise Apples cost to manufacture their products and thus affect the end price. As far as I know, Apple still designs their own motherboards too (although I'm sure they farm out the manufacturing).
Seriously. I'm considering ignoring folks that consistently respond to him.
You make an excellent point. I stopped ignoring because despite nearly half the posts being from him in a thread, nearly the other half contained his posts in replies.
Note: As of this point I will stop responding to him.
Actually, size and weight is not a concern to me. Even a 1lb difference is not going to break my back, but if you do want to nitpick, the exact Apple mac book pro I compared it to does not have a machined aluminum case, does not have a LED back lit screen. Yes, I have a hard drive drop sensor, that has been around for years, and apple was not the first to use that technology. Yes it has an ambient light sensor, many laptops have for years. And battery life is comparable to the mac book pro that has the same hardware. Brushed aluminum case by the way on mine. I didn't say I am comparing to the current model, I am comparing to the model that released around the same time mine did. However the price differences are still intact. All those features you listed off are used by many manufactures. Just because Apple is doing it, does not mean no one else isn't. MY HP Elite book at home with LED LCD and SSD Hard Drive gets around 18-24 hours on a single charge depending on how I use it if you want me to go with newer technology. Look just because Apple advertises something specific, that does not mean no one else does it. In many cases, there are other manufactures that have been doing it long before Apple. The only thing special you listed off is the Aluminum case, which apple has fabricated an expensive process to make is cost a lot more than traditional machined cases to make. Seems wasteful to me. And just in case someone else is going to comment on the multitouch technology, that is an ability of all capacitive touch sensors, and the only thing needed to enable it is a driver. Capacitive touch sensors have been around since laptops had touchpads. If you want to tote the fancy features of your equipment, you should investigate how long it's been around, because you might find Apple more of a follower than a leader in technologies. It is all about marketing, and they sure fooled you into thinking you really had something special.
In addition, HDD drop sensor is common nowadays. My year old low(er) end HP 6730b has it. HP 6710b - model before mine, which was around for some time - has it. Many others.
LED backlit displays? Common nowadays even with netbooks. Cheap HP ProBooks (not to be confused with top-line EliteBooks) have them, just as an example.
Backlit keyboards? Not as common as HDD drop protection, but I've seen it on some recent netooks. Definitely not high-end feature any more.
Acer Veriton L460 - one of the cheapest desktops I have seen - has slot loading DVD burner. Definitely not high end feature.
In addition, HDD drop sensor is common nowadays. My year old low(er) end HP 6730b has it. HP 6710b - model before mine, which was around for some time - has it.
Segue: Jobs stated in a couple keynotes back that Apple invented the HDD drop sensor. Anyone else recall that and/or can confirm that is true?
Segue: Jobs stated in a couple keynotes back that Apple invented the HDD drop sensor. Anyone else recall that and/or can confirm that is true?
Hm... much as I could find, Apple's patent - Sudden Motion Sensor - was introduced in 2005.
It seems WD's ShockGuard goes way back to 2000. I managed to find PDF for WD drives 20 - 160GB with ShockGuard, dated 2003 - so it is at least that old...
IBM/Lenovo's Active Protection System, was introduced in 2003... so that one should also be older. Maybe not the same technology, though.
Acer's GraviSense was introduced in 2006.
I'm not sure how old is HP's 3D guard, and whatever is used by Toshiba, Asus, Seagate...
Unfortunately, Apple seems to be the only one experiencing problems with some aftermarket drives. Much as I'm aware of.
IBM's Active Protection System debuted in 2003 in the thinkpad laptop line and may be the first. Not sure, HP's Drive guard may have been sooner. Regardless, Sudden Motion Sensor is just a different variation of existing drop sensors. History shows that Apple somehow manages to take what others have done, give it a new name, and somehow manage a patent. I guess the patent office doesn't see it as stealing someone else work for some reason, but if they want to market it as if it is something new and unique to them, so be it. Marketing Rhetorics seem to be what Apple is good at. It's not lies, it is just misleading with slight amounts of truth presented in a way to guide the readers/viewers into making assumptions that are not true. This is common marketing for any company though, so I can't say Apple is doing anything that no one else does. It's just that they really seem to push the boundaries sometimes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikon133
Hm... much as I could find, Apple's patent - Sudden Motion Sensor - was introduced in 2005.
It seems WD's ShockGuard goes way back to 2000. I managed to find PDF for WD drives 20 - 160GB with ShockGuard, dated 2003 - so it is at least that old...
IBM/Lenovo's Active Protection System, was introduced in 2003... so that one should also be older. Maybe not the same technology, though.
Acer's GraviSense was introduced in 2006.
I'm not sure how old is HP's 3D guard, and whatever is used by Toshiba, Asus, Seagate...
Unfortunately, Apple seems to be the only one experiencing problems with some aftermarket drives. Much as I'm aware of.
Comments
PC gaming is dying, most big titles are console ports now. Sad, because if you choose the right components you get far better quality of graphics [potentially, it depends if the game supports it, nowadays even basic 2x antialiasing present in PC titles up to 5 years ago is missing] than an Xbox360 or PS3... for less than $700 easy.
You are not completely right.
Most PC games are console ports, correct... but while in not distant past those ports were clumsy, non-optimized ports full of glitches, new ones are usually bettering their console brethren with better graphics and added content.
Additionaly, massive on-line multiplayers are still pretty much PC-exclusive.
PC gaming is considered to be dying for the past 2 decades, however... not really happening.
Right, but which group is more plentiful, cannon fodder or executives?
Obviously cannon fodder. But if you consider number of executives world-wide (or just in US), with their fancy notebooks not being purchased from retail... I have no doubts Apple would still be very strong in high-end laptop market segment, but not remotely that strong.
Not to nitpick, but is your Gateway laptop the same size and weight as the macbook pro? Does it have an LED backlit screen? Multitouch trackpad? Hard drive drop sensor? Slot loading drive? Machined aluminum case? What about an ambient light sensor? Does the battery have a similar energy density? etc.
There are a lot of things other than the Apple logo that contribute to the cost of a mac. Perhaps you don't find these features useful or necessary to yourself, and that is fine, but they do raise Apples cost to manufacture their products and thus affect the end price. As far as I know, Apple still designs their own motherboards too (although I'm sure they farm out the manufacturing).
Please don't reply to t.s. as it kind of reduces the point of putting him in my ignore list.
Seriously. I'm considering ignoring folks that consistently respond to him.
Seriously. I'm considering ignoring folks that consistently respond to him.
You make an excellent point. I stopped ignoring because despite nearly half the posts being from him in a thread, nearly the other half contained his posts in replies.
Note: As of this point I will stop responding to him.
Actually, size and weight is not a concern to me. Even a 1lb difference is not going to break my back, but if you do want to nitpick, the exact Apple mac book pro I compared it to does not have a machined aluminum case, does not have a LED back lit screen. Yes, I have a hard drive drop sensor, that has been around for years, and apple was not the first to use that technology. Yes it has an ambient light sensor, many laptops have for years. And battery life is comparable to the mac book pro that has the same hardware. Brushed aluminum case by the way on mine. I didn't say I am comparing to the current model, I am comparing to the model that released around the same time mine did. However the price differences are still intact. All those features you listed off are used by many manufactures. Just because Apple is doing it, does not mean no one else isn't. MY HP Elite book at home with LED LCD and SSD Hard Drive gets around 18-24 hours on a single charge depending on how I use it if you want me to go with newer technology. Look just because Apple advertises something specific, that does not mean no one else does it. In many cases, there are other manufactures that have been doing it long before Apple. The only thing special you listed off is the Aluminum case, which apple has fabricated an expensive process to make is cost a lot more than traditional machined cases to make. Seems wasteful to me. And just in case someone else is going to comment on the multitouch technology, that is an ability of all capacitive touch sensors, and the only thing needed to enable it is a driver. Capacitive touch sensors have been around since laptops had touchpads. If you want to tote the fancy features of your equipment, you should investigate how long it's been around, because you might find Apple more of a follower than a leader in technologies. It is all about marketing, and they sure fooled you into thinking you really had something special.
In addition, HDD drop sensor is common nowadays. My year old low(er) end HP 6730b has it. HP 6710b - model before mine, which was around for some time - has it. Many others.
LED backlit displays? Common nowadays even with netbooks. Cheap HP ProBooks (not to be confused with top-line EliteBooks) have them, just as an example.
Backlit keyboards? Not as common as HDD drop protection, but I've seen it on some recent netooks. Definitely not high-end feature any more.
Acer Veriton L460 - one of the cheapest desktops I have seen - has slot loading DVD burner. Definitely not high end feature.
Etc, etc.
In addition, HDD drop sensor is common nowadays. My year old low(er) end HP 6730b has it. HP 6710b - model before mine, which was around for some time - has it.
Segue: Jobs stated in a couple keynotes back that Apple invented the HDD drop sensor. Anyone else recall that and/or can confirm that is true?
Segue: Jobs stated in a couple keynotes back that Apple invented the HDD drop sensor. Anyone else recall that and/or can confirm that is true?
Hm... much as I could find, Apple's patent - Sudden Motion Sensor - was introduced in 2005.
It seems WD's ShockGuard goes way back to 2000. I managed to find PDF for WD drives 20 - 160GB with ShockGuard, dated 2003 - so it is at least that old...
IBM/Lenovo's Active Protection System, was introduced in 2003... so that one should also be older. Maybe not the same technology, though.
Acer's GraviSense was introduced in 2006.
I'm not sure how old is HP's 3D guard, and whatever is used by Toshiba, Asus, Seagate...
Unfortunately, Apple seems to be the only one experiencing problems with some aftermarket drives. Much as I'm aware of.
Hm... much as I could find, Apple's patent - Sudden Motion Sensor - was introduced in 2005.
It seems WD's ShockGuard goes way back to 2000. I managed to find PDF for WD drives 20 - 160GB with ShockGuard, dated 2003 - so it is at least that old...
IBM/Lenovo's Active Protection System, was introduced in 2003... so that one should also be older. Maybe not the same technology, though.
Acer's GraviSense was introduced in 2006.
I'm not sure how old is HP's 3D guard, and whatever is used by Toshiba, Asus, Seagate...
Unfortunately, Apple seems to be the only one experiencing problems with some aftermarket drives. Much as I'm aware of.