CS3 Mac vs. Windows

hansv.com
This is the comparison I've been waiting for.
It's prelimenary, but insightful.

Dell resurects XP

Dell brings back XP on home systems.

This is surprising. By surprising I mean overwhelmingly expected.

I don't know what made them think home users would tolerate the same incompatibility and stability issues that businesses wouldn't.

Sony VAIO G

Now that I've ripped Sony, allow me to praise them for a bit. Second only to Apple, Sony makes the best computer hardware right now. To continue this reputation, their new VAIO G has a host of features that make it the new ultra portable to beat.

The 12.1" display VAIO G actually beat Apple to the Solid State Disk (SSD) storage with a 32 GB SSD that has been rumored lately to be in a new ultra mobile MacBook. This is probably the most significant feature not only because of it's weight reduction (the G weighs in at just under 2 lbs) but because of the speed of SSD storage over hard drive based storage and much lower power consumption. The G notebook gets an amazing 6 hrs of battery life, if the Sony battery doesn't blow up that is.

Other features include: a carbon fiber shell (not the fake Acer kind), Wireless, Bluetooth, multicard reader, and your choice of a Celeron or Core Solo processor. There is also the option of a DVD burner and 6 cell battery which provides an unbelievable 12 hrs of battery life.

In the ultra portable realm the Lenovo X Series has always been my favorite, but the new Sony G is the new hotness. It's far to early to say that the G is better at this time, but it's surely worth watching. They're both overpriced but with the addition of SSD on the new models the G is in the nearly unobtainable stratosphere at nearly $2300 for the base model. But hey, I'm wiling to buy pretty much anything with carbon fiber.

The Future of Television

Although DLP and LCOS technology for rear projection televisions looks very good, the future of televisions is obviously moving quickly to flat panel technologies. Currently Plasma and LCD technologies are the only options, that’s about to change.

With LCD offering higher resolutions and coming up quickly to bridge the quality gap between itself and Plasma, it seems as though the tides are changing for high definition. However, there are new players emerging and they are looking very promising.

First is “Laser” TV. Yes it’s hard to say without air quotes. Novalux Inc. is one of the pioneers of this technology. They claim that laser televisions will offer many benefits over Plasma LCD and CRT televisions, including half the productions cost, double the color range, and three quarters less power consumption. WOW. Sign me up, not only does it have these benefits, but it uses a laser. Is there anything that uses a laser that’s not cool? Although they have not formally announced a product Sony said this of the product they showed at this years CES:

At CES we had a laser TV beside a plasma TV, an LCD TV and a traditional UHP lamp TV,” said Niven, speaking about Novalux’s showroom in at this year’s CES. “So that’s four TVs lined up running our own produced high definition content, and I mean, it was a no brainer. The laser TV had a way, way better picture than any of the other conventional technologies.

The downside to laser technology is that it requires (for now) a deeper cabinet. Not as deep as standard rear projection televisions, it’s 8-10 inch profile is able to be hung on a wall, but not nearly as sexy as the current 3-6 inch flat panels. Which brings me to the next contender.

OLED televisions seem to be around the corner as well. The new OLED TV’s announced by Sony and Samsung are super thin. They also boast of richer colors, wider viewing angle and lower power requirements. The OLED televisions are plagued by short lifespans however. The technology has matured quite a bit since the cell phones and car audio displays of 2002, but will still undergo some growing pains to reach the home theater.

Both of these technologies are slated to be available in 2008. Visually everyone seems to agree that Laser and OLED televisions are superior to the current offerings, and Plasma and LCD have almost hit their peak of evolution. It will be interesting to see how the market is influence by these new televisions. But I’ll sit on my Plasma savings for another year.