From: Geoffrey Loeffler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>It has been consistently demonstrated for YEARS now that this doesn't mean much. A new 1.8GHz Centrino chip will BLOW THE DOORS off a laptop 2.4GHz P4 chip. So which is faster, the bigger number or the better chip?
Dennis When I speak of speed I am talking that the fastest Mac out there runs at 1.4 Ghz and that is a desk top. Sony has lap tops that are pushing 2.4 Ghz 512 ram 40 GB HD DVDRW CDDRW and of course windoz this for $1800.00
Tests done by Bare Feats, xlr8yourmac.com and many others have consistently shown that broadly speaking the G4s hold their own against the best the PC world has to offer. They lag (significantly) in some areas, and still excel in other areas. The very fastest class of PC chips *is* palpably faster than the fastest G4 chips, but this is more than made up for in everything but pure mathematical exercises by the fact that the faster P4 chips can't run OS X, which automatically makes them dramatically less efficient, more prone to crashes, virus/hacker ridden, etc.
IOW, yes PCs are just now getting to the stage where they are clearly faster. That won't last long. But the disadvantages of running a PC over a Mac *still* give the edge to the Mac when it comes to actual productivity, ROI, TCO, etc.
Consumer Reports says you're wrong. I'll stack their research against yours and see who I believe. Show me your non-anecdotal evidence and we'll talk.I love my Macs, I have had them from the first 128k up to the pismo but I feel we are paying a premium price for what, speed no, products that last, tell that to my 2 dead pismos. Quality has gone down hill.
The lines blur between Apple and Microsoft because Microsoft spends tens of billions of dollars each and every year *blurring the line.* They spend on R&D alone more than eight times what Apple does, and by all accounts at LEAST ten times more on advertising which appeals primarily to very gullible people (and appears to be working on you as well). And yet despite this gigantic gap in funding, few people can point to ANYTHING Microsoft has ever invented solely on their own that had any kind of positive impact on influence on the computer industry, and the absolute best the PC industry appears able to do is struggle to catch up to Apple in terms of features, and barely surpass them in terms of speed. And this is after TWENTY YEARS OF TRYING.Now we can look at the cute young girl sing on TV about apple music but unless Apple gets off it's butt and produces some hardware that at least keeps up with the rest of the world and drives this unix system with the power it needs, then the lines begin to blur between Apple and Microsoft.
I suggest to you that Apple *has* "gotten off their butt and is producing hardware that at least keeps up with the rest of the world" -- but they don't just pull this stuff out of their butt you know ... it takes time, and try to keep in mind that Apple has far fewer resources to work with, and much whinier customers than MS has. :)
It's been widely discussed (though not officially reported) that Apple is planning on significantly revamping their professional lineup later this year, starting with the towers which *allegedly* will sport new chips, motherboards and busses which *ought* to yield somewhere in the neighborhood of a 100% jump in performance (if the machines are kitted out similar to today's top o' the line). If these machines continue to be offered in dual-proc setups, this should more than quiet any critics of Apple's speed. Even single-proc machines should address parity concerns in terms of P4 speeds by making up "lost" ground in areas where the G4 has noticeably lagged.
Of course, there will still be the "costs too much" and "1.8GHz still doesn't SOUND faster than 3.4GHz" complaints. For the former, have you considered the possibility that Apple doesn't actually *desire* to convert the "cheapskate bottom-dollar PC user" crowd? As long as Apple feels they can sustain profitability and continue innovating great products, what else matters? As has often been pointed out, a great many car companies get by on significantly less than 2% of the automobile market, yet nobody seems to think they are going out of business, nor do they think that these companies are going to double their marketshare anytime soon, or ever.
quality go the Apple home page and see the list of users that are having problems with iBooks.
Again, I point you to Consumer Reports, who surveyed 39,000 users (or about 38,999 more users than you did) and came up with completely different results. In case you don't routinely read CR, you might want to know that they are not considered "Mac-friendly" by any stretch of the imagination ... quite the opposite in fact.
Compare their estimate that Apple has a 4% problem rate with Micron's 33% problem rate, or Gateway's 20% problem rate, and get back to me on that.
I am not sure of Apples plan but unless the Ghz and the bus is there I am not buying any hardware. I know I will be flamed here, but look around on the sites and you will see similar concerns.
I'm not flaming you for deciding not to buy any more Apple hardware until you feel they make significant movement in terms of speed. I am actually doing the same thing! I am saving up now for a machine I expect to buy sometime this fall, which I believe will be at least 50% if not 100% faster (not in MHz/GHz terms, but in real-world usage terms) that the present tower line. I, unlike many people, realise I'm setting the bar awfully high here -- I hope Apple can deliver on my expectations, but I don't go almost-psychotically bitter if they don't. I had high hopes for the Cube, too, but I didn't abandon Apple for not making that work out. I waited, and lo and behold the G4 iMac (which is basically the Cube redux, only a faster/better value) appeared!
I *am* flaming you a bit (more like "singeing") for assuming that problem reports on Apple's board (and here for that matter) mean that the majority of iBook owners are having problems (totally untrue and a common net fallacy) and for making unrealistic demands on Apple given their resources. Microsoft does FOUR TIMES the revenue Apple does, yet they can't even make software that works right, let alone hardware!
I also talked with starband and they now offers Mac service, but it needs to be the top of the line model the dual 1.4
If they can offer it for that model, it will work with ANY current model Mac. Just because they don't know this or choose not to support it doesn't mean it's not true. My broadband ISP (RoadRunner) claims up and down that you cannot use ANY other browser but IE to surf the net. Guess what, they're wrong.
Still, I'm glad to hear that Starband have "seen the light" and are starting to offer service to Mac users. There are a lot of rural people who could really use that!
_Chas_
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
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