Thin is in, but can it stand up to the heavyweights? Gizmodo ran some real world benchmarks on the MacBook Air, pitting it against the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. They ran speed tests to see how much the MacBooks differ in speed. And the winnnaaaaah iiiiiiis ... in the full article.

Consumer electronics high-roller Pioneer is pushing the envelope as far as Blu-ray technology is concerned with the announcement of its new BDC-S02J combo drive for desktop computers. It can play 25GB single layer discs at 5X and does 50GB dual layer discs at 2X. That's 1X above most of the current drives out there.

Those expecting Blu-ray writing technology will not find it here because Pioneer had to drop it in order to lower costs for both retail and production. However, single layer DVDs can be burned at 12X, while dual-layered DVD-RWs are written at 4X.

The black and white drive matches different types of PC cases and fits snug with a SATA connection. The processor required for minimal tasks is a Pentium III that runs at 800Mhz but you'll need at least a Core Duo and a nifty video card to watch movies efficiently.

 

The Apple community is buzzing with the announcement of the new MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 which, strangely enough, doesn't carry a lot of details from Apple except for the description that it fixes bugs and optimizes processes. It's recommended for 2.2/2.4Ghz models which have OS X 10.4.9 or higher installed.

The MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 is driven by the Intel Core Duo chip which runs at 2.2/2.4Ghz tops. It packs 4GB of DDR-2 clocked at 667Mhz. The Frontside bus is at 800Mhz to round up the uber hardware chops.

That means, in a nutshell, that you can pretty much do everything you want with this baby. Whether you love 3D games, video editing or sound encoding, the MacBook Pro with Software Update 1.0 should deliver sweeter goods than ever.

If you ask most people if it is necessary to defrag your PC, they will have an immediate answer. However, if you go up to most techies and ask them if it's necessary to defrag your Mac, you'll get a plethora of answers. That puts most mac owners at an impasse: to defrag or not to defrag, that is the question.

FreeFrag on MacTalk took up the burden to answer this question that has been plaguing a lot of the Mac users who want to get more from their machine. After intensive testing, the verdict is in, and the results may surprise you. After installing iDefrag 1.6.1 on the test system (20" iMac with Core Duo 2.0Ghz, 1.5Gb RAM, 232Gb HD with 102Gb Free), multiple programs were tested for loading times via pre and post boot.

After averaging the time for both tests, it looks like the system was even faster before the defrag than after. However, the stats of the post defragmentation were really dragged down by the long start-up boot time the system went through. All the applications tested with the exception of XP did get a relatively good boost from the defragmentation. So is it worth it?

It looks like a trade-off between initial boot and program speed. If you keep your system on most of the time, then perhaps defragging you system may be a good move. But if you just power-up the system every so often to run a few programs, then defragging may slow you down.

That brings us back to the first question, to defrag or not to defrag. Well, it depends on what you're going to be doing and on your computing habits.

 

HP is trying its hand at innovating the laptop industry. While most of its competitors go for portability and style, the HDX Pavilion is a true dragon of the genre. It's not ashamed to weigh 15.5 pounds and be 2.3-inches thick. It has all the heavyweight specs to back it up.

The Pavilion runs with a 2.4Ghz Core Duo Centrino, two 200GB SATA hard drives, 4GB of RAM, a 256MB Radeon Mobility graphics card, a HD-DVD Drive, Bluetooth connectivity and a 20.1 inch monitor just to give you a hint of what this baby is made of. HP touts it as a total entertainment laptop.

Unfortunately, it also has a hefty price point. Unless you own oil fields or something, this will devastate your finances. Be content with your home theatre if you're not raking in the dough by the truckloads.

  

If you're into Monster Hunter Online and you're in the market for a new laptop, you may want to check out the May 2007 releases from Toshiba. The Qosmio G40 series and the Dynabook TX series are both recommended by the game developers to run the game as smoothly as possible even while you're on the move.

The TX series packs a base processor of Core Duo 2 strength running at 1.66Ghz. It also has 1GB of memory and a large hard drive to get all those files in. The G40 series carry similar core specs, but the units in its wing have something that a lot of notebooks don't: an HD-DVD-R drive to play and burn high capacity and high definition content.

Both models are still available in Japan, but are slated for a later release date in North America later this year. Pricing is still "open" as the Japanese market terms it. We'll keep you posted for more.

Last month's Puff the Flammable MacBook might have been an extreme case, maybe not even related. Still, Reuters reports that Apple recently acknowledged that some of the notebook PC batteries in their MacBook/Pros "may have performance problems," but "the issues are not a safety risk," they insist.

Said issues include not charging when the computer's plugged into an outlet. Strangely enough, that had been a common complaint about laptop batteries - Apple mobile PCs and otherwise - over the past year.

So enough with the bellyaching, solutions, solutions. Apple has released Battery Update 1.2, specified for Intel laptops. It should hopefully improve battery life and "reduce swelling." Swelling batteries: that's always a bad sign. In addition, Reuters notes that the battery replacement program continues and also applies to out-of-warranty MacBook/Pros as well, if and only if:

• Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
• Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
• Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
• Battery pack is visibly deformed.

For those with Intel Core Duo MacBook/Pros, the repair/replace program "extends repair coverage on the battery for up to two years from the date of purchase of the computer." Presuming your hapless battery qualifies, hit the Read link for details.

Of course, if your MacBook/Pro has suffered the fate of Puff, then it's definitely too late for an Update or Replacement. Just hope the house didn't go up with the battery.

Talk about going all out. Sony has not only decided to give every owner the Blu-ray treatment: it's doing that with its laptops, too. The new Sony VAIO L type has that new-fangled Blu-ray drive so you can watch "Casino Royale" and a lot more to show off.

 

The 19-inch frame has all the oomph necessary to give users all the media and computing joys possible. It's loaded with a Core Duo 2 processor running at a top speed of 2.16Ghz and 1GB RAM. The graphics are handled by a trusty Nvidia GeForce 7600, and there's even a TV tuner and DVD writer to burn whatever masterpiece of television magic happen to have.

The price point is a little high at US$ 3, 353, but with all the wonderful stuff that they packed in, who's to whine? Windows Vista will surely run well with specs this hot. It's costly, but still a worthy buy.

 

Th3 Strang3r let us in on the latest update for XviD4PSP, and all we have to say is: "WHOA. Winnydows is FAST."

Winnydows released XviD4PSP v4.101, which has a couple of extra features from 4.1 Final. We've also got the full changelog for 4.100 and 4.101, so we'll be placing all of it below. As for installing the latest version of this wonderful video conversion software, just remember that you'll need the latest version of Microsoft's .net Framework after running the installer app so that it'll actually work.

4.101 changes:

• MediaInfo updated to 0.7.4.4.
• Delay bug fixed. Now files with delay encoded ok (thanks new MediaInfo).
• Fixed crash on Pause-Stop.
• In main installer updated mencoder to 22158.

4.100 changes:

• Fixed many small and big bugs.
• Changed design and logic.
• Now possible pause encoding.
• Titles and tracks for DVD or VOBs now selected with pre-preview.
• Changed profiles system. Now three profiles groups: - Remastering, SBC, Codec.
• Remastering - denoise and sharpeness enhance.
• SBC - Saturation, Brightness, Contrast.
• Codec - codec presets.
• Aspect now possible auto correct with three types: by crop, by black, by crop + black.
• Removed slow gradient controls - make program faster.
• Now possible auto load subtitles
• Now possible use external audio track.
• Unlocked M2V files import.
• To main installer added MP4 splitter.
• Mencoder now work in MT mode on MT or Core Duo systems.

Download: [XviD4PSP v4.101]

Motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan have an aggressive increase in orders for high-capacitance multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) used in the manufacturing of CPUs allegedly for the use in an AMD-based Apple notebook. With Intel getting in on the Apple action, there's no reason why the other major CPU manufacturer in the world shouldn't get a piece of the warm Apple pie. AMD Taiwan have refused to comment on this.

Although some are saying that an AMD Apple notebook is in the works, other motherboard manufacturers have claimed that there are no AMD/Apple notebooks around, firstly due to Intel having processor superiority over AMD with its latest Core Duo 2 line-up, and that AMD has insufficient capacity to manufacture chips for Apple notebooks.

This is a nice area to look at, and with the success of Boot Camp and the integration Intel processors, and if AMD processor integration goes ahead, Apple computers may steal a lot more of the notebook market, taking even more people away from their Windows laptop loyalties.