Is Apple's new MacBook Pro a gaming machine?

While Macs have long been the preferred computer of the creative class, gamers have generally looked at the machines and essentially said thanks, but no thanks.

That tech truism could be on the verge of disappearing forever in the wake of Apple's announcement that the newest high-end MacBook Pro model will have the graphics processing firepower--thanks to the inclusion of the Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT chip--to finally give hard-core video game players what they want.

"It's more of a gaming machine than the old MacBook Pro," said Mike Schramm, a blogger who writes for both the video game site Joystiq and The Unofficial Apple Weblog. "The weak point in Apple's hardware has always been the integrated graphics chip. The computers have always been blazing fast, but the 3D graphics have been chugging away on an old Intel chip. And the new Nvidia chips will fix that problem."
Read more »

Apple's new MacBooks: Which one is right for you?

As you've perhaps heard elsewhere on Crave, Apple recently held a pretty broad-reaching laptop event in which it updated its entire line of portable computers.

Sure, there's new tech and spec bumps to talk about, but the really interesting part is that Apple dramatically simplified its line. While the 17-inch model is still around (with a modest upgrade to the included RAM), the real stars are the new MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro, as well as the lust-worthy MacBook Air. If you're in the market for a new OS X portable, you've got some choices to make.

Each laptop is geared toward a certain kind of user. These users, in turn, each likely have a primary feature they want out of a laptop: Portability, power, or price. While it'd be nice to have all three, that's unrealistic, though these machines are all fairly close to each other on all three fronts.


Read more »

Checking under the hood of Apple's new MacBooks

Tuesday's announcement of new and updated MacBook laptops from Apple could never have lived up to the hype of the past several weeks.

After endless predictions about tablets, touch screens, and cheaper (some would say recession-friendly) products, from an US$800 MacBook to an Apple Netbook, the end result was instead a solid list of upgrades and improvements, with a few noteworthy innovations and a few interesting developments that may get lost in the "Where are the $800 MacBooks?" shuffle. Here's our take on what the new developments mean for you.



The most obvious of these is the so-called brick manufacturing process, whereby instead of building a frame and overlaying the chassis, Apple is taking the process used in the making the MacBook Air and expanding it to other MacBooks. The brick comes from a 2.5-pound piece of aluminum (in the case of the Air), which is literally whittled down to 0.5 pounds, meaning the internal frame is part of the same piece of metal as the chassis.
Read more »

The mysterious Toshiba Portege R600

We really pity the chap tasked to do a writeup on the latest Portege R600. How do you advertise a product without giving away a single piece of new information? Turns out the task was even simpler than we thought, as the Web page showcasing the R600 simply rehashes the benefits and features of the older R500 laptop.

What we could gather is that the Portege R600 is a 12.1-inch number with an integrated optical drive and an amazing battery life. Like its predecessor, it is ultraslim and light and decked out with the fourth-generation Toshiba EasyGuard technology. The latter is a proprietary application that controls the security of the machine as well as provides simple maintenance and troubleshooting. The main difference from the R500 would be its chipset, as the R600 is based on the new Centrino 2 platform. We'll keep you updated as more information comes in.

AMD Puma pounces on Toshiba

The first Toshiba laptops based on the latest AMD Puma platform have started appearing in the US, with the Satellite L305D and Satellite M305D leading the way.

Though both Intel and AMD's latest platforms allow the inclusion of both integrated and discrete graphics on a single mainboard, their implementations are different. Intel's Hybrid Graphics Engine switches between the power-saving integrated video and performance-focused discrete chip. AMD, however, allows both integrated and discrete video processors to be in use at the same time, potentially giving an even greater performance edge. It also helps that ,traditionally, AMD machines are significantly cheaper than their Centrino counterparts.

We're still awaiting confirmation if these AMD-based units will be hitting Asia shores, though the wait won't be too long as a Toshiba representative has informed CNET Asia that it will likely be holding a laptop launch sometime next month.

Crave is...

The name says it all. Crave is our new blog about cool gadgets and other crushworthy stuff.

Drop us an email if you have tips or suggestions.

Crave for...

» Mobile Phones (966)

» Digital Cameras (566)

» Notebooks (697)

» PC & Peripherals (759)

» Handhelds (354)

» Printers (50)

» Home AV (649)

» Music & Play (533)

» Gadgets (1195)

» Future Tech (244)

Previously...

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Subscribe to
Crave

Today on CNET |  Reviews |  Crave |  Blogs |  CNET TV |  Digital Living |  Downloads