Computer Ratings: Laptops are getting smaller, but so are desktops

It's back-to-school time (how I hated that phrase when I was a kid). That means you could be in the market for a new laptop. We tested 33 of them, ranging in size from the slimmest and smallest 13.3-inch models to bulkier and more powerful 17-inchers.

Check our latest Ratings of laptops (available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers) and you'll find systems with just the right balance of price, performance, and battery life for all-around use. Among our Recommended laptops (available to subscribers), we also identified a few for the power user in your family. Those models are packed with high-end video for gaming and more powerful processors.

For those tied to a desk, we Rated desktop systems (available to subscribers) with new quad-core processors from both Intel and AMD, as well as a couple of sub-$600 models that will save you money but still perform the basics well.

Finally, all-in-one systems continue to raise the bar in terms of style and performance. Liberate yourself from those black towers!

—Donna Tapellini

PC tech support: Apple shines, say our readers

Which computer company is tops in terms of free tech support? Don't expect it to be anyone on the Windows side of the computer world.

Our latest survey on computer tech support, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center and drawn from our readers' personal experiences with 10,000 desktop and laptop computers, finds that Apple owners have much to smile about. Apple's tech support was able to solve Mac problems more than 80 percent of the time, according to those surveyed who used Apple's support.

Overall, however, the news isn't stellar when it comes to using tech support to fix annoying computer problems. According to those surveyed, problems were solved for only about 60 percent of those who actually had to contact a manufacturer for help. What's more, many computer makers' free technical support policies end in a year or less. (One notable exception is, again, Apple. Free phone support runs out after 90 days, but you can get unlimited support at Apple stores—if you live near one.)

As such, salesmen will try to pitch an optional, extra-cost "extended" service plan. Our general advice is to skip such pricey extended service warranties. But if you absolutely need the hand-holding or know you'll travel everywhere with your laptop, you might want to consider one—especially since our latest report on extended service plans for computers (available to subscribers) finds that a few companies' extended plans do offer significantly better tech support compared to their limited free services.

ConsumerReports.org subscribers also have online access to more information, including which laptop tech support and desktop tech support scored among the lowest in our readers' satisfaction (Hint: It's a top-selling computer maker) and how to get free computer help.

Solid-state drives for MacBook Airs are hard sells—for now

When the Apple MacBook Air first arrived at Consumer Reports, more than a few of us here were really impressed with its size and (lack of) weight. Moreover, Apple still managed to cram some really nifty features in such a thin and light laptop. (See "MacBook Air: First impressions" or click on the video player at right for more details on the MacBook Air's features.)

Better still: Elements of the Air are making their way into siblings. The new MacBook models announced today by Apple, for instance, will have "multi-touch" touchpads with "gesture controls"—capabilities first introduced in Apple's iPhone Touch iPod.

[Feb. 27, 2008 UPDATE: Apple's innovative gesture controls—"pinching" to "shrink" an on-screen image, for example—were unveiled with last year's introduction of the iPhone. —Ed.]

One of the more interesting feature that some of our readers have asked about is the solid-state drive (SSD) option. Such drives use flash memory—similar to those used in digital cameras and MP3 players—to store files and programs.

Is an SSD-equipped Air faster than one with the standard 80-gigabyte hard drive? Our preliminary tests of the MacBook Air with a 64-gigabyte SSD says "yes." BUT, only for certain tasks. (See our free report, "Apple MacBook Air: First Look", on ConsumerReports.org for more details.)

Is it worth the $1,000 premium? Unless you have a lot of money, probably not. But it's interesting to note an Air with a SSD has a lower price tag than some other portables with SSDs, say Sony's TZ line of Vaio notebooks. (We tested a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ191N/XC last year and found similar "mixed performance" issues.)

Will other MacBooks and PC notebooks soon come with cheaper, larger and faster flash drives? We can only hope so.

—Paul Eng

MacBook Air: First impressions

We've begun taking a first look at the MacBook Air, Apple's super-slim laptop. (The Air starts at $1,799 for the hard-drive version. There's also a version with a solid-state drive that starts at $3,098.)

One thing we already know: The Air is as sleek in person as it looked coming out of that interoffice envelope in Apple's ads. You can watch our video on the MacBook Air for a closer look and to learn more about what our testers have discovered so far about Apple's hot new portable computer.

[Feb. 11, 2008 UPDATE: You can also watch the video using the player embedded within this post. —Ed.]

But what we don't entirely yet know, because we're still running tests on the hard-drive version, is how much you sacrifice for such a dramatic slim-down. Still, here are some preliminary thoughts based on what we've seen so far:

• The design is stylish, resulting in a very thin, light laptop. But some features are sacrificed, including an optical drive (although you can add an external one).


• The large touchpad features multi-touch capabilities like those found on the iPhone and iPod Touch.


• The display backlight is LED, making it brighter but less power-hungry than other MacBooks. It also has a wider viewing angle.


• The Air stays cooler than other Mac laptops we've tested.

For more information on the Air, look for our First Look on ConsumerReports.org next week, followed by more-detailed test results when we included Apple's new portable in our complete Ratings of laptop computers (available to subscribers).

[Feb. 26, 2008 UPDATE: We've completed our first round of tests. You'll find more details in our free report, "Apple MacBook Air: First Look" on ConsumerReports.org. —Ed.]

—Donna Tapellini

Macworld 2008: Some software and audio odds and ends

Some MacWorld miscellany, beginning with four operating-system/software entries:

Improvements to MS Office. I said earlier in the week I'd say something about the new MS Office 2008. The features are more or less in parity with the Office 2007 product that's been out for a year, now. Entourage plays better with Exchange Server, to address concerns about corporate distribution, and I was assured by the lead developer for Word08 that the "Normal" file, a file that holds all of your custom stylesheets translates fully from older versions. The only other thing to note here is that with Office08, virtually every major Mac application suite has made the transition to Universal Binary code base and is Intel-native. That means there's no longer any need for Rosetta, the built-in code translator between G5 Mac processors and Intel Windows processors.

A new Windows on Mac option. Another interesting entry in the "virtualization" competition comes from Codeweavers, who were demoing their "Crossover" product. Crossover allows someone who wants to switch to Mac and still protect their Windows software investment to actually install and run their legacy Windows programs natively in OS X; no virtual disk image or Windows OS is required. The downside is that this capability has to be customized by Codeweavers for each legacy Windows application. Consequently, the company has concentrated on a limited list of only the most used Windows apps to date, like MS Office, Access, Visio, etc. (You'll find the list of supported apps at http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/.) The result is very fast and responsive. If you use those apps, this could be of real value.

MacWorld 2008: Will Macs Become Less Secure?

With Mac sales up, and many new users coming to the platform, will malware writers begin to seek fresh targets? I asked the chief technologists at security companies Intego and McAfee what they saw as the primary threats to the Mac platform, both today and looking ahead.

While both agreed that Mac OS X is solid when it comes to security, they also fear that malware attacks on the Mac are inevitable—it's just a matter of when.

According to George Heron, the chief scientist at McAfee, 35% of the malware currently threatening computer users has been discovered in the past two years. In 2002, there were about 100 new detections a week. By 2007, that number had skyrocketed to 2000-plus. That's probably because the profile of cyber-criminals has changed. It's not about impressing your fellow geeks with your virus-writing prowess anymore. Today, money rules in the cyber-underworld, with malware going after financial information, credit cards, and bank accounts. Large, well-organized, highly sophisticated hackers design spam and phishing scams on a massive scale, largely operating out of China, Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East, according to Heron. More Macs in the marketplace means a growing profit opportunity in a highly profitable industry that steals billions worldwide.

Intego's Jack Nahan told me that the biggest threats to Mac users going forward are phishing, trojans, and ID theft. The two most interesting and insidious to date have been a scam where the user is invited to download a supposedly friendly new piece of anti-virus shareware called "Macsweeper" (it installs a trojan), and a "screen scraper" app that comes off the Web and never resides locally. It just copies whatever is on the user's screen (including banking information) and returns it to the scammer.

For more information on how to protect your computer (Mac or PC) and your information while online, check out these free resources on ConsumerReports.org:

• Cyber-security Central
• Best ways to stay safe online
• Best security software

And if you subscribe to ConsumerReports.org, you'll have access to:

• CR's latest Ratings of security software suites
• CR's latest Ratings of antivirus software
• CR's latest Ratings of antispyware software
• CR's latest Ratings of antispam software

—Thomas A. Olson

MacBook Air: Some closer looks

A Consumer Reports colleague (Joyce Ward) and I met privately with Apple reps Tuesday afternoon for a personalized demonstration of the MacBook Air and other products. It was fun to take a closer look at these new offerings, even if just for a short time.

They say the MacBook weighs three pounds, but it honestly didn't feel even that heavy when I held it in my hand—it seemed lighter somehow. The screen was bright, the keyboard a joy to touch, and the trackpad "touch" software had specific settings for one-, two-, and three-finger operation. One finger can click, drag, or double-click. Two fingers flip, rotate, magnify, or minimize images or web pages by using a "pinching" motion. Three fingers let you "slide" from page to page, image to image. This software utility is currently fully compatible only with the Leopard Finder, Safari Web browser (seen on a Windows XP machine at left), and most of Apple's "iApps." Expect third-party support in the future.

Of course, one of the first things that came to mind when seeing the MacBook Air was, "How's this battery deal gonna work?" In case you hadn't heard, the battery in the MacBook Air is not user-replaceable. As a long-time traveling laptop user, that worries me. I always found having the occasional spare battery to be a good thing, especially on those extra-long excursions.

Apple insists its batteries are absolute state of the art, hold a charge very well, and have a very long life. (The 17-inch MacBook Pro's battery lasted 5.25 hours in our latest tests.) Nevertheless, Apple will try to ease your worries with a Battery Replacement Program: Bring your MacBook Air to the nearest Apple store, and the techs will replace the battery (while disposing of the old one in an environmentally responsible manner). Total cost: $129, the same as a new battery you would replace yourself in other models. In addition, more and more airlines today offer laptop power ports on their planes, and both Apple and third parties sell adapters. So as time goes on, the need for having all that extra battery power handy is becoming less necessary. (It was unclear whether this Apple store program was a "while you wait" service, or a "drop it off and pick it back up tomorrow" sort of thing. Time will tell.)

Apple's goal with the MacBook Air was to design a sleek laptop without most of the tradeoffs associated with ultra-portables. The full 13.3-inch backlit LED screen with 1280 x 800 widescreen resolution bears this out, as does the standard MacBook keyboard and an oversize trackpad that supports the one-, two-, and three-finger multi-touch technology used on the iPod Touch and iPhone. Nevertheless, for power users, there are some tradeoffs: There's only one USB port, no Firewire, no DVD, and the custom battery.

Which led to my next question for the Apple folks:  What if you're on the road, your Time Capsule (seen at right) is at home, and your system has a meltdown? Low odds, mind you, but there it is, coming from a geek who can't be too paranoid. They recommended two solutions. The first, of course, is to carry that $99 external DVD drive and your install disk with you. Another possibility is to install, from that disk, a copy of the Remote Disk application on someone else's Mac (or PC!) with a wireless card. Then you can piggy-back on their CD drive and run the installer to restore your hard disk. Clever, but all you're doing is imposing on a friend's good will—sooner or later you'll have to connect to some physical media to restore your system.

Next up in our interview session was the "Time Capsule" wireless backup solution. Security was my main worry with this product, so I asked our Apple reps: Should I be concerned with potential man-in-the-middle attacks when wirelessly backing up your hard drive? Not necessarily. Time Capsule is essentially a full Airport Extreme base station (a fancy term for "wireless router") combined with a server-class hard drive. It supports all the wireless security protocols found in any other wireless router, including WPA and WPA2. That was the answer I was looking for, but it was still unclear how simple that would be to set up for the uninitiated. It's not normally much fun for those who do it for a living. All that wireless security is well and good, but sometimes to an old school guy like myself, there's nothing more secure than a good honest wire, and fortunately for me, Time Capsule has three gigabit-Ethernet ports included. (See image at left.) But of course, that does me no good with the MacBook Air, which has not a single Ethernet port built-in.

—Thomas A. Olson

MacBook Air, super-thin notebook, introduced

What may be the most talked about of Apple's four major product releases Steve Jobs introduced today is a new addition to the MacBook line called the MacBook Air. With a teardrop profile only 0.76 inches at its thickest point, it's the thinnest notebook computer ever. (You can get closer looks at the new MacBook Air by clicking on each of the embedded images.)

Apple didn't compromise much on features. There's a full-size, backlit keyboard, 13.3-inch screen, iSight webcam, large trackpad with multi-touch gesture support (similar to the iPhone's, which lets you use your fingers in more ways than the traditional tapping and sliding), plus a new magnetic latch.

There are only three ports on the right side: USB2, MicroDVI, and a headphone jack. (There's no Ethernet port for wired networking, but that's not really an issue with a notebook designed for extreme portability.) Apple says that the 1.6-GHz Core 2 Duo processor is 60 percent smaller than chips made for other models. The standard MacBook Air comes with an 80GB hard drive—or a 64GB solid-state drive for an additional $999. The standard memory configuration is 2-GB and Apple claims 5 hours of battery life. The built-in wireless capability supports 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.

There's no internal CD/DVD burner; to use discs you need the $99 external MacBook Air SuperDrive which connects to the USB port. Also, a new custom application in Leopard called "Remote Disk" lets you wirelessly "borrow" other users' CD/DVD drives.

In keeping with Apple's environmental initiatives, MacBook Air notebooks have a fully recyclable aluminum case, displays that are mercury and arsenic free, and logic boards that are BFR and PVC free. In addition, the packaging has 56 percent less volume, to save trees.

The base model, which starts at $1,799, pairs a 1.6-GHz processor with an 80-GB Parallel ATA hard drive. A second model that features a 1.8-GHz processor and 64-GB solid-state drive starts at $3,098. Both ship in two to three weeks, but can be pre-ordered starting today.

Compared with Windows-based 13-inch slim-and-light notebooks we've rated (Consumer Reports' Ratings are available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers only), the MacBook Air is pricier and its hard drive is a bit slower and has a smaller capacity, but weighs more than a pound less. When compared with notebooks in the 3-pound range, such as the Sony TZ series 11-inch or Toshiba Portege R500 12-inch, its pricing is very competitive.

Macworld 2008: Preview

Apple goes into Macworld Expo, the annual party, love fest, and religious revival for the Cult of Mac, which opened today in San Francisco, following a year that's had a few fizzles (Apple TV, the first release of OS X Leopard, 10.5), one big hit (the iPhone) and under-the-radar sales growth of 40% for Mac desktops and laptops. The one adjective that no longer describes Apple is "beleaguered."

While analysts don’t see the same kind of explosive growth for Apple this year, they still hope a few compelling new products and services will keep the company on a growth track.

I do believe Apple will deliver. My first clue was this week's pre-event announcement of a new MacPro tower and XServe, powered by 8-core Intel Xeon processors, offering 2.3 times the speed and raw horsepower as the dual, quad-core 3.0 Ghz machines being sold only a month ago. If they couldn't wait one week to announce this, it often indicates they have so many other things to show us, there simply wasn't room in the Keynote program to hold it all.

Below is a distillation of predictions, hopes, and wishes from the amassed Mac pundits and bloggers for Keynote 2008:

Movie rentals in iTunes—Fox and Disney are reported as already signed on and almost everybody wants the "One More Thing" to be—at long last—the entire Beatles collection, made available at the iTunes Music Store (iTMS). (If that happens, no one will be crying over the loss of Universal.)

Improvements to iPhone: A 16GB, 3G model, with no limits on cell service provider—we can certainly dream, can't we? Also rumored is an iPhone SDK (software development kit), which would mean that there would be a market for third-party software. We might even see a demo of 3rd-party apps—something developers were clamoring for most of last year.

Office 2008—slam-dunk #2, as Amazon is already taking pre-orders. I expect someone from Microsoft will make the official announcement during the Keynote. (I'll write more on Office later in the week, when I get to see it for real.)

Leopard 10.5.2—this is almost a slam-dunk, as the Developers Cut is already making the rounds. There are at least 75 fixes and feature additions in the works, and this would be a perfect time to announce their deployment.

New Cinema displays with touch-screen and built-in webcam—possibly 24-, 27- and 30-inch models, an upgrade that is long overdue.

Blu-ray drives in some Macs—a rumor that is growing some legs, now that Blu-Ray seems to be winning the format war, and there is going to be a growing need to handle HD content.

Ultraslim notebook/touch tablet—this is the biggest rumor to make the rounds, and highly likely: Apple fills out its laptop line with an ultra-thin notebook, running on flash memory instead of a hard drive, sporting a 12-13 inch touch screen, which could possibly fold over to become a tablet Mac.

Final Cut Studio update—not likely, but definitely overdue, considering the plethora of new digital camcorders that have hit the market

Apple TV "2.0"—look for a "reboot" of this product, with new features, more storage, and built-in compatibility with iTMS movie-rental.

If you are not attending this year, here is a link to sites offering live blogging of the Keynote (SFW). Stay tuned!

—Thomas A. Olson

Thomas Olson, the Publishing Systems Administrator for Consumer Reports' Editorial, Design, Production and Pre-Press groups, has been a Mac enthusiast since 1984.

 

OS X Gets a Facelift, and Lots More

It's been two years since Apple last updated its Mac operating system, OS X. But today the company launches version 10.5, popularly known as Leopard.

Is it a must-have? As anyone with a Mac knows, OS X is already a well-evolved, secure operating system. Though Apple would like everyone with a compatible Mac to plunk down the $130 Leopard costs, you don’t absolutely need to if you already have Tiger, the version that came before Leopard.

Related information from Consumer Reports:

• Review: Apple's latest iMacs
• Buying Advice: How to choose an operating system
• The best laptops and desktops
• Buying advice: Desktop PCs & Mac computers

On the other hand, there are more than 300 new features in Leopard, some of them significant. Here are several of the most notable:

Desktop updates:

• The most visible change is to the Dock, OS X's program-launcher and taskbar. (See image at right. Click on it for a closer look.)  Leopard perches the Dock's icons on a reflective, 3-dimensional "shelf." This little tweak goes a long way toward making the desktop look neater.
• The Spaces feature lets you create several virtual desktops based, for example, on different projects you're working on. You can easily switch among the desktops, view them all at once, and can drag items between them or change their order.
• The main Apple menu bar gains semi-transparent menus and windows cast more-diffuse shadows on objects behind them, making them look like they’re floating.

Enhanced user interface:

• Leopard provides a new and intuitive visual access to folders in the Dock called Stacks. Your downloads and documents folders are there, and you can add others. Clicking a Stack fans out its contents and lets you choose a file with one click. (See image at right. Click on it for a closer look.)

Apple TV: Is it a “must-see” show?

The challenge of moving entertainment content (as in anything beyond computer data) around a home today resembles that of digitizing music in the pre-iPod era. Too many steps with too many components equal a high chance of frustration or downright failure.

Apple’s new Apple TV device, which began shipping this week, aspires to do for home networking what its iPod did for digital music. Using two proven and ubiquitous platforms — iTunes and WiFi — the $299 book-sized unit promises to seamlessly pull content from computers and ferry it to your HDTV and sound system. The device works with up to five computers, either Macs or PCs.

Given the level of opposing viewpoints found within our offices alone, it’s unlikely that Apple TV will enjoy the slam-dunk success of the iPod — but, then, there were many iPod skeptics at the start.

Here’s some of our point-counterpoint discussion since Apple unveiled the device yesterday:

Networking music and podcasts

It’s great that … Apple TV allows you to stream songs and podcasts right out of your iTunes library — the most-used digital-music platform by far — and even have the iTunes interface displayed on your TV screen as it does so.

But … it won’t allow streaming of any content from the Internet, even iTunes’ radio stations (though a fix is promised soon). And unless your iTunes library far exceeds the capacity of your iPod , there’s a much simpler way to play digital music through your sound system: Use a docking station or cord to connect your iPod to the audio receiver and press play.

Displaying photos

It’s great that … Apple TV can wirelessly display photos on your HDTV.

But … the photos have to be transferred to the device’s 40GB hard drive (which accommodates about 33GB of actual content), so you can’t, say, display the latest shots uploaded to your library without adding an extra step. Also, many cameras let you run a slide show directly to your HDTV, or you can insert a digital camera or digital camcorder memory card into the memory-card slots found in some newer HDTVs.

Playing videos from your computers

It’s great that … Apple TV says that videos stored in iTunes can be easily played on your HDTV. And that videos you subscribe to on iTunes are automatically transferred to the TV for viewing.

But … image quality is a question mark. Apple claims DVD quality, but those images our product analyst viewed on a Sony HDTV in a brief demonstration by Apple more closely resembled standard-def TV, to her eyes. And there seems to be limited allure to viewing (and paying for, at $1.99 apiece) standard-def versions of, say, weekly “24” episodes on your HDTV when, for less money you could rent a hard-drive DVR from the cable or satellite company and view those shows in high-definition.

Internet browsing

It’s great that…The TV allows you to surf the Net from your couch.

But … you really can only surf, using the TV’s remote — which resembles the first-generation iPod shuffle, with the typical iPod navigation wheel. There’s no typing or even clicking — to buy via Amazon’s one-click feature, for example. Our analyst found the remote to be very small for her hand, though she acknowledged that it might just take some getting used to.

[Mar. 29, 2007 Update: As one of our blog readers pointed out -- and further hands-on testing of a commercially-available Apple TV unit proves -- we made a mistake on this. Apple TV does not allow users to surf the Net -- other than to Apple's online iTunes store. Our First Look report on ConsumerReports.org has further details, including digital video so you can see Apple TV in action. -- Ed.]

We’ll report more about the performance and capabilities of Apple TV when we complete our tests of the device later this month. At first blush, Apple TV appears to have the most potential appeal for those who want to surf the Net on their HDTV, or who want to use a proven, easy-to-use interface to play a huge and diverse iTunes library through a home-entertainment system. (With video content, you’ll also need a willingness to view shows in less-than-HD quality.)

— Paul Reynolds

Podcast: A brave new year for electronics?

No doubt about it. The CES and MacWorld trade shows generated a lot of buzz. In this edition of the Consumer Reports Electronics Podcast, our editors and experts analyze the big news from both shows and how these announcements will shape the products in consumer electronics and computers we'll see this year.

Here's a rundown of this 25-minute-long podcast, with links relevant to the topics discussed:

1. A brief introduction
2. At 2 minutes into the show, Paul Reynolds and Jim Willcox discuss HDTVs, including:
   Pricing
   Advanced display technologies such as SED, LED, and OLED
3. At 11 minutes 40 seconds into the show, Donna Tapellini, Dean Gallea and Tom Olson discuss Computers, including:
   New operating systems such as Windows Vista and Apple's Leopard
   Apple's iPhone
   Novel uses of Windows Vista's SideShow feature
   Advances in wireless network connections
   DigitalFreedom.org, a Web site advocating "consumer rights" to digital media and technology
   MyGreenElectronics.org, the industry's efforts to promote recycling and enviornment-friendly electronic products

We obviously couldn't cover all the important news from the trade shows and still keep the podcast to a managable length. So feel free to browse our posts and you'll read some great coverage about new portable GPS navigation units, the failing attempts to end the battle over high-def DVD formats, and unique new products, including a Mac "tablet," a USB device that captures handwritten notes, and a new thin digital camera with a powerful but unobtrusive zoom lens.

You can download the current podcast directly to your hard drive by right-clicking this link — or just click here to subscribe. 

Tell us your thoughts about this podcast by e-mailing us at: podcaster "at" cro.consumer.org.

We look forward to your responses and we hope you'll check in regularly for the latest posts.

— Paul Eng, Web Senior Editor

Macworld: "Ars longa, vita brevis"

An ancient latin expression, referring to the art of healing, goes:  "Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile," which, when forcibly converted into English, comes out, "Art is long, life is short, the opportunity fleeting, experiment perilous, judgment difficult."

Building technology in today's world is also, in my view, as much an "art" these days as a technical endeavor, as we continually strive to make the machinery more human-like and intuitive.  I also believe the above expression best describes my overall impression of this year's Macworld.

"Art is long..."

It has been claimed that Steve Jobs' ultimate dream (one he shares with others in his industry) is to build a handheld device that will allow whoever uses it to find any piece of information, from any part of the world, at any time of day, in any format, repurpose that information to the user's unique need, then retransmit it to anyone, anywhere, in any format, at any time. To that end, his company has built increasingly elegant and functional laptops, of which MacBook Pro is only the latest. The announcement of the impending iPhone is but another strategic step in the evolution of that vision.

Of course, the iPhone is already gathering critics, and it's still a half-year from release. Some don't like the cell and wireless protocols, the closed system (read: the battery), the choice of Cingular/ATT as a partner, the price, etc. This is all well and good, but perhaps too narrowly focused - there is a larger picture to consider.

Macworld: Hands-on with the ModBook Mac tablet, and a look at the best iPod accessory ever

In the world of tablet computing, the sales reality hasn't caught up with the initial hype. First introduced in 2002, tablet PCs hit the one million sales mark in mid-2005. Initial predictions by the pro digerati of eight-figure unit sales were trimmed to far more modest numbers only a year or so later. Frustration with the handwriting recognition software (and a significant price premium over comparable laptops) played a key role in this.

In the Mac universe, those in the creative class have taken to pen-tablet input devices for a long time, and Apple was one of the original developers of handwriting recognition software for the Newton. That software later evolved into Inkwell, a feature in OS X Tiger. Nevertheless, Steve Jobs and company never had a lot of interest in develop Tablet Macs, as it was a niche within a niche, so to speak.

Undaunted by this, Axiotron and Other World Computing have paired up to deliver the first ever Mac Tablet, which they call the ModBook.

Axiotron produces a conversion kit for a regular MacBook Pro, and OWC, a seller of acceleration boards for legacy Macs, does the actual modification and order fulfillment.

Macworld: What was missing from the keynote

As this is the first Steve Jobs Keynote I've ever attended where the Apple CEO never mentioned a computer, perhaps it was, indeed, appropriate when he announced that "Apple Computer, Inc." would now be simply "Apple, Inc."

The two-plus hours of the keynote were devoted almost entirely to Apple TV and the iPhone. Early on, Jobs mentioned the 2 billion songs sold on iTunes, the 50 million TV shows sold/downloaded since that service began, and the addition of Paramount as a movie partner.

And of course, no Keynote would be complete without a few digs at every Mac user's favorite "competitor," including a large pie chart showing Zune's barely visible market share, a quote from Microsoft's Jim Allchin that said if he weren't working there, he'd buy a Mac, and the latest "I'm a Mac" ad showing the poor PC wearing nothing but a surgical gown, as he fearfully awaited his upgrade to Windows Vista and all the "major surgery" to his inner workings that would surely ensue.

All that took ten minutes, tops.

But other than the claim that "half the Macs we sold last year, in every supply chain, were sold to switchers [from PCs]", no mention was made of computers, or any improvements to any existing Apple products, be it hardware or software:

• No new chips for any computers
• No updates or upgrades to Apple applications/suites, such as iLife, iWork, Aperture, or Final Cut
• No new desktop displays
• And nothing at all about OS X "Leopard — and isn't that supposed to be released relatively soon, now?

It was as though Apple's other products just didn't exist. There was certainly nothing new on the show floor in that regard, either. All the floor demos were for the iPhone and Apple TV. I can understand why Steve was really elated over his newest products, but at least he could have given the crowd of Mac faithful a sense of when he will talk about those other things, and not just leave us all hanging.

And of course, with all the hype surrounding Apple's partnership with Cingular, there was no mention of "net neutrality" at any time during the presentation...in case anyone was wondering.

— Thomas A. Olson 

Thomas Olson, the Publishing Systems Administrator for Consumer Reports' Editorial, Design, Production and Pre-Press groups, has been a Mac enthusiast since 1984.

Macworld: Apple's not just a computer company anymore

In a lengthy presentation that barely touched on the company's traditional computer products, Apple CEO Steve Jobs wowed the faithful earlier today with the introduction of several new products — and a new company name. Banishing the word "Computer," Jobs declared that the company will henceforth be known simply as "Apple, Inc." The new identity seemed fitting for a company now known more for the iPod than for its computer products. And the devices introduced by Jobs at the Macworld Expo — the $299 Apple TV networked media player and the long-awaited $499 iPhone (pictured) — certainly position the company even more firmly in the consumer electronics camp. We'll have a detailed report on everything Apple later today. In the meantime, remember the name: Apple, just Apple.

— MP

Technorati tags: apple, macworld, steve jobs, iphone, ipod, apple tv, itv

Macworld Expo 2007 preview

The new banner on the Apple web page reads, “The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007.” Thus we begin the annual Macworld Expo at Moscone Center in San Francisco, with perhaps a feeling of just a little extra expectation.

The tone for the Conference and Expo, as always, is set by the Steve Jobs Keynote address, on Tuesday, where Apple’s CEO lays out the course for the company’s product line for the ensuing 12 months. As this year’s keynote has been extended to a full two hours, many have theorized that Apple may be planning to enter new markets, and announce new products or services in that regard. As usual, in ramping up for this event, Mac bloggers and professional digerati alike fall all over themselves trying to best predict what hot new things Apple might astound the world with this year. Fortunately, I read all this material, so you wouldn’t have to, and hopefully mined the best of it. Below is what I feel to be the best collective estimate as to what may be announced at Tuesday’s Keynote:

Sales figures: According to Goldman Sachs, Apple Computer is likely to announce that, during first quarter 2007 (which just ended December 31st), there were sales of 1.8 million Macs - 1.1 million of which were notebooks. If iPod and iTunes Music Store figures follow proportional upward trends, Apple will have had a very profitable holiday season.

iTMS expansion: The ITunes Music Store may expand its available film library with the addition of more movie studios. There may be a direct link via iTV

iTV: A potential challenge to Windows Media Center, this $299 device is a living room appliance that connects your digital media content with your television. We may expect a demo and a ship date, if it’s not actually available the day of the show.

OS X Leopard: The newest version of Apple’s flagship OS was actually previewed to developers last summer, so we should expect at least a ship date, and a demo of all the features introduced earlier (Time Machine, Spaces, Core Animation), plus perhaps some “secret features” they’ve been keeping under wraps.

Video iPod: There is a lot of expectation for a new, full-video iPod, with a larger screen, a new form factor, and perhaps a new touch-screen interface, although there have been doubts expressed as to whether this product will be available during Macworld itself.

New desktop displays: Overdue for an update, they would presumably be larger, brighter, and sport built-in iSight cameras, so desktop users can have the same videoconferencing capability as their MacBook Pro carrying brethren.

8-core Mac Pro: While it is known that there is a new 8-core chip for high-end Mac Pro towers under development, it may not be ready before spring. While this will initially appeal to a relatively small market of high-end digital imaging pros, a demo of the raw horsepower would nevertheless make the Keynote crowd ooooh and aaaaah appreciatively.

 Application upgrades: Figure on an “iLife 2007” update with some feature additions as a near certainty. But the real news will be if an upgrade to Apple's “iWork” suite includes a long-awaited spreadsheet and perhaps a database application. If this included universal translation of the most common document formats, it would put Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit in the hot seat for failing to ship a Mac version of MS Office 2007 when the Windows version ships at the end of this month. Expect as well a demo and a ship date for Adobe’s CS3 suite of products, with lots of new features and a Universal binary for Intel and PowerPC-based Macs.

One More Thing: While an Apple-branded digital Swiss Army Knife, including iPod, iTunes, cell phone, PDA, and probably a corkscrew, has been anticipated and wished for by the Apple faithful for several years, this year seems to be the closest yet to seeing that reality, according to the various oddsmakers. To give it the “must-have wow-factor,” though, it would require something that’s either transformational or very “disruptive” in terms of its functions or its distribution and marketing models.

Although Apple will undoubtedly show a lot of great — and profitable — products on tap, and the company was named “Marketer of the Year” in 2006, not everything has been rosy of late. With a shareholder lawsuit over the recent stock option scandal, a second suit filed last week over the proprietary iPod-iTunes link, and a hacker group promising an “Apple bug a day” throughout January (followed by another coder promising a month of daily bug fixes), Steve Jobs probably feels fortunate that his Keynote programs don’t include a question and answer period.

— Thomas A. Olson 

Technorati tags: apple, macworld, ipod, iphone, ilife, osx, os x, leopard, macbook, imac, itunes, itv, isight

Electronics Podcast: CES & MacWorld Preview

This is a special edition of the Consumer Reports Electronics podcast, covering the coming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

As previously noted, both shows will showcase exciting new consumer electronics products, computer gear, and other digital devices that manufacturers and retailers will introduce to consumers this year and beyond.

Starting Jan. 8, we'll have a staff of reporters and analysts at both shows, posting about the latest developments and announcements here on this blog.

In the meantime, hear what our experts think will be the big news at CES and Macworld.

Here's the rundown for this 25-minute long podcast episode:

1. A brief introduction 
2. HDTVs: More features, lower prices, more competition? (at 1:58 into the show)
3. New Windows for PCs, new "Leopard" for Macs (at 8:26)
4. Mobile devices: Smaller, lighter, more powerful, less flaws? (at 18:34)

Click here to listen to this episode, or click here to subscribe.

You can also download the current podcast directly to your hard drive by right-clicking this link.

Tell us your thoughts about this podcast by e-mailing us at: podcaster@cro.consumer.org

We look forward to your responses and we hope you'll check in regularly for the latest posts.

— Paul Eng, Web Senior Editor