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The Mac Pro Review

anandtech.com

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Re: The Mac Pro Review

#141

Post by ceejayoz »

userbinator wrote: post #121
MBCook wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The slots thing is a design decision. Apple doesn't think people need them, I think they may be right. The Thunderbolt connectors are direct to CPU , not even the north-bridge in the way. I remember when they said people wouldn't need ADB or SCSI. Or floppies. Or serial ports. It worked out. If your 5 GHz CPU a Xeon with ECC? The RAM can be upgraded (those are options), the SSD can be upgraded (1 TB is an option) and…

>Apple doesn't think people need them I am more inclined to say Apple doesn't want people to think they need them.

Thus far, they've made correct but initially mocked decisions on the necessity of floppy drives, optical drives, Ethernet ports, removable batteries, and physical keyboards.

This may be another such case.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#142

Post by snowwrestler »

josephagoss wrote: post #119
bfrog wrote: post #37

A 1 year warranty is such a joke for this much money. I think this and the new mbp where should anything break you need a full replacement basically, need to have some serious warranty coverage changes. 3 years minimum in my mind. Just another way to nickle and dime you on something like an almost required extended warranty. Apple, your stuff is mostly nice. Fix your product warranty and maybe I'll open my wallet.

I think Australians get 2 years free as per the legal requirements. However I suspect they increase the overall price to compensate so we are not really better off.

In the U.S., many credit cards offer double the warranty period as part of their service.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#143

Post by Symmetry »

I wonder if there's a future for unified thermal cores in non-Mac systems? It seems like a pretty big win, but it looks hard coordinate around a design if you're not Apple doing everything in house.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#144

Post by zanny »

Symmetry wrote: post #143

I wonder if there's a future for unified thermal cores in non-Mac systems? It seems like a pretty big win, but it looks hard coordinate around a design if you're not Apple doing everything in house.

How would it be hard to coordinate? You don't even really need a single thermal model, you just need a standard heatsink layout for parts to align with.

Which is complicated when you are trying to build hardware and realize "oh crap, the standard thermal layout leaves no room for us to actively cool , how are we gonna keep this thing from overheating?

The way we have our computers laid out today - vertical pcie cards, cpu sockets with either the amd snap-brace or intel screw in backplate heatsinks - is entirely arbitrary, but for posterity it persists as nobody wants to be the guy to throw out 10+ years of expansion card compatibility.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#145

Post by corresation »

gress wrote: post #116
corresation wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those kinds of complaints can be seen anywhere there is a positive review of Apple products. Those kinds of complaints can be seen anywhere there is a positive review of any product. If someone likes Google Glass, four hundred comments by people calling you a glasshole and telling you that you must like Google stealing all your data. Positive reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Note got huge criticism among the Apple spher…

Quite so for most of these cases, but Samsung has been convicted for paying shills, so let's not use this as an excuse to whitewash them.

but Samsung has been convicted for paying shills

Apple gives special treatment to outlets and bloggers who treat them "well" (and punish those who don't). It's all the same inducement, and it's all just as grubby.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#146

Post by pohl »

corresation wrote: post #145
gress wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite so for most of these cases, but Samsung has been convicted for paying shills, so let's not use this as an excuse to whitewash them.

but Samsung has been convicted for paying shills Apple gives special treatment to outlets and bloggers who treat them "well" (and punish those who don't). It's all the same inducement, and it's all just as grubby.

So knocking Gizmodo — who chose to profit from the receipt of an ill-gotten prototype — off the list of invitees is somehow just as bad as buying journalists outright?

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#147

Post by ceejayoz »

altero wrote: post #127
MBCook wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The slots thing is a design decision. Apple doesn't think people need them, I think they may be right. The Thunderbolt connectors are direct to CPU , not even the north-bridge in the way. I remember when they said people wouldn't need ADB or SCSI. Or floppies. Or serial ports. It worked out. If your 5 GHz CPU a Xeon with ECC? The RAM can be upgraded (those are options), the SSD can be upgraded (1 TB is an option) and…

I thing my desktop is nicer than this surounded by dozen external HDDs.

I'll be shocked if someone doesn't make a similar looking case for a stack of HDs.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#148

Post by Tloewald »

yapcguy wrote: post #23
leephillips wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AnandTech is often the only place that measures and reports anything about the screens of computers, tablets, and phones aside from how many pixels they have (color space, color accuracy, etc.). For this alone they are gold.

I like Anandtech but they have come into criticism recently, from some of their long-time readers, for fawning over Apple products.

It's funny how most PC review sites get into trouble for allegedly fawning over apple hardware once they start reviewing it regularly. I wonder why that might be?

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#149

Post by tanzam75 »

leephillips wrote: post #19
M4v3R wrote: post #2

AnandTech hardware and Ars Technica's software (especially OS X) reviews are works of art by themselves. The level of details that goes into these pieces is nothing short of amazing. They are examples of tech journaling done right.

AnandTech is often the only place that measures and reports anything about the screens of computers, tablets, and phones aside from how many pixels they have (color space, color accuracy, etc.). For this alone they are gold.

> AnandTech is often the only place that measures and reports anything about the screens of computers, tablets, and phones aside from how many pixels they have (color space, color accuracy, etc.). For this alone they are gold.

Not the only place. I have found the German site NotebookCheck.net to be more thorough than Anandtech when it comes to laptop reviews.

Not only do they measure color space and color accuracy, but they also measure backlighting levels across the screen, comment on backlight bleed, test for viewing angles, check the reflectiveness of screens, etc.

In addition, they also test decibel levels of the fan, temperature of the laptop surface, etc. at various loads. They point out situations where a certain laptop may ship in two configurations. They point out the pros/cons of the nearest products from competing vendors, which have also been tested with equal thoroughness.

In other words, they actually test the machines against a checklist, to assess the performance of each element. In contrast, when an Anandtech reviewer claims that a machine is quiet or that the screen is matte, you don't actually get all the information. Maybe the ventilation system was masking some of the sound. Maybe the screen is only semi-matte.

The only problem is that NotebookCheck is based in Germany, so some of the machines they review are not available in the United States. Still, I'm happy restricting my choices a bit to avoid being surprised with a laptop purchase.

Re: The Mac Pro Review

#150

Post by gress »

corresation wrote: post #145
gress wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite so for most of these cases, but Samsung has been convicted for paying shills, so let's not use this as an excuse to whitewash them.

but Samsung has been convicted for paying shills Apple gives special treatment to outlets and bloggers who treat them "well" (and punish those who don't). It's all the same inducement, and it's all just as grubby.

It's hard to believe that you are equating the fact that Apple chooses who to invite to press conferences (what else do you expect them to do?), with Samsung paying for shills to fake reviews and forum postings.
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