As I sit here typing on my 4-year-old Inspiron 8500 notebook computer I wonder why so many notebook manufacturers offer such low screen resolutions. When I purchased my laptop 4 years ago, I opted for the 1680×1050 resolution (WSXGA+) and even had the option of upgrading to 1920×1200 (WUXGA) for $100 CAD. The new MacBook Pro 17″ models are now offered in 1680×1050 and have an available 1920×1200 option, but this is a massive notebook. I am having a lot of trouble understanding why 15.4″ laptops (same size as mine) are offered with resolutions at either 1280×800 or 1440×900. I performed a quick check to ensure this is true and sure enough, Toshiba, Dell, Apple, and Sony do not offer even 1680×1050 on their 15.4″ offerings.

While I do realize that many users do not wish to have icons that “appear so small”, there are many people that want the highest resolution possible (at least give them the option). With 13.3″ laptops becoming somewhat of a new standard (for portability), it is beyond me as to why the same 1280×800 resolution appears on models that are more than 2 inches larger. I am not trying to say that huge resolutions should be available on these smaller models (although I would enjoy that), but I really wish PC manufacturers would offer massive resolutions on their offerings without requiring the purchase of 17″ or even 19″ models.

Before people start to flame this article in the comments I would like to say that I fully understand that this may be a supply and demand issue, or even trying to a limited number of offerings that are focused on specific consumer groups. I also do realize that there are probably many manufacturers that do offer 1680×1050 resolutions on their notebooks, however, for the purpose of this article I looked at 4 specific companies.

There must be others out there that can “feel” this rant or want to provided a reason. If so please leave a comment or send me an email!

It’s true! This morning, Apple Store websites around the world were temporarily taken down while the update was being made. Both the 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros were given a very welcomed upgrade without any increase in price. All MacBook Pro flavours were given LED-backlit displays that are much more energy conscious as well as the new Intel Santa Rose platform in addition to to an upgrade to the Nvidia 8600M GT series of video cards. Also, the base model of the 15″ MacBook Pro now comes standard with 2GB of RAM and a new option for 1920×1200 resolution is available for the 17″ model!

Even more news, the Apple Eduction discount is now offering a FREE iPod Nano with the purchase of any Apple computer before September 16, 2007. That means that for me, in Canada, I can get the 15″ MacBook Pro + an iPod Nano for $1999 (ignoring taxes) with my educational discount! If anyone wishes to fund or put money into an “Apple for Cole” fund do not hesitate to contact me! Oh, and do not worry, as soon as I get one I will install Linux to dual boot with OS X.

For more details check out Gizmodo, Engadget, and the Apple.com.

Shockingly excited,

Cole

Earlier today my Google Reader fed me some news about Zonbu, the new “$99 Linux PC”. The first thing I should point out about Zonbu is that in order to buy one for $99 you must sign a 2-year contract ($249 without). But what would a contract be without monthly payments? Well, Zonbu has 3 different plans (25GB, 50GB and 100GB models for $12.95, $14.95 and $19.95 respectively). Assuming the middle-of-the-road 50GB plan this amounts to $457.80 (US dollars without taxes) over the 2-year period. What exactly does the subscription get you? According to their website subscription costs provide:

Zonbu offers three different storage plans, all of them with automatic backup, applications and OS maintenance, free upgrade to the latest version of all the applications, three-year free box replacement guarantee, and unlimited Internet support.

Time to get into some of the Zonbu technology. On the Zonbu website the hardware is summarized as follows:

• Intel-like ultra-low power CPU
• 256 MB RAM + 2GB flash-based local storage
• Graphics up to 1400 x 1050 (16 million colors).
  Hardware graphics and MPEG2 acceleration
• PC-compatible ports for keyboard and mouse
• 6 USB ports to plug-and-play all standard USB accessories
• Broadband ready: 10/100MB Ethernet built-in.

While many of components appear lower-end we must realize that this is not a gaming PC or media-editing powerhouse. It is built to be quiet and functional for the average user. Also, the operating system is a custom version of Gentoo that has been tweaked for the specific hardware in Zonbu.

The different capacities mentioned with the three subscriptions revolve around allocated storage space on Amazons S3 servers. This means that all user data is stored on remote servers and uses the flash storage in Zonbu as a cache for the data. I think that this is a brilliant idea, particularly for ensuring protection against data loss. Problems with this concept may include speed of uploading/downloading but I feel that most Zonbu users should not have a problem with these factors. Lets take a look at Amazons S3 pricing. Assuming 50GB of storage and 25GB of uploading/downloading of data throughout the month the total is $12.50 per month. This makes Zonbu’s monthly pricing look even better as it includes all of the other services mentioned previously.

When reading the Zonbu “hands-on” article on Gizmodo I was initially skeptical about the inability to install software, but further reading provided me with a better feeling. First, the subscription services includes OS updates such as new software (and apparently the people behind Zonbu are committed to high-quality open-source software. Also, while I require control over the software on my computer, I do not feel that the target market for Zonbu needs this control. The software list includes most of the open-source software I use right down to using Nvu as a development environment for websites. My readings on both news sites and the Zonbu site I have the feeling that if increased function is required (via software) it will be implemented.

In the hopes of avoiding a comments flame-war I want to say that I do not believe Zonbu will change the way computing is done overnight, but instead, provide an option to the average home user that wants to create documents, browse the internet and interact with media. I think that the use of Amazons S3 servers is a fantastic idea. As network speeds increase I believe that computing in the Zonbu way will take off, but until then slow speeds (even 10Mbit connections) will hinder this adoption.

For a much more complete article (with images and a video) about Zonbu please check out the Gizmodo article here.

Ciao,

Cole