In a post about the Macbook Air, Webupon lists 10 issues that they’re having with the tiny machine:

1. Mono Speakers

   For a company that can attribute much of their recent popularity to an mp3 player, you’d think the MacBook Air would be friendlier to music lovers. Instead, the only way users can hear sounds in stereo is to connect a set of speakers.

2. No SD Slot, ExpressCard Slot, or Apple Remote

   The MacBook Air just provides the bare minimum for laptops. In order to achieve average accessibility for a laptop, the MacBook Air requires several extra add-ons.

3. One USB Port

   Surely Apple would realize that most computer peripherals today are connected using USB ports. Essentially, Apple has forced consumers to make a decision. Want to connect your printer? Better take out your mouse. Want to transfer some files onto a flash drive? Better unplug that iPod (for those that think they can connect their iPods with firewire, the Air does not come with that port at all). The worst part is that the ports are non-expandable, which means that no matter how much more money you want to shell out, you’re stuck with one USB port.

4. No Ethernet

   Unfortunately, the only way to connect to the Internet using the MacBook Air is through a wireless connection. An optional USB Ethernet Adaptor can be added for wired connections however its use would take up the only USB port.

5. It’s Actually Not the World’s Thinnest Laptop

   In 1997, Mitsubishi and Hewlett-Packard produced a laptop called the Pedion. At its maximum thickness, the Pedion measured in at 0.72 inches, compared to the MacBook Air’s length of 0.76 inches. More recently, the Toshiba Portege 2000 also beat the MacBook Air with a maximum thickness of 0.75 inches. Unfortunately, neither of these computers had the marketing machine that Apple has.

6. No User-Replaceable Parts

   The hard drive, memory, and battery are all encased inside the laptop. Only the battery can be replaced, but it must be done by Apple for a fee. Other alternatives are possible but most are likely to void the warranty.

7. Slow and Weak Hard Drive

   The 1.8″ hard drive only operates at 4200 rpm. On top of that, the maximum option of 80 GB is much less than the norm for laptops today.

8. No Removable Media Drive

   There is no CD/DVD player on the MacBook Air. Users can access CDs and DVDs using software called Remote Disc but it requires putting the disc in another computer. Moreover, it’s been reported that Remote Disc cannot be used to install Windows, watch DVDs, or play music.

9. Comparable Laptops Outperform the MacBook Air

   Many people feel that the Sony Vaio is the closest comparison to the MacBook Air. For about the same price, the Vaio TZ does not have many of the problems above, is 40% faster, has twice as much hard drive space and is lighter than the MacBook Air.

10. Extremely Overpriced

    1.6 GHz, 64 GB hard drive, and no optical drive for $1800? 1.8 GHz for $3098? No thanks.

I genuinely agree with a few of the points on that list, but come on. A lot of it is just Apple-hating.

Let’s start with number 4. No ethernet port? Seriously are we going to pick on that? Are we not supposed to be moving into the future here? In an age where city-wide, free Wi-Fi is being discussed I don’t think this is that big of a deal. I realize that some hotels might have a wired port and no wireless broadcast (or no internet at all), but if you’re a business traveler (or just a geek) chances are you’re going to check that your hotel has Wi-Fi before you book. I do. Hell, I won’t stay in a hotel if it doesn’t have Wi-Fi.

Number 5. Are we really going to compare the macbook air with a computer released in 1997? That’s kinda like saying, “Well, I’m not going to buy it because my kid’s Leappad is lighter and thinner!” Also, the Pedion that they’re touting? $6000 in 1997. That’s what, $8-10k today counting for inflation? Seriously?

Number 7. 4200RPM hard drive. Absolutely it’s underpowered compared to other laptop drives, but can you imagine the heat that a 7200RPM drive would put out (if there’s even one of that speed small enough to work in the Air)? This is not a gaming laptop. It’s a second machine for travel, maybe for doing presentations. You can afford a slower HDD if it conserves some heat and energy, I’d think.

Number 8. No removable media. If they’d done a little research they’d have found that an internal hard drive in an enclosure can be plugged into the one (WTF was Apple thinking?!) USB port and it works just fine. Sure it’s not as fast as internal, but there you go. Oh, also? Apple sells a superdrive (look at the bottom of the page under “Configuration Options”) specifically for the Air so that if needed the consumer can buy one. Yes, it costs extra, but if you can spend $1800-3100 on this machine what’s another couple hundred dollars? Economic sitmulation, folks.

Number 3. Speaking of one USB port. How about a powered USB hub? Anyone? Hell I have two at home now.

Number 9. The Sony Vaio TZ? Costs $3600 as well. Yes the Vaio TZ has an internal optical drive, but the processor is slower (1.33 gHz) and it’s thicker. Credit where it’s due: The Vaio has more ports, it’s .35 lbs. lighter and you can have a hybrid drive that is quite a bit larger than the Air. However, they are very similar machines. You sacrifice one thing for another in any computer. And guess what. They cost approximately the same.

Another thing that has been left out of the article (in point #10) is that the 64GB drive (on the Macbook Air) in question is in fact solid state. We’re talking about 64GB of flash memory, not the spinning HDD which is actually 80GB.

Something else that needs to be taken into account: Apple’s business model doesn’t really seem to allow a lot of overlap in their target consumer brackets. People that buy an iPod don’t necessarily buy an Apple computer. People that buy the entry level Mac Mini don’t buy an iMac. People that buy an iMac generally don’t buy Mac Pros and so on and so forth. The Air is being marketed at a higher consumer bracket than the average. It’s basically a second machine for someone that already has a Mac Pro desktop and can afford to overspend on the Air.

Do I think the Air is overpriced? Well, if you compare it to the Vaio like Webupon there did, no. Is it overpriced for me? Absolutely. Do I want it? No, I like my MacBook Pro just fine, thanks. Do I think Apple might’ve gone a little overboard here? Yes, and maybe a little underboard too. What with their only being one USB port, no firewire and no optical drive.

Do I think that there needs to be more research done for web-articles? Absolutely.

By Pminton

OK. I’m a Soul Calibur fan (despite the fact that The Chad Pwn’d me with his eyes closed). I’m also a huge Star Wars fan. What I’m not sure about is this trailer for Soul Calibur IV featuring Darth Vader and Yoda as playable fighters.

I’ll also refer you to today’s Penny Arcade strip for it portrays my initial reaction better than I can write here. I have gone from Gabe’s wide-eyed, conspiracy-theorist diagrams to Tycho’s scathing skepticism. I am both sides. On one hand I’ve always wanted to see Star Wars characters in a fighter (aside form the completely terrible Masters of Teras Kasi) but, on the other, Soul Calibur has always been a more story-driven fighter than most. How in the name of the seven gaming hells are they going to explain this? Alternate universes? Space-time rifts? It’s all inside an autistic gamer’s snow-globe?

For some reason this is unsettling. At first I thought it was because they were using the Star Wars characters in a way that made no sense. Then I thought about Episodes I - III. It’s already been done. So, why am I so wary of this crossover? I think it’s the scene where we see a lightsaber being blocked by a metal sword. A lightsaber. By definition it can cut through nearly everything (I’m pretty sure that dude’s sword isn’t made of cortosis). It made me realize that a full-fledged Jedi (or Sith) could take any Soul Calibur fighter apart without even igniting their saber. So, they have to be dumbed down to fit the physics of the game. Doesn’t that just make them regular SC characters with a different skin? I know that games don’t have to make sense and I’m trying desperately to keep this post from turning into a fanboy argu-rant so I’ll just leave it at that.

Except that everyone knows that a (dark) Jedi would win. Every time.

Ten years is a long time. Things change, things stay the same and as humans we like to revisit and reminisce. That’s what we’re doing here.

A decade ago Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) released what was arguably the RPG that would define the genre for a long, long time to come. Final Fantasy VII brought together great storytelling, amazing (for the time) visuals and pretty excellent gameplay to make something that gamers the world over still talk about reverently. I still have conversations with people about where and when they were when they started playing, what was going on when certain key events came about and how many weeks it took them to breed the elusive Gold Chocobo.

My wife is not a gamer. She’s picked up a few since we started dating and then married. Currently she’s taking on Puzzle Quest and My Sims. She listens to us talk about FF VII and apprently was intrigued by the story but didn’t want to play the game. So, we compromised: I’ll play FF VII again (for only the third time, actually), she’ll watch and then we’re going to write this story. Being the 10th anniversary of the release is just a happy coincidence, but it’s great timing. I’m going to focus on things like how well the gameplay has held up over the years, a comparison of the visuals then and now, the similarities and differences in FF VII and modern games and probably a fair amount of nostalgia. My wife will be chiming with the newcomers perspective.

Since the game comes in at around 70 hours to complete we’re going to break this up into separate articles. Consider this your introduction, the next installment will cover the first disc and so on. Hopefully we’ll finish the whole thing sometime in February or March.

Until the next time: Courage!

Update: I’ve taken down the donation box, and have transferred the money to Jordan via PayPal. You guys were incredibly generous, and we raised almost $600 for the surgery fund! I cannot thank you enough. But seriously…thank you.

Asking for help is something most of us are reluctant to do.

Asking for money is something most of us are ashamed to do.

But right now, I’m doing both.

I’m not asking for your help and your money for me. For those of you who don’t know, our friend Jordan is facing an unexpected surgery tomorrow. He’d been suffering from pain in his upper right abdomen for some time, and about a week ago, he finally gave in and went to the emergency room.

He was told that the pain was being caused by his gallbladder and that he might need an operation to take care of it. But although he had applied for insurance coverage, his policy doesn’t take effect until January 2008. Jordan opted to try to wait until the new year before having the surgery. He came home, tried to change his diet to help, and we’d been hoping for the best.

But last night, something changed.

The long and the short of it is that he had to return to the emergency room. His family learned that his gallbladder has to be removed. Jordan is sick, in incredible pain, and hasn’t been able to keep food down. There’s no way around it. There’s no waiting until January for the insurance to cover his medical bills.

And that’s the story.

Anyone who’s spent even a little time in the hospital knows how expensive it is. Surgery is tremendously expensive, and medical bills can financially devastate a family. This is a wonderful family. I consider them part of my family. And whatever we can do to help them, I want to do it.

So here’s the part where I ask you for help. Most of you don’t know Jordan but I hope that won’t stop you from considering making a donation. The expenses for the hospital visits, diagnostics, and the surgery will be thousands of dollars. Those are thousands of dollars that he and his family will have to find a way to come up with.

What we want to do is help them find as many of those dollars as possible.

Many of you have probably already donated to charity or volunteered this holiday season. But maybe you can spare a little more. Or maybe you haven’t been presented with an opportunity to give this year. If so, any donation you might make will be so very very appreciated. Every dollar you can give is one more that Jordan and his family won’t have to find.

I have set up a donation fund through my PayPal account. There is a lovely link button at the top right of this page, and it will stay there until we’ve collected every penny you folks are willing to put in there. It is a completely secure transaction, handled entirely by PayPal, and I can assure you that every single dollar in that account will go directly to Jordan’s medical bills. You don’t have to be a PayPal customer to make a contribution–you can use a credit or debit card as well.

I know that there are selfish scams and unscrupulous people pandering for money in every corner of the internet. To that end, if you have any questions or uncertainty about donating, please feel free to email me by clicking here and I will gladly do my best to address your concerns. It might be a small consolation, but it’s the best I can offer.

Whether you feel like sending money or not, your prayers mean more than anything. If you would take the time, please keep Jordan and his family in your thoughts.

To those of you who have already been so incredibly generous and made a donation - thank you! And to everyone else who will make a donation - thank you, too!

Really. Thank you so much.