Posts by Tony Smith, Editor, Reg Hardware

Re: Are you all Apple fanboys?

Ta-ra

Re: tax

Yeah but minus VAT, the low end Air is £723. That's still well above the £623, the Sterling conversion from the US less-tax price of $999.

Re: Ethernet Connectivity

This is what I mean by 'lack of extras'. For the price it's charging, Apple really should have bundled this adaptor, if only to say on the feature list that the Air does 10/100Mb/s Ethernet.

Yes, it's piffling, but on any other netbook or sub-notebook you don't have to pay it.

Re: aside from..

At the risk of sounding like an AppleTard, there's no real evidence that I've seen that Mac kit is any more likely to need re-boxing and taking back to the retailer than computers from any other vendor.

Yes, duff motherboards, drives, screens, etc get out into the sales channel, but that's true of every other vendor's kit too.

There were screen issues reported with the 11.6in Air. I didn't see them on the one I tested - which was store-sold kit, by the way, not some tweaked model supplied by Apple PR, before you suggest skullduggery.

Re: Reducing the score because of the price is not fair

The benchmarks we use are consistent across all the machines tested, which is the only way to produce a directly comparable figure, though it does mean we can't quote 'real world' usage times.

We do this because it means we *do* run similar tasks on each machine, and stresses all the various parts of the system.

Re: Hardwearing?

I would rate the Air as much more resilient than a netbook any day of the week.

Re: I disagree on price

Small point: the Air's 11.6in screen isn't 'far superior' to the displays found in other 11.6in notebooks.

Like all of these, it has the same resolution - 1366 x 768 - and while some are a little better than others - the Air's is one of the better ones - there's actually not much to choose between them.

I say this having reviewed the Air *and* ten 11.6in notebooks recently.

Re: Not too bad,

Good Q - edged out at the last minute by Battlezone, that's why. There were a lot of heated arguments in the Reg Hardware office about this one, let me tell you.

Re: virgin lies

Virgin claims not to limit the traffic of P2users per se, only those who exceed the bandwidth limits stated in its Ts&Cs.

As ever, there's a degree of user responsibility here, to check the small print and make sure one doesn't fall foul of the limits.

Virgin's traffic management policy is laid out here:

http://www.virginmedia.com/traffic

Re: 720p

Take a 720p video file and scale it down to 800 x 450, I should think.

Saying you can play 720p != actually playing it at that resolution, despite the obvious assumption being that it will.

Re: Price wrong

£550 is the SRP - or as close to one as we can get out of Samsung. As the review states, you can get it a lot more cheaply than that if you shop around

Re: US model DOESNT have phone feature

We're not reviewing a North American model.

Re: Or maybe

Apple already has killed DRM for music, but I seriously doubt it'll do it for video.

As you say, here's hoping, though.

Re: fondle-slab

Apple isn't the only one making fondle slabs. Or are we saying it's the only one actually selling any?

Actually, judging by the Galaxy Tab on the desk here, I suspect it soon will be. Not impressed, I have to say.

Re: Wait, what?

CNN - or rather a subset of it - is on Freeview.

Re: Kinnect has been downgraded from its original design

IMHO, that's a particular esoteric feature that was cut out to save costs.

I hate to stand up for M$ here, but if it does indeed release 'Kinect 2' in short order with extra features for extra money, it will be just the latest in a *very* long line on vendors to do this.

New product in 'better version coming down the line' shock....

Re: I have to say

What you have left is a games console that will play a stack of good controller-based games. The Wii this isn't.

I think Andrew got to the nub of the matter, and did indeed address Kinect's limitations, such as they are.

This is impressive tech, no matter how you look at it. Only the most blinkered of PS3 fanboys would insist otherwise.

Re: LCD vs e-ink

I think the real benefit of E Ink screens is actually the lack of a glossy front, not the display technology per se.

It's the reflections that makes you average (glossy) LCD less pleasant to read for long periods. Otherwise, I'd have LCD's generally higher resolution and certainly higher contrast over E Ink any day.

Re: Maybe...

For myself, I'll forego browsing in bookshops. Almost without exception, bookshop stock is poor thanks to allowing any spotty herbert in off the street to leaf through their stock with greasy paws.

Borders UK - now deceased - has a lot to answer for.

I'd rather buy online and get a pristine copy, thanks. Which is, of course, why Borders UK went bust.

Re: (untitled)

Well, this boy would be a darn sight easier to carry around than 80 quid's worth of paperbacks.

Re: Someone want to tell el-reg

No. It's an e-book reader if it's intended by the manufacturer that you read e-books on it. It doesn't matter what the screen technology is.

Now, whether it's a *good* e-book reader, that *does* depend on the screen.

Re: Stick with similes you understand

Let me gone on record to say I have never driven a sports car full stop. I am offended by the suggestion that I have, and this message and the name of the poster have been passed on to my lawyers: Sue, Grabbit and Runne. :-)