It’s not ready yet

Well, in opening Steam for the first time, I noticed how experimental it felt. There was only one skin to choose from and the options for Mac users seemed very limited, like as if the entirety of the software was in beta. I was constantly disconnected for no discernible reason and Steam Mac. Even if an internet connection is present, Steam Mac seems to have some difficulty in connecting to Steam, particularly at start-up, where Steam simply refuses to detect my internet connection until several retries.

It’s been about a week since it’s release and I’ve been bombarded by nothing but constant updates before launch. It’s not a bad thing for software to require updates, but the sheer frequency of update is infuriating at the best of times. It’s annoying to have to sit there staring at a program that updates so frequently. Although this problem will be lessened in the foreseeable future, it remains as one of my most hated issues about Steam.

Cross-Compatibility

Contrary to popular belief, Macs actually have a fair amount of games released to them. Earlier last year EA announced plans to release Macintosh games in tandem with their Windows counterparts instead of encountering the usual delay for a Macintosh version of popular Windows games ports. Looking to the Steam store on launch I was expecting a huge range of titles for the Macintosh, after all, there a significant amount of games for the Macintosh. Instead, I was greeted with a very barren looking games page in the Macintosh games store consisting of only a few indie games and Portal.

I don’t know if Valve has had licensing issues with developers or not. What really concerns me is the possibility of Mac gamers being forced into buying dual copies of identical games for them both to work on Windows and Macintosh platforms. Most Macintosh games are not ported to the Macintosh by the original developer, but rather by a 3rd party such as Aspyr. Games already purchased in Steam for Windows have had their royalties paid to the developer already, but since the Mac version likely has a 3rd party developer, the 3rd party will most likely like their own share of pie. Given the currently high markup on Macintosh compatible games, I wouldn’t been surprised if 3rd party developers refuse to allow Mac users the ability to play their games they have previously paid for in the Windows format. Users of Macs and Windows boxes on Mac Steam may be forced to either buy a ‘universal’ copy of the game, available on both Macintosh’s and Windows boxes as a separate purchase or be forced to buy discretely Macintosh versions of the game if a deal cannot be reached between the developer and the 3rd party.

The OpenGL question

As we saw with Anandtech’s Windows/Macintosh Portal performance analysis, Macintosh computers tend to have a lower performance value than identical machines. Macs are simply  less effective than their Windows counterparts at gaming whether that be because of the lacking of Apple’s drivers, the inefficiently of the port or simply issues with OpenGL, whatever it is, it turns potential customers away from gaming on the Macintosh platform.

Now, you see, Red Alert 3 runs on my Macbook, not in Macintosh mode, but rather Windows mode. Could they be one of the limitations of OpenGL and Mac OS X gaming like in Portal? I have not a clue, but from the general consensus online, it seems Mac OS X is unable to address more than 64mb of shared ram to the IGP. In Windows my GMA 950 is able to address a full 244mb of shared video ram. Although this might not just be the reason that Macintosh systems are out performed by identical systems, it will still cause confusion between more mainstream consumers who have not our technical knowledge.

Given these three factors, the lower performance of Macintosh’s against Windows boxes, the inability to address comparable amounts of video memory and the use of OpenGL, Mac games may either be diluted in visual quality further to combat the performance disparity between the platforms with the Intel integrated or in the case of Red Alert 3, might simply abandon the prospect of even using Macs with Intel integrated graphics.

Given the fact Macintosh computers have all traditionally been mediocre at gaming graphics (mostly non-upgradeable) thanks to their integrated Intel graphics chipsets being the mainstay of their older mainstream product range, many Macintosh users will not be able to game very well on their computers. If the ported OpenGL versions of popular games all perform worse than their Direct X counterparts, we might have quite a big problem from the mainstream gamers. Many older Macintosh’s are built around such a graphics chipset, so either including them or excluding them would have dive consequences on the success of games on the Macintosh.  Facing the truth and reality. almost all Mac users belong to the group using integrated graphics. Games will either have to drop in quality or raise requirements (in comparison to Windows versions) in order to have a decent flowing game or wait indefinitely for Apple or Khronos Group to improve their OpenGL drivers.

Conclusion

Well, it’s not all bad. At least another developer is taking interest in the Macintosh platform. This might be good for Valve should they ever decide to port Steam to Linux. The code-base between Mac OS X and Linux is close enough so that converting applications should be far more simple than Well it sure beats trying to run Steam with dodgy WINE fonts and paying for Cedgar or losing a huge hunk of battery life to running a VM. Cross-platform calling is no longer limited to Skype and you can still use Steam chat, which is nice ~ I sort of use Steam a as an instant messenger too, having a Mac, back in the day was not very inconvenient.

With the advent of Steam Mac, publishers have just gotten renewed incentive to create games for the Macintosh. That in itself is excellent for any Mac gamer. It’s not a perfect start to making the Mac a premier gaming platform, but it certainly is a start to the arduous journey ahead.

Scan and print quality: With everything at default and 2400DPI scan you can’t tell much difference, until you get up close and personal.

Scan, print and scan of APS photo.

Scan of APS photo.

The color reproduction is good, though anyone who knows digital photo work will tell you, “Calibration is the number one cause of flawed digital prints”. This was not calibrated! There is a slight color difference, but not much.

Now as to quality:

As can be seen above this is not a professional level machine with the real photo at the top showing no granulation at 2400DPI scan resolution,  while the lower looks like a water painting. Even at the highest settings there is no big “eureka” moment. There again nothing can beat real film. Below we have the maximum settings and the high quality settings side by side. Both were scanned at 9600 DPI. I cant really tell a 6 min. difference in quality (one took over 12 min. to print)

Here we have the maximum settings and the high qualitysettings side by side. Both scaned a 9600 DPI.

Well that is the simple overview of the scan and print, now the ADF (Automatic Document Feeder).

Here is a short video of  the ADF in action: Epson. The ADF coupled this with the fax capability make this an excellent machine for the small office or home by any standard. The Fax with the ADF allows for seamless transmissions of multi-document faxes. Great for those of us too lazy to set up the computer to do these things.

Fax panel

The slide show option is very nice as it allows you to load up a card and use it as a digital picture frame.

As shown above this is an excellent stand alone machine with the ability to to set quality and do minor editing in the sub-menus.

Photo edit control

So all in all I feel I got a great deal! My older Epson had seen it’s better days and I don’t print photos (If I want a good picture I use a 35mm or an APS camera with 400ISO film.) so this is perfect for my home or any other home-office that might be in need of the capabilities of this machine!

Software included: Epson Scan, Epson web to page, ABBYY Fine Reader Sprint Plus and an Arcsoft Suite (Media Impression 2, Panorama Maker 4, Photo Book Screen Saver, PhotoStudio Darkroom 2, Print Creations, RAW Thumbnail Viewer, Scan-n-Stitch Deluxe and Video Downloader)

The usefulness of this software is as varied as the selection. Some of the software I did find useful:

Media Impression 2 is a program worth mentioning as it allows you to take it to the next level for a reasonable price!

I like the idea of commemorating a moment with a TEE or a coffee mug at a decent price.

Panorama Maker 4 is great if you have kids and want to border their walls or border your shop with memories.

By putting these pictures together it can become a great topic for conversation.

The one other program I found of value was Dark Room!

It has an astounding number of tools and options that can allow for doctoring of bad shots or total restoration of old photos.

Spec’s

Printing Technology 4-color (CMYK) drop-on-demand MicroPiezo® ink jet technology
Ink Palette Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black
Ink Cartridge Configuration 4 individual ink cartridges
Ink Type DURABrite® Ultra pigment ink
(smudge, fade and water resistant, highlighter friendly)
Fade Resistance / Print Longevity4 Up to 105 years
Minimum Ink Droplet Size 3 droplet sizes, as small as 3 picoliters
Maximum Print Resolution 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi
Print Speed1 Black text up to 33 ppm
Color text up to 33 ppm
4″ x 6″ borderless photo in as fast as 26 seconds (12 m 27.9s highest quality 4×6)
Copy Speed1 Black up to 31 cpm
Color up to 31 cpm
Fax Specifications Black-and-white and color
Modem: 33.6 Kbps — as fast as 3 sec per page
Memory: Up to 180 pages
Speed dials: 60 (max.)
Scanner Type Color flatbed
Photoelectric Device Color CIS line sensor
Optical Resolution 1200 dpi
Hardware Resolution 1200 x 2400 dpi
Maximum Resolution 9600 x 9600 dpi interpolated
Scanner Bit Depth 48-bit color / 24-bit output
Copy Quality Color: Black/White, Draft: Normal
Copy Quantity 1 – 99 (PC-free)
Maximum Copy Size 8.5″ x 11″ (PC-free)
Copy Features Fit to page, automatic reduction and enlargement (25 – 400%),
Adjustable copy density
PC-free Printing Print all photos, photo index sheet and color photo restoration
Automatic Document Feeder 30 sheets
Color Display 2.5″ tilt LCD
Built-in Memory Card Slots Compatibility CompactFlash®, Microdrive®, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick
Duo™†, MagicGate™ Memory Stick, MagicGate Memory Stick
Duo™†, Memory Stick PRO™, Memory Stick Pro Duo™†,
Secure Digital (SD™), SDHC™, mini SD™†, mini SDHC™†,
Memory Stick Micro™†, micro SD™†, micro SDHC™†,
MultiMediaCard™, xD-Picture Card™, xD-Picture Card Type-M,
xD-Picture Card Type-M+, xD-Picture Card Type-H
Direct Camera Connection Front PictBridge™ port (print from digital cameras and
mobile phones)
Supported Digital Camera Technologies Epson PRINT Image Matching®, Exif Print, DPOF
PC-free Filters and Image Enhancements Auto Photo Correction
PC-free Paper Support Plain (8.5″ x 11″), Photo (4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″, 8.5″ x 11″)                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Maximum Paper Size 8.5″ x 44″

Paper Sizes 3.5″ x 5″, 4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″, 8″ x 10″, 8.5″ x 11″, 8.5″ x 14″,
A4, B5, A5, A6, half letter, executive, user definable
(3.5″ – 44″ in length)
Borderless Photo Sizes 3.5″ x 5″, 4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″, 8″ x 10″, 8.5″ x 11″, A4
Paper Types Supports plain paper, Epson Bright White Paper, Photo Paper
Glossy, Premium Photo Paper Glossy, Ultra Premium Photo
Paper Glossy, Premium Photo Paper Semi-gloss, Presentation
Paper Matte, Premium Presentation Paper Matte, Premium
Presentation Paper Matte Double-sided, and Matte Scrapbook
Photo Paper (letter)
Envelope Types No. 10, DL, C6; plain paper, bond paper, air mail
Input Paper Capacity 100 sheets plain paper, 10 envelopes
Recommended Ink Cartridges†† 68 High-capacity Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow or
69 Black, 69 Cyan, 69 Magenta, 69 Yellow
Weight and Dimensions (W x D x H) Printing: 18.1″ x 18.9″ x 10.6″
Storage: 18.1″ x 16.1″ x 9.3″
Weight: 16.8 lbs.
Connectivity Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Operating Systems Windows Vista®, XP, XP Professional x64, 2000
Mac OS® X 10.3.9, 10.4.x, and 10.5.x
Software Included Epson printer driver, Web to Page, Epson Scan, ArcSoft® Print
Creations, ABBYY® FineReader®
Color Management Auto Photo Correction, Epson Vivid Color™, Adobe RGB and ICM
Sound Level 39 dB
Temperature Operating: 50 ° to 95 °F (10 ° to 35 °C)
Storage: -4 ° to 140 °F (-20 ° to 40 °C)
Relative Humidity Operating: 20 – 80% (RH)
Storage: 5 – 85% (RH) (no condensation)
Safety Approvals Safety standards UL60950, CSA C22.2 No. 60950 EMI FCC
Part 15 subpart B class B, CAN/CSA-CEI/IEC CISPR 22 class B
Telecom Regulations FCC Part 68 (USA), IC/CS03 (Canada)
Power Requirements Rated voltage: 100–120 VAC
Rated frequency: 50–60 Hz
Rated current: 0.6 Amp
Power Consumption Approx. 13 W ISO 10561 (Standalone copy printing)
Approx. 3.0 W (Standby Mode)
Energy Star® compliant
Warranty One-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada
What’s In The Box WorkForce 500 color all-in-one, instructional manual,
CD-ROM with drivers and bonus software, free sample paper
pack with offers, power cord, telephone cord, 4 DURABrite
Ultra Ink cartridges (one 69 standard-capacity Black ink
cartridge and three 69 standard-capacity color ink cartridges:
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow)

]]> http://www.techreaction.net/2010/02/05/epson-workforce-500/feed/ 0 http://www.techreaction.net/2010/01/27/just-another-ipad-blog-destroy-2000-years-of-culture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=just-another-ipad-blog-destroy-2000-years-of-culture http://www.techreaction.net/2010/01/27/just-another-ipad-blog-destroy-2000-years-of-culture/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:01:50 +0000 64NOMIS http://www.techreaction.net/?p=3599 “It’s going to succeed because no one has tried it before”

It’s pretty easy to slam the new iPad. It’s a media consumption device in a coffee table book form factor. And its not the first.

I carelessly abuse books. I don’t think this unit would survive the inhumane conditions granted to my last three paperbacks.

I worry my 50” plasma isn’t big enough. I have no intereste in watching TV in my lap, much less a move I actually want to enjoy.

I am an aggressive mutli-tasking web surfer. I don’t surf to surf. It just doesn’t work like that, and at least a PC based tablet has connectivity and productivity apps that map to my way of getting work done or connecting to the rest of my PC experience.

Companies are trying to sell digital store fronts into our homes. This is a tough ask. Apple TV was an STB not shown much love. Kindle and Nook may surprise. Most have failed miserably. A tough road to hoe, and its not easy to compete with cheap, timely, HD and free (even if sometimes virus infested). And the book form factor, closer than ever, remains still a bit out of reach. Timing the technology with the market, that magically lucrative crap shoot, remains a bit off.

Yet there is promise, and if 95% of CES hype was on the 3D television, the more important 5% was on electronic paper. The digitization of the old-school book. And the old school-book. Newspapers, maps, novels and comics. Something I can hold in front of my face and on my lap and just read. Or tap at.

Today’s PC derived tablets are too big, loud, warm, heavy, you get the idea. The Kindle and Nook make sacrifices in scope of functionality to get as close as they can to hardcover ergonomics. The iPad tries to cross the streams, a powerful netbook you are supposed to hold in some way to permit comfortable reading while still tapping on it regularly to tell it what to do next. And it will happen, the almost post-science-camp displays at CES were almost too good to believe, Moore’s law continues to squeeze x86 and ARM into a heat envelop below that causing heat rash and localized sweat. And slowly the form factor, performance, battery life, visual comfort, price, and business model will converge.

But its going to take a while.

It looks to me like we are going to wait a bit more for the digitization of everyday media to replace the splendor and ergonomics of a filleted newspaper or a paperback book. I’ve got a perfectly good PC tablet now. It collects dust; I have considered turning it into a giant remote control; project currently on hold.

I mean, have you ever noticed that the springiness of a paperback actually clings to your inset finger and helps to hold it perfectly wedged into your hand?

The iPad is not going to destroy or re-invent 2000 years of culture. The PC already did that. And at some point, we will invent an eBook that feels like a book should. And we will design an omnicient pad that writes our thoughts before we do. In the meantime, the iPad sits in the chasm, and we will see if it’s got the staying power and roadmap to grow out of its awkwardly shaped youth and highly protective and proscriptive parents.

Simon Solotko has been called “just some guy” and his views should not sway your own.

As already discussed, a piece meal upgrade is performed when a jump to an entirely new platform is not financially possible. A ground up all new part design is best and will give the best price performance ratio if properly setup.  For those that cannot afford a complete rebuild though, designing a system with affordable parts that also support upgrading over an extended period of time is the only option.  While more money will be spent over the life of the upgrade, reselling used parts before they become worthless is the best way to help narrow the gap in the price performance ratio.  Now that some reference material has been supplied in the first 2 parts of this series, we can focus on the intention of this article, the end result.  Taking a trip without knowing the destination, can be a fun diversion, but is not an efficient means of accomplishing a goal.  Discussed in part two of this series we covered the four basic purposes of building a new personal computer: web browser, general purpose, Home Theater (Multimedia) PC, and a gaming PC.  It is important to know that CPU architecture can vary greatly, and certain tests used to measure a systems performance may favor one manufacturer over another, architectural differences bring with them their own strengths and weaknesses.

For example, Intel currently makes the most powerful commercially available CPU.  Their i7 line outperforms anything AMD manufacturers for numerical processing in a desktop system.  Intel has maintained a competitive edge in industry, because even back at a time when in all other areas their chips were inferior to the competition, one thing they could always do well was crunch enormous amounts of data fast.  Enhanced instruction sets can carry this lead even further, if using specialized software.  (SSE4 instructions for Intel CPUs, CUDA for NVIDIA GPUs, Stream for ATI GPUs or DXVA for either GPU manufacturer, will all provide enhanced performance in software based on its specific purpose). Stream and CUDA use a GPU for number crunching abilities that outperform an i7 CPU to a magnitude of 10 or more.  This requires thought and explains why AMD maintains a competitive level.  While strict number crunching is important for a CPU, flexibility is more important.  Latency is a key player in flexibility, and this is an area that AMD has been very successful in over the last few generations.

Software choices are as important as hardware choices in designing a system.  All software is not created equal.  Simple programs written in Java or Visual Basic can be found for free all over the internet.  Usually this software, due to free licensing requirements, does not allow proprietary code to be instituted in its design.  Companies that include technologies in their architecture, for enhanced software performance, must pay a licensing fee to the company that developed it; software is not excluded in this.  The software you intend to use effects the hardware you purchase based on these architectural features. This is not meant to denigrate open source software, only to ensure that the right hardware is being purchased for the task at hand.

Particular attention should be paid to operating system choice, the first software you install on a PC.  90+% of users will choose Windows for their desktop preference, but OSX and Linux have made some great strides in the ability to completely replace windows in the office.  Due to even more restrictions, this series will focus on windows based computing, as all hardware is not fully supported on the alternatives.

Microsoft, in their wisdom, sees fit to offer a range of OS choices and among those OS choices, variations in licensing.   The most expensive is the “retail” choice.  OEM and upgrade versions can be as cheap as half the cost of the retail version of the OS; however they can severely limit your ability to upgrade.  The limitation is in the license, an OEM license is tied to hardware that you purchased (specifically, the motherboard), an upgrade is tied to a previous operating system you own.  (***Check and see if an upgrade on an OEM license, is tied to hardware***).  A retail operating system is tied to the purchaser, as long as you only have the OS installed on a single system, you can reinstall it as many times as you need to.  If online activation fails, a short phone call to a Microsoft representative will have the OS up and running legally in less than 5 minutes.

For general purpose and web browsing PCs, the choices of software matter less than for specific purpose machines.  In either case, a lower performance PC will be adequate to meet the average end user needs.  For simplicities sake, a recommendation of AM2+ socket AMD system architecture will offer the simplest upgrade options.  The average AM2 motherboards supports (with BIOS updates) older AM2 socket CPUs, the improved AM2+ socket CPUs, and the current generation’s AM3 socket CPUs.  This upgrade process covers the currently less expensive DDR2, and the soon to be less expensive DDR3.  One can even purchase an AM2+ motherboard that includes both DDR2 and DDR3 slots.  Although this limits the user to only two sticks of ram of either type (not to be run in tandem) it does offer the user the ability to purchase a motherboard now, which supports 3 generations of CPUs and 2 generations of memory.  This allows the piece meal upgrader to only purchase one new component at a time.  The essence of the piece meal upgrade, purchasing a component that utilized immediately.

Gaming PCs are typically among the most powerful PCs that a user can build.  These require more powerful CPUs, more memory, a better GPU (or even multiple GPUs), a computer case capable of cycling the air in and out very quickly and of course a PSU that handle the demands of a power hungry system.  Many advertisers offer “gamer specials” which are little more than general purpose PCs with a slightly more powerful GPU attached.  Generally the term “Gamers edition” on a product means a 25-50% increase in cost, and a flashy package.  There may be some small increase in performance, generally not worth the extra cost incurred.  A gaming PC does not need the latest and greatest of every component to be successful.  More often than not, designers are building lopsided systems, which are not efficient at all due to bottlenecks.  Running a lower resolution display decreases demand on the GPU, but increases the demand on the CPU.  Running a higher resolution display with a weak GPU will also create an unbalanced and inefficient system for gaming.  Balance is more important that having the latest and greatest component.

The age of the system being upgraded can also make a huge difference in the initial investment, and in some cases, an older system could have more upgrade options than a slightly more modern one.  A dedicated video card can be reused in a more modern system, except in the case of AGP.  PCI cards are not necessarily an upgrade option, if drivers are not supported by newer Operating Systems or carry widescreen format resolutions. There are modern PCI video cards, a 2400 pro PCI card will make a welcome upgrade to any aging IGP based computer, and carry over into even the most modern of systems.   Although price performance ratio takes a hit, the fact that it is a noticeable upgrade carries over, and is the essence of the piece meal upgrade; not just upgrading on a budget, but seeing a difference in every purchase.  This is a goal but a difficult one, there are times when an upgrade you make now, will not be realized until a future upgrade.  CPU/GPU plays a delicate balance when considering the best price performance ration, the only constant in computing is, new architecture comes out and prices fall on less competitive products. When a device is EOL for too long, high end parts of said architecture will go up in price for a little while, far beyond their efficiency.

The upgrader following this series will have upgraded the peripherals, either before, or in conjunction with upgrading components.  Sometimes a small video upgrade is needed when upgrading a display unit or OS upgrade due to driver or hardware support issues.  So this section will now focus on CPU, motherboard and memory.  These are not necessarily mutually exclusive upgrades.   It is common to upgrade all three components at the same time.  This is an architecture jump and has its benefits and drawbacks.

The immediate benefit is a possible massive performance improvement in all system experiences.  The drawback is, to keep costs low you have to sacrifice something.  Purchase a motherboard that will give you options for upgrading in the future.  AM2 socket is great for this, especially the 780/790 chipsets.  For a piecemeal upgrade 775 is an option, although it EOL, it covers CPUs from the Pentium 4 era (the Pentium D) all the way up to 45nm quad core processors, and DDR3 was also implemented near the end of socket 775, so a ram and motherboard upgrade offers a step towards the newer p55/X58 Intel chipsets that will only accept DDR3 memory.

Focusing on the finished product sets the upgrade path that is best suited for the piece meal upgrader.  Purchasing components that help you meet your end goal, while at the same time utilizing the components in a current system build, is the definition of piece meal upgrades.   Focus attention on price trends both at online retailers and used marketplaces such as craigslist and eBay.  If you are currently a member of any technology based web forum, see if they have a classified/marketplace area of the site devoted to individuals selling or shopping for individual components.  Next week stay tuned for data protection.  Maintaining multiple copies of important data both offline, online and redundancy, for multiple Operating system reinstalls associated with motherboard upgrades.