problem posts

iMac benchmarks and review say it's a beast

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Nov 17th, 2009

People have had their chances to put their grubby hands on those "incredible" iMacs that got released a few weeks ago, and the results are in. And they're great, apparently. First up, MacRumors has a collection of a few sets of benchmarks on the new machines, and the Core i7 processor (a $200 upgrade from the still very powerful Core i5) especially kicks up the speed to a place where it's competing with even the Mac Pro. In fact, in the second comparison, when pitted up against the single CPU Mac Pro, the iMac is virtually identical. Not only is it slightly cheaper depending on options, but you get that nice monitor for free.

Electronista has a much more qualitative analysis, but they still love the new machine. Their "biggest" problem (aside from the usual complaints about the glossy screen and a lack of easy-to-reach ports) seems to be just the size of it. The 27" iMac is a big machine no matter how thin it gets. But they agree: with the i7 in there and all of the extra options, the iMac is a monster, matching up to the Mac Pros sitting in the lower atmosphere.

Good stuff. I'm not personally in the market for a new computer, but man -- if I was ready to spend $2000 on a quality machine, it's tough to consider anything else a better purchase than the new iMac.

UPDATE: Chart graphic is from Timon Royer, we regret the omission.

Tags: analysis, beast, benchmarks, core-i7, electronista, hardware, imac, macrumors, problem, processor, qualitative, review, reviews, size

Filed under: Software, Productivity, Troubleshooting

Open XML compatiblity issues spring up in Service Pack 2 update for Office 2008

by Sang Tang (RSS feed) on Jul 31st, 2009

A few weeks back, Microsoft released its Service Pack 2 update for Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac. While adding a host of features and refinements (such as Custom Path Animation in PowerPoint and increased speed and load times in Word and Excel), the service pack apparently packed too much of a punch.

The update has prevented some Open XML files from opening, for which Microsoft provides the following suggestions, and I've done a bit of MS-to-English translation (with apologies to DF)... read on to get the gist.

Continue reading “Open XML compatiblity issues spring up in Service Pack 2 update for Office 2008 ”

Tags: excel, file, microsoft office, MicrosoftOffice, office, open xml, OpenXml, powerpoint, problem, service pack, ServicePack, word

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Software, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

CubeCheater solves that Rubik's Cube for you

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jan 29th, 2009

As we know from the iPhone television commercials, if there's something you need to do, there's an app for that. And so apparently, if the thing you want to do is solve a Rubik's Cube, then yes, there is an app for that. CubeCheater will help you quickly solve a Rubik's Cube -- all you do is punch in the colors on your cube right now, and then you get directions, complete with rotating graphics, on what steps to take to solve the cube.

It's not built from scratch -- the app uses an algorithm already developed for solving the Cube -- but it does take advantage of a surprising amount of the iPhone's features. You can draw the colors on the virtual cube yourself, or even take a picture of your cube's sides and the app will recognize where the colors are. The latest update adds support for non-standard cubes, so if the colors aren't quite the same on your cube as on the screen, you can change things around.

Impressive, even if it is a little limited in practicality. It's in the App Store right now for 99 cents. Obviously, the point of a Rubik's Cube is solving it yourself. And if you really want to cheat, you don't need an iPhone. Just do what I do: take the little stickers off and replace them in the right places.

[via Cult of Mac]

Continue reading “CubeCheater solves that Rubik's Cube for you”

Tags: algorithm, app-store, camera, cheating, cubecheater, impractical, iphone, ipod-touch, problem, puzzle, rubiks-cube, solving

Filed under: OS, Rumors, Productivity, Internet Tools, Security

Backup not all it's cracked up to be?

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Oct 24th, 2006

I don't rely on .Mac's Backup, but I tinker with it from time to time. It's never seemed to be the killer app to fit all my needs, but others in the Mac web who are more passionate and knowledgeable about backup software seem to be quite upset with it. In particular, Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch, Michael McCracken and Erik Barzeski more or less echo the same opinion: Backup needs help, and a lot of it.

All three of these notable Mac personalities have penned horror stories and useful overviews of what is so wrong with the little .Mac app that (someday) could, and I found them with a recent Apple kbase article John Gruber linked concerning a silly restriction of working with Backup 3 files.

After reading through these, I think I might leave my Backup tinkering as just that, and rely more on ChronoSync since it does machine syncing in addition to straight backup. Though the fact that I haven't seen ChronoSync written up as good or bad in any of the recent reviews makes me curious. Has anyone heard anything?

Tags: .mac, backup, chronosync, dotmac, erik barzeski, ErikBarzeski, jonathan rentzsch, JonathanRentzsch, michael mccracken, MichaelMccracken, problem, problems, software, wrong

Filed under: Hardware, Macbook Pro

High pitched squeal defect on some MacBook Pros

by Fabienne Serriere (RSS feed) on Mar 13th, 2006

While I certainly can't vouch for this problem myself as I don't own a MacBook Pro, there seem to be quite a few owners of the new laptop with complaints over a high pitched noise emanating from their machines. Our own Dan Pourhadi had a whine on his new MacBook Pro, even though it may not be the whine being heavily discussed on Digg today. Dan seems to have solved his whine by disabling the second core of his processor (described in Update 3 on his post).

I no longer see this thread Digg links to on the Apple Forums, however I did find another active thread about the high pitched squeal/noise/whining. Some Apple users on the Digg thread and the Apple Discussions thread seem to think this may be repairable in firmware by Apple at a later date.

I am by no means dissing Apple (or the Digg crowd) with this post, but simply would like to remind everyone about early adopter syndrome. The first revision of a new hardware platform or change in manufacturing is bound to engender certain flaws or bugs. Please, let us reflect for a moment on the Mirrored Door G4 and the PowerBook 667MHz (aka The "666") computer lines.

This current flare in comments on Digg and the Apple Forums doesn't mean that all MacBook Pros will be affected by this noise, and certainly does not mean that people shouldn't be entitled to a worry-free machine when purchasing a Mac. I hope this all gets cleared up quickly and with some sort of patch or replacement from Apple. We at TUAW are bound to keep you posted.

Update: Please see Dan Pourhadi's new follow-up post about his MacBook Pro woes.

Tags: defect, highpitched, macbookpro, noise, problem, squeal, whine

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