Ok so…

can I tell you how happy I am that it is Spring Break already?!

Liking the HP so far…

So did I tell you that I picked up an HP DV7 the other day?  Well I did… it is meant to replace my MacBook Pro which Apple has so graciously decided that the “cosmetic” issues notwithstanding was eligible for return. Thank you Apple for agreeing to take the computer back—thank you for all the time I spent in your stores, listening to your “Genius” technicians tell me things were “cosmetic,” “not covered under the warranty,” or my personal favorite, “I’ve only seen this when someone has tried to open the computer.”

The latter of those statements is probably my favorite—why would anyone spent $$$ on an extended warranty only to open the computer?!  I still don’t get that one..

Anyway, the MacBook Pro (MBP) is on its way back to Apple as we speak….and I’m typing this on my spiffy new HP DV7. I went with the DV7 for a few reasons, most of which is because it was on sale at Sam’s Club for a killer price—> $999!

I’ll be sure to post the link if anyone is interested. In the meantime, here’s the specs as unrepentantly plagiarized from HP’s support page…

Product Name
dv7-4287cl

Product Number
XZ031UA#ABA

Microprocessor
Intel Core i5-480M Processor 2.66GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.93 GHz

Memory
8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM)

Memory Max
8GB

Video Graphics
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6550 graphics

Video Memory
1024MB GDDR3

Hard Drive
750GB (5400RPM)

Multimedia Drive
LightScribe Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer Support

Display
17.3” diagonal High Definition+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)

Network Card
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN

Wireless Connectivity

• 802.11b/g/n WLAN

Sound

• Beats Audio and HP Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer

Keyboard
101-key compatible with island-style full-size keyboard with integrated numeric keypad

Pointing Device
HP Clickpad with On/Off button

External Ports

• 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
• 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, 4th port shared with eSATA
• 1 HDMI
• 1 VGA (15-pin)
• 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
• 1 Headphone-out
• 1 Microphone-in

Dimensions
16.35" (L) x 10.8" x 1.25" (min H)/1.46" (max H)

Weight
6.86 lbs

Security

• Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
• Power-on password
• Accepts 3rd party security lock devices

Power

• 90W AC Adapter
• 9-Cell 93WHr Lithium-Ion Battery

What’s In The Box
HP TrueVision Webcam with integrated digital microphone
HP SimplePass Identity Protection with integrated fingerprint reader

Of all the things I really like, it has to be the 17” screen and the fingerprint reader. Those are two of the niceties that make it a comfortable thing to use. The 15” 1440×900 screen on my MBP was nice and bright but the HP has a solid 1600×900—just a hair over the MBP but on a 17” display—so having that extra bit of real estate makes a lot of difference for me. A 1080 display would of course be perfect but the icons would be teeeny tiny.

The sound is remarkably good, it’s a lot louder than the MBP was. Some of the things Apple does is they put the recovery discs in the box for you, HP makes you burn your own. However, considering I could buy two of these for the price of a 15” MBP it just replaced, I’m not going to complain.

Now I know what you’re thinking—the parts (CPU, GPU, body, etc.) are not the same as your MBP so it’s like comparing Apples (pun not intended) to Oranges. However, here’s what the point is—Apple doesn’t make a 15” computer that costs less than $1,800 unless you have an educator discount or buy refurb. I can buy a 15” anything on the PC side for upwards of say….$500. Granted parts will not be the same but let’s be real—on the surface a 15” Mac costs more than a 15” PC. There is no way to get around that fact and I’m not about to debate it now. However, one thing I noticed almost immediately on the HP is that it is built to be taken apart by the customer. Conversely, the Apple laptop is built almost like a fine Swiss watch—you need special screwdrivers to open it, have to be gentle before putting it back together, etc.etc. I’ve come to the conclusion that the PC notebook is built like a Tonka truck—it’s built to be taken around, used, opened up, etc. It’s not meant to sit and look pretty on one’s desk, shelf, or otherwise—it’s meant to be used, not admired.  I get that it’s two completely different design ethos but take it for what it is—one is designed with the consumer as user, and the other with consumer as end-user.

There are those who change their own oil, and those who take it somewhere and have the unshaven mechanic do it. I prefer to do things myself if possible but only if I do not have the option to have someone else do it (esp. for free). In the case of Apple, I exhausted to the bitter end every single valuable resource I had in getting them to resolve issues with both mine and my wife’s Macs. The only person who actually gave a shit was a nice young woman who worked at their corporate office—the only one who actually took the time to try and fix our issues, rather than just throw us under the bus or placate us with a replacement machine. She will always have my eternal thanks for all her help.

As for the Mac, my wife still uses hers and it’s going on a year now with the replacement white MacBook (unibody) they sent. Hopefully we never have to send it in but if past experience is any indicator…..

Those poor people in Japan.

I don’t now how many of you have been following the events in Japan but I cannot take myself away from the TV to see how it is unfolding.

Do you have friends/family in Japan?  How are they doing?

Satire: How “horrible” was HP service….oh my.

I just got a brand spankin’ new HP DV7 notebook. Thus far, I love it and it handles everything I throw at it (metaphorically speaking, of course).

When I started using the computer, I noticed that the Optical DVD/BD drive made a strange sound when ejecting….almost a grinding sound….so after a few days, I called up HP support.  I spoke to a nice young woman in N. America who had me take the drive out, test it, and verify it was the drive and not the computer itself.  When we verified it was indeed the drive, she FedEx’d me a replacement drive.  I called on Saturday, the shipment notification was on Monday, I got the drive Tuesday—it came pretty quick.

I’d be lying if I said it was anything more than 5min to replace the drive. As the nice young HP lady told me, it was “designed” to be taken apart and worked on—as is the case with the optical drive that went bad. 5 screws to remove the bottom, and one to remove the drive itself—all told it took 6-8min to have it apart and put back together.  Very fast, and there was a return label in the box.  I dropped it off at FedEx on my way to campus.

The new drive works great and I’ve been burning discs just fine. The moral of all this?

– Minor inconvenience

– Zero Downtime

I could have taken the computer back to Sam’s Club but I thought—”why?” The screen is perfect, no dead pixels, everything else is running fine….if they can send me the drive, why the hell not?!

Conversely, this was absolutely not my experience with Apple, which required either their illustrious depot to repair even the slightest of things, or one of their “Mac Genius” people to do. If this had been Apple, I would have had to wait for a box to send it in, ship the box, wait for them to fix, and to send it back. Not like I’ve had any experience with that or anything…..

Anyway, that’s all for now.

So long Apple.

It was fun while it lasted but I haven’t the time to deal with the repairs any more. I love my iDevices (iPhone 4 and iPad 3G, notably) but I’m afraid I cannot say the same for your laptops, Genius Bar, or repair services.

Here’s one reason why, in a nutshell…

Courtesy of Danny @ TheGradualReport

I’ll post my wonderful Flickr feed in a few days but I thought this was worth sharing.  Enjoy

— John B.

I’m back online. :)

I just got my blog set back up….will be posting more within the next few days.

— John

Bad product placement….

As posted on C|Net, apparently someone has a bit of bad taste for how they placed an ad next to their article on Steve Jobs’ return to Apple.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10351348-71.html

Bad form, period.  Didn’t someone stop to think, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t even associate Jobs’ condition w/ anything even remotely morbid, considering his condition?”

Got my new Nano :)

…..I’ll write more on it later, but it really is a nice little device and the video is amazing. I will have a small review on it sometime this week.

JG

MobileMe….worth it? Article by Andy Inhatko.

I came across this article on Macworld the other day, and thought I should comment….

Why MobileMe is really worth it | Web Services | MacUser | Macworld
by Andy Inhatko

I thought this was a good article…..he mentions some of the gripes people (like me) have had w/ MobileMe, as well as some of the unsung benefits of the service.

AppleTV, cracking Macbook… grrr!

Well, as it turns out….our illustrious AppleTV is on the blink again.  This is the third time I’ve done a factory restore on the thing and it’s still acting up.  I’m going to take it in to the Apple Store tomorrow and get it taken care of….once and for all.  First, the AppleTV cannot decide what resolution it wants to use…. 720p….1080i….1080p….720p….1080p….back to 720p…. GRRR!!!

At best, I figured the AppleTV was just finicky, but this has gone way beyond finicky…..now we are seeing that if we change source on our TV set (HDMI1, HDMI2, HDMI3, Component1, etc.etc.), the AppleTV (on HDMI1) will whig-out and not come back, necessitating a complete hard reset.  Can’t do much about it except just reset and restore….well, not no more (hey, I rhymed something!).  I guess it doesn’t help that Mrs. Guapo’s white Macbook is cracking again….we just had it in the store 5 months ago for a complete plastic “surgery”, they replaced ALL the plastics…..bottom, top, lid, etc.  A month ago, her screen had to be replaced b/c it was unusually dim….she would have to have it on full brightness to be readable.  To their credit, they have fixed everything we have taken in almost hassle-free.  We’re optimistic this will be an easy fix, but I’m always skeptical.

Last night, we’re on the couch and she brings me her notebook….sure enough, cracks along the front.  The bad part is she starts work this week (teacher) and needs her computer this week more than ever.  We’ll see how well they fix it this time, and how quickly.