The Face off

I have been looking for a laptop lately and I'm still undecided on which one to get. In this post I'm going to list the candidates for my next laptop!

Desktop replacements
These are laptops that are pretty big usually 17"+ Display

Sony Vaio AW

Intel core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53Ghz)

4GB DDR2-800Mhz

Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit

320GB Hard drive (7200rpm)

18.4" Xbright Display (1920x1080)

Blu-ray ROM

TV Tuner

Nvidia 9600m Gt

HDMI Out

Glossy Plastic Body

1.6" Thick

8.8lbs

2 Hours of battery life

$2044 Not yet Reviewed on Cnet

HP HDX-18t

Was going to get until they butchered it

Mainstream Laptops usually around 14"-16"

Macbook Pro

2.53Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 1066Mhz FSB

4GB DDR3-1066Mhz

320GB Hard drive (5400rpm)

15.4" LED Glass Display (1440x900)

Nvidia 9400m/Nvidia 9600m Gt

Back lit keyboard

DVD Drive read/write

Mini Display Port out

Aluminum Body

.98" Thick

5.5Lbs

5.5 Hours of battery life

$2499 Not yet rated on Cnet

HP HDX-16t

Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8Ghz)

4GB DDR2-800(?)

250GB Hard drive (5400rpm)

16" Glass Display (1920x1080)

Nvidia 9600m Gt

Blu-Ray ROM

HDMI Out

Vista Ultimate 64bit

Plastic Body

1.7" Thick

7.37Lbs

2 Hours of battery life

$2058 Not yet rated on Cnet

Sony Vaio FW

Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8Ghz)

4GB DDR2-800

160GB Hard drive (5400rpm)

16" Display (1920x1080)

ATI Mobility 3650

Blu-Ray ROM

HDMI Out

Vista Ultimate 64bit

Aluminum and Plastic Body

1.3" Thick

6.7Lbs

3 Hours of battery life

$2099 Rated 3 1/2 Stars on Cnet

Thin and Light 12"-14"

Macbook

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz 1066Mhz FSB

4GB DDR3-1066Mhz

250GB Hard Drive (5400rpm)

13.3" LED Back lit Glass Display (1280x800)

Nvidia 9400m

DVD Reader/Writer

Mini Display Port Out

Aluminum Body

.98" Thick

4.5Lbs

5 Hours of battery life

$1749 Rated 4 out of 5 stars on Cnet

More Beta!

The Resistance 2 beta started yesterday for the Qore members and boy is it a big one(over 2GB)! The beta has 3 online multiplayer maps and a few single player levels for online co-op. The beta is buttery smooth with up to 60 player matches this is mighty impressive. I think they should get a cookie or something for for having a game (beta) that looks better and plays smoother than the actual release of Socom! Overall very good and is a must buy for anyone that is a fan of shooters! Resistance 2 comes out November 4th so the beta will last probably till the end of the month!

Zune 3.0!

 This morning the Zune was updated to version 3.0. Like the Xbox 360 the Zune team keeps the updates to two times a year. This update includes the ability to download/stream music from the device its self and among many other things. The streaming is something that you can only do when you have a Zune Pass. Overall the update went very smooth I had some problems when I was downloading it this morning since the servers weren't all the way back online yet but seemed to be a lot smoother of an experience than what thaat fruit company was having. I noticed the software is a lot more resource hungry mainly processor hungry using around 60%  of the processor and when using Vista that doesnt leave much left for anything else! Some people I seen on engadget and some other sites say there Zune gets stuck somewhere while its syncing for a long time. The best thing to do is let it sync overnight you can stop the sync while its stuck and continue later so its really not a big deal. Overall very cool stuff I also got a Zune Pass so I could stream music and whatever else I feel like doing so say good bye to Limewire for hopefully a really long time, really I dont like doing that and when you buy music you feel a lot better about your self so self-esteem +2! Here soon I'll post some pictures of the software and say whats changed but, remember people this update is free and works with every single Zune device out there so make sure to grab it! Also if want to learn stuff about the Zune first hand make sure to check out Zuneinsider.com ! 

My New Top 10!

Since I changed everything on my top 10 I thought I would go over them, explain them a little bit and say why I like them blah blah blah. So here we go!

#1 on my list now is the Sony Vaio Z. It is a 13.1" powerhouse! It can pack up to a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Blu-ray drive, 64 or 128GB SSD, dedicated graphics from Nvidia along with Intel's integrated for better battery life. All of this weighs less than 4lbs and is less than 1.3" thick and with the battery supposedly up to 6 hours it seems like the best portable laptop out there!

Next up is the Sony Vaio RT. This is a new all in one by Sony that is very powerful. This thing packs a 25.5" LCD, Intel Core 2 Quad Core processor, 6GB of RAM (DDR2), 1TB hard drive, built in TV tuner, Blu-ray read/write drive. All of this doesn't come cheap at $4,000 but hell thats sure one nice looking powerful machine! The reason I picked this and the Vaio Z is because I've started to take a interest in photography and video as you'll see in the next few items down. So I figured that I needed something with a lot of room and power to edit those pictures and HD movies.

No matter what goes on with computers or cameras I will always be a gamer at heart so why not have the best? The 55" Sony Bravia XBR8 is Sony's new flagship TV which isn't out yet but is better than last years XBR5. The XBR5 is one of the best LCD TVs out there right now and the XBR8 should be no exception. Coming in at a whopping $7,000 it better be good! It of course supports 1080p over HDMI and Component so my HDMI-less Xbox 360 will be happy. This TV also has all of the frills for a TV thses days like: 120Hz motion flow, 4 HDMI inputs, DLNA capable, a 10bit panel, and a 1 million to 1 contrast ratio. I'm sure the new Triluminos RGB LED backlighting will help this be one of the best looking TVs this year!

At # 4 and 5 the Sony Alpha and the Handycam HDR-CX12. Since I would really like to start getting into photography I would need a good camera that takes good pictures but is easy to use and from everything I read the Sony Alpha series is just that! The one I was looking at comes in at around $700 which comes with a additional lens, supports up to 3200 ISO, 2FPS burst shot not as good as the 5FPS which the new one coming out has but I dont know. I really dont know much about cameras but based on what I know, it sounds like a good choice! Now something I know a little more about which is video. The Sony Handycam records full 1920x1080 video to a memory stick duo. I picked this one over the extremely small HDR-TG1 because this records double the amount of pixels some how. Anyway this records in AVCHD, 2.7" touch panel display, records in 5.1 surround sound and comes with super steady shot to get rid of those shaky shots.

#6 Like I said earlier, I will always be a gamer at heart and the HP Blackbird is one of the most powerful gaming desktops out there today. Some people ask why buy when you can build for half the price? Well first of all its not half the price and second if I'm going to be spending around $4,000 on parts and what not I want it to be done right! I have confidence in myself but not $4,000 worth. The Blackbird was made in partnership with the Voodoo guys to make a high performance and great looking machine that was made for gamers and it succeeds cranking out 105 FPS in COD4 in 1920x1200 on Very high! The blackbird packs some serious firepower with a Intel Core2 Extreme processor QX9770, 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, and 2 GTX 280s in SLI. Yea don't expect your electric bill to be cheap after playing a few hours of Crysis. Oh yea! The price up around the $7000 mark!

#7. This Denon receiver can brings the noise with 140watts per channel spread across 7 channels and a subwoofer. Has all sorts of inputs like: 4 HDMI inputs, 7 composite inputs, 7 S-Video inputs, 3 component inputs, and 4 optical inputs/3 coaxial inputs! All of this weighs in at 41LBS! Though it does support every sound mode you can think of like: Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital True HD, DTS HD, along with you pro logics and DTS ES everything that you would want. It also upscales everything upto 1080p and costs almost $3,000.

#8 I want a new PSP but I've wrote about that a few times so.. yea!

#9 I need some new speakers to go with that Denon so here we go. I picked the Cambridge Soundworks Newton HD series. These are very skinny speakers so they mount some what flush with your LCD tv. They have some good reviews and would of liked to get some KEF or Bowers and Wilkins speakers but those are hard to come by. So lets just say movies should sound good with 7 of these pointed at you along with that subwoofer!

#10. Ok I have a Zune I love my Zune but just look at that Cowon S9! I'm sure it will be like $500 but it is just gorgeous! The Cowon is a MP3 player with a 500MHz dual core processor with a 3.3" Amoled display, has bluetooth, Tv out, and a FM radio. It is just so good looking and easily beats anything Apple has to offer both visually and sound quality wise. I cant wait for it to hit the states!

So there it is my 10 most wanted things and its not a shopping list I will probably not get any of these things besides a PSP or the Cowon since everything added together is around the $20k mark but hell I can dream right?

New Zunes! New iPods! Sad Faces!

YES SUPER GLOSS!!!!!

So new Zunes lastnight, new iPods today, end of the world tommorrow. I'm going to talk about the new Zunes first. The new Zunes are exactly the same except some size bumps, some (un needed) gloss and the back of the 120GB is now black. The flash Zune comes in Black, Red, and Blue. So far the blue one is only believed to be 16GB and the Zune 80 is now 120GB same $250 price point but enough with the boring stuff. The real magic is the new firmware! This new update goes out to every single Zune owner for free (Apple lol)! It brings the store to the Zune so you can buy, stream, and download music right on your Zune and yes Zune Pass works with it too! It also allows you to tag songs on the built in radio and you can download them right on the device or wait till you get home. The Zune also now comes with 2 free games Texas hold em' and Hexic. Now the software you get some new things called channels and personal picks. Channels are like the top 100 or best workout songs and if you have a Zune Pass there free. Personal picks is when the software will pick songs that you may like based on what you listen to. So if you listen to say Toby Kieth they will show you Tim McGraw or something like that. Lets say I will probably get a Zune pass here soon.

No Gloss but it sure looks like a Zune. I do like the mate finish more!

Now for the new iPods. I think there trying to let the Zune catch up. I mean there isn't much to say they have the new Nanos ^, the iPod Classic is the same just 120GB and they dropped the price on the iPod Touch the 32GB one is no longer more expensive than a car and is only $400 now. Oh and there is a new update for owners of the iPhone and iPod Touch but the iPod Touch one will cost you 10 bones yay $10 to fix there problems YAY! Other than that I say Fail for the Apple Event. The biggest thing probably is that iTunes now allows you to purchase HD TV shows ($2.99) along with NBC coming back. I'm sure the Zune will do that soon with the 360 being able to stream HD and all.

Really overall neither of them were very good updates but the Zune wins out with the free updates. Oh and to everyone that says the Zune is Fugly! Have fun with the 3" thick case you need to have your iPod not explode.

New Toy

 Well my phone died today and it was LG VX9800 which was the EnV before it was called the EnV as pictured to the right. SO I got a new phone the EnV2 which is a lot thinner and is a lot better looking but I no longer think I will be throwing my phone when I get angry. Overall I like it more it takes some time getting used to but at some point you have to ask when is thin too thin? The phone is hard to hold onto when you put it between your shoulder and cheek. Also the phone has 3g built in I noticed the instant messaging is alot faster and so is downloading pictures.

The Beta Month Continues Socom Style!

 Yep another beta. Two down one to go! Today I downloaded the Socom: Confrontation Beta (Thanks Killwise) and its fantastic maybe better than 2? Overall the game looks good and honestly the characters look as good as in that picture the enviroments are kinda bland but Socom has never been a graphical powerhouse. One thing I love is the sound! Absolutley amazing! Also the SIXAXIS to lean actually works great! Alot better than expected. So off to play some more!! Its going to be a busy weekend! 

360 Price Drop! Wii is Wii-Wii-Wack!

Well Microsofts attack on Wii has begun! With the arcade coming down to $200, Premium $299, and Elite at $399. The Elite is still overpriced but atleast they give people options. Also cant wait to make a Mii I mean Avatar. In the other lack of news the Xbox Live starter pack wasnt announced (60GB HDD, headset, etc...) So I hope it comes I need a new harddrive hopefully before the fall update. I wouldn't mind playing Bioshock with loading times under 45seconds.

IM IN THE HOME BETA!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Ok I'm done so thats all I'm going to say so off to download!!...
**Update**
Ok time to be sensible. I got it downloaded and after everything is all said and done the download is around 100-200MB. I really like it and say Sony should try and market this as much as they can. The environments are very nice looking and very good sounding and plus the atmosphere is amazing everyone was getting along there was no "You Suck", "Dumb Jew" or anything like that it was a good time. Also the Last Guy Music is great to disco to!!

EA Sports Its Really in The Game!

Just a quick post here on when EA Sports owned a guy on you tube so here are the videos!
They respond to this video



The Response

Click to make bigger.

So i was messing around with my Zune software and found a hack that lets you use a custom background and I must say it looks absolutely stunning. I love my Zune and even like the software. Around Tuesday night my dog knocked over my sub woofer which I had my Zune docked on and now has a small scratch on the screen and its extremely annoying! I can see it everywhere. Now today my Zune seems to be messing up its getting really hot and the usually slick interface is bogging down and gives me a :-( face. So maybe ill send it in get it fixed and hopefully get a different one without a scratched screen.

Sony's Leipzig Announcements

Yesterday Sony announced a few things in the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. So here are some of the highlights.



Probably the biggest thing Sony announced was a new PSP 3001. Nothing crazy new that is a must have feature but some nice additions like a built in mic, a enhanced screen with better colors, higher contrast, and is less reflective outside. Everything for the same price as the 2000 series. Sony also announced new bundles like a Ratchet and Clank: Size matters one which includes that game, National Treasure 2 on UMD, a silver PSP, 1GB MemoryStick, and thats not all a voucher to download Echocrhome from the Playstation Store all for $200! The other bundle includes a a Piano Black PSP with a 4GB MemoryStick and a voucher to download the newly announced coming to PSP game Everyday Shooter, One of my favorite PSN games, the bundle costs $200.
Then the usual Core which just includes a Black PSP for $169.




I'm going to combine these two things.
Next something less exciting a 160GB PS3 shipping for $499 comes with the excellent game Uncharted: Drakes Fortune and a voucher to download Pain from the Playstation Store. Sony hasn't said if this will have all of the goodies like memory card readers and software backwards compatibility but I guess we'll find out this and the new PSP come out around October. Also Sony announced a new keyboard that attaches to the PS3 controller. The keyboard works with both the Dualshock and the Sixaxis and sits atop the R1 and L1 buttons. The keyboard looks pretty cool includes shortcuts to your friends list and message box and it has a touch pad somewhere to make it easier to browse the web and what not.

Then probably one of the biggerest games at GC was Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain is somewhat like Alan Wake for the XBOX 360 and is made by Quantic Dreams same people that did Indigo Prophecy.



SCEE is promising it will talk about topics unheard of in gaming, "making it a genuinely mature game for a new world of adult gamers." Add this to another big exclusive to the Playstation 3 for 2009!

Siren Has Been Won!

Yea today I beat Siren: The New Beginning and it was very fun. I must say this game kept my heart pounding the whole time I played it. This game isn't really that scary but it's more like holy shit did that guy see me?! The game is basically Splinter Cell but scarier with more blood(!). So ill have a review coming in the next few days so check it out!

Shedding Some Light

I've noticed that a lot of fanboys are not as informed as I am. Most people wonder why some things happen and why some things are. This will be mainly PS3 vs. Xbox 360 but I'm going to try not to take any shots at either console and make this as even as possible.

First up why do PS3 sytem and game updates take longer than on 360? The answer is PS3 system updates are about 150MB give or take, the 360's updates are 8MB giver or take but thats around the average. The game updates are the same thing. If you noticed the Burnout: Paradise Cagney update is upwards of 100MB, on the PS3 this is downloaded when you turn the game on. The 360 has you download it from the Marketplace.

Another thing I hear a lot is why is it most games that are ported from 360 to PS3 are bad on the PS3? Some say its because the PS3 isn't as strong as what Sony said it would be and because the PS3 has less RAM. Wrong! The reason why there bad is really because of lazy developers and this is why.. The 360 has 3 cores all at 3.2GHZ the PS3's Cell processor has 1 main core at 3.2GHZ and has 8 Synergistic cores but 7 are active since Sony turned one off. Another one is used exclusively for the OS so 6 Synergistic cores can be used for games. The reason why ports are bad is because on the PS3 you have to split up Physics and lighting etc... amongst the 6 cores and this is hard to do. Its easier to go from 6 to 3 thats why you hear some people say you should go from PS3 to 360. Also the RAM issue isn't a issue at all the PS3 does have 512MB of RAM same as the 360 but there split 256MB for the Cell and 256 for the GPU similar to PCs, the PS3 can share RAM between the two when its needed and its not slower the PS3 has 256MB of XDR RAM which is extremely fast hence the X and is around twice as fast as the 360s GDDR3 RAM and the PS3 has 256MB of GDDR3 RAM as well. So really bad ports are due to lazy developers and thats why! Also to note the PS3 version of the Orange Box which is usually frowned upon really does show how powerful the PS3 is! The Orange Box really wast much worse than the 360 version if I say its worse than the 360 version why did I say it shows the PS3's power? It's because the OB didn't use any Synergistic cores it just used the main core and thats it!

Really the thing people put down on the PS3 is the Mandatory installs and this is why they happen. The PS3 uses a Blu-ray drive that is at 2x speed the 360 uses a DVD drive at the speed of 12x i believe. You might think holy hell the PS3 has to get all of that data off of there at only 2x speed why'll the 360 toasts it with 12x. Really the drives are almost equal the read speed on a Blu-ray disc is faster than a DVD but the 2x speed isn't faster than 12x. Now if there almost equal why the big installs? The answer is compression and the read speed! With Metal Gear Solid 4 the game is stated to take up the whole 50GB of a Blu-ray disc which is almost 10x what a Dual layer DVD can hold. Now the game is the least compressed it can be to fit on the disc on the 360 they would compress the hell out of it thus helping loading speeds and not using 10 DVDs. So really the BDs greatest advantage is its greatest weakness. One thing the PS3 usually has over the 360 is texture quality. Lets take Assassins Creed as an example, this game looks worse on the PS3 but has better textures. This is because there less compressed using more of the Blu-ray disc but the BD drive cant read these big textures fast enough the developers offload them to the HDD.

These are really most of the complaints I hear that are wrong or people don't understand. If you know anymore sound off in the comments and Ill try to provide an answer to it.

Look at All of the Space!

Yesterday I went to Circuit City and bought a new hard drive for my Playstation 3. We really didn't want to order online so C.C. is really the only place around that has 2.5" SATA hard drives. I got the last one and the only size they had was 160GB which was kinda disappointing but I guess 100GB is quite a bit for awhile. So we bought the hard drive and a external hard drive to back up my Playstation. So I get home kinda excited and run upstairs plug in my external hard drive and hit back up and it said 1hour and 44minutes! what!?!? Noooo. So I go downstairs to see whats good on demand and see they put Halloween II up (woot!) So I see the lot of stoop touchers get slashed and go back upstairs to see the back up is done (!). So I unplug everything and open the hard drive enclosure on the Playstation and grab a screw driver and to my surprise none of my 14 screwdrivers work! I have ones too big too small and one that would of worked was missing half of the head (WTF) who the hell breaks a screw driver. So when I run to the store today I'll get a screw driver to get this damn thing in. Ill update when I get it in.
***Update*** I got it in was a little harder than expected with the last screw being stripped. Then I put everything back on took over 2 hours which I guess isn't to bad for 45GB. All of my paid content like games and the new videos all work the same as they used to. When I first turned it on all of my trophies were gone but I loaded up the game then exited and they were back so that was great. Overall easy not as easy as it could of been but hell at least everything works and I'm not dead so all in all a good day.

Bringing Xbox Back

So I got my Xbox back after 16 days (Thanks Zak) and I think I got a good one. It's pretty much dead silent and so is the DVD drive overall its not much louder than my Playstation 3. I still can't download any "M" or "RP" rated content! I think I got a brand new Xbox like old HDMI less but new as in never used. I'm very pleased on how fast Microsoft got it back to me even though it took 4x longer to get back than when it was shipped. Anyway I'm going to play some more Siren then restart Bioshock since I think I messed up. So good job to everyone and I'm glad to have my Xbox 360 back.

PS.. I hope I never have to talk to Maxx again cause he is a jackass and peep one of my favorite videos from when the 360 came out above and Yes the PS3 is still big as a SUV and the Wii is still wii wii wack! :)

Kaz Hirai Scoffs At Your Exclusives

Well some pretty strong words coming from Kaz Hirai in a interview on how many used-to-be Playstation Exclusives are going to the Xbox 360. Where the interviewer asked him to pick a 360 exclusive that he would want and he said "none of them". Here's the inter view:

Aftonbladet: If you had to choose ONE exclusive Xbox 360 title and launch it for the PS3 instead, which game would it be?
Hirai: I don't think I have to choose any.....
Aftonbladet: You have to pick one.
Hirai: Again, I don't think I have to pick one because we have such a fantastic lineup of games.
Aftonbladet: But if someone is holding a gun to your head and you have to choose one. Which game would it be?
Hirai: Okay.. then they have to shoot me, because I really don't think we need any.

Some pretty bold words but I was thinking really there isn't any that I would want exclusive on the PS3 , or atleast I dont think any are neccesary for the PS3 to do well. To quote a comment I read once it said " It's funny that all of the Xbox 360 fanboys are down on the Playstation 3 but yet all of the games they want are PS3 exclusives and where the opposite is not true." Which I read right before E3 on a N4G post and it seems to prove Kaz's point.

Do You Hear It?

So last night I bought Siren: Blood Curse and it is a massive game coming in at a whopping 9GB! So I deleted my GTA IV install and my Metal Gear 4 install which were both around 4 GB and I have 2GB left after I bought Siren so it's time to get a new hard drive I can't delete anything else but any who back to Siren, I downloaded it and it took a good amount of time then I played the first episode which was extremely short and I started to get worried when they said it takes about 2 hours per episode and the first one was probably 25 minutes. It seems they get longer as you go, the second episode was around the hour mark and the third which I just completed was around the hour-2hour mark and made me really feel like this $40 purchase was worth it. The character models are some of the best looking around and when you attack someone enough your character does a vicious finisher which sends blood through the air onto the wall which really surprised me. I give big ^UPs^ to the talented Japan Studio, who seems to be really cranking out the good games this generation.

Alienware On The Down low

I was looking over on the Voodoo website to see what I could dream about tonight and I started looking at there community Blog The Next Bench. Then I started to wonder if Alienware had a community Blog I mean there bigger more known than Voodooo so you think they would but they don't. So I was looking around on there site and I seen they have wallpapers to download so I checked those out. They had a really cool looking one ^^ so I downloaded it and I found they only have ones at extremely low resolutions and only in 4x3. I mean they have expensive computers don't you think the gamer that bought them would have a high resolution 16X10 display. The highest they had was 1600x1200 which is high for a 4x3 monitor and then the others were 1024x768 and 800x600 both pretty low. That was just a thing I seen and found funny.
***My Xbox will be here on Tuesday

Playstation Video Store

Sony put up the Video Store last night and I decided to check it out. They have a great movie collection lots of new mixed with some old. You can have new movies like Drillbit Taylor, Walk Hard, and Cloverfield. On the old side they have classics like Rocky, Die Hard, and Rambo. From what I can tell an average SD movie is around 2GB the biggest I seen was Spanglish (2500MB)since that movie is like 3 hours long. The SD movies are in 720x480 which is DVD resolution and recorded at 2Mb/s which is ok still looks nice (Avg. DVD is around 8Mb/s). I far as I have seen you can't buy as in keep HD movies but there pretty good quality for a download at around 6Mb/s. Really you cant make the bitrate that high or the movies will just be so huge Cloverfield in HD is 6GB as is, so I'm happy with the quality. I bought "the Bank Job" last night looks nice I didn't check if it had 5.1 surround sound but it should. It was around 12:30 when I got it so I didn't feel like watching it. All in all it was very quick to download it was around 1.8GB and it downloaded in a half hour which was very quick in my opinion. This is something I always wanted a place that I can buy and keep movies smiler to iTunes but with out there horrible pricing and quality! *** Update: I just finished "the Bank Job" and I guess the movies don't support 5.1 surround sound which is disapointing but "the Bank Job" was a great movie based off a true story and was worth the $15! Also you can't watch the movies through remote play which sucks I guess there is some form of copyright reason preventing them from doing that.***Update***