comparisons
Latest
Google's Shopping Gift Guide will show you what everyone's buying
Google has unveiled the Shopping Gift Guide, a microsite that lets you browse trending categories, compare prices and find local buying options.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar is serious business
Science fiction. It's a genre all about man's eternal struggle against space aliens, cyborgs, and people with British accents in very large flagships. Or, you know, about things larger than humanity, about exploring the unknown, and about the sense of wonder at exploring strange new frontiers of a world similar to our own but unfamiliar at the same time. It's a chance for us to step beyond the boundaries of our own world and into the great beyond just a few paces at a time. But it's mostly the cyborgs and flagships. That stuff is really cool to watch. WildStar is a science fiction game. But it takes more than a few cues from a show that also had the audacity to lend a lot of the wild west to a deep space setting. It's hard not to pick up on the Firefly vibe from the previews, after all. But it's been very illuminating to see what the designers have to say about influences and the direction they want to take the game's storytelling because it's very different from other science fiction games on the market right now.
Wings Over Atreia: Musings on secrets, subs, and Aion
Perhaps it was a specific alignment of the planets. Possibly it was a special convergence of random unrelated events. Or maybe it's just from poking around old haunts while livestreaming, discussing upcoming launches with friends, or reporting on different aspects of games. Whatever the reason, my mind has been been thinking about Aion in relation to other games quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. I have had many occasions to mull over the features and ponder what makes NCsoft's game the place to be in the face of so many other possibilities. So why Aion? In the face of a major launch and a plethora of free-to-play offerings, why should Daevas choose to remain or begin adventures in the world of Atreia? Well, you could just say different strokes for different folks and all that, but it's more than that. Aion also has a few unique cards stacked in its favor. In all, I say the game has quite a healthy life still ahead of it. Here's why.
The 2012 MacBook Pros vs. the 2011 models: what's changed?
Since the epic rise of the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro has become something of a dark horse in the Apple notebook family. Sure, it may not be Cupertino's thinnest, sexiest product, but it has the heavy-duty internals to handle intense graphics for artists and gamers alike. Apple just announced its updated 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros -- not to mention a new 15-inch model with a brilliant Retina display, and these new machines boast some pretty impressive upgrades. There's no shortage of spec changes to keep track of, so check out our comparison charts below to see what the new models bring to the table (hint: highlights include USB 3.0, Ivy Bridge and a thinner design for the new Retina model). 15-inch MacBook Pro (2011) 15-inch MacBook Pro (2012) Retina display MacBook Pro (2012) Dimensions 14.35 x 9.82 x 0.95 inches 14.35 x 9.82 x 0.95 inches 14.13 x 9.73 x 0.71 inches Display Resolution 1440 x 900 1440 x 900 2880 x 1800 CPU Up to 2.4GHz quad-core Core i7 (Sandy Bridge) Up to 2.7GHz quad-core Core i7 (Ivy Bridge) Up to 2.7GHz quad-core Core i7 (Ivy Bridge) Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 + AMD Radeon HD 6750M / AMD Radeon HD 6770M Intel HD Graphics 4000 / NVIDIA Kepler GeForce GT 650M with up to 1GB of memory Intel HD Graphics 4000 / NVIDIA Kepler GeForce GT 650M with up to 1GB of memory Memory Up to 8GB Up to 8GB Up to 16GB Storage Up to 750GB Up to 1TB or a 512GB SSD Up to a 768GB SSD Ports Thunderbolt, FireWire 800, two USB 2.0, SD card slot, MagSafe power port, Kensington lock slot, audio line in, audio line out Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, FireWire 800, SD card slot, MagSafe2 power port, Kensington lock slot, audio line in, audio line out Two Thunderbolt, HDMI, two USB 3.0, SD card slot, new MagSafe2 connector, Kensington lock slot, headphone port Battery life 7 hours 7 hours 7 hours Weight 5.6 pounds 5.6 pounds 4.46 pounds Price $1,799 (2GHz Core i7, 500GB hard drive) / $2,199 (2.2GHz Core i7, 750GB hard drive) $1,799 (2.3GHz Core i7, 500GB hard drive / $2,199 (2.6GHz, 750GB hard drive) $2,199 (2.3GHz Core i7, 256GB SSD) / $2,799 (2.6GHz, 512GB SSD)
Google Drive vs. the competition: pricing plans and perks, compared
Sometimes a table says a thousand words. Now that Google has finally announced its cloud service, Google Drive, we're sure more than a few of you are crunching the numbers in your head in an attempt to figure which is the best deal. Far be it for us to tell you which service to use when we've barely had a chance to poke around Drive, but for now, better if we lay out those gigabytes and dollars in number form, rather than squeeze them into a crowded paragraph, don'tcha think? Follow past the break for a brief breakdown of what you'll get from Google, along with Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive and iCloud.
New Commodore C64 gets stacked against the original, deemed a worthy successor (video)
We know a few of you have been waiting with bated breath for the retooled Commodore C64 to arrive, so we're not at all surprised that the first people to claim one are wasting no time putting its tactile keys through its paces. In that clip you see below, YouTube user "EternalPtah" places the three decades-old original next to its Atom-powered successor, comparing everything from the beige color to the height of the function keys. All told, he reassures us, the twenty-first century iteration is a worthy follow-up to the vintage model, even if it does replace the power light with a button. If you've got four minutes to spare, hit play for what will probably be the most nostalgic hands-on you see this week. [Thanks, Ian]
Jawbone Jambox vs. Soundmatters foxL v2... fight!
Two portable speakers clamber into the ring, each boasting big, beautiful sound for their diminutive size. Both cost $200. Both have the same technology inside. The Jawbone Jambox and the Soundmatters foxL v2 with Bluetooth each want to be your wireless audio wunderkind, blasting music and taking Bluetooth calls. At best, you're only going to buy one. Which speaker should you choose? Following our Jambox review, we got our hands on a foxL and put the two head to head, and after the break you'll see which one came out on top -- both literally and figuratively. %Gallery-111933%
EQII's Georgeson on LotRO comparisons, class manifestos, and more
With all the folks popping into the newly free-to-play world of Norrath lately, it's easy to forget that EQ2X has been a beta product up to this point. Now, with the testing tag gone away for good, Massively has taken the opportunity to sit down with SOE producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson to get his take on how the grand experiment is going. Join us after the cut for a revealing discussion about Everquest II's new F2P flavor, the state of the Live servers, comparisons with Lord of the Rings Online's recent business model conversion, class manifestos, and a possible dungeon finder.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: All the community news that's fit to print
In a city marked by constant alien invasions, assaults from an island controlled by a sadistic villain, rampant street crime, and various technological and magical disasters, there's always something to talk about. There's usually more than a few things for players to talk about on top of that, which certainly helps keep our interest in City of Heroes even when we're not right in the thick of things. After all, whatever else you might say about the game and its flaws -- it's fun. It gives you a fun ride of being a superhero or supervillain. If you can't enjoy a conversation about that, really, you're just plain getting jaded. Naturally, having discussions about nothing more than "it's fun" would get a little old, but that's certainly not all of the discussions about the game. Just about half. Today, we're taking a look at some of the other half, spotlighting some of the most interesting, though-provoking, or just plain funny discussions and threads coming out of the City of Heroes community.
PS3, Xbox 360 form truce for photo spread
Sure, graphics and games may be all that are important to you when it comes to next-generation videogame consoles, but your spouse / significant other is probably even more concerned with how the device(s) will fit in to your home decor. Luckily for him / her, Games Radar got its hands on an exact wooden replica of the upcoming PS3 (straight from Sony, so you know it's the real deal), and did a little comparative photo shoot with the Xbox 360 so all of us have some idea of what to expect. As you can see, Sony's machine is living a lot larger than Microsoft's offering, but with its all-black exterior, the PS3 might actually be less obtrusive sitting among the rest of the gear in your rack. As appreciative as we are to Games Radar for providing some perspective on the aesthetic merits / detriments of both systems, we still think they could have taken a page out of DocCRP's book, and photographed the mockup next to every single object ever produced in the history of mankind. Oh well, maybe Doc just set the bar a little too high; keep reading for another angle, and then head over to GR for the rest of the *shudder* "pr0n"...[Via Guardian Unlimited]
Two more Blu-ray vs HD DVD comparisons
Yesterdays HD DVD vs Blu-ray title bout went great -- for HD DVD that is. HighDefDigest happened to host two more similar head-to-head comparisons yesterday that we thought you might want to take a look at. Interestingly enough, both of the other titles, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Rumor Has It, suffer from a similar issue of bad cropping, a tad darker, and a bit more grain. We are starting to question however if this is from the titles themselves or the Samsung Blu-ray player. It will be impossible to tell until the Panasonic or Pioneer Blu-ray players are released. But no matter how you spin it, the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player gives you a better picture then Samsung's BDP-1000 Blu-ray player right now.
Nintendo Wii mockup next to stuff ... lots of stuff
Never again can we be accused of obsessing over the relative size of things. We admit, we're guilty of a chart here or there, and we've been known to calculate cubic volume like a mofo, but a poster at the GameFAQ's forums has just shown us how it's done. DocCRP has crafted a pair of meticulous Wii mockups, complete with Wiimote, and proceeded to take pictures of the diminutive box next to ... well, just about everything. NES? Yup. Atari 2600? Sure. Ketchup bottle? Yeah. Dreamcatcher? Errr, yeah, that's here. John Philip Sousa award? Now it's just getting weird.If you're really curious how the Wii sizes up compared to a 1998 US Mint Proof Set, I've handily hyperlinked the entire forum thread's worth of images after the break.[Via DigitalBattle]
Overheard after E3: Childbirth
With E3 over, Jen from Wonderland and NCsoft had this to say about her experiences:"E3 is like childbirth. You can't possibly imagine what it's like until you've done it."Hours to days of unending pain? Pass the sedatives.
Cheaper PS3 loses HDMI, slots, Wi-Fi, 40GB
As you can see above, there are a few things different between the two PS3 SKUs planned. (Hint: the obvious alterations concern high-def output and wireless connectivity -- though Bluetooth controllers should work just fine with both, with or without any chrome case highlighting.)So what's HDMI, built-in multimedia card-reader slots, wireless internet connectivity, and an extra 40 gigabytes' hard disk space worth to you? $100? Now that Sony's gone with the 2-SKU approach with its next-gen hardware (a la the Xbox 360's premium and "Core" systems), we can expect some tough consumer choices after six months -- with console shortages possibly for another six months after that -- as $100 separates the base $499 and premium $599 versions of Sony's "Clear Black" hope.HDMI is important to those who want to take full advantage of Blu-ray high def and have the new screens to use it; MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots would be nice for the PS3 memory-card users and those will run multimedia on the system; Wi-Fi's the only way to avoid stringing ethernet cables for online access; and 360 owners might appreciate the full 60GB available to potential buyers of the premium PS3 model. Neither model comes with a second HDMI port; thankfully, one should hopefully be all most users need. The details are laid out in a feature-comparison table at the end of Sony's official PS3 hardware press release, available in both Adobe Reader and Microsoft Word formats. Determine what's most important to your PS3 ambitions there.[Image pieced together from the PlayStation.com forums; thanks, Guru]
Testing the iMac G5 vs. Intel video
An enterprising person over at Digg decided to time starting up his own iMac G5 alongside the video that I pointed to earlier, and while he found the Core Duo iMac to be the fastest, he didn't have as much of a gap as the clearly ailing G5 in that video: "The difference in boot times is such that one gets impression that Intel chipped iMac blows the G5 away. Not so, I%u2019m afraid. Whatever the guys did with the G5 it slowed it down considerably. And Intel iMac is actually hardly any faster than G5. How come? Simple, I used stopwatch, that video and then my iMac." Check it out
