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Blu-Ray, HDMI in Windows boxes... how long for Mac?

chelsel said:
When is Apple coming out with some hardware like this?
Click to expand...

Probably never. Apple does not make mobile workstations.

Well, eventually Apple will ship laptops with Blu-ray drives, but only once they're reasonable in price and slim enough that they'll fit into their existing enclosures. Apple doesn't sacrifice their thin form factors for added functionality.
 
blu-ray and HDDVDs aren't popular enough for Apple to use them. Plus, there's still copyright/trademark debates going on regarding these hi-def formats.

It's not worthwhile for Apple right now.
 
Virtually same size

I'm not sure if Apple would agree with saying the MBP is not a mobile workstation. Regarding sizes... taken from the Apple website the current Macbook Pro specs are:

15-inch MacBook Pro
Height: 2.59 cm (1.0 inch)
Width: 35.7 cm (14.1 inches)
Depth: 24.3 cm (9.6 inches)
Weight: 2.45 kg (5.4 pounds) with battery and optical drive installed4

The referenced HP machine with Blu-ray and HDMI has comparable specs:

Height: 2.75 cm (1.10) inch (1/10th inch thicker)
Width: 35.7 cm (14.1 inches) SAME WIDTH
Depth: 26.0 cm (10.24 inches) 3/4 inch deeper
Weight: (2.77 kg) .32kg heavier

Not a huge difference by any stretch.
 
You have to remember that Blu-ray is not just for watching movies...

A single-layer disc can hold 25GB.
A dual-layer disc can hold 50GB.

To ensure that the Blu-ray Disc format is easily extendable (future-proof) it also includes support for multi-layer discs, which should allow the storage capacity to be increased to 100GB-200GB (25GB per layer) in the future simply by adding more layers to the discs.

Imagine backing your entire machine up to a single disc... even if HD-DVD does 'win'... at least with this HP you can just pop another drive into the expansion bay.

Cliff.
 
nothing, nobody, rumors?

really, nobody has heard any rumors about these capabilities in upcoming laptops?
 
I'd like to see Apple include HDMI inputs into their pro end machines. As soon as the 15" MBP displays come in native HD, then they need to start including Blu-ray.
 
I wouldn't object to HDMI ports being added, but I certainly don't have any need for it. And I don't see me, or most people, having a need for it for a very long time. I have a very nice 32" SD TV that I am not planning on replacing for at least 5 years, if not longer. And most business projectors already have high res connectors. And DL DVD's can hold 8 gigs of data per disk, which is less than 25 gig per disk, but only in a ratio of 3:1. Going from floppy disk to zip disk was about 75:1, zip disk to cdr was about 7:1, cdr to dvd was 8:1. But using 1 blu-ray disk instead of 3 DL DVD disks isn't enough of a jump to matter.

etc. etc. etc.

so I really don't see any need for Mac's to get HDMI or blu-ray any time soon.
 
I'd be willing to bet that the new iMacs will have HDMI. So how long? About a week.

As for BluRay, its time simply hasn't come. Better to get an external or perhaps offer it as a BTO option with the MP.
 
I'm sure that BR will appear on the MacPro before the MBP's. I wonder, for watching a DVD on your MBP screen, would you even notice the difference between 480p and 1080p? I know in theory yes, but in reality???
 
Squonk said:
I'm sure that BR will appear on the MacPro before the MBP's. I wonder, for watching a DVD on your MBP screen, would you even notice the difference between 480p and 1080p? I know in theory yes, but in reality???
Click to expand...

I notice a difference between 480p and 1080p on others' MacBook Pros, just between the trailers on apple.com (well, when they aren't just crappy upscales, like the Sunshine trailer there :mad:).
 
killmoms said:
I notice a difference between 480p and 1080p on others' MacBook Pros, just between the trailers on apple.com (well, when they aren't just crappy upscales, like the Sunshine trailer there :mad:).
Click to expand...

Oh yeah - duh - why didn't I think of that. I can go to iTMS and see for myself on my PB...

thx. :)
 
Squonk said:
Oh yeah - duh - why didn't I think of that. I can go to iTMS and see for myself on my PB...

thx. :)
Click to expand...

Well... you can certainly compare stills. That's why I didn't suggest you specifically go compare, since your PowerBook (like ANY PowerBook) doesn't have nearly enough horsepower to decode HD H.264 (even 720p, much less 1080p).
 
Maybe I'm just very sensitive to such things, but IHMO DVDs look absolutely horrible on my MBPs screen. They look similarly horrible on a TV unless you get about 20 feet away.

There is absolutely no contest between a standard def DVD and a high def video (I've never actually watched an HD DVD or BluRay, but I've gotten lots of trailers and whatnot from the internet). Its like the difference between a still shot with a webcam and a still shot with a high quality digital camera in terms of the resolution. I mean the iSight is higher resolution than a DVD (although of course DVDs have much nicer color and whatnot what with being shot with much more expensive and larger cameras).
 
I don't think HDMI will make it into a Mac any time soon unless they make an HTPC Mac. Simply put, the DVI port is a computer monitor port, and belongs on a computer, whereas HDMI is geared less towards computing and more towards entertainment. As it's been mentioned many times before HDMI=DVI+Audio.

I think support for Blu-Ray and HD DVD drives will make it into Leopard, and the first Mac to actually get the drives will be the MacPro, followed by the MBP. I think the next revisions stand a good chance of having a BTO option for Blu-Ray, if not, then the revision after that. Surprisingly, Apple has been slow to adopt this tech.
 
As I had always believed when the PS3 originally came out, Blu-Ray was, at that point, at least two years ahead of its time.

It's still not that necessary, perhaps really still even useless considering that DVDs (including dual-layer) are still fully functional and useful in this day and age, and if it is implemented into Apple machines at any point within the next year or so, it should only be a built-to-order option.

Why bother having to pay a premium for something that you really don't need yet?
 
wow that hp laptop is the bee's knees

if i could run osx on that it would be my new savior

its literally a macbook pro with a hidef 1900x1200 display and a BR burner, more USB ports (4vs2), 2 ethernet ports, hdmi, dual pointing devices, and a damn sexy design..

props to HP.


YEA YEA its $200 more than the 17 inch MBP, but its damn nicer if you ask me. if it ran OSX (legally), the MBP wouldn't even be a competitor
 
This is just my opinion...

clickclickw00t said:
a damn sexy design...
Click to expand...

I must admit, when it comes to portables, nothing comes even close to the Powerbooks/MacBook Pro's.

yum yum

But seriously, kudos to HP for putting all that into a portable. Not that bad a price either.

F
 
clickclickw00t said:
wow that hp laptop is the bee's knees

if i could run osx on that it would be my new savior

its literally a macbook pro with a hidef 1900x1200 display and a BR burner, more USB ports (4vs2), 2 ethernet ports, hdmi, dual pointing devices, and a damn sexy design..

props to HP.


YEA YEA its $200 more than the 17 inch MBP, but its damn nicer if you ask me. if it ran OSX (legally), the MBP wouldn't even be a competitor
Click to expand...

Remember it is a 15.4" screen though....
 
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