Daring Rumormill
Anyone else find some of John Gruber’s latest linked list posts strange given their timing?
Sun Ultra 20 M2 Impressions
Lately, a few people have emailed me and asked what I think of the Sun Ultra 20 M2 (particularly the base model) compared to other AMD-based systems. I thought I’d collect my thoughts on the Ultra 20 M2 here, especially now that I’ve been using it for the past few months.
If you do decide to buy the base machine, you’re going to want to upgrade the video card (the onboard video is okay, but the quality isn’t great and it’s obscure enough that I’ve had problems with it and Linux). You’ll probably want to upgrade the RAM, too. Watch out, though — the Ultra 20 M2 takes unbuffered ECC RAM, which is expensive and hard to find.
If you want to add an extra drive to the Ultra 20 M2, it looks like you have to buy the drive from Sun; the Ultra 20 M2 uses proprietary drive sleds, and I don’t think you can order sleds separately. There are only two drive bays available in the Sun Ultra 20 M2, too, which will be an annoying limitation down the road (the Power Mac G5 has the same limitation, which at first didn’t seem like a big deal, but is incredibly frustrating now that both drive bays are full).
What do I like about the Ultra 20 M2? Well, I really like and appreciate the case; the Ultra 20 M2 has a well-designed case that’s a pleasure to work with because there’s a lot of room inside of it. Some of the standard features (like dual gigabit ethernet ports) are unexpected (especially on a machine as inexpensive as the Ultra 20 M2). Being able to install Solaris on an x64-based computer without worrying about hardware compatibility is great.
Overall, though, if you’re looking for an AMD-based computer to an operating system other than Solaris, you might want to give Dell-based AMD systems a serious look. They’re not as pretty as the Sun, but they’re cheaper and easier to expand (thanks to the fact that you can drop in components from your local computer shop).
Safely Corrupt My iPod
SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. You have an Apple iPod that is connected to a Windows Vista-based computer through a USB connection. Then, you disconnect the iPod from the computer. In this scenario, the data on the iPod may become corrupted.
This problem may occur if you use one of the following methods to disconnect the iPod:
- You use the Safely Remove Hardware feature in the notification area to disconnect the iPod. Then, you disconnect the USB cable.
- You use the Eject command in Windows Explorer to disconnect the iPod. Then, you disconnect the USB cable.
I’d love to know if this is an issue with Windows Vista or an issue with the iPod.
Drobo Review
Engadget’s got a great review of Drobo, Data Robotic’s storage array / external hard drive enclosure. If you’ve already watched the Drobo demo video, this review might answer some of the questions the video raises (but doesn’t answer):
However, Drobo isn’t without issues. As advanced and advantageous virtualized storage is, for most users it’s going to be a pretty confusing experience, and that may never change. The guy who thinks his Drobo can handle having two drives yanked out at the same time is going to be in for a sad surprise. We thought our 1/3rd-full 1TB array would be totally happy about us yanking the smallest drive and upgrading it to something a bit larger — and it was, 7 hours later after rebuilding. Unfortunately, only adding new drives to empty bays is a fast process — upgrading existing ones can take a while, and be nerve-wracking if your array doesn’t have enough space to keep things redundant during the rebuild. And that’s when you’ll most notice the bright, blinking lights on the front of the unit, which can’t be shut off, even during normal use.
Overall it sounds like Drobo is a great first-generation product; really nifty, but not without its share of problems and missing features.
Fallout 3 Teaser
Here’s the teaser trailer for Fallout 3. It’s an in-engine trailer, too, meaning these are (hopefully) the graphics we’ll see while playing the game. Awesome.
MacBook Pros Updated
Apple announced updated MacBook Pros today. Along with the usual upgrades (faster processors, better graphics, and larger hard drives) and the expected upgrades (the MacBook Pros now use the Santa Rosa chipset), Apple also upgraded the MacBook Pro displays.
The 15-inch model now has a power-efficient LED-backlit display; using an LED backlight instead of a fluorescent backlight should extend the battery life of the MacBook Pro by 30 to 60 minutes.
The 17-inch model display still uses a fluorescent backlight, but you can upgrade the display’s resolution to 1920×1200.
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