I know I said things in previous posts and I really need to start writing more stuff but I need some help. Please take 10 seconds to vote for what you would like me to do in Minecraft!
Tag / PC
Mac vs. PC: The Final Battle
Since PCs and Macs hit the market, the debate has raged on over which is best. Depending upon who you’re talking to, the Mac vs. PC debate is often even hotter than politics or religion. While you have many who are die hard Microsoft PC users, another group exists that are just as dedicated to Apple’s Mac. A final group exists in the undecided computer category, with either no clue what to use or a version of Linux. I’m here to sort this out, I am not going to be biased, but I will state my opinion. If you think differently, leave a comment below.
Cost
For many users, cost is key. You want to get the absolute most for your money. In years past, PCs dominated the budget friendly market, with Macs ranging anywhere from £100 to £500 more than a comparable PC. Now this price gap has lessened significantly. However, you will notice a few key features that Macs tend to lack in order to provide a lower price: memory and hard drive space
PC = 8/10
Mac = 6/10
Memory
Most PCs have anywhere from 2GB to 8GB of RAM in laptops and desktops, while Macs usually have only 1GB to 4GB. Keep in mind that this is for standard models, not custom orders
PC= 7/10
Mac = 4/10
Hard Drive Space
Macs typically have smaller hard drives than PCs. This could be because some Mac files and applications are slightly smaller than their PC counterparts. On average, you will still see price gaps of several hundred dollars between comparable Macs and PCs. For computing on a budget, PCs win.
There are a few things to take into consideration that may actually make Macs more cost effective: stability and compatibility.
PC = 7/10
Mac = 8/10
Stability
In years past, PCs were known to crash and users would get the blue screen of death, but Microsoft has made their operating systems more reliable in recent years. On the other hand, Mac hardware and software has tended to be stable and crashes occur infrequently.
PC = 6/10
Mac = 8/10
Compatibility
Unlike with a PC, a Mac can also run Windows using a tool such as Boot Camp or Parallels. If you want to have a combination Mac and PC, a Mac is your best option.
PC = 5/10
Mac = 8/10
Availability
Macs are exclusive to Apple. This means for the most part, prices and features are the same no matter where you shop. This limits Mac availability. With the numerous Apple Stores around the world, however, it’s even easier to buy Macs and Mac accessories. Any upgrades or repairs can only be done by an authorized Apple support centre.
PCs on the other hand, are available from a wide range of retailers and manufacturers. This means more variation, a wider price range for all budgets and repairs and upgrades available at most electronics retailers and manufacturers. It also makes it easier for the home user to perform upgrades and repairs themselves as parts are easy to find.
PC = 9/10
Mac = 7/10
Software
The final Mac vs. PC comparison comes down to software. For the most part, the two are neck and neck. Microsoft has even released Microsoft Office specifically for Mac, proving Apple and Microsoft can get along. All and all, Macs are more software compatible as PCs only support Windows friendly software. Both systems support most open-source software. Software for both systems is user friendly and easy to learn.
PC = 8/10
Mac = 8/10
Conclusion
Many people say that they want to get a Mac for things like Photo Booth and GarageBand along with the rest of Apple’s software, however this is pointless as you can get better alternatives on Windows. If you have the money for a Mac, you have the money for a high-end Windows machine too. In the end, the choice comes down to personal preference. Due to price and availability, PCs tend to be the winner, while Macs remain the choice for the more elite or anti-Microsoft computer users. As you can tell, I’m a PC and this verdict was my idea.
PC = 50
Mac =49
Birdwatching: Fus Ro Damn I’m bored
Birdwatching is a column by Eddie King. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Digixav.
I didn’t manage to impale a sharp projectile into my patella but regardless I have managed to lose my sense of humour over Digixav’s favourite game of 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Yes, the small red flying feathered ball in the sky is going to be taking the big, scaly, fire breathing monster that is Skyrim. It was one of the most highly anticipated games since the release of Oblivion back in 2005 and when it arrived at school on a November morning even the quietest and most reasonable students became national standard rugby players and managed to barge past most of the school to play it. I did observe and despair, and this is why.
A game should stimulate you mentally. It should make you think and feel and it should be an experience. Skyrim is just a way to waste time. The mechanics of the game are repetitive and there are enough side missions to get lost in. Replay value? I think not because the chances are you will never finish the entire game before your mind is reduced to a whimpering mass at the back of your cranium. You play as a violent oaf who can somehow swing some stupidly large piece of some unknown element at some impossibly alive bag of walking bones which can absorb more damage than a Nokia. I guess what I am so angry about is that it claimed to be so good; it claimed to be a vast, open world to lose yourself in. Well yes, I certainly did lose myself in it, the problem being that I didn’t manage to find a way out. The story is just too big and there needs to be an end. An infinite story should not be allowed. I want to be able to enjoy understanding the various intricacies and twists instead of having huge amounts of nonsensical myths and obscure cults that everybody I meet seems to want me to join dropped into my lap and let me wonder what the hell I am supposed to do with it all. This is prominent when you get into the game and you check your mission catalogue, only to find about three pages worth of objectives that you have no intention of completing. Then when finally you do get round to starting AND finishing a quest the formula is the same every single time. Namely go here and talk to this person, pick up another two quests, go there and enter a mildly scary looking cave, wait at loading screen for too long, go inside and navigate a complex array of tunnels, encounter a few enemies which you can get rid of by button bashing which results in the same three moves until they die and finally collect your reward which is the ability to talk to some stars which help you in some practical way. Because stars now control how good we are at stuff, don’t you know.
The game lies to you, and after a few hours you have seen everything you are ever going to see. The combat systems are overly simplistic and movements are very slow. Now at this point those of you who are still reading and haven’t taken offence will note that I admit that Skyrim isn’t all bad as the graphics are insane and certain parts of the story are pretty epic. It is also a very good addition to the Elder Scrolls series and the people who have grown used to this style of game will have no qualms where I was tearing my hair out. Also, despite me claiming that it is a mindless game, some of the puzzles are quite challenging but the end is always inevitable. The slow and unrealistic fighting and repetitiveness of the gameplay unfortunately mean that this game becomes boring by the time you are in desperate need of a pee in front of laptop. Skyrim is a good game but is let down by being hyped up far too much and it isn’t the completely free universe it claims to be.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop hating Microsoft
The title of this article is a little misleading, as those of you who read my posts, follow me on Twitter or know me in person will know that I love Microsoft. Windows Phone is my phone platform of choice, I would never consider using anything but a Windows computer, and the thing that I want most in the world right now is a 15.6″ one of these. But even with all the love I bear for the love-child of Ballmer and Gates, there are a large number of things about them which annoy me.
The first and foremost of these annoyances is with Zune. As a Windows Phone user, I am forced to use Zune in order to update, add music and video to and do a large number of other things to, my phone. This is fine, I can add and take away music to and from my phone quickly and easily, and updates will automatically commence if they are available. But when I got my HP Pavilion dv7 with Beats Audio, I began to play music through my laptop, whereas previously I had been using speakers connected to my phone. It soon dawned upon me that Zune, a beautiful piece of software, is one of the buggiest pieces of crap since Windows Media Player. Quite often while playing music, the song will randomly pause, move to a different point or just skip altogether, and on occasion I have closed Zune to find that the song that was playing doesn’t stop playing, much to my teacher’s dismay. When this is Skrillex, chemistry lessons can be quite awkward. What the hell is up with that? A company whom incorporated software into its very name can’t be bothered or is unable to iron out the bugs in their music software. Even iTunes, something which is essentially designed to work on a different operating system and much maligned on Windows, is nowhere near as buggy. This being said, with the Zune name being dumped, and the software being incorporated into the OS, I surely hope that for Windows 8’s sake that at least some of the bigger glitches will be ironed out.
And secondly, what is the point in Windows Media Player any more? The whole thing is utter crap and nobody in their right mind would ever use it. I mean seriously, software that causes computers to blue-screen (I speak through personal experience) through use is not right in any way. And if any person out there does use this utter piece of crap, please explain to me in the comments below why you would put yourself through it. Please.
My final point is the most obvious one. Internet Explorer. This is in every way the single most hated piece of software out there. It is crap, it crashes, freezes and is only there for sane people to download either Firefox or Chrome. And, to make matters worse, you have to have specific permission from Microsoft to be able to uninstall the software. Of course, you can do what both I and Xavier (our EIC) have done and bury it deep within our program files, but it will always be there, taunting you with the possibility that you may one day, have to use it.
So those are the main reasons that Microsoft pisses off even myself, a true Microsoft fanboy. Despite the wonders of things like the Arc Touch Mouse, SkyDrive and Windows Phone, Microsoft isn’t perfect, but by ironing out the bugs and listening to consumers, they could get pretty close.
Microsoft giving away free software in exchange for Windows 8 feedback
Why Minecraft is awesome
If you haven’t heard what Minecraft is yet, then please go away and look it up on YouTube. The game, made by indie Swedish studio Mojang, has taken over the world in recent years. The reason that I do this is because whenever I am sitting around and just playing Minecraft, many people will come up to me and say things like:
Why are you playing Minecraft? Its gay and it has really bad graphics.
What’s the aim of the game anyway?
If I had enough time to explain to them without them still saying it’s ‘gay’ then they would get the answers they desired.
Anyway, on with the argument, however one-sided it may be.
Many people, who haven’t played, will give reasons for Minecraft being a bad game like:
- It has really bad graphics, so pixelated.
- What can you actually do? There’s no aim to the game.
- It’s boring.
- It’s childish.
- It gets really repetitive.
- It’s outdated.
- It’s gay.
And for people that have played:
- It gets really laggy (slow) sometimes.
- You can’t ever find diamonds. Why not?
- I always get killed by a creeper.
- A creeper always blows up my house.
- I always die.
- Whenever I “get” diamonds I have to say I fell in lava to make people think that I actually got some.
- Even when I don’t have diamonds I still fall in lava.
- When you do finally get to the credits they take so long!
But the game is still absolutely amazing. Let me explain why, by dismissing the most common arguments that I have come across that are against it.
It has really bad graphics, so pixelated.
Seeing as the game is made by a few Swedes and is based around blocks, it is only right for the game to be all blocky. How would it ever work if you were continuously taking out spheres out of the Minecraft ‘world’? I mean, I think the designers of the game would have thought about graphics if it wasn’t part of the game. There is actually something you can do about this. You can design you own or get someone else’s texture pack which will give the game of Minecraft a completely different look, and in some cases make it HD quality.
What can you actually do? There’s no aim to the game.
If you had decided to pay attention, the game has been updated and now has a start to the aim of the game. It will take you a while to do, and a lot of preparation, but when you finally find the portal to get to the “end” then you can kill the only (at the moment) boss. Again, that might take you a while if you haven’t prepared properly, but it is still achievable.
It’s boring. It’s childish. It gets really repetitive.
That’s your problem. If you get bored of computer games then don’t play them. I personally have been playing Minecraft for two years, for the plain reason that it is being continuously updated. If you really think its childish then, I’m sorry that you have grown up so fast. Seriously, did your guardians just not let you have a childhood? Did they just deprive you of games and instead make you read books all the time? If they did, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, then I feel for you. It gets really repetitive. This is stupid. There is so much you can do. You can make potions, build massive houses, build a farmhouse for all of your sheep and pigs, go and find a dungeon, get a saddle and go and fly a pig off of a mountain! There’s even an achievement for that.
It’s outdated.
You may say this because you don’t like indie games (refer to above) or you may say it because it is never updated. Well, Minecraft is updated so often that you have to read Twitter every day to check that there isn’t an update coming out with new features. I managed, within a week, to download a new Minecraft three times because of bug fixes and general updates.
IT’S GAY!
I know you are, but what am I?
It gets really laggy (slow) sometimes.
Get a better laptop. Or, you could even use the functions that have been implemented into the game to make it better/worse.
You can’t ever find diamonds. Why not? I always get killed by a creeper. A creeper always blows up my house. I always die. Whenever I “get” diamonds I have to say I fell in lava to make people think that I actually got some. Even when I don’t have diamonds I still fall in lava.
The simple answer is get better. The more complex answer is on the way.
When you do finally get to the credits they take so long!
Try the escape button. It does wonders for the impatient.
Conclusion
Minecraft is a really good game and there is always a valid reason why something is the way it is. There is always a forum, mod, texture pack or even multiplayer server that can answer all your prayers. If you have any questions or qualms then feel free to express yourself in the comments section below and I will be happy to reply, when I’m not digging for diamonds, of course.
Microsoft’s Metro-style logo for Windows 8 surfaces
Microsoft today unveiled a new logo for Windows 8 to fit more with the Metro design language that has won much praise from media and consumers alike. The logo uses the Segoe typeface that is making its way into all Microsoft branding and products, but the traditional flag has been replaced with a strangely angled flag window. Unlike the actual design of Windows 8, I don’t like this at all. What do you think? Let us know in the poll below.
HP announce new Z1 all-in-one workstation with hefty price tag
At Digixav we love HP computers and we all agree that they make brilliant hardware. The Folio 13 won best PC of 2011, and the Envy 14 Spectre is one beautiful piece of Gorilla Glass. The new Z1 workstation, announced today, looks to be another excellent product for Meg Whitman’s company.
The all-in-one workstation looks fantastic. The Z1 comes with a Sandy Bridge i3, integrated graphics and a 250GB hard drive as standard which aren’t fantastic specs for $1,899 but, if you have the money, you can make it phenomenal with a quad-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon chip, up to 32GB of RAM and a top-of-the-line Nvidia graphics card. There is not much that this configuration couldn’t handle.
Not only is this an incredibly powerful computer, but it looks great too. The clean crisp lines are continued throughout the design, making it look good from any angle. The whole thing can even fold down, making it possible to store very easily. The display even lifts up to allow for easy access and upgrading of the internals.
However, there is one drawback to all this power and design which is the hefty price tag. According to the HP website, it will start at $1,899, a rather high price considering that it is the i3 base model. But considering all this, the Z1 is a business machine aimed at the rich companies, programmers and graphics designers so the price isn’t that unreasonable. Expect to see these hitting workplaces in April.
Google finally announce Chrome for Android but only 4.0
Ever wondered why the stock Android browser isn’t Chrome? We all certainly have, and now Google have gone and released Chrome Beta for Android. Over time it will become THE Android browser, but for now it is only available for devices running Ice Cream Sandwich. We will try it out when we get our hands on such a device, but for now we will read this review from TechCrunch and enjoy Chrome Beta on PC.
CES time!
The annual Consumer Electronics show, or CES, takes place this week in Las Vegas and we will have daily roundups of the new products announced at the show. We sadly won’t be there this year but we will still get you all the news. Expect to see:
- Nokia Lumia 900
- Victorinox 1TB USB flash drive
- HP Envy 14 Spectre
- Ultrabooks
- Tablets
- Smartphones
- Stupid high-resolution TVs
- More…
Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Enjoy the articles coming up,
Xavier
Digixav 
