(Credit:
Antuan Goodwin/CNET)
I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Garmin Nuvi 1690. It's sort of a big deal.
As Garmin's second major foray into the world of Internet-connected PNDs and its first model powered by the nuLink data service, the Nuvi 1690 is poised to go head-up with not only our current favorite, the TomTom Go 740 Live, but also with the whole world of smartphone turn-by-turn apps.
But before I can test it, I have to open the darn thing up. Rather than just rip into the box with my teeth like I normally do, it was suggested that perhaps I should open the box like a civilized human being and share the unboxing experience with you, our beloved readers.
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Less than 24 hours after Apple revealed its latest MacBook updates, we've got three of them here, ready to undergo rigorous testing in the CNET Labs. The most notable news developments are the unexpected promotion of the unibody 13-inch to the MacBook Pro family, and the addition of a long-awaited SD card slot to several models.
You can catch up with all the changes across the entire MacBook line in our New Apple MacBooks demystified post, and stay tuned for full reviews, videos, and more later this week.
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> Laptops and more every week on the Digital City.
Nintendo sent us our Nintendo DSi review unit this morning. Follow along all the excitement step by step with our unboxing slide show. Like the previous two DS systems, the packaging is overly simple, very much in the vein of an Apple product.
Right away we noticed the free games promotion sticker we talked about last week. Anyone who purchases a DSi by October 5, 2009 will receive 1,000 free DSi Points to spend in the DSi Shop.
When we first turned the DSi on, we were greeted with a setup screen followed by a short tutorial that explains the various functions of the device's cameras.
The DSi goes on sale this Sunday, April 5 for $170. Check CNET this week for our full review!
The new MacBook's bigger touchpad.
In case you missed it after checking out our rumor mill posts, live coverage of the Apple press conference, and even our collection of "unboxing" pictures of the actual hardware, you can now read CNET's full review of Apple's new 13-inch MacBook.
The redesigned MacBook is a solid improvement on an already well-loved system. The new aluminum frame essentially makes it a smaller version of the MacBook Pro, and even the new Nvidia chipset and integrated graphics are impressive, offering playable frame rates in games such as Quake IV and Call of Duty 4 (as long as you keep your expectations modest).
It's a shame the entry $1,099 price is gone (replaced by a $999 version of the previous plastic MacBook model), and that the FireWire port went out to get some milk and never came home. Otherwise, we're calling this one an overall winner.
Look what the FedEx guy dropped off...
Forty-eight hours after Steve Jobs showed off his latest MacBook collection to the public, a pair of shiny new Apple laptops have arrived in the CNET Labs.
We're currently benchmarking these new systems--one 13-inch MacBook and one 15-inch MacBook Pro, so stay tuned for full reviews. In the meantime, we snapped a few photos of the new systems to show off some of the physical changes, and to compare an older black 13-inch MacBook.
The 13-inch MacBook is the more radically redesigned of the two, with an aluminum body that closely apes the classic MacBook Pro--so much so that we've heard it referred to as the "MacBook Pro Mini." The edge-to-edge glass on the display and giant touch pad are also new.
Side by side with a previous generation MacBook, the new model is slightly thinner, and the metal body (carved from a solid block of aluminum) feels much sturdier (not that the older MacBooks felt particularly flimsy).
The giant touch pad will take some getting used to--it lacks a separate mouse button. Before opening the box, we had assumed the new touch pad was strictly tap-based, but in fact the entire pad depresses like a button. It's actually a bit hard to get used to, and feels a little clunky at first compared to a totally fixed-position touch pad. On the other hand, there are some useful new gestures: you can hide all your apps by sweeping four fingers up on the pad, and you can also designate one corner as a "right-click" zone.
Check out these unboxing and comparison pics, which will hopefully hold your interest while we test and review the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. ... Read more
Mock rockers around the country will be warming up their fingers this week for Rock Band 2, the sequel to last year's hit music game. Both Rock Band and rival game Guitar Hero are banking on high-power holiday entries, with competing set lists of classic and new rock, from The Who to Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix to Metallica.
We got our hands on the new Rock Band 2 game disc and hardware, and gave the setup a quick run-through (purely in the name of journalism, of course).
It's worth noting that in fact, it's the Guitar Hero franchise that gets the biggest upgrade this year, with Guitar Hero: World Tour (expected in October) adding drums and a microphone for the first time, while Rock Band 2 is mostly content to make some general improvements to its existing peripherals.
The new drum kit looks almost exactly like last year's, but has a wireless connection (removing the need for a separate USB hub) and the drum pads each have a thick rubber cover. The original Rock Band drum kit had hard plastic pads, which made a fairly annoying clacking sound when hit with a drum stick. As a result, many users either bought after-market rubber dampening pads or even glued cut-up mouse pads on top of the drum surfaces. The new wireless drum kit also has a reinforced kick pedal with a metal plate on top. The original one was known to snap in two occasionally under the heavy feet of overenthusiastic gamers.
The new guitars are finally wireless on all the major platforms (last year's Rock Band guitars for the Xbox 360 required a USB connection). While keeping the Fender Stratocaster branding, they're cosmetically different, with a traditional sunburst design that will be familiar to real-life guitarists.
After setting up the drums and guitars, we whipped through a few songs as a test drive. The interfaces, menus, and basic gameplay seem very similar to the original Rock Band game, and the secret code for unlocking all the songs (without playing through the game's story mode) is even the same as last year's.
The game includes around 100 songs on the disc itself, and publishers EA and MTV Games promise a steady stream of new downloadable material throughout the holiday season and into next year. The game disc ($59), drum kit ($89) and wireless guitars ($69) will all be available separately this week, with bundles coming sometime in October. Of course, anyone who shelled out for a full setup last year will still be able to use their old hardware with the new game.
We got our hot little mitts on the newest gadget from the folks at Flip video, the Mino.
First impressions? The new touch controls take some getting used to, but the fact that they're backlit will be incredibly handy for folks who want to shoot in dark rooms. The UI has also been given a slight facelift, but still retains its minimalist storage indicator and timer when shooting. Also, a huge step up from its former self is the internal battery that recharges via USB, which should keep you from having to buy AA batteries between shoots.
We've got unboxing photos and side-by-side shots with the (still useful) Flip Video Ultra.
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TiVo users have been able to rent and buy movies from Amazon.com's Unbox service for over a year now, but lately the service has felt a little outdated compared with competitors like Vudu and Apple TV, which offer HD downloads. Well, thanks to a comment by TiVo's VP of product marketing, Jim Denney, it seems like that's going to change soon. In an article on TV Week, Denney claims TiVo and Amazon will announce HD capabilities "in the not too distant future."
While the upgrade from SD to HD would be nice for any service, it may seem like an even larger upgrade for Unbox on TiVo users, since our initial hands-on testing with the service revealed that movies were letterboxed, instead of true anamorphic widescreen. We'd also like to see HD movies get a bump from the standard stereo soundtrack to at least a 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS--although Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio would be even better. And while Denney's comment only referred to HD content coming to the Unbox on TiVo service, we see no reason why HD movies shouldn't be available to PC users as well.
Via Zatz Not Funny
FedEx had a special delivery to Crave's headquarters this morning: the Asus Eee PC running Windows XP (not Linux). It's already undergoing testing at CNET Labs, but we got some hot shots of its "unboxing" below. It's worth noting that the packaging looks and feels a bit like opening up a digital camera since everything is so tiny. The cords and cables are all white, and even the mouse that comes with it matches the Stormtrooper white facade of the laptop, albeit with a bit more gloss.
Stay tuned for the official review.
We bet you know someone who does everything online, from banking to making friends, to kicking back. If you're stuck trying to find great gifts for the constant blogger, video vulture, or online socialite in your life, take a look at this virtual gift guide that shows you get it, and you care.
