Crave

This is one pair of Ultimates!

(Credit: Transmission Audio)

High-end audio prices are getting crazy lately, but this $1,000,000 speaker--the Ultimate--may be the most expensive speaker in the world.

Please understand that $1 million buys one speaker, so you'll need to shell out $2 million for stereo, and at least $5 million for your Ultimate home theater.

The Ultimate is a rather large speaker--each one consists of six, seven-foot tall panels. Each Ultimate houses a total of forty 15-inch subwoofers, twenty-four 8-inch woofers, and massive arrays of 2-inch wide and 1-inch wide ribbon tweeters. All of this is for a single channel/speaker, double those numbers for stereo! A pair of Ultimates are nearly forty feet wide!

That pretty much rules out my chances of getting the Ultimate for review in my Brooklyn apartment, oh well.

Each Ultimate speaker comes with its own power amplifiers, with an output of 31,000 watts, and the manufacturer claims the Ultimate can generate up to 146dB SPL, that's a lot louder than a jet plane taking off. And just because it can play that loud, doesn't mean it has to. Just because a Ferrari can go 200 mph, doesn't mean it can't cruise at 55.

Hey Jeff,

I am a devoted 404 listener and have been thinking about video games and the cost of them based on the amount of gameplay you receive.

I was very sad when say, The Force Unleashed, ended. Yes, you can go back and take two different paths, but I feel like the game was too short. If I went out and bought Fable II when it was new, it would cost the same as this game and just think of how many more hours of gameplay I would have gotten.

Should there be an organization that requires publishers to put a normal gameplay time on the box? Shouldn't a game that doesn't have as much content be cheaper?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,
Ryan C.

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for your e-mail and for listening to The 404!

You bring up some interesting points about video gameplay time and value. I'm not totally against a developer disclosing an "average gameplay time" on the back of a box--they tell you how long a movie is, don't they?

If we started putting game time on the back of a video game box, it would be interesting to see how the industry would start to react. We'd hate to see an era of intentionally long games that are redundant and boring to play. There are plenty of critically acclaimed games out there that only offer 5 to 7 hours of play time. So if there's one point to make, it's that a longer game should never go hand in hand with quality.

There's a place for games that are less expensive, independent, and sometimes shorter and that's downloadable titles. Games with major publishers and higher production values that get the box treatment will probably stay at that fixed price point we're all used to.

The real story here, though, is finding that perfect play time average that gamers are willing to spend with a certain game. This number will surely vary by genre, but there's usually a sweet spot that makes for an overall satisfying experience.

Regardless of how long a game's play time is or isn't, you shouldn't necessarily consider that detail as the only indicator of whether you've gotten your money's worth. It's the impression a game leaves on you that is a true measure of its value.

-Jeff

The new Mac Mini starts at $599--the same as the old Mac Mini.

(Credit: Apple)

First off, an admission: I've always wanted a Mac Mini. Sort of like I've always wanted a Mini Cooper convertible. But then I take a look at the price tag and it always seems too expensive. Call me cheap, but when you're at $600 (for the entry-level Mini) you start to ask yourself: what can I get for a few hundred bucks more--aside from the step-up $799 Mac Mini?

The answer is always a laptop. Now, the Mac Mini, of course, is basically a laptop without the screen. It uses laptop components. This new base system features a new 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, the same 1GB of RAM, and a larger 120GB hard drive (see Rich Brown's full post here).

The step-up model doubles the RAM and includes a 320GB drive (you really don't get $200 worth of extras for your $200, do you?). Nvidia's MCP79 chipset drives both new Mac Minis; that translates into the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip driving its display. A nice upgrade from the old model, to be sure, but it would be a lot nicer if Apple had a configuration that started at $399, not $599.

I know what so many of you are about to tell me. Apple doesn't bother with low-margin products. It just wouldn't do a $399 Mac Mini. That's why it's raking it in while other PC makers are having an awfully hard time these days. I understand. I get it. But that doesn't mean I can't ask for a $399 Mac Mini. And it isn't like the Mini was flying off the shelves at $599 before, so why should it fly off them now?

Again, call me cheap. But I want a new $399 Mac Mini--and I'd put an order in for one right now if it existed. Anybody agree?

(Credit: Hypbeast)

Tokyo-based fashion designers Head Porter come prepared for the holiday season with a new collection of cases designed to fit both the original iPhone and the 3G. With a long history of catering to the fashion-forward tech consumer, Head Porter offers stylish cases for cell phones and mp3 players. This fall's iPhone collection sees the marriage between a new case form and classic Head Porter visuals, including "Black Beauty," "Monogram Black Beauty," "Dot Black Beauty," "Master Navy," "Navy Argyle," "Python," "Savanna," and "Zebra." All models are available for $95 at the Head Porter Web site.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

According to a new survey released today, about 60 percent of the Canadian workforce is making personal use of their office printer.

The survey, conducted by Angus Reid Strategies for Samsung Electronics revealed that a large majority of Canadians who work in offices with high volume laser printers aren't using them for memos and work-related e-mails, but rather for personal letters, color photos, and even *gasp* resumes! The study breaks down the percentage of people that print out random documents:

I think it's safe to assume that the reason for all this work-printer abuse is because of the consensus that printers are simply too expensive to maintain. After all, why pay for an expensive toner cartridge or inkjet when your company is willing to foot the bill?

Well, for starters, using the company printer for your own personal needs is an unethical use of work supplies. I'm certainly not playing moral police here, and I've definitely used the office printer to print a few e-mails and online articles, but there's simply no reason to print personal photos and resumes at work, namely because printers today are wildly affordable, even for homes on a strict budget.

The price for print cartridges is also much lower than it's ever been. Considering the average cost of paper and inks (that now come in XL capacities), today's standard photo print only costs between $0.25 to $0.35 to print. If you print out an inordinate amount (you know how much is too much) of documents on the company dime, it's time to consider a printer for the home--you might be surprised at the low price of workplace integrity.

Neat Receipts for Mac

(Credit: Neat Receipts)

Boasting a new white finish, slightly sleeker design, and software that runs on a Mac, Neat Receipts for Mac Advance Release offers similar expense-report scanning, organizing, and documenting capabilities as the Windows version. The version is similar, but not identical--thus, the moniker "Advance Release."

The current Windows version of the product, Version 3, includes "features such as...a business card and tax module and exporting to financial software" that the Mac version lacks, but, according to the company, the Mac version has capabilities, including drag-and-drop and rules-based collections, that the Windows version does not. When the product gets its parity upgrade, slated for early next year, the company will deliver it free to users.

Based on some of the media materials, it sounds as if the goal of this early release is to retain users who are switching from PCs to Macs; the Mac software is free for current owners of the PC version (no silver-to-white hardware reskin for you, though). The scanner-and-software bundle costs $179.95--$20 bucks cheaper than its PC counterpart--and is available now.

Toshiba's Qosmio line may soon sport an HD-DVD burner.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

In the maddening crush of gadgets and humanity that is CES, we walked right past the Qosmio sitting in Toshiba's booth--after all, we'd seen that laptop before, and R2-D2 was in the house. But there was something different about that Qosmio; Toshiba was using it to show off its laptop-size HD-DVD-R optical drive, which reportedly will let users burn as much as 30GB of data on a single HD-DVD disc. The company's been mum on other key deets, such as release date and price, though they have promised more info by the end of this quarter. If the previous Qosmio was any indication, though, it's safe to say that the addition of the new technology will price the laptop far beyond the means of the average home consumer--not that the average home consumer has much interest in burning high-def discs, anyway.

(Credit: VAF)

A bunch of the blogs (Gizmodo, BornRich) have been featuring the Aussie audio company VAF's latest endeavor, which looks like a piece of wall decor out of a Design Within Reach catalog but is actually a very impressive set of speakers. Each side is about two feet long, and they protrude barely five inches from the wall. When they're released in March, they will apparently come in a variety of colors. Neat, huh?

But I've got a bone to pick with VAF's presentation of their cool new product. I mean, come on. We're sharp-eyed here at Crave, and we're very disappointed by the array of liquor brands displayed atop these highly classy speakers. Kahlua? Bailey's? Johnnie Walker Red Label? It looks more like the bar selection from an Applebee's restaurant. Let's be serious here--these speakers need some Grey Goose, or at the very least Tanqueray.

(Credit: The Raw Feed)

Solar power may be making great strides in mainstream usage, but energy efficiency doesn't necessarily translate to fiscal conservation. The "Ultimate Outdoor Webcam" by DigitalXtractions, for example, runs on the sun's rays but costs $450 plus another $150 or $250 for a solar panel, according to The Raw Feed. But here's the kicker: Not only do you have to pay those exorbitant prices up front, but you also must shell out $60 a year for a "data subscription" that includes Web hosting. We think we'll keep a USB port open for the "Volvex" instead.