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Hardware

Creative Labs PC 92

Posted by Roblimo from the first-sound-cards,-then-the-whole-box dept.
leiz writes "The Tech Zone has a preview of the Creative Labs PC. Due out in September, this PC (made with many Creative components) features front side USB, audio I/O, joystick, MIDI, SPDIF, optical, and Firewire ports. Other unique features include a FM tuner, and a volume knob built into the case. Could this be the future of multimedia/gaming/pc integration?"
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Creative Labs PC More

Creative Labs PC

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  • OK, it says to the effect that it starts at $999 and goes up from there... but fails to say in which currency.

    Since it's first coming out in Canada, does this mean it $999Cdn for the vanilla el-cheapo model?

    If so then then you Yanks'd be lookin at a $6-700 box when it comes out down there.

    If not then the $999 would be in USD, thus REALLY being a $14-1500 box for Canadians when it comes out up here first.

    For some reason I don't think they'd bother doing all the icky monitary conversions to get things right, I'm think they're talking in Cdn$$$, thus making it slightly cheaper than it would first appear,forcing a reassesment of 'is it worth it'

  • Good question. Microsoft's stance is that Win98 Second Edition will support firewire, but I'm not sure if that means just cameras, or if that includes hard drives. Firewire is supposed to be very fault-tolerant. I remember a demo where Steve Jobs was playing a music video off an external firewire drive, and when he unplugged it, it paused at the last frame it got. He plugged it back in and it picked up where it left off. The only thing wrong with firewire... is the damn price.
  • What ever happened with that open letter to creative about better SBLive support for Linux?
    I think the main complaints were that we had to use a specific kernel number for whatever kernel they decided to compile the driver for. Also, the driver didn't add any special functionality over regular soundcards like it's supposed to in Windows.

    Did they ever respond to it? I can't remember exactly where I saw this ...
  • BeOS doesn't support those machines.
  • Interseting how all the rats have crawled out of their holes on this board.
  • Saw a Nomad in Best Buy tonight :)

    -funcused
  • It would mean replies like this one could go directly (and only) to you.
  • I can sense the collective shaking of heads of the Mac/Amiga community...

    They'll probably introduce us to custom chips next! ;)

    L8r.


  • These things have been out for 12 months in Australia, and we get the black ones!

    Have a look at www.blasterpc.com.au if interested.
  • Well I'm sorry but the only money symbol I've got on this keyboard here has a single bar! You saying I should petition keyboard manufacturers of the world to change the key!?!
  • as i get older my memory gets fuzzier; but the following is correct in general.


    creative labs was started by several entrepreneurs from singapore years ago. before making sound cards they sold IBM PC compatible machines with a special feature - sound. unfortunately at that time they were one of a zillion small asian PC compatible manufacturers and their product's innovation went unnoticed. resiliently they rebounded, getting out of PCs and focusing on sound cards. the rest is history.

  • Just the excuse to buy an Orb drive...
  • werd I say.. werd.. no register, no post.
  • Companies are trying to get Mom and Pop to buy a computer that will look good next to the Television and the Toaster. Why? Well because there are like 6 gazillion Mom and Pop's out there and market research says Mom and Pop don't know what computers are all about. When will this end? In about 20 years when our generation are Mom and Pop's but I'll bet you there will be the new hoverboards or something that the kids are really into but we just don't understand.. but hey, we do have this nice floating computer.....
  • The moderators = normal people who register themselves and post REAL comments.
  • {shrug} Why would MS build MS-specific hardware, when they get the same thing done (with less DoJ scrutiny... doing something so blatant might bring down some heat, I'd think} by promoting software-driven modems, software-driven printers, and so forth?

    There's *already* hardware that'll only run on, say Win9X (not even on NT...), and so forth -- and that trend does not seem to be ending.
  • Think it's going to be expandable? Somehow, I've got my doubts. Call me a nay-sayer, but it strikes me that with a machine built mostly using *their* stuff, and apparently meant for consumers (not hard-core geeks), they don't intend for that box to come open very often.

    Why make it easy to replace, oh, the audio with the latest from Voyetra Turtle Beach? Or the video card with something fancier from the high-end-CAD world? A *lot* of users have never installed software on their own (I'm not kidding!), let alone hardware; and they have an interest in people not buying competitor's products and flooding the online auction houses w/ used, Creative hardware.

    But hopefully I'm just being waaaaaaaaaay too cynical here. :)
  • This is what I'm talkin' about.
  • There are significant advantages to designing the OS and the hardware for each other. It's the reason the Mac has never had many of the sorts of problems with peripherals Wintel has.

    Of course there are significant disadvantages as well, which I'm sure I don't need to list.
  • Yet another reason to ban anonymous cowards.

    Probably what that jerk was trying to achieve... there are some less than good reasons to want to ban anonymous cowards; just one example, consider the AC's that posted the eyewitness accounts of BeOS running on Beige G3's.


  • ...and then there's the flame that doesnt even makes sense.. You just repeated exactly what I was saying.
  • yes, prison is the solution to all our problems.
  • An i740? are you nuts? I would much prefer a TNT to the i740, which quite frankly is not worth the silicon it's printed on.
  • Gosh golly, you sounded like a rational, sound-loving person for a little bit there, until I read the last sentence. It would have been so simple to leave that out, and not draw the flames, but yet you felt the irrational need to piss people off.

    Well, just to piss you off, I'm glad to report that Alan Cox himself is working on [linux.org.uk] the USB speaker/sound system driver; if there's one thing you can count on, it's that Alan will get it working. So sorry to disappoint you, but Linux will be able to drive those speakers in not too long a time.

  • You can't have your computer next to your toaster, *and* your television at the same time, so how can the look good next to both. Also, it dosn't really matter if it looks good nex to your toaster, beacuse most people don't have there computer in the kitchen.

    Some people are making kitchen computers (actualy, they have been for quite some time), but *those* don't need to look good next to your TV :)
    "Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
  • Tempting, isn't it?

    Most Anonymous Cowards are not abusive, and often have interesting things to say. Sometimes counter to the grain here, but that can be good.

    I've seen a few cases of people inside companies that had very interesting things to say about articles. They simply couldn't say it any other way than anonymously (should they selfishly wish to keep their jobs.) Yes, you have to seriously wonder if they are who they claim, and whether what they say is reasonable, but its more information with which to make judgements, therefore valuable if used properly.

    The topics here are pretty free ranging. Sometimes illegal things like cracking or marijuana are being discussed. Even encryption could fall under this heading one day. It can only be considered brave or foolish to make statements about illegal acts in a public forum. These records are available for a long time, and people's words do come back to haunt them. Without anonymous posting the discussion is inhibited thru fear speaking of real world experiences.

    My main gripe is that all Anonymous Cowards look alike. Its been my impression that sometimes a single person has tried to make it look like a lot of people are posting with similar opinions. It would be useful just to know it was the same Anonymous Coward. I don't have a means to suggest for doing this unfortunately.

    Normal first posters don't bother me, this article being the first that has caused me any real irritation with the species.

    The garbage poster(s?) on the other hand seems to delight in simply wasting bandwidth for no discernible reason at all, not even some warped idea of fun.

    I have to admit, considering the increasing abuse it's an idea worth considering. But even if logins are required, the real abusers will still be able to create new accounts with random lusernames and throwaway hotmail accounts.

    Jim
  • FIRST, I was saddened by the fact that I'm just a 10 minute drive from ATI's HQ. I bought an ATI Xpert@Work 8mb (a royal POS... I STILL can't get OpenGL to work AT ALL thru hardware on it... and the new drivers posted on the website have always been WORSE than the ones shipped with the card...)

    Now I've got yet another reason. Creative is working with a company based in my home town on this shameful project.

    Honestly, these systems really aren't that bad of an idea for CONSUMERS (us geeks will have to stick with beige--which turns to yellow with age--for now). The iMac would be better if it were a PC.

    I'm sure everyone here will agree that the iMac ripoff PCs are all trash, since they all copy an original design. I don't know about you guys, but I've always been fond of the HP systems. They're original looking, and well designed. And they're upgradeable too (for those bold enough to venture in that direction.)

    BTW... if you live in the Thornhill/Markham area and are looking to buy a custom system, check out SkyNet [eskynet.com] ... they've got great prices, and they're all very friendly. (Even though their English isn't flawless... but who gives a damn anyway?)

    -AstralM

  • Good, now each hardware and software company will make a PC with it's own stuff... each with little quirks that only they will have... like the Linux Distros... Does this mean that Microsoft will make it's own hardware that will only run Windows 2000 and nothing else?? Or the other way around, Windows 2000 will only run on a WinComp(tm)...
  • I've heard that you can unplug a Firewire drive while it's being copied to and the copy will pick up when you plug it back in (although technically you aren't supposed to unplug a drive without unmounting of course). Firewire also allows for more than one computer on the bus as well, so they can share devices (not sure if that works with all devices; I assume it depends on the controller chip and the drivers). And of course unlike USB and USB-2 (is Intel still actually going ahead with USB-2?) Firewire works with _no_ computer on the bus as well, so it can be used in consumer electronics.

    Re: Cost of Firewire: In theory it'll be nearly as cheap as USB and much cheaper than SCSI. It just has to get into widespread use. That's why seeing it in new computers is so good. Hopefully Apple will also put it on the new iMac as well. Anything that's going to make Firewire peripherals more common and cheaper is fine by me.

  • The picture on the web page was pretty evil. You don't have to look like an iMac to do a pretty design.

    I think the Creative box should look like a NeXT cube or something - neon or black. Beige with lots of flat surfaces has been done already.

    Oh well.
  • Oh, come on. Doesn't anyone remember this plague from about 5 years back, when everyone and their dog created integrated sound systems? IBM did it, packard bell had that wierd-ass keyboard with integrated speakers and volume...

    Apple can pull this stuff off because that's part of the design. PCs can't pull this off because such levels of integration are what people look for when they buy an apple. If you are in the PC market one of the reasons is so you can swap up sound and video cards, have all this weird machinery and software to control each individual feature, etc.

    As for Windows/MS pulling a similar stint, um, guys? Read back about a month for win2k stuff; it's designed with hardware integration in mind. MS2k copiers, toasters, etc. I'm sure OS-on-a-chip for MSWin2K won't be far behind.
  • Well I wouldn't count on it most "prefabricated" computers have cheap parts thrown in and are over priced. The best bet is still to build your own computer from parts that you can trust.

    and now time for my blatant plug

    Dtheatre.com [dtheatre.com]
    -------------------------------------------
  • Why stop with FM radio? I guess the TV tuner is one of the up-model options.

    BTW, DVD is included, with a hardware decoder. I wonder if that can be, or is, used for mp3? The SB Live's DSP should be able to handle mp3 as well. And I'd be surprised if Creative didn't put a Nomad checkbox on their order form, whenever Nomad becomes available.

    Keith Russell
    OS != Religion
  • *Rant*
    One little niggle: doubt if that's actually S/PDIF. In a move that would make even MS proud, Creative has decided to create their own proprietary digital audio output form, DIN. There's no difference between DIN and S/PDIF, performance wise - they just don't work together :) This sucks because we, the consumer, get screwed - Creative, recall, just bought Cambridge Soundworks, the makers of (what else?) the sweetest (for the money) set of PC surround sound speakers & subwoofer, the FPS2000s. Anyways, what it boils down to is that if you want to use the cool new digital audio inputs on your 2000s, you've got to buy Creative's most expensive card, the SB Live!, which happens to be the only thing on the market with a DIN output. Ahh.. doncha just love closed standards?

    BTW that reminds me - does anyone on /. know of the existence of a DIN -> S/PDIF converter? Anyone smart enough to make one? You'd make an absolute killing, guaranteed.

  • Pardon my ignorance, but what is so damn special about that?
  • I'm sorry, but I just don't get it, why do I want ports on the front? I mean, I can see why I might want USB's there if I was going to swap them alot, but why anything else? I don't want a bunch of cords coming out of the front and back of the damned thing.
  • Vhairos wrote:
    'm sorry, but I just don't get it, why do I want ports on the front? I mean, I can see why I might want USB's there if was going to swap them alot, but why anything else? I don't want a bunch of cords coming out of the front and back of the damned thing.


    I agree with Vhairos that this is a bit much on the front, but though he might not want "a bunch of cords coming out of the front and back of the damned thing," if you're connecting external devices, those are at present your only choices. (Any side ports?) Many peripherals could plausably be wireless right now, actually, (though I don't know whether there are driver issues with the available cordless keyboards and pointing devices) but let's say at the very least, you will be physically connecting a monitor to your PC.

    What I would like to see instead is a slanted panel on the top / back of the pc with a ribbon cable to the motherboard to carry connections. Now to make some bad ascii art that won't survive posting, let me see:

    __________
    a / |
    / |
    / | b
    | |
    | |
    | |
    | |
    |_____________|
    (side view)

    (a) is the panel I'd like to see.

    Space being what it is (and I live in a 22' Airstream trailer), computers get shoved into corners, under desks, beside carefully-squeezed-on monitors, etc. Reaching the ports on the rear can be a pain in the rear can be ...

    Also, the cables that are on the rear require a certain amount of clearance, and generously sized PC cases, while nicer to install things into, can take up *all* of some desks front--> rear space.

    If such a case design exists, someone please tell me about it! Thanks.

    timothy
  • I'm still waiting for linux drivers for my dxr3 - I know there is some hackers working on it, but dammit, their pc ain't going nowhere without linux DVD Video support.
  • actually, i'm all for audio jacks on the front. i find myself switching audio cables around now and then for recording and whatnot. i can see that as a real convience. the digital audio jacks go along with that too.

    the firewire hookup is understandable too for the same reason as USB.

    as for the midi and joystick...well, i can see reasons for having those on the front too.

    at least the stuff that belongs on the back is on the back. i wouldnt want my serial ports up front.

    -james
  • "built in subwoofer".. This was a really low-spec rebadged performa, as I recall. What /are/ you on?



  • With FireWire, you won't need to worry about it. The main system has your memory, CPU, and glue logic. Everything else (hard drive, CD-ROM, etc.) all comes off your firewire. I guess this could include video as well.
  • sounds like my powermac 6500. Thing shipped with and Avid card, fm/tv tuner, remote contol, built in subwoofer and a volume control on the front. This was a couple of years ago.

    The problem with this kind of "all in one" consumer machine is they're pretty much all "jack of all trades, master of none". If you actually want to get done what you bought the computer to do, you're going to need a machine designed to do it.

    in other words...I really like my swiss army knife, but I'm not coing to cut a path through the jungle with it...I'll use a machete.

    dan
  • It's about time we start seeing Firewire in PCs. Though I'm normally not a big fan of Apple's (I sometimes like their hardware designs), I think Firewire is a technology superior to USB and SCSI. I really think this would make it an ideal hard drive interface for servers. I *did* hear that there were some licensing disputes that could make it obsolete before it becomes open, though. Does anyone know if there's any fault-tolerence in Firewire, or a Firewire hard drive for PCs, even?

    Thanks.


  • Creative Labs has gone downhill recently. If this announcement was made five years ago, then I'd be the first in line to buy one. But today, their products are plauged with compatibility problems, and their customer service is horrible. I would not recommend these computers to anyone.

  • Review: Not Geeky. (Score:3)

    by Signal 11 ( 7608 ) on Saturday August 28, 1999 @10:12AM (#1720040)
    Sorry, but it fails the litmus test of what I consider to be a "good" machine. What's my definition of a good, geeky machine?

    An FM tuner knob? It's just too hokey - like Compaq's "internet buttons" on their machines.

    Cool logo. Yes, this is is important to me. Creative - get a more creative logo.

    Free bumper sticker. I want to take pride in owning a quad-xeon 500 box with more megabytes of ram than most people gross in dollars each year. >:) Since not only does this box NOT give me a free bumper sticker.. it doesn't even have a decent processor in it to brag about!

    Has to run linux. Well - duh!

    Okay, enough with the slams on their product - what I want to know is: Why are computer manufacturers bent on trying to make computers something they're not? An fm radio?! What were you guys smoking when you decided to add *that*? If you wanted to be "multimedia", add a DVD player in there, with a hardware mp3 decoder so we could download and listen to our favorite tunes. Throw in a Rio if you want to really impress people! Yeeesh...

    --

  • LOL! It is good to see that others despise creative as much as I.
  • I'm gay but not a moderator. Sorry to buck the trend. Any straight moderators out there care to comment?

  • Oh, hell yes. A hardware mp3 decoder, maybe firmware updateable for all my SDMI's , would kick ass. Hell, I'd buy one without the computer.

    I'd go for the bumper sticker, regardless :)

    Yeah, a Rio port. Just like a laptop docking station, mount it as a hard drive while connected. Hey, this could work.

    Oh, and I agree with the previous post, it should look cool. Black, with a few glowing lines, maybe.
  • Yet Another Reason To Ban Anonymous Cowards
  • what's with these random-crap Anonymous Coward posts!! aaggh! Stop it, please!

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