Neowin.net

For my first review for Neowin, I have received two Geforce 4 series video cards from Mad Dog Multimedia, Inc

Mad Dog Raptor Ti-4200
First Impressions:
From looking at the aggressive graphics on box to the cutout window displaying the gold heat sink & fan, you can tell this card means business. Everything about the packaging & appearance shouts "Fast, quality card"

What's in the Box:
The Mad Dog card is based on the NVIDIA Reference design using a gold PCB. Cooling is provided by a large Golden HSF covering the Geforce 4 Ti 4200 CPU (NV25) running at 250mhz. Sitting aroung the GPU is 64MB of 4ns Samsung DDR 500mhz memory. This card uses the AGP 4X interface.

NVIDIA Predator MX440 8X AGP
First Imperssions:
As you can see the packaging looks very similar to the Raptor Ti-4200, but unlike the Ti-4200 there is no window. This is a big shame. The striking red NVIDIA Geforce 4 MX 440 would really look good.

What's in the box?
The layout of this card follows the same NVIDIA reference board as used by most manufacturers. The MX440 a very small chip, so it is cheap to make and easy to cool. In fact, NVIDIA's reference card for the GF4 MX400 with AGP 8X has only passive cooling, no fan needed. Nevertheless, Mad Dog has wisely added a compact and very quiet HSF, which should help with cooling.

View: Neowin Mad Dog NVIDIA Geforce 4 Series Review

Chief Executive Steve Jobs is also seen as making a major push to encourage the Mac faithful at the trade show here to upgrade to its latest operating systems, OS X.

Apple declined to comment on its announcements for Macworld.

WOZNIAK BACK AT MAC
The slick operating system, which has drawn reviews praising its stability and user-friendliness, will be touted by none other than Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in a panel discussion entitled, "The Move to Mac OS X," said IDG World Expo, the firm that produces Macworld and other trade shows.

More sales of Mac OS X mean more software revenue for the company, and consumers may be enticed to buy the latest and fastest Mac computers to take advantage of OS X. Analysts said that a good goal would be to push the percentage of Mac computers using OS X past 50 percent.

Many have been expecting an announcement for some time about its next-generation G5 microprocessor, the brains of a computer, but analysts said Apple has not yet made a decision about whether to continue to get its processors from International Business Machines Corp. or even to move to processors from Intel Corp..

"The existing processor is running out of steam and Apple will make a processor change in the next 12 months," Enderle said. "So expect product announcements based on that new processor next year, because they'll move either to Intel or to the IBM version of the PowerPC."

The current PowerPC chip is made under a partnership between IBM and Motorola Inc..

"It seems unlikely they would be able to announce such a move now," Enderle said.

Seeking to expand its strategy of making and selling computer-linked products and software it sees as central to the "digital lifestyle," Apple also just this week launched its iSync 1.0 software.

The software enables the synchronization of personal information management applications among Macs and a myriad of gizmos, including PDAs and mobile phones.

Apple's strategy has also been to make innovative, bold computer designs -- such as the flat-panel iMac and the original iMac, which debuted in 1998 and sported an all-in-one design with a translucent case and berry colors -- which consumers will be willing to pay more for than PCs using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

"What they have been doing and what they intend to continue to do is win at what I call the Milanese Fashion Game," Kay said. "They come out with some extremely cool products, but at a somewhat higher price comparatively, but still cool enough that people will buy them."

In terms of Apple's market share, not much has changed in recent years, Kay said. Apple's worldwide share of the personal computer market is between 2 percent and 3 percent, and between 4 percent to 5 percent in the United States.

In October, Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California, reported its first quarterly net loss in nearly two years, hurt by investment losses, and warned that it did not expect strong holidays sales for the PC industry.

Apple is scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter results after the close of regular U.S. trading on January 15.