Originally posted by: Eug
Originally posted by: Commodus
d) iDVD does it encode DD 2.0? On the comparison page it doesn't mention Dolby at all. Is it just PCM which is a huge waste of space? "Combining iMovie HD with iDVD, you can create not just a run-of-the-mill DVD, but a blockbuster." So by stating that it should include Dolby encoding correct?
http://www.apple.com/finalcut/
e) iDVD Can it export to an .iso which can be burnt on windows if transfered over, thus eliminating the $100 4X DVD±R if only doing occassionaly dvd burning. Finally Apple doesn't restrict to DVD-R only and allows burning DVD+R. Question does it allow book-type bitsetting though for DVD+R media?
f) 1.25GHz vs. 1.42GHz ...now granted it sure doesn't seem worth the extra $100 ($50 actually if the 80GB hd is worth $50 upgrade). I wonder if the 1.42GHz really is worth it. It just seems like if I had a Pentium 500Mhz would I upgrade it to a Pentium 700Mhz for $100...I doubt it.
g) Everytime you view a .mov does Quicktime in Mac OS X have the "Upgrade Now or Later" crap that windows quicktime has?
iDVD uses PCM. I'm not sure of the reason, maybe it's to sell more copies of DVD Studio Pro. (Which is a very impressive pro DVD authoring package, but it's expensive and you almost need to buy Motion with it to make use of all of the features).
I believe iDVD exports can only be imported into another copy of iDVD, so I don't think you can burn an iDVD project from a Windows PC. However, DVD Studio Pro does allow for a crossplatform export of the disc image.
The G4 is limited by its 167 MHz FSB, and since both the 1.25 GHz and 1.42 GHz models have the same amount of on-die L2 cache (512 KB) and the same graphics specs, I doubt you would see much of a real world performance difference. But the extra $100 does also buy you a larger hard drive.
The Quicktime player in Mac OS X also has that annoying banner, but it usually happens only once every reboot. I was watching some movie trailers on my PowerBook yesterday, I watched about 10 trailers and I only saw that banner once. There are better Quicktime front-ends than that app, plus with iMovie you don't really need the pro version of the player for editing. It's a pretty stupid form of nagware, especially when you see it on a brand new Mac you just paid for...