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CRE Declares “Peace” in Mac-PC War

October 20th, 2009

When Apple announced its new Macintosh in the legendary “1984” commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl, it positioned the diminutive computer as the “anti-PC.” It boasted point-and-click simplicity with its novel “mouse,” a graphical user interface with “folders” and “windows,” and the desktop “look and feel” that redefined the relationship between humans and computers.

Now, 25 years later, that little breadbox with the 9-inch grayscale screen has evolved into the potent Mac product line of laptops. iMacs, servers—and the creative pro’s number one favorite, the Mac Pro. Add Apple’s Final Cut software and an AJA Io HD rental from CRE Rentals and you have an editing and post-production solution that puts you in the big leagues. There are certainly some cutting-edge PCs out there, and some very good Windows software, too, but somehow the Mac made a splash with creative types, from art directors to filmmakers.

Chips and dips

Mac vs. PC The 1980s and 1990s brought one pitched battle after another, which grew into a war between the Mac and everything associated with the PC. Apple’s CPU maker, Motorola, today a major cellphone maker, was the good guy, and even made a short-lived Mac clone. Intel, CPU maker for PCs, was the bad guy, but Microsoft, as the power behind all the various PC brands, was the chief villain in the eyes of Apple partisans.

And today? Today, all new Macs have Intel CPUs, and powerful ones, at that. On Intel Macs, like the iMac rental available from CRE, you can run Windows both natively and under virtualization (with such products as VMware and Parallels Desktop). If you have a business and you’re upgrading workstations, you only need a couple of iMacs to replace whatever office PCs you’re running.

Covering all the bases

If your demands are a little greater, upgrade to the Mac Pro rental to keep all your work going forward in both OS environments. The quad- or 8-core Mac Pro will fill the bill no matter how much horsepower you require—for animation, video and audio work, Web and publishing layouts, 3D, texture mapping and the whole range of high-intensity creative jobs. In fact, no matter what the job—on a Mac or PC, for office applications, interactive presentations or video editing—CRE has got you covered when you need a potent computer workstation rental.

Truce time

There is little left of the bitter Mac-PC war. Apple’s devices, from its computers to its non-Mac products like the iPhone, iPod and iTunes money makers, prove their productivity every day. In addition, all tech professionals respect the power, affordability and utility of the best PCs, like the powerhouse HP XW 8400 that CRE rents.

Macs are shining so brightly these days that they may steal a little bit of the late-October limelight that Microsoft was hoping to keep focused on its Windows 7 release (learn more about Windows 7 features). Apple sales are big, for Macs, iPhones and iPods, and ongoing improvements to the MacBook line (like MacBook Pro rentals) have lifted Apple’s laptop sales figures to double that of its desktops.

Our expert Account Executives can show you how two former foes, the Mac and the PC, can work together to bring you solutions for events, trade shows, rush jobs and creative “crunch time.” Contact one of our Account Executives by e-mail or phone, or use our online Quick Rental Quote form, today.

Who do you think won the battle? We would love to hear from you.

Technology Rentals Keep You Ahead Of The Curve

September 29th, 2009

New high-technology tools are expensive when they first come out. This used to mean that only deep-pocket Fortune 500 firms were early adopters. However, with the rise of high-tech rentals, the latest and greatest developments are available to all companies.

Full-service firms like CRE don’t just “do” computer rentals, and don’t simply add more and more items to a rental list. CRE is also an experienced event management firm, tying its expertise in computers and audiovisual gear to the real-world needs of companies displaying at trade shows and conferences.

Cutting-edge equipment

At one time the tablet PC was a “new and improved” item, a flat, portable computer with WiFi connectivity and a touch-screen interface.CRE has been providing tablet PC rentals for some time, as they are very handy for running presentations, taking notes and staying in touch with “the team” in cavernous convention centers.

For audiovisual rentals, there are various types of gear to choose from to help you present to five or 500 people while exhibiting at a trade show or presenting in a meeting room. Why not rent, in quantity, plasma displays to create a video wall for your firm’s trade show booth? The effect is absolute stunning and will stop people in their tracks—coincidentally, right in front of your booth.

To capture some of the people who won’t make it to your booth, you can rent an interactive kiosk that will be your “digital stand-in.” You can position it strategically at the convention to make product presentations and request customer contact information. A kiosk is a tireless assistant for your marketing efforts.

Factors to consider when renting

There are a number of considerations if you are thinking about a high-tech rental.

Know the need, peg the cost

Computers with more advanced abilities (faster CPUs more RAM, etc.) will always cost a bit more to rent. Make sure you know what computer you need. If you are going to be doing high-end graphics work, you are talking about a muscular Mac Pro tower like CRE rents. Do not try to do video editing on a five-year old home PC.

Time, effort and quantities

Video walls are more costly to set up since you need multiple monitors and the installation takes time and expertise. Similarly, you may need to rent multiple laptop computers for large training sessions. You can often work out a discount if this is an ongoing need.

Timing and availability

As with quantities, the length of time that you have an equipment rental will affect the cost. Also, commonly available devices like monitors will be less costly than high-end X Serve or X Serve RAID rentals. Try to be ahead of your own curve to keep costs in line.

The where and when

Getting your rentals delivered and set up at convention centers will generally cost more than having them delivered to your business address. This increased cost is partially due to convention center drayage fees, logistics, additional labor, etc.

For large projects or small, CRE has what you need to get the job done. Contact our Account Executives by phone or e-mail, or use the Quick Rental Quote form to get an answer in a jiffy. Whatever it is you need to do, CRE is here to help you do it—efficiently, cost-effectively and with the finest technology available.

How Projectors Handle HD Content

August 11th, 2009

As a two-part article recently explained, there are still some important differences between “business” projectors and those intended for “home theater” use. However, some manufacturers are experimenting with product designs that join the best features of each type into a single device. Perhaps one of the last areas of divergence is the native (or “physical”) pixel count, which affects two very important specifications: (1) the resolution and (2) the aspect ratio.

Simply put, “resolution” is the number of pixels that are packed into the physical dimensions of a projected image or monitor, and “aspect ratio” is the relationship between width and height. A four-foot by three-foot image has an aspect ratio of 4:3, standard for TVs from their introduction until just a short time ago. Now, a projection screen at that ratio could display an image of 800 x 600 resolution, or there could be more pixels packed in for a higher resolution and sharper image in the same dimensions, like a pixel count of 1200 x 900. Both have the same 4:3 aspect ratio, both fit on the 48-inch by 36-inch screen, but the latter has the higher resolution. Of course, CRE rents various sizes of Fast Fold Da-Lite screens to fit all situations.

Wide, wide world

The standard SVGA (800 x 600) and XGA (1024 x 768) business projectors have a native, or built-in, aspect ratio of 4:3, as well, so the image corresponds to a standard computer screen or “regular” television. Widescreen content, such as DVDs and HDTV programming, has an aspect ratio of 16:9. The best way to handle the widescreen format is to use a projector with a native widescreen resolution, which today is more likely to be a home theater projector (although not for long). This is the only way you can avoid the image stretching, letterboxing, image cropping, or other aspect ratio adjustment techniques that make 16:9 content fit on a 4:3 screen.

Most of the basic business projectors are SVGA and are not up to the task of displaying HD images from your satellite, computer, cable tuner or other HD input. They simply do not have sufficient resolution to do the job right. The two primary HD resolution formats today are 720p and 1080i (1280 x 720 pixels and 1920 x 1080, respectively). An SVGA projector with its resolution of 800 x 600 pixels cannot display either of these formats without downscaling.

Working it out

Even DVD content, which at 852 x 480 has a lower resolution than HDTV, is a bit much for the entry-level SVGA projectors to do a good job. XGA, as its numbers indicate, has sufficient resolution to handle DVDs and can get quite close, needing only narrow top and bottom letterbox bands, to displaying 720p, as well. With just an XGA projector, screen and a laptop rental from CRE, you have a mobile presentation system that can handle a meeting or conference then head home for a DVD movie night with the family.

Widescreen projectors for home and business come in both WVGA and WXGA. Choosing a lower-cost WVGA (854 x 480) projector will save you some money and cover all the bases if you will be watching only DVD movies. For displaying HDTV content, a WXGA (1280 x 800) projector is required. This pixel array will enable you to display any and all HDTV content up to 720p with no rescaling. You will even be able to view 1080i or 1080p material on the more-capable WXGA projectors, but the projected image will need compression so that the 1920 x 1080 pixels in a 1080i or 1080p HDTV image can be scaled into the native pixel array of the WXGA projector.

Ask the experts

Remember, image resolution is only one of many important factors in assessing your projector. Color balance, brightness (lumens), edge-to-edge clarity and other specifications may be even more important at times. Business projectors are becoming more media-savvy all the time, just as business people are becoming as sophisticated as the audiophile and videophile consumers that have driven the advancements in home theater technology.

New business projectors will be debuting in the coming year from leading manufacturers, models that promise to bedazzle and amaze an audience of engineers or CEOs the way that home theater projectors wow the family with Harry Potter movies. Whether you contact one of our expert Account Executives now or later—by e-mail, phone or rental quote request—you will get state-of-the-art advice and equipment for your meeting, conference or presentation needs.

Tech Tidbits: Quick Tips & Slick Tricks

July 7th, 2009

Now this was a fun blog to write. Actually, “assemble” might be the better word, as it has little bits and pieces from all over the tech landscape. Be forewarned, however—you’ll only find it fun and interesting if you’re into PCs, Macs, the Internet, low-cost flash memory, high tech storage solutions, and the new solar-powered cell phones.

Okay, so the last one’s a ringer (pun intended), but the fact is that we will have photovoltaic cells 100 times as efficient as today’s models by 2016 or so, the prognosticators say. Until then, you can make do with the latest generation of lithium-ion (Li-Ion) cells that are rechargeable hundreds of times, with each charge lasting four to six times as long as a comparable alkaline battery. Isn’t progress great?

High-tech traveling using Flash Memory

If you are traveling on business, and your destination is amply equipped with Internet-connected computers, you can leave your laptop behind. Just open a free online storage account from one of the many vendors and upload your working files for later use. MediaMax, File Qube, Mozy and ADrive all offer from 1 to 50GB, absolutely free.

When you can’t use that web-archive option, perhaps for security reasons, then the next best thing is to take your files on flash memory. Sure, there are small form-factor hard drives, even ones that run right off USB power, but with SecureDigital (SD) and SD High-Capacity (SDHC) cards hitting 32GB in capacity—and the size of a postage stamp, or smaller—there is no more efficient storage.

There’s always more to store

Speaking of flash memory, for Pete’s sake don’t buy “thumb drives” with permanently embedded chips. They come in all shapes, colors and (mostly small) sizes, but the common factor is that they are not upgradeable. When you bought your cake-slice USB thumb drive, it had an insanely huge 256MB of storage. Definitely not up to today’s storage options.

Need a cost-effective solution? Try the SD card and get 128 times as much storage and pop it into an SD card reader or carrier. This alone will upgrade your solution.

Strategic Rentals – Laptop & Projector

If you are traveling to make an important presentation, you need to be prepared for anything. First, will a projector or large-format display be available? Do you have everything to make the appropriate connections from a laptop? If unsure, play it safe, and rent a projector and laptop rental from CRE. There are a number of persuasive reasons to do so. One, the laptop will be set up with exactly what you need—PowerPoint, the proper ports, the correct cables for the connections, etc. Two, it will be running perfectly. Three, your rental will be delivered where you need it, when you need it and backed by CRE’s 24/7 technical support.

Using your own laptop for an all-important presentation? Don’t leave anything to chance – why not rent a laptop to have as back-up, in case any technical issues arise during the presentation.

Whether you need two identically prepped laptops or a single AJA I/O HD rental for that looming post-production deadline, contact one of CRE’s knowledgeable professionals today and get what you need, when you need it and exactly where you want it. CRE sweats the details so you don’t have to.

A Kiosk For All Seasons—And Reasons

June 30th, 2009

A kiosk is a fully self-contained audio/visual display system built around a small-format, Intel-based PC. Integrated into a housing unit with a regular or touch-screen monitor, a sturdy, enterprise-grade keyboard and pointing device are usually the only other controls needed. A sleek, attractive design fits in anywhere, and you can customize the look and feel of the graphics to carry your company name, logo and other branding components.

If you manage trade shows, conventions or company conferences then you already know about all the things you need to take with you, configure and set up, things that are vital to success. Desktops and laptops, tablet PCs and projectors, marketing materials and product samples—some or all of these things are crucial to the success of your convention or trade show. Another important component, of course, is a kiosk. Some strategic planning will help you determine which of these items you want to take, and which you would prefer to have show up where and when you need them, correctly configured by expert technicians and guaranteed to work.

One of many great tools

Experienced convention planners and event organizers know that CRE is the leading source for Friendlyway kiosk rentals—sleek, attractive, functional and interactive gear that can run custom applications—for trade shows, conventions and promotional events. It is also the source for the laptop rentals, computer rentals, projectors and other tools you need for a successful effort.

Your kiosk rental can be deployed for a wide range of functions, from simple Internet stations, automated visitor greeters and registration terminals to signposts, marketing communications outlets and productivity devices. They can be used at all kinds of events, too, not just annual conferences or public tradeshows. Businesses small and large have found them to be invaluable at stockholder meetings, company seminars, interdepartmental meetings, executive sessions and training programs, as well.

Customized capabilities

If you want to start some marketing buzz for a new product rollout, a short- or long-term kiosk rental can help get that viral marketing message moving. Installations in shopping malls, airports or busy business centers can position your message among people on the move, ones whose attention you can grab with a smart kiosk presentation. That’s why your CRE kiosk rental is tailored to your precise needs, custom-configured to deliver the right message to the right people in the right place. You can easily have one or more set up as sales points, lead-generating devices, courtesy Internet access, interactive PowerPoint presentations or any combination of the foregoing.

Whatever the critical time of year is for your business—fall fashion season, the winter holidays, spring break, summer vacation or all of the above—CRE is ready to set up the right kiosk system for you. Since the kiosk’s system is PC- and browser-based, you can use all the various media/communications formats including Quicktime, HTML, DVD, video, PowerPoint, Newsticker and RSS (Real Simple Syndication), while supplying WiFi connectivity, as well. With new tools coming out all the time for making your own news ticker, the sky’s the limit.

Our kiosks’ powerful graphics abilities enable you to use dynamic, high-resolution color images for dramatic presentations that support clear, solid audio, too. Naturally, all cabling and connections are neatly out of sight, making for a handsome device. CRE technicians can configure your kiosk rental to your precise specifications so that it is ready to plug and play when you are. Contact one of our professionals today and discover the many ways CRE can help you present (and obtain) important information with a computer kiosk.