This Week's MacBook, PowerBook, and iBook News
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPod, iPhone, and Apple
TV news is covered in The iNews
Review.
News & Opinion
Products
Software
News & Opinion
MacBook Pro the Fastest Windows Vista Notebook
PCWorld Has Ever Tested
In a new
feature article entitled "In Pictures: The Most Notable Notebooks of
2007," PC World says:
"We test many notebooks throughout the year, so we see some pretty
interesting portables. We picked out the extremes in the products we've
tested since the first of the year - the fastest, the slowest, the
biggest, the smallest, and the most stylish.
"Fastest: Apple MacBook Pro
"The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year is a Mac.
Try that again: The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this
year - or for that matter, ever - is a Mac. Not a Dell, not a Toshiba,
not even an Alienware. The $2419 (plus the price of a copy of Windows
Vista, of course) MacBook Pro's PC WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 88
beats Gateway's E-265M by a single point, but the MacBook's score is
far more impressive simply because Apple couldn't care less whether you
run Windows."
Link:
In Pictures: The Most Notable Notebooks of 2007
Leopard Brings Two-finger Tapping to
PowerBooks/iBooks?
MacUser's Dan
Moren says:
"Reader Raul wrote us to say that he uncovered a hitherto
undiscovered option in his Keyboard & Mouse preference pane that
enabled two-finger tapping. When I responded that this had been around
since the advent of the original
MacBooks, he pointed out that he was seeing this on his (cue
dramatic music please) iBook G4."
Link: Leopard
Brings Two-finger Tapping to PowerBooks/iBooks?
Samsung Reveals High-performance 64 GB SATA II
Flash Drive
PR: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has become the first in the
industry to sample 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch 64 Gigabyte (GB) solid state
drives (SSD) with a super-fast SATA (Serial ATA) II/native SATA
interface. With a sequential write speed of 100 Megabyte per second
(MBps) and sequential read speed of 120 Mbps, the SATA II SSD is poised
to expand the market for solid state drives from notebook PCs to
corporate servers and other high-performance storage applications.
"The 64 GB SATA II SSD is based on Samsung's cutting-edge NAND
technology with dramatically improved performance specs that are taking
system performance to a whole new level of efficiency," said Jim
Elliott, director, NAND flash marketing, Samsung Semiconductor,
Inc.
Samsung's SATA II SSD combines a 50 nm-class, single-level-cell
(SLC) 8 Gb flash chip with a Samsung proprietary, high-speed SATA
controller and supporting software.
The new SATA II SSD has a 3.0 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) interface
speed which is twice as fast as its SATA I predecessor. Moreover, the
SATA II SSD requires only half as much power as the 1.9 watts consumed
by hard drives now used in notebook PCs and only one-tenth the power
consumed by enterprise-class 15,000 rpm hard drives in servers.
Market research firm Web-Feet Research estimates that the NAND flash
- based SSD market is expected to show 74 percent compounded annual
growth from 2007 through 2012 to reach US$10 billion in 2012.
Samsung remains the leader in the production of higher-density solid
state drives, developing a 32 GB PATA SSD in March 2006, followed by a
64 GB version using the SATA I interface in March of this year. The
market has been moving rapidly toward SATA, which operates faster than
its PATA counterpart, with competition intensifying over the
development of new SATA-interface devices.
Online Petition to Apple: LCD Display with Vertical
Lines
A new online petition reads:
To: Apple Inc.
We, the undersigned, request that Apple Inc. officially acknowledge
and address the defect in their LCD Displays. The defect causes
vertical lines (cyan/yellow/pink) to appear cutting through the screen
and multiplying as time goes by. Unfortunately, the problem starts to
appear right after the end of the one year warranty. This problem has
been filling up the Apple's online discussion forum and with no
possible solution. We are the loyal Apple fans and would love to see
Apple show its appreciation by stepping up to this issue.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Link: LCD Display with
Vertical Lines Issue
QuickerTek Announces Leopard Compatibility: Updated
Drivers on Website
PR: QuickerTek, the Macintosh wireless experts, have updated
the drivers for the complete line of Quicky and nQuicky wireless signalboosters for Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard."
The nQuicky CardBus is a 802.11n wireless signal booster for CardBus
equipped PowerBooks, iBooks and MacBooks. nQuicky PCI is the same
high-speed 'n' wireless technology for PCI-equipped Mac desktops.
For those Mac users with the Quicky, Quicky Jr., iQuicky and Nano
USB, new drivers are also available for these four 802.11b/g
products.
These new QuickerTek drivers avoid the problems reported by early
users of Leopard and wireless networking.
These updated wireless drivers are available free of charge.
Link: QuickerTek
Downloads
Products
MacWireless 11n USB Stick
PR: Take your wireless network to the next level! With the
MacWireless 11n USB Stick you can fully utilize the power and speed of
your 11n AirPort Extreme Base Station, achieving greater range,
flexibility, and a maximum throughput of up to 300 Mbps!
This is a perfect solution for older computers that cannot use
the 11n cards from Apple, including PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs, Mac
mini, MacBooks, and any other machine with a USB port.
The stick's portable size makes it great for users on the go. Get
the most out of your home, office network, or local WiFi hotspot with
the 11n USB Stick!
11n USB Stick - OS X 10.3 and above. - $119.98
Link:
MacWireless 11n USB Stick
Kingston Increases Capacities of DataTraveler Mini
Fun, Migo Edition USB Drives
PR: Kingston Technology Company, Inc. ,has announced its
DataTraveler Mini Fun and DataTraveler Mini - Migo Edition USB Flash
drives are now shipping in capacities up to 4 GB and the DT Mini
Fun now features the internationally popular game Sudoku as well as the
previously included Atlantis from Big Fish Games.
"When
Kingston first released the DataTraveler Mini Fun, it was among the
smallest USB Flash drives of its kind offering the ultimate in
transportability along with a couple of great games," said Joe Teng,
Flash memory product manager, Kingston. "With the larger 4 GB
size, one can store even more data while fully enjoying the new
games."
The DT Mini - Migo Edition allows users the freedom to safely work
across multiple PCs. When synchronized with a host computer, the Migo
software copies email content, Internet favorites, settings, history
and cookies plus files and folders. The drive thus allows the user to
replicate their own desktop on virtually any PC. All data transfer is
handled on the drive so there are no traces left behind once it is
ejected from the non-host PC.
"The DT Mini - Migo Edition is ideal for professionals and consumers
who work away from the office or home," said Teng. "It's a powerful
drive in a small form factor that allows one to take their desktop to
go while having the robust storage capacity to handle numerous as well
as large data files."
DataTraveler Mini Fun Features & Specifications:
- Convenient: mini-size for easy portability
- Simple: plug and play into a USB port
- Functional: comes preloaded with Sudoku and Atlantis
- Capacities: 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB
- Dimensions: 1.5? x 0.75? x 0.31? (38mm x 19mm x 8mm)
- Operating temperature: 32° F to 140° F (0° C to 60°
C)
- Compliant: designed to Hi-Speed USB 2.0 specifications
- Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Win 2000, Win XP, Mac OS 10.x and
above, Linux Kernel 2.4 and above
- Bundled games support Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and DirectX 8.0
- Guaranteed: five-year warranty
DataTraveler Mini - Migo Edition
Features & Specifications:
- Convenient: mini-size for easy portability
- Simple: plug and play into a USB port
- Functional: comes preloaded with Migo Software for Windows-based
systems
- Capacities: 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB
- Dimensions: 0.70" x 1.42" x 0.40" (17.85mm x 36mm x 10.24mm)
- Storage temperature: -4° F to 185° F (-20° C to 85°
C)
- Compliant: designed to Hi-Speed USB 2.0 specifications
- Multilingual: Migo Operating Language support in English, Spanish,
French, Italian, German, Simplified and Traditional Chinese
- Migo Supported Clients: Internet Browsers: Microsoft Internet
Explorer (5.0 and above), Mozilla Firefox (1.5 and above); Email:
Microsoft Outlook Express (5.0 and above), Mozilla Thunderbird (1.5.0.5
and above)
- Operating Systems: Windows Vista(a), Windows XP (SP1 and above),
and 2000 (SP3 and above); Mac OS 10.x and above (Migo not
compatible)
- Guaranteed: five-year warranty
1 Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other
functions and thus is not available for data storage. For more
information, please consult the Kingston Flash memory guide at:
www.Kingston.com/flash_memory_guide.
(a) Windows Vista ReadyBoost not supported. Kingston DataTraveler
Mini Fun & Mini - Migo Edition
Part Number MSRP (US only)
- DTMFY/1 GB (yellow) $16
- DTMFP/2 GB (purple) $28
- DTMFR/4 GB (red) $62
- DTM/1 GB $16
- DTM/2 GB $28
- DTM/4 GB $62
Link: Kingston
OWC Announces 4 GB Memory Upgrade Kits for New
MacBooks
PR: Other World Computing (OWC) announced that it is offering
up to 4 GB Memory Kits for Apple's newly released MacBook 2.0 GHz
and 2.2 GHz models, which began shipping today. OWC Memory of up to
4 GB is also available for the full line of MacBook Pro 17",
MacBook Pro 15.4" and MacBook 13.3" models.
OWC memory upgrades meet or exceed Apple's electrical and mechanical
design requirements. OWC is an Apple Developer Connection Premiere
Member and maintains an active state-of-the-art test lab to ensure the
highest product quality and reliability. OWC Memory customers are
ensured a lifetime of high-performance, reliable operation backed with
OWC's Money Back Guarantee and Lifetime Advance Replacement
Warranty.
OWC is an expert in the Mac memory market with nearly two decades of
experience providing memory module upgrades for Mac computers. OWC has
conducted independent memory benchmarks on MacBook and MacBook Pro
laptops, which show the significant performance benefits memory offers
when used with Apple's latest Tiger and Leopard operating systems.
Beyond benefits to overall system performance through the Apple OS,
more memory is a must for customers employing high-memory intensive
applications, such as audio/video, photo, 3D modeling, and other
applications. From these tests, OWC recommends customers upgrade with
either one module or matched pairs - whichever best fits their budget
and provides the most total memory. Whether interleaved or not, all
memory increases provide overall performance gain.
"OWC is all about maximizing performance, and impressively, we've
found that there can be better performance attained even between a 2 GB
and 3 GB memory upgrade than by getting a new system with a faster
processor," said Larry O'Connor, President, OWC. "More memory makes a
tremendous difference, as our real-world testing illustrates, and the
up to 4 GB available by OWC for the new MacBook provides yet further
benefits beyond just the processor speed bump."
OWC 4 GB Memory Upgrade Kits are available immediately, priced
at $159.99 (configured as two 2 GB Micron-based memory modules).
Additional savings is also available for customers who take advantage
of OWC's trade-in program, which provides cash back for the trade-in of
existing Apple factory memory modules.
Link: MacBook
Pro and MacBook Memory
Tom Bihn Brain Cell Adds a Fifth Layer of
Protection: Memory Foam
PR: Tom Bihn/s Brain Cell laptop case has gained a reputation
for offering the best protection one can get for their laptop short of
using a heavy metal briefcase. The Brain Cell cradles laptops in 8mm
thick soft foam padding, suspends them in a 4mm hard corrugated plastic
insert that protects from the front, back, and bottom, and protects
them the sides by dense crosslinked closed-cell polyethylene foam,
providing the ultimate in laptop protection.
And now that
protection is even better. All Brain Cells, Horizontal and Vertical,
now have an new fifth layer of protection: 12mm thick premium memory
foam, manufactured to our specifications in the USA. The layer of
memory foam is fixed to the corrugated plastic floor of the Brain Cell,
separating the bottom of the foam sling from the corrugated plastic
shell. The memory foam acts as an extra layer of cushion as well as an
effective shock absorber.
The Brain Cell is manufactured by a highly skilled Seattle factory
crew. Components of the Brain Cell, from the 500 denier Cordura™
to the premium memory foam, are manufactured to our specifications in
the United States.
The Brain Cell. $60. Vertical or Horizontal.
Available in 11 different sizes to fit a wide range of laptops.
Multiple colors.
Link: Tom
Bihn Horizontal Brain Cell
Techshell Bling Bling and Rubberized Protective
Covers for Apple Notebooks
PR: Techshell is a hard plastic snap-on case that provides
protection from scratches and dings, keeping your laptop looking new.
The shells are used for both physical protection of the laptop within,
and aesthetics
Techshell
is a pair of protective covers made out of high-quality plastic that
provides protection from scratches and dings, keeping your laptop
looking new. The shells are used for both physical protection of the
laptop within, and aesthetics. (In some cases Techshell will not
protect your laptop against unusual abuse, drops, or other occurrences
that would normally severely damage your laptop).
The Techshell snaps onto your portable computer to protect it from
scratches, dust, and other sources of external damage.
Techshell
Bling Bling covers add another dimension of distinctiveness to your
'Book.
This is a pink Swarovski Crystal Clear Case for 13" MacBook.
Crystallized With 100% Genuine Swarovski Crystals
This design is custom made and each crystal is placed one by one by
hand. If you would like to have your own design or for ordering,
contact Grace at 1-888-830-1285 x705, or:
http://www.iceicebling.com/pages/products.html
Rubberized Techshells are shells with the same hard plastic base as
any other Techshell, but with a rubbery paint-like coating on the
outside. It is designed to provide a unique look and feel, as well as a
superior grip. It is not intended to be an impact-absorbing
characteristic.
Tecshell
cases have port cutouts so you don't have to remove the Techshell to
use them.
Techshell says that through testing and customer experience, heat
buildup has not been a problem. The vents are not blocked by
Techshells, letting the fans blow unobstructed. Most MacBooks actually
radiate heat through the keyboard and the vents between the base of the
laptop and the screen, upward. CPU-intensive tasks will likely still
cause your MacBook to heat up, whether the Techshell is there, or
not.
Techshells
are available for 12" PowerBook, 13" MacBook, 15" MacBook Pro Intel
Core 2 Duo, 17" MacBook Pro and 17" MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo.
Link: Techshell
Software
iScroll2: Two-Finger-Scrolling for pre-2005
PowerBooks and iBooks
PR: iScroll2 is a modified trackpad driver that adds
two-finger scrolling capabilities to supported pre-2005 PowerBooks and
iBooks on OS X 10.3 and up.
Supported models include most aluminum PowerBooks introduced from
2003 to 2004 as well as most G4 iBooks.
Note: Models that have two-finger scrolling already built-in are not
supported! These use a completely different, USB-based trackpad, the
driver or which is not available as open source.
iScroll2 is based on Apple's AppleADBMouse-209.0.10 driver for the
ADB-based trackpads found on older models, which is available as part
of the publicly released Darwin source code (and covered by the APSL).
The code added for supporting two-finger scrolling was written from
scratch.
The installer will tell you whether your machine is supported or
not. Alternatively, you can use this little script. Just unpack and
double-click in Finder.
Note: Both the driver and this check may not work if you have
another alternative trackpad driver (such as SideTrack or FingaMIDI)
installed.
Models that are known not to be supported include all G3 and
Titanium PowerBooks, the very first 12" PowerBook model, all G3 iBooks,
and all newer machines that come with two-finger-scrolling built-in:
The trackpads of the older machines simply lack two-finger detection
capabilities completely, whereas the models that have scrolling
built-in use a completely different, USB-based trackpad, the driver for
which is not available as open source.
Note: As should be obvious from the version numbers, iScroll2 is
still in its early stages of development, and thus likely contains
bugs.
To scroll, just place two fingers on your trackpad instead of one.
Both fingers need to be placed next to each other horizontally (not
vertically, the trackpad cannot detect that). Some people get better
results with their finger spaced a little bit apart, while others
prefer having the fingers right next to each other.
iScroll2 provides two scrolling modes: Linear and circular
scrolling.
For linear scrolling, move the two fingers up/down or left/right in
a straight line, respectively, to scroll in that direction.
Circular scrolling works in a way similar to the iPod's scroll
wheel: Move the two fingers in a circle to scroll up or down, depending
on whether you move in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
In addition to scrolling, iScroll2 also supports mapping the
trackpad button and the tap gesture to a specific mouse button. The
trackpad button can also be remapped dynamically depending on whether
two fingers are on the trackpad. This can be configured in the included
preference pane.
New in version 0.29:
- changed startup mechanism for user settings daemon from StartupItem
to LaunchAgent (credit to Nick Naime for providing a launchd
plist)
- please check if this solves the issue with iScroll2 not working on
Leopard
- NOTE: this version requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
System requirements: Mac OS X 10.4.0 or higher, 2003-2004 model
Aluminum PowerBook or any G4 iBook. See website for details.
System Support: PPC
Free
Link: iScroll2
KeyRemap4MacBook 2.0 MacBook Keyboard
Remapper
PR: KeyRemap4MacBook is a keyboard remapper for Mac OS X.
Not to mention the change of simple key remap, it has the special
remapping like Emacs-mode, SandS-mode (Space and Shift).
Very small & concise source code written with C++. Use it as
codebase of your original keyremapper.
New in version 2.0:
- Leopard Support.
- Support PowerBook restrictively.
- Added remap.emacsmode, remap.fn2control, ...
System requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5. (Leopard-ready)
- MacBook.
System Support: PPC/Intel
Free
Link: KeyRemap4MacBook
Bargain 'Books
Bargain 'Books are used unless otherwise indicated. New and
refurbished units have a one-year Apple warranty and are eligible for
AppleCare.
There are two different versions of WallStreet running at 233 MHz,
the cacheless MainStreet version and
the later Series II with a level 2
cache. It's not always possible to determine from the vendor's listing
which is being offered, so we've included links within this paragraph
to the two models. The same goes for the PowerBook G4/667 (VGA) and G4/667 (DVI), the titanium vs. aluminum 15"
PowerBook G4 at 1 GHz, and 1.25 GHz to 1.5 GHz 15" PowerBooks.
PowerBook, iBook, and MacBook profiles linked in our Portable Mac Index.
The $1,699 15" Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros are back this week, but $1,999
17-inchers are sold out. Same lineup of MacBooks as last week.
cm
- refurb 2.0 GHz Core 2 MacBook, white, 1 GB/80/Combo, $949
- refurb 2.16 GHz Core 2 MacBook, white, 1 GB/120/SD, $1,099
- refurb 2.16 GHz Core 2 MacBook, black, 1 GB/160/SD, $1,299
- refurb 15" 2.2 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/120/SD, $1,699
- refurb 15" 2.4 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, $2,199
- refurb 17" 2.4 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, $2,399
- 15" 2.2 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/120/SD, $1,844 after
rebate
- 15" 2.4 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, $2,344 after
rebate
TechRestore is offering a $25 discount to 'Book
Review readers off any PowerBook or iBook in stock. Just enter the code
CWM during checkout when ordering online. The coupon code is valid from
now through 2007.12.31.
- 12" PowerBook G4/867, 256/40/Combo, $529.99 less $25 = $504.99
- 12" PowerBook G4/867, 128/40/SD, $599.99 less $25 = $574.99
- 15" PowerBook G4/400, 256/20/Combo, $549.99 less $25 = $524.99
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.25 GHz, 512/80/SD, $819.99 less $25 =
$794.99
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.5 GHz, 512/80/Combo, $849.99 less $25 =
$824.99
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.5 GHz, 512/80/SD, $979.99 less $25 =
$954.99
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.67 GHz, 512/80/SD, $989.99 less $25 =
$964.99
- 17" PowerBook G4/1 GHz, 512/60/SD, APX, $999.99 less $25 =
$974.99
- WallStreet PowerBook G3/233, 128/2/floppy, $99.99
- WallStreet PowerBook G3/233, 128/2/CD, $119.99
- WallStreet PowerBook G3/266, 288/2/CD, $159.99
- Pismo PowerBook G3/400, 128/6/DVD, $299.99
- Pismo PowerBook G3/500, 128/6/DVD, $349.99
- Pismo PowerBook G4/550, 128/40/Combo, $529.99
- 12" PowerBook G4/867, 256/40/Combo, $589.99
- 15" 1.83 GHz MacBook Pro, 512/80/SD, $1,179.99
- 15" 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro, 512/80/SD, $1,239.99
- 15" 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro, 1 G/100/SD, $1,299.99
- 17" 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro, 1/100/SD, $1,629.99
- 17" 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro, 1/120/SD, $1,689.99
- 17" 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro, 1/160/SD, $1,729.99
- 17" 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro, 1/250/SD, $1,829.99
Free ground shipping
- open box 2.0 GHz Core 2 MacBook, white, 1 GB/80/Combo, $1,099
- open box 2.16 GHz Core 2 MacBook, white, 1 GB/120/SD, $1,199
- open box 2.16 GHz Core 2 MacBook, black, 1 GB/160/SD, $1,449
- open box 15" 2.0 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 512/80/SD, warranty
started, AppleCare eligible, $1,539
- open box 15" 2.2 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/120/SD, $1,949
- open box 15" 2.2 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, $2,029
- open box 15" 2.33 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/120/SD, $2,149
- open box 17" 2.33 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, $2,549
- open box 17" 2.4 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, $2,699
- open box 17" 2.4 GHz Core 2 MacBook Pro, 2 GB/160/SD, warranty
started, $2,719
- 12" iBook G3/700, 128/20/CD, AP, small crack, $249
- 12" iBook G3/900, 256/40/Combo, AP, $399
- 12" iBook G4/1 GHz, 512/40/SD, $599
- 14" iBook G4/933, 128/40/SD, $499
- 14" iBook G4/1 GHz, 128/60/SD, $579
- 15" PowerBook G4/550, 128/30/Combo, $349
- 15" PowerBook G4/667, 512/30/SD, AP, $549
- 15" PowerBook G4/1 GHz, 256/60/SD, AP, $599
- 12" iBook G3/700, 256/20/Combo, $299
- 12" iBook G3/700, 384/20/Combo, $309
- Add AirPort for $69
- 12" iBook G4/1.0 GHz, 512/30/Combo, $475
- 12" iBook G4/1.0 GHz, 512/30/Combo, AirPort, $509
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.25 GHz, 512/80/Combo, $605
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.25 GHz, 512/80/SD, $685
- Add AirPort Extreme for $39
- 12" iBook G3/500, 128/10/CD, $199.95
- 12" iBook G3/700, 256/20/CD, $229.95
- 12" iBook G3/800, 256/30/CD, $259.95
- 12" iBook G3/800, 256/30/Combo, $339.95
- 12" iBook G4/1 GHz, 512/30/Combo Drive, $479.95
- Pismo PowerBook G3/400, 192/6/Zip, $279.95
- 14" iBook G4/1 GHz, 512/40/Combo, $529.95
- 15" PowerBook G4/500, 256/20/DVD, $449.95
- 15" PowerBook G4/800, 256/40/Combo, $599.95
- 15" PowerBook G4/1.5 GHz, 512/80/SD, APX, BT, $949.95
For more deals on current and discontinued models, see our MacBook deals, MacBook Pro deals, 12" PowerBook G4 deals,
15" PowerBook G4
deals, 17"
PowerBook G4 deals, titanium PowerBook G4
deals, iBook G4
deals, PowerBook G3
deals, and iBook G3
deals.
