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Recycled Computing
iBooks on TV, Hard Drive Swaps, and Using an iBook as a Desktop
- 2009.02.23
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I number of alert readers pointed out to me that the 1st generation iPod touch doesn't have a microphone connection through the headphone jack, so the only way to get audio into the iPod is to use a microphone through the dock connector. Fortunately, the Macally iVoice III is available, and it seems to work better with Fring if you wait until after Fring loads before attaching it to the iPod.
I am currently looking for a recording application to see if I can record from, say, another iPod or CD player. (The iVoice III has a stereo input on its base.)
Macs in Media
From the department of "Computers on TV and in the Movies": I was able to buy the first two seasons of Angel (a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off) for peanuts. Right in the middle of watching the second season, I gasped in amazement. Cordelia Chase (Angel's sidekick and office manager) was using a clamshell iBook. Not just any clamshell, a gray one. Which means that it is the "Paris" iBook with FireWire. I would love to have one of those!

Incidentally, this is why my wife loves me. If I see a pretty girl with a computer, I lust after the computer. Of course, thirty years ago . . . they didn't make iBooks.
Hard Drive Swaps
I am still in the planning stages of moving the hard drive out of the Pismo and swapping it with the hard drive in the G4 iBook that my daughter bequeathed to me from college. I figure that the first step will be removing the 60 GB drive from the G4 iBook.
This looks like the messy part of the entire process. After the long removal procedure, the G4 is going to have to sit for a while, in tiny pieces, while I clone the contents of the Pismo onto the 60 GB drive of the G4. I can remove the 160 GB drive from the Pismo (much easier than the removal of the G4's drive) and then install it into the G4. The 60 GB goes into the Pismo, and I can reinstall "Leopard" on the G4 with the 160 GB drive. I also have a 160 GB FireWire drive that I plan to use with Time Machine to back up the G4.
iBook in Desktop Duty
I still like the Pismo as my regular laptop. Since the iBook G4 has a thin stripe of pixel death, I will use it as a laptop hub for my wireless network at my home. At some point I'll pick up a monitor to use with it. I'd rather use a laptop as desktop, since there is always the possibility of disconnecting the laptop and using it as a laptop. (You can't disconnect a desktop and use it as a laptop!)
I also plan to use the iBook G4 to back up the Pismo every once and while by migrating my settings and files from the Pismo to the iBook. "Tiger" for the Pismo and "Leopard" - the nice thing about the two cats is that they play very well together
This weekend I'm going to "test" the iBook by hooking it up to the snake's nest of wires that hooks my accessories to my main computer.
Life is good, but wouldn't it be nice to have a "Paris" clamshell?
Recent Recycled Computing Columns
- Macintosh Remote Control with Chicken of the VNC, 10.06. Sometimes you want to or need to control another Mac remotely. The free Chicken of the VNC program is a great tool for doing exactly that.
- Upgrading a Pismo PowerBook with a Slot-load Drive Salvaged from an iBook, 10.01. Starting with a spare DVD-ROM module and the SuperDrive from a G4 iBook, the author ended up with a SuperDrive in his Pismo PowerBook.
- Why the 20" iMac Is Perfect for Home or School, 09.29. The aluminum iMac has plenty of power and screen space, yet it's small enough and light enough to tote from place to place.
- Windows Woes: A Lesson from Boot Camp, 09.21. Getting Windows installed, running, and activated is more work than this Mac user bargained for. Learn from his mistakes.
- More in the Recycled Computing index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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