Except as noted, prices are in US dollars, bold links are to
outside sites, and regular links lead to 'Book profiles on Low End
Mac.
Buy an iBook, Get $100 Back from Apple
Buy an iBook between November 21 and December 31, 2001, and you'll
get $100 back by mail. Click here to download
the needed coupon and to view the terms and conditions.
XBattery 0.5 Battery Monitoring Utility for OS X
'Books
XBattery is
a battery monitoring utility for Mac OS X. It provides a
user-customizable dock icon that shows your current battery level and
charging status. It also provides a variety of graphs detailing battery
information, and a user-customizable display.
New in this version:
- Provides accurate battery monitoring under OS X.
- Provides 3 different dock icon options, all of which show the
current battery level and charging status.
- Monitors battery voltage, current draw, battery level, and
more.
- Provides history graphs of battery voltage and battery level over
time.
System requirements:
- XBattery runs on any PowerBook or iBook running OS X 10.1 or
later
XBattery is $15 shareware
XBattery is currently available as a prerelease download. This
version is not feature complete., but if you register for it now, you
will receive all future releases at no additional charge.
Mac OS X PC Card ATA Driver
Michael Fox's OS X PC
Card ATA Driver is an implementation of a sixteen-bit PC Card
ATA driver for Mac OS X (and Darwin). This driver will support PC
Cards that have an ATA interface, such as micro disk drives,
CompactFlash cards, SmartMedia cards, and Sony Memory Sticks. It is
also a good reference for others wanting to write PC Card drivers.
At present, the driver is intended for developers, testers, and the
not-so-weak-of-heart. Since one must install post-10.1.1 kernel
extensions (at or near the Darwin repository's top of source tree),
there are no packages or disk images. Rather, the instructions on
building and installing the driver are included with the source. If you
plan to try it out, be aware that a kernel panic can render a media
card's file system unusable and possibly require that the card be
reformatted.
New for this release:
The current version of the driver is much more stable than the
previous one. Kernel panics are rare and the driver functions as it
should modulo formatting a media card (formatting with the FAT file
system or UFS file system works whereas attempting to format a card
using the HFS or HFS+ file system sometimes fails.)
For more information, visit Sourceforge.
Also check out Remy Davison's
article about the driver on Insanely-Great Mac.
IrDA With OS X 10.1.1
If you're interested in infrared connectivity on a PowerBook running
OS X, check out
this thread on Mac OS X Hints.
Zero Halliburton Z Series Computer Cases
These sleek, elegant notebook cases are claimed to be four times
more protective than the leading soft-sided 
cases. The Z Series starts with a lightweight,
aircraft-quality aluminum shell and incorporates an exceptionally
thick, shock-absorbent interior. In addition, your notebook investment
is protected by a triple-digit combination lock and a neoprene gasket
that keeps out dust and moisture.
Starting with a heat-treated aluminum shell boasting a tensile
strength of nearly 50,000 lbs. per square inch, every Zero Halliburton
computer case includes extra shock-absorbent padding, and critically
tested hinges.
According to independent drop testing, notebook computers properly
strapped into a Zero Halliburton computer case sustained no noticeable
damage even when dropped from a height of 60 inches, providing almost
four times the protection offered by the best selling computer
cases.
The Zero Halliburton computer case's aluminum shell and a
triple-digit combination lock that allows you to set your own code
provide security and privacy. The aluminum is "deep-drawn" over special
steel dies to shape a shell that's free of wrinkling, distortion and
manufacturing inconsistencies. And since the shell is made from two
halves of solid aluminum, there's no chance for dirt or moisture to
seep through and spoil your valuables. Then each shell is buffed and
anodized to add color and prevent corrosion.
Aircraft-quality aluminum and advanced manufacturing procedures keep
weight at a minimum while still offering maximum protection. In its
natural form, aluminum offers an impressive combination of strength and
lightness. However, with the addition of a precision deep-draw process
and heat treatment, Zero Halliburton is able to enhance the natural
strength-to-weight ratio of the aluminum even further. The result is a
case with the same exceptional strength and rigidity of steel at just
1/4 the weight.
An innovative neoprene gasket means you won't have to sweat the
little things - namely, dust and moisture. A pair of heavy-duty, chrome
drawbolt latches double up to keep your case closed and your notebook
secure. The Zero Halliburton Computer Case carrying strap is built for
the long haul - without making it feel like one.
PowerBook Zone Drops Price on FireWire
Enclosure/PowerBrick Bundle
PowerBook Zone has
reduced the price of their FW-2500WB FireWire enclosure to $99 to clear
out the remaining units. The bundles of the enclosure and a MadsonLine
MicroAdapter power adapter are now $175 .
This bundle packages the black or silver MadsonLine MicroAdapter and
the FW-2500WB 2.5" FireWire hard drive enclosure.
MadsonLine offers a 12 month guarantee on the electronics and a
lifetime guarantee on the MicroAdapter's casing. The FireWire enclosure
also has a 12 month guarantee.
- Black adapter for pre-2001 models plus FireWire enclosure
- Silver adapter for G4/Dual USB iBook plus FireWire enclosure:
PowerBook Zone offers UPS ground shipping free.
Willow Design Year End Sale
After fifteen years of crafting computer carrying cases, Willow
Design is having its very
first sale. In 1987 Willow's first case was for the Mac SE with an extended keyboard.
Since then Willow has created a host of cases specifically designed for
Apple products, including cases for the PowerBook G4 and G3s, iBooks,
G4 Tower, and all of the Apple flat panel displays.
Willow has put most of its cases on sale until December 15th.
The year has been Willow's best ever with many new designs, great
sales increases, and many valued, new customers. At the same time the
year has turned tragic with the terrorist acts of September 11th.
Willow watched and grieved, as has the rest of the world, the loss of
life, pain and suffering of innocent people (and heroes) in New York,
Washington, and other countries because of the reprehensible acts of
that day.
In a very small way (in the global scope of things), it affected
Willow with a painful drop in sales. They had spent the year to
September 11th vigorously finding, hiring, and training new staff to
try to keep up with demand. The abrupt sales drop meant that, to keep
all those new employees (their most valuable resource), Willow ended up
stockpiling more cases than is comfortable.
So as a "thank you" to the Macintosh community and a way to reduce
their inventory, Willow is having its very first sale. It is effective
from now until December 15th, 2001, and the savings are significant.
For those ordering before December 7th, Willow will further increase
savings by paying half the cost of shipping by ground in the United
States and Canada.
The quality of the cases and their lifetime guarantee against
defects are the same as ever. Only the prices have been dropped - but
because Willow is trying to get the stock down, case models and colors
are subject to availability.
See my
review of the Willow Kerouac notepac laptop case this week on
The Road Warrior.
Crumpler 'Book Bags
Crumpler offers
laptop bags in three series:
Very Busy Man, an extra large notebook bag.
Features: Heavy Duty Padding, 
Multiple
Internal Zip Pockets, Padded Shoulder Strap, Quick Release Buckles,
Third Leg Stabilizing Strap, Laptop stabilizer, Internal padded laptop
pocket for up to 14" W x 12" H x 3" Thick laptop.
Approximate Size
- Top to Bottom: 13 inches
- Side to Side: 18 inches
- Front to Back: 7 inches
- Weight: 45 oz.
Wack-O-Phone, the medium bag.
Features: Heavy Duty Padding, 
Multiple
Internal Zip Pockets, Padded Shoulder Strap, Escape hole for audio or
xcommunication devices, Quick Release Buckles and Laptop stabilizer,
Internal padded laptop pocket for up to 13" W x 12" H x 3" Thick
laptop.
Approximate Size
- Top to Bottom: 13 inches
- Side to Side: 14 inches
- Front to Back: 4 inches
- Weight: 40 oz.
Roll-O-Notes, the little bag.
Features: Heavy Duty Padding, 
Internal Zip
Pockets, Padded Shoulder Strap, Escape hole for audio or communication
devices, Quick Release Buckles and Laptop stabilizer.
Internal padded laptop pocket for up to 12" W x 9" H x 2.5" Thick
laptop.
Approximate Size
- Top to Bottom: 10 inches
- Side to Side: 14 inches
- Front to Back: 5 inches
- Weight: 32 oz.
Available Colors (all three models)
- red/blue
- blue/orange
- black/blue
- brown/yellow
- green/blue
Crumpler uses high quality, Size 10 Zippers and synthetic materials
like DuPont Cordura Plus and are lined with rip-stop nylon. The straps
in Crumpler bags are made from the same material as seatbelts. Many
Crumpler bags have a "third leg." This makes the bag easier to carry.
Crumpler bags use buckles, and some have a special hole to allow wires
from phones, CD players, MP3 players, etc. to come out of the closet
and join the real world.
Bargain 'Books
- iBook G3/500, 192/10
GB/CD-ROM, $1,049
- iBook G3/500, 64/10
GB/CD-ROM ($100 mail in rebate from Apple until 12/31/01), $1,199
- PowerBook WallStreet
G3/300, 64/8 GB/DVD/56K/14.1", $1,199
- PowerBook Pismo
G3/400, 64/6 GB/DVD/56K/FireWire, $1,329
- PowerBook Lombard
G3/333, 64/4 GB/CD/56K/14.1", used, $1,069
- PowerBook WallStreet
G3/292, 64/8 GB/CD/FD/14.1", used, $1,069
- PowerBook Pismo
G3/400, 192/6 GB/DVD/56K/14.1", used, $1,299
- PowerBook G4/400, 128/10/DVD/56k, new, 1 year mfr., $ 1,849.99
- PowerBook Pismo
G3/400, 128 MB/6 GB/DVD/FireWire, used, 30 day, $1,179.99
- PowerBook Pismo
G3/400, 192/6 GB/DVD/FireWire, used, 30 day, $1,199.99
- PowerBook Lombard
G3/400, 128/6 GB/CD-RW/SCSI, used, 30 day, $1,149.99
- PowerBook Lombard
G3/333, 256/4G/CD-RW/14.1, used, 30 day, $1,149.99
- PowerBook Lombard
G3/333, 128/6 GB/24X/14.1, used, 30 day, $949.99
