Time to open up the ol' mail bag again and attend to some
questions and comments.
Sub-laptop computers
From: Jay Kuri
Hello,
I wanted to email with regard to your great article on
sub-laptop computers. I am a Mac User and PowerBook / iBook owner,
as well as a Palm owner. Though I felt a small pang of guilt, I
just recently bought a Sony laptop computer, the "Picturebook." The
Picturebook is a great little computer, 2.2 pounds. It lasts a
couple of hours on the stock battery and is a real computer.
The downside is that it runs Windows (though it could run Be or
some other OS - mine runs FreeBSD, OS X's brother) Oh... and it's
more expensive, to the tune of $1,600+. It is, however, as small as
you can get with a usable keyboard.
Ultimately, though, I got it for two reasons. I had to replace
my old FreeBSD laptop, and I wanted something really small I could
use to unload my digital pictures onto when I go to Europe later
this year. I won't be going online, and I doubt I'll be using it
for much aside from pictures.
All the same, though, I'd happily take it with me when I don't
want to be bogged down with a 'normal' laptop. It's small enough to
be really portable and enough of a real computer that you
can do real work on it.
As a Palm owner, though, I have to point out that for less
($200ish) you could get a Palm with a foldable keyboard which works
really well. Not much of a reduction in cost, but the size and
weight are significantly less when stashed in your backpack. Plus
you can get any number of apps for the palm pilot, many of which
integrate really well with the Mac.
Just wanted to share my own experiences for whatever it is worth
to you. :)
Anyway, great article... Thanks,
Jay
Hi Jay,
Glad you liked the article, and glad to hear that
you're running FreeBSD on that Picturebook.
Charles
Trade-up programs for the 190 and 5300
From Chris Calatrello
Hello Mr. Moore,
I was wondering if you could clue me in on just how and when
Apple announces its trade-up programs for the 190 and 5300
series PowerBooks.
The PowerBook 190 I acquired for $40 a couple of weeks ago is a
pretty functional machine aside from the broken screw sockets
underneath the palmrest. Because the sockets are broken, the
trackpad button is slack and can't be clicked. I just double tap
the trackpad. Overall, I am pleased with my purchase, but have read
about the Trade-Up programs.
I'd rather have a newer, faster machine with a color
monitor.
Can you clue me in on where to check for information from the
mothership on this question?
Thanks,
Chris Calatrello
Hi Chris,
Apple does not have any schedule for the 5300/190
trade-in programs, and there is no guarantee that there will ever
be another one. Apple stated that both of the most recent ones
would be the last.
Most of these programs have been run when Apple
had a glut of soon to be discontinued models that they wanted to
move. Your only hope is that the will get stuck with a bunch of the
current TiBooks when they bring out a
speed-bumped model with a CD RW drive.
Charles
Do you really use Tex-Edit Plus for serious
word processing?
From: Chris Calatrello
Hi Charles,
I think even with the hypothetically possible trade-in, the
TiBook would still be beyond my
present means.
I wound up selling (for $60 - a 50% profit) the 190 yesterday to
a woman from my church. My wife was pleased that I actually sold a
computer.
I've been enjoying your columns - first found them doing Google
searches about that 190 and my 280c.
Do you really use Tex-Edit Plus for serious word processing, as
your email signature implies? I installed an earlier version on the
280c as a low power, low RAM alternative to Claris or Word.
Thanks for your reply,
Chris
Hi Chris
It depends on how you define "serious word
processing." I do about 98 percent of my word crunching in TE+, but
I prepare very little formatted text and rarely print anything in
hard copy. It must be two months since the last time my printer (an
ancient ImageWriter II) was turned on. If I absolutely need a word
processor, I usually turn to Nisus Writer, although I have Mariner
Write, AppleWorks 5, and an old copy of Word 5.1 as well. I have
TE+ fairly heavily customized and tweaked using its wonderful
implementation of AppleScript, with which I have automated most of
the repetitive functions of HTML markup and text editing, which are
my main needs in a word processing application. That gives me a
lean, fast, small, and very stable application tailored to exactly
what I want to do with it. I use SpellTools for spellchecking. This
works for me, although while TE+ does support styled text and a
fair bit of formatting (plus pictures, movies, and MIDI music
files), someone who did a lot of hard copy preparation might well
be more comfortable with a full word processor. Check out: A Tale Of Two
Text-Editors Revisited: Tex Edit Plus 4.1.2 and BBEdit Lite 6.1
Compared [Update: Also see Tex-Edit Plus: Powerful Styled Text Editing
for OS X and the Classic Mac OS, 2007.02.05.
Charles
Small Vessel Navigation on the Mac
From David M. Ensteness
Just read your article (Small
vessel navigation on the Mac). At first I thought it was just
what I was looking for, but on closer inspection, while it was
helpful, it didn't really do the whole trick. Still a great
article, though. I love reading about uses for old Macs; I am the
kind of Mac user that can't stand the thought of throwing one away.
Thought I would drop you a line and see if you can help me out with
my specific need.
I do a lot of fishing with my father in our 16' Johnson on
Minnesota lakes, both on large and small water. My dad uses the
combination of the depth finder, paper maps, and his GPS unit to
locate the areas we want to fish, but we have been talking forever
about how to find a better way to do it.
I have an old PowerBook 5300c that
is doing a lot of nothing lately - I finally replaced it last year
with a used 1400c with a G3 upgrade
for use at college - and I would love to be able to hook up his GPS
to it. The problem is on the software side.
We need some mapping software, something affordable that
hopefully does not require a CD-ROM to run and can have maps added
to it somehow so that we are able to add maps for the lakes we use.
I realize this is a tall order but any help would be great. Thanks
in advance.
As Always,
David M. Ensteness
Hi David,
As you said, it's a tall order. I don't know of
any Mac compatible charting software that does not depend on
CD-ROMs for media.
Charles
Small Vessel Navigation on the Mac
Good article, but how about one on us land based people? :)
I'd like to know about driving maps and GPS system hook ups. I
think that be a good article, IMHO.
Thanks, and I enjoy reading your work.
Matthew Butch
http://marauder.millersville.edu/~stsenate
I'll see what I can do.
Charles
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