LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: Upgrade to a Larger Hard Drive, Add Additional Drives SATA for Mac Pro and G5s, up to 1.0TB in each Bay. 500GB from $90!
My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted
articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things
Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your
submission to Dan Knight
.
Even before the Cube was
released, people were looking for an aesthetically pleasing way to
make a computer part of their living room/home theater. But the
cases, even the Cube, look out of place. Everyone wants a black case
that looks like their receiver.
Working in a lab that does bio-informatic research (using
computers to sequence the human genome), Macs have never been a
viable option because they supposedly lack horsepower. With Apple's
new BLAST program, it's a lot faster than on a Pentium 4.
Imagine, however, if instead of having two processors do the
calculation, how fast would it be with 16 processors? This would be
possible through clustering technology, which is available for Macs.
But the problem with Apple's pretty cases is that they take up a lot
of space and can't easily be put into a rack. (Terra Soft makes
brackets for G3 B&W and G4 Towers.) Terra Soft came up with a
small G4 case called a briQ
that can be put into their proprietary rack.
What do these two problems have in common? How about killing two
birds with one stone? Create a rack mounted case that can also be a
computer control for your home theater. Apple has a lot of experience
creating pleasing looking cases; all they would need to do is have
two small holes on each side in case someone wanted to mount it in a
server rack or on their wall rack mounted home theater system
(brackets must be included). To hit each user segment, have three
models.
Home User
Power User
Server/Lab
G4 at
800 MHz
933 MHz
Dual 1 GHz
RAM
512 MB
1 GB
2 GB
Media Drive
Combo
SuperDrive
SuperDrive
These would also include onboard 100/1000 ethernet, a 4x AGP slot
with an nVidia card (possibly using a riser card). For home users it
would have component, composite, and S-video out as well as Digital
Comp.
The rack-mount Mac would have two PCI slots (probably on a riser
card), and for home users it would include a premium sound card with
optical and RCA audio out.
The new model would have two USB ports on the front and two on the
rear, a FireWire port up front and two in the back, and IR on the
front for a wireless keyboard or remote control.
Of course it would support an AirPort card, and it should be
capable of working as an AirPort Base Station.
If Apple is serious about being a digital hub, they need to make
computers that look like regular home electronics. Could you imagine
having the family over during the holidays, plugging your digital
camera into the front USB port, and looking at all your pictures on a
regular TV? Plus, with the AirPort card, it can become the center of
the digital wireless network as well.
Also, if Apple wants to be a serious competitor in the server
market, they need to add a rack mounted case to their product
line.
The market is waiting.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
Recent My Turn articles
Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18.
When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 07.30.
Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28.
The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
Mac of the Day: DayStar Genesis, Oct. 1995 - The first 'Mac' with multiple processors, technology Daystar licensed to Apple.
List of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
October 6 in LEM history: 98: USB is a good thing - Can Apple save Emailer? - 99: Kihei iMacs - 00: Advice about PDS Power Macs - 03: A replacement PowerBook battery - 04: AirPort Express - 05: The Apple Lisa story - 06: Don't ignore battery recall - Use any networked computer as an additional Mac display
Getting the Most from Your G3 Mac, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 10.03.
Most G3 Macs can be upgraded so they can run Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' quite nicely. Here's how.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.03.
Used 450 MHz, $75; 500, $99; 733, $150; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, C$349; 867 MHz dual, $225; 1 GHz, $349; 1.25, $499; 1.42, $600.
Best iBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.03.
Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 500 CD, $149; 800, $190; 600 CD-RW, $240; 800 Combo, $300; 900, $399; 14" 600, $360; 900, $469.
Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.03.
Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $65; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
The Best Browsers for Older Macs Running Tiger, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.02.
A dial-up user's overview of browsers for Mac OS X 10.4 puts the emphasis on reliability, downloads, and speed.
CodeWeavers Brings Google's Chrome Browser to Intel Macs, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 10.02.
Google's new Chrome browser uses separate processes for each tab and brings other changes to Windows users. Now Mac fans can try it as well.
Best MacBook Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.02.
Used 1.83 GHz, $649; 2.0 SD, $750; refurb 2.1 GHz, $899; 2.4, $1,099; black, $1,299; new 2.1, $1,019 after rebate; 2.4, $1,204 a/r; black, $1,394 a/r.
Best iMac G5 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.02.
Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $450; 2.0 SuperDrive, $500; 1.9 iSight, $625; 20" 1.8 GHz, $550; 2.0, $600; 2.1 iSight, $650.
Best iPod touch Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.02.
Used 1G/8 GB, $160; refurb, $179; new, $198; used 16, $200; refurb, $219; new, $265; refurb 32, $319; new, $345; 2G/8 GB, $229; 16, $280; 32, $380.
Best Intel iMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.01.
Used 17" 1.83 GHz, $625; 20", $599; 2.16, $749; 24", $950; refurb 20" 2.0, $949; 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; 3.06, $1,899; rebates on new.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.01.
Used 1.25 GHz Combo, $560; 1.33, $580; 1.5, $596;, 1.67 SuperDrive, $690; hi-res, $800.
Best Apple TV Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.01.
Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $224; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $322 - prices include ground shipping.
All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For
price quotes and advertising information, please contact
at BackBeat Media
(646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.
Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer
5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We
recommend Firefox
for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more
secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox
than any other browser.
