Daystar G4 Upgrade Price Cut, $179 15" LCD from Westinghouse, and New Drives from Wiebetech

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - 2005.07.08

This Week's Apple and Desktop Mac News

PowerBook, iBook, iPod, and other portable computing is covered in The 'Book Review. News about Apple's transition to Intel CPUs and other Intel developments is covered in The Macintel Report. iPod news is covered in iPod News Review.

All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

• Daystar Cuts Prices on G4 Upgrades for Power Mac G3 Systems
• Westinghouse Digital Adds $189 15" LCD Monitor
• Low-cost Hardware RAID with FireWire 400/800
• TrayDock eSATA: The SATA Workhorse

Desktop Mac Deals

Daystar Cuts Prices on G4 Upgrades for Power Mac G3 Systems

Daystar Technology, an Apple Authorized Reseller and Mac Technology Integrator, announced new lower pricing on its award winning XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 ZIF upgrades. Citing triple digit sales growth and additional volume-based cost reductions, Daystar is continuing to pass its manufacturing cost savings to customers.

The MAChSpeed G4 ZIF is the only PowerMac G3 CPU upgrade that can provide "Quicksilver" performance at prices under $200. Its large 1 MB backside cache allows it to outperform a 700 MHz Power Macintosh G4 "Quicksilver" system. Its exclusive design allows the Blue & White system bus to run at full 100 MHz speeds.

• Installs in minutes - all tools and instructions included.
• Compatible with any Mac OS since 8.6 - including Tiger.
• Available with the XPostFacto utility for OS X.
• Includes XLR8 MAChSpeed Control.
• Available in speeds from 400-600 MHz.
• Over 10,000 sold, with less than 1% having any issues at all.
• No need to change motherboard jumpers.
• All upgrades warranted at speeds sold
• Includes Daystar's exclusive 90/720 warranty program.

"It is exciting to be able to offer the lowest priced, best running G4 upgrades", said Gary Dailey, president of Daystar, "Now, any user can easily run all Apple's latest software on their aging systems, without having to invest in a completely new world of hardware!"

Daystar Technology is a Macintosh Technology Integrator. The company specializes in developing custom solutions, and integrating leading performance technologies for consumers, enterprise and graphics professionals. Daystar operates as an Apple Authorized Reseller and Service center, and maintains a staff of Apple Certified Technicians. Daystar is also the designer and manufacturer of XLR8 brand products. With its history as the creator of the original Mac upgrade, the company continues to deliver the best of the best for the Apple based computing platform.

Daystar currently distributes/resells Apple, XLR8, Giga Design, and a variety of leading brand products via its store front and web store at http://4daystar.com. Daystar offers a wide array of Apple performance products. It also sells and services Apple products via its storefront in Buford, Georgia.

• Link: MAChSpeed G4 ZIF

Westinghouse Digital Adds $189 15" LCD Monitor

Westinghouse Digital Electronics, a leading North American LCD TV and monitor provider, today announced the availability of its 15" LCD monitor. The addition of the new monitor increases Westinghouse Digital's line to four robust monitors ranging from 15" to 37", offering the highest quality possible for flat panel monitors.

The new 15" LCD monitor is an ideal first step for users who are upgrading from a bulky computer monitor to a thin, space-saving HD-Grade(TM) LCD monitor. The monitor provides a brighter, faster, and more vivid image than ordinary LCD monitors. Users can transform their desktop and maximize their PC's abilities with the new 15" monitor.

"Westinghouse Digital has taken its LCD TV expertise to create a line of premium monitors that produce crisp images for home office tasks, Internet and digital entertainment," said Doug Woo, president of Westinghouse Digital Electronics. "Consumers can now take advantage of the space-saving 15" monitor to upgrade their current bulky desktop monitor to a premium, LCD flat panel monitor."

The new 15" LCD monitor offers advanced HD-Grade flat panel technology so users can enjoy vibrant images while working on spreadsheets, drafting e-mails, watching movies, playing games and more. The monitor has faster response times, better brightness, wider viewing angles and higher contrast ratios than older LCD panel technology.

Westinghouse Digital LCD monitors offer increased resolution, brightness and contrast ratios for a high-quality picture for viewing documents, email exchanges, movies, video games, the Internet, digital photos, and more. This monitor is ideal for use in the home, office or commercial space. The LCD flat panel feature saves valuable desk space and provides the clearest and truest picture. The 15" monitor is available for an estimated $189.

• Link: Westinghouse Digital 15" LCD Monitor

Low-cost Hardware RAID with FireWire 400/800

When you need huge amounts of storage in a small space and fast FireWire speed for a low price, the new TrayDock Extreme lets you have it all.

TrayDock Extreme is a hardware based Striped RAID for either 2 or 4 IDE drives. SATA drive support is available in the 2 bay configuration. Automatic support is provided to RAID the drives together so you see only one volume mounted on the desktop.

Or, if you want, a flip of a switch will let you use the enclosure as a JBOD (just a bunch of disks) and each drive will mount individually on the desktop.

Best of all, you can reload the trays from the front of the unit, so you're never without access to the individual hard drives. And unlike competitive products which embed RAIDed drives within a difficult-to-repair sealed enclosure, TrayDock Extreme allows all drives to be easily reloaded from the front of the unit. And if you're using it as a JBOD, it's hot-swappable, so you can swap any drive on the fly.

With three ports on the rear panel (two are FireWire 800 and one is FireWire 400), you can daisy-chain other hard drives or attach other FireWire peripherals, and tap into the speed of FireWire technology.

You'll also like the small footprint of the enclosure, especially when you consider the vast amount of storage available in such a small amount of space.

The TrayDock Extreme is an ideal member of your computing arsenal for those high-capacity jobs such as multimedia editing, server storage, backups and more.

Pricing

• TrayDock Extreme, 2 Bays, IDE trays, $349.95
• TrayDock Extreme, 2 Bays, SATA trays, $349.95
• TrayDock Extreme, 4 Bays, IDE trays, $449.95
• TrayDock Extreme, 4 Bays, 1 TB, $1,099.95
• TrayDock Extreme, 4 Bays, 1.6 TB, $1,999.95

Link: TrayDock Extreme

TrayDock eSATA: The SATA Workhorse

For fastest speed and maximum performance, the TrayDock eSATA is an uncontested workhorse. With its low cost, TrayDock eSATA is a perfect addition to your computing arsenal for high-capacity computing tasks like editing uncompressed HDTV or other audio/video editing.

More SATA channels means more performance

Each disk in a TrayDock eSATA communicates on its own channel over its own cable. This means that each drive can be accessed at full speed even while other drives are being accessed. Use this to set up high performance software RAIDs or use the drives as a JBOD (just a bunch of discs).

Front accessible trays

The TrayDock eSATA comes with 2 or 4 reloadable, lockable drive trays each holding a SATA drive with an individual external SATA port on the rear panel for each drive bay. The latch design gives you instant access to your drives from the front making it easy to load, reload, or replace hard disks at any time.

A low cost RAID for super speeds

Configured as a 4 disk RAID, TrayDock eSATA has been measured in excess of 225 Megabytes per second. Combined with WiebeTech's popular G5Jam+ speeds can reach even higher, more than enough for uncompressed 10-bit 1080i video editing.

High data density

Due to its low cost, it will also be popular as a backup storage device, especially when deployed as a JBOD. You'll also like the small footprint of the enclosure, especially when you consider the vast amount of storage available in such a small amount of space.

eSATA for the masses

For users who do not yet have SATA ports on their computer, TrayDock eSATA is also available with a PCI card with four external SATA ports. This hardware bundle makes it easy for anyone to connect TrayDock eSATA to their computer and begin to take advantage of the amazing speed and reliability it has to offer.

TrayDock eSATA Features

• Two or Four eSATA ports, one per bay
• Available with either 2 or 4 drive bays
• Utilizes SATA drives
• Supports hot swappable SATA ports
• Drives are easily removable / replaceable via the front panel
• Footprint is very small relative to storage volume
• Ideal for audio / video editing
• Power on LED. Verifies that unit is turned on (or off).
• Power switch.
• Anodized silver aluminum case. It's beautiful and durable.

Prices

• Extra eSATA tray, works in TrayDock eSATA only, accepts any SATA drive, $49.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 2 Bays, eSATA trays (accepts any SATA drive), $349.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 4 Bays, eSATA trays (accepts any SATA drive), $449.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 2 Bays, eSATA Trays and 8 port PCI SATA card, $549.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 4 Bays, eSATA Trays and 8 port PCI SATA card, $649.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 4 Bays, eSATA trays, 1 TB, $1,099.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 4 Bays, eSATA Trays and 8 port PCI SATA card, $1,299.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 4 Bays, eSATA trays, 1.6 TB, $1,999.95
• TrayDock eSATA, 4 Bays, eSATA Trays and 8 port PCI SATA card, $2,199.95

Link: TrayDock eSATA

Desktop Mac Deals

Low End Mac updates the following price trackers every two weeks:

• This Week's Best Mac mini Deals
• This Week's Best eMac Deals
• This Week's Best iMac G4 and G5 Deals
• This Week's Best iMac G3 Deals
• This Week's Best Power Mac G5 Deals
• This Week's Best Power Mac G4 Deals
• This Week's Best Power Mac G3 Deals

For deals on laptops, see our Week's Best PowerBook G4 Deals, Week's Best iBook G4 Deals, and Week's Best iBook G3 Deals. For deals on iPods, see our Week's Best iPod Deals.