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News & Opinion
Apple Updates
Products
Software
News & Opinion
Mossberg: Macs Not Cheap, but Good Values
The Wall
Street Journal's Walter S. Mossberg says:
"It's time for my annual fall PC buyer's guide.
"But this autumn, we find ourselves in a serious global economic
slowdown. So I will focus this edition of the guide on how folks whose
PC budgets have shrunk can still get something adequate for light
use....
"I consider the Mac operating system, Leopard, to be faster, easier
and more stable than Windows XP or Windows Vista. It isn't susceptible
to the vast majority of malicious software that circulates on the
Internet....
"However, Apple has consciously chosen not to offer machines in the
bargain category. The cheapest Mac desktop, the minimalist Mac mini, which doesn't even include
a monitor, speakers, keyboard or mouse, costs $650 for a model with a
hard disk I consider adequate. The cheapest Mac laptop, the base model
of the prior-generation MacBook (which Apple has
retained in its lineup) is $999.
"Both are good values, mainly due to the software. And Macs can save
you money over time. But if the lowest upfront cost is your objective,
you can pay hundreds less for desktops and laptops from Windows PC
makers...."
Link: Shopping for
Basics and Saving Money on Your Next PC
Mac mini Fans: Hang in There
AppleInsider
reports:
"Apple appears to be taking its policing of the rumor mill to the
phones, in one case dialing a customer who expressed concern over
Internet reports on the Mac mini's fate to assure him the situation
would be addressed in due time.
"Having read a blog post speculating that a discontinuation of the
current Mac mini line overseas may be indicative of the product's
ultimate demise, one advocate of the tiny desktops fired off an email
with his concerns to Apple's newly-crowned Mac hardware engineering
chief Bob Mansfield.
"Although Mansfield didn't issue a personal reply, a colleague in
Apple's executive care division did almost immediately, offering no
timetable for a Mac mini update but assuring that the company was well
aware of system's market value, and suggesting the customer continue to
exercise patience."
Editor's note: The Mac mini was last updated in August 2007, and
Apple has announced that there will be no new Macs until 2009.
dk
Link:
Apple Tells Mac mini Fan to Hang in There
Quad-core Nehalem (i7) 'Blows Everything Else
Away'
The Guardian's
Jack Schofield reports:
"Intel's long-awaited Nehalem processor has hit the net with a bang,
and ChannelWeb
says it is 'so powerful that it simply destroys previous CPU
benchmarks. An early look at the company's new chips shows they have
the potential to drive current data center-class performance onto the
desktop. Early results show nearly historic levels of improvement over
previous generations of processors.'
"Indeed, YoYoTech, a UK-based supplier, has just announced 'the
fastest, single-processor, production machine ever,' on SPEC
benchmarks. Its Fi7ePower MLK1610 (sic) has an Intel Core i7 965
processor and 9 GB of high-performance Corsair DDR3 memory on an
Asus P6T motherboard, and looks like an 8-core system (with
hyperthreading) to your standard 64-bit Vista...."
Editor's note: Nehalem is designed from the ground up as a 4-core
CPU. Each core has its own L1 cache and 256 KB L2 cache, and the entire
CPU shares an 8 MB L3 cache. With hyperthreading, it can act like
an 8-core CPU. The new CPU officially ships on Nov. 19 at speeds up to
3.2 GHz and will very likely be in the next generation Mac Pro and
Xserve. dk
Link: Intel's
New Nehalem Blows Everything Else Away
How Much Ink Is Left in That Dead Cartridge?
PC World's
Jeff Bertolucci reports:
"You've probably had this experience: Your printer tells you it's
time to change the cartridge, but you dismiss the message and keep
printing. Days or weeks later, you're still using the same cartridge
and thinking to yourself that rumors of its death were greatly
exaggerated.
"Or perhaps your printer simply shuts down when it decides you've
gone deep enough into its ink well, refusing to operate until you
replace the cartridge, though you suspect there's plenty of ink
left.
"PC World decided to do some real lab testing on this issue; and the
results confirm what you may have suspected: Many manufacturer-branded
(OEM) and third-party (aftermarket) vendor cartridges leave a startling
amount of ink unused when they read empty. In fact, some inkjet
printers force users to replace black ink cartridges when the cartridge
is nearly half full, PC World has found....
"Test Center results show that models from Canon, Epson, and Kodak
reported ink cartridges as being empty when in some cases the tanks had
40 percent of their black ink remaining....
"The quantity of unused ink ranged from about 8 percent in an
Epson-brand cartridge to a whopping 45 percent in an aftermarket
cartridge for a Canon printer. After posting low-ink warnings, those
printers wouldn't let us resume printing until we inserted a new
cartridge....
"An average black-ink cartridge contains 8 milliliters of ink and
costs about $10 which translates into a cost of $1.25 per milliliter
(or more horrifyingly, $1250 per liter)....
"'I personally think that consumers are getting ripped off,' says
Steve Pociask, president of the American Consumer Institute, a
nonprofit educational and research institute in Washington, DC."
Editor's note: We can't recommend laser printers enough. Laser toner
is much less costly per page than ink and needs to be replaced far less
often, and it doesn't dry out like ink tends to do. Black & white
laser printers start at under $100, and some color laser printers sell
for under $300. We've been using Brother b&w lasers and a Magicolor
color laser printer at Low End Mac headquarters for some time and still
haven't used up the original toner cartridges. A color toner set isn't
cheap ($220 for our Magicolor), but you may be able to find a local
vendor who refills toner cartridges - or try your hand at refilling
your spent toner cartridges. dk
Link:
How Much Ink Is Left in That Dead Cartridge?
If Windows Is a Dead End, What's Next?
InfoWorld
says:
"The writing is on the wall. Despite a major push to sell the
much-maligned Windows Vista, customers aren't buying. Nearly two years
after Vista's release, Windows XP remains the standard desktop OS in
business, and Microsoft has extended its availability three times
(currently to August 2009) due to customer demand. Microsoft itself
forecasts just 2 percent growth in Vista sales in early 2009, after
lackluster sales in 2008. And that's after forcing customers to buy
Vista to get XP 'downgrades.'
"So all eyes were on Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference
in Los Angeles last week as Microsoft finally took the wrap off Windows
7, the successor to Vista due in early 2010.
"But early reaction is that Windows 7 is just a cleaned-up Vista.
It's essentially the same kernel and the same OS, with a couple new
technologies thrown in....
"If Windows 7 is more of the same, then maybe it's time to conclude
that Windows is a technology dead end. Last spring, Gartner warned that
Microsoft had to radically change Windows or watch it fade into
irrelevancy. Windows 7 is not that radical change...."
Link: If
Windows Is a Dead End, What's Next?
Separating Fact from Fiction about Blu-ray
Thomas Fitzgerald says:
"Ever since Steve Jobs launched the new Apple Laptops at a special
event in Cupertino recently, one story has done the rounds with quite a
degree of ferocity, and it has nothing to do with the Notebooks that
were released. During the Q&A session afterwards, when asked why
there were no Blu-ray drives in the new notebooks Steve Jobs responded
by saying that currently Blu-ray was 'a bag of hurt'. This comment has
unsurprisingly been seized upon by many and twisted and contorted to
mean a dozen different things. Once again, though, the dialog
surrounding this has shown that there is quite a lot of misinformation
floating around in cyberspace about Blu-ray and this gave the format's
detractors another opportunity to jump on their collective soap boxes
spread the myths about the format, most of which are simply not true.
In light of this what follows is a look at some of the most common
perceptions about Blu-ray and why they're wrong....
"Blu-ray is a fantastic and rapidly growing format. The reason that
Apple has chosen not to include Blu-ray in their notebooks at this time
is far more likely to do with economic reasons than anything to do with
the future viability of the platform...."
Link:
Beyond the 'Bag of Hurt': Separating Fact from Fiction about
Blu-ray
Apple Updates
Macs That Work with 64-bit Editions of Microsoft
Windows Vista
A new Apple Knowledge Base
article says:
64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows Vista are supported on certain
Intel-based Macs via Boot Camp. (Boot Camp is included with Mac OS X
10.5 Leopard).
Products Affected
Boot Camp, MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), Microsoft
Windows Vista (64 bit editions)
These Macs support 64-bit editions of Windows Vista:
- Mac Pro (Early 2008)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2008)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2008)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008)
Link: Boot
Camp: Macs That Work with 64-bit Editions of Microsoft Windows
Vista
Products
OWC High Performance SuperDrive Upgrades for
Macs
PR: Other World Computing (OWC) has announced a full
selection of SuperDrive DVD and CD reader/writer options for legacy to
current Intel-based Apple computers. Available from $29.99 for Internal
and from $71.99 for FireWire + USB 2.0 external models, OWC SuperDrive
upgrades feature faster read/write DVD, Dual-Layer DVD, and CD burn
speeds up to 20x for DVDs and 48x for CDs. In addition to standard
support for DVD±R/RW, CD-R/RW, DVD-DL formats, models are also
available with features including Blu-ray, LightScribe laser labeling,
and DVD-RAM. OWC SuperDrive upgrades and solutions provide
cost-effective options for adding the latest optical drive performance
and features to virtually any system with "Plug and Play" ease.
Optical Drive Upgrades for Almost Every Mac Introduced Over the
Last Decade
Whether upgrading from a factory-installed read-only drive,
replacing an older slower SuperDrive, or expanding drive configuration,
OWC has internal and external SuperDrive upgrades available for nearly
every desktop/tower and notebook Mac computer model introduced over the
last decade, including Mac Pro; PowerMac G3/G4/G5; G4 Cube; iMac G4/G5;
Mac mini; eMac; PowerBook G4 Titanium 15"; PowerBook G4 12/15/17"
Aluminum; and iBook G4.
"You don't need to buy a new Mac to have the latest optical drive
technology," said Larry O'Connor, President, Other World Computing.
"It's very cost effective and easy to upgrade your existing Mac with
today's faster optical drive solutions featuring the latest read/write
technologies. For some Macs, just replacing the stock optical drive
with an OWC SuperDrive is all that is needed to use Apple Leopard OS
10.5, in addition to enjoying all the extra capabilities of the new
drive."
OWC SuperDrive Upgrades have been fully tested for compatibility
with most Apple and Windows built-in and third party DVD/CD tools and
players, including Apple iTunes, Apple Disc Burner, Apple iDVD, Apple
DVD Studio Pro, EMC Retrospect Express, NTI DragonBurn, Roxio Toast,
Roxio Easy Media Creator, and Nero Burning. Printed instructions and
online installation videos show how easy it is to install and use the
latest OWC SuperDrive Upgrade.
Rebates up to $45 for Old Drive
OWC offers
rebates of up to $45 to users who send in an older working optical
drive to upgrade to a new, faster optical drive purchased from OWC.
Link: OWC
SuperDrive Upgrades
The Hammacher Schlemmer LP to Digital Music
Converter
PR: This is the belt-driven turntable
that converts your prized vinyl records to digital music files and
saves them on a computer, allowing you to easily store and preserve
classic out-of-print music, comedy, and spoken-word recordings for
playback on a computer or transfer to an iPod.
The device connects to a computer via USB and, in addition to
providing high-speed vinyl audio conversion to MP3, the turntable plays
LPs at 33-1/3 and 45 rpm speeds (adapter included), and its adjustable
anti-skating control provides increased stereo balancing. Includes 1/8"
RCA output and cable for connection to a stereo system equipped with
either a CD or AUX input. Protected by a dust cover, the system
includes recording and cleaning software (PC/Mac) for breaking songs
into individual tracks and the removal of scratches, hisses, and pops,
but will operate with any software that supports USB audio-input sound
cards. 20 1/4" W x 3" H x 17" D. (8 3/4 lb.)
$129.95
Available for Immediate Shipment.
Link: Hammacher
Schlemmer LP to Digital Music Converter
Editor's note: Some other low cost USB turntables we're aware of are
the Ion TTUSB Turntable with USB Record (currently $96.97 at Amazon.com,
customer rated at 3.5 stars), the ION TTUSB05 USB Turntable ($95.14 at
Amazon.com,
4 stars), the Sony PS-LX300USB USB Stereo Turntable System ($122.43 at
Amazon.com,
3.5 stars), the Numark TTUSB Turntable with USB ($111.44 at Amazon.com,
4 stars), and the top rated Audio Technica AT-LP2DUSB LP-to-Digital
Recording System with USB ($96.71 at Amazon.com,
4.5 stars). We hope to review one of these in coming months.
dk
Software
Free Lotus Symphony 1.2 Beta for Mac
PR: At the OpenOffice.org (OO) Conference, IBM has announced
a long-term commitment to the OpenDocument Format (ODF) by unveiling a
roadmap for the expansion of the free Lotus Symphony office application
suite to Macintosh, Ubuntu Linux, OpenOffice 3.0, and Microsoft Office
customers.
In his keynote speech, Michael Karasick, Director of IBM Lotus China
Development Labs, outlined the evolution of Symphony, which first
appeared as a public beta on September 18, 2007. The newest version is
now available in beta for the first time for the Apple Macintosh
operating system (Mac OS X), and Symphony for Canonical's Ubuntu 8.0.4
Linux is also available. These new platforms reflect growing demand for
Symphony, which has already been downloaded more than three million
times worldwide in 28 languages.
Karasick also pointed forward to the Symphony roadmap for 2009, when
future generations of Symphony will be developed entirely on the ODF
1.2 and OpenOffice 3.0 software code base, bringing it in line with the
newest OO technology. This advance will also enable seamless
interoperability with Microsoft Office 2007 file formats and support
Visual Basic macros next year. IBM plans to deliver more than 60 new
features to Symphony in 2009, building it into a versatile tool for
work while pledging to keep it free on the Web for all. By
synchronizing Symphony's user interface with the underlying OpenOffice
3.0 code base, IBM expects the upcoming wave of planned contributions
to make a significant impact to the OpenOffice developer community and
its users throughout 2009 and beyond.
Mac OS X support is among the top requests made by the members of
the Symphony community. The IBM Symphony development team worked to
ensure that Symphony not only works on Mac OS X but is tuned to take
advantage of the Aqua GUI theme, with the originality and simplicity
Mac customers have enjoyed. Initially available in English, Symphony
for Mac OS X will get global language support as it progresses out of
beta to general availability.
Another top request, support for Symphony on Ubuntu 8.0.4 Linux, has
quickly moved to general availability. Symphony 1.1 provides a Debian
package optimized for Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron). Ubuntu is a community
developed operating system for laptops, desktops and servers noted for
its ease of use, array of application support and focus on being
ready-to-use.
"Support for Mac and Ubuntu are good examples of IBM's long-term
commitment to critical standards like the Open Document format," said
Karasick. "As we rebase Symphony on OpenOffice 3.0, we are very excited
about providing next- generation document creation and collaboration
capabilities for the millions of potential users out there. IBM also
sees the potential for the global developer community to use Symphony
extensibility in concert with that of ODF 1.2, so that documents can be
more deeply integrated into business applications and processes."
IBM Lotus Symphony is based on OpenOffice code, with IBM
enhancements that allow new capabilities through Eclipse plugins and
incorporate some of the OpenOffice 3.0 code. Plugins extend the power
of the individual to accomplish more varied tasks with Symphony than
they could otherwise accomplish with alternatives like Microsoft
Office. For example, Internet searches launched from within a document
could save time while drawing precise data into the right context,
increasing accuracy and impact. A Symphony plugin for IBM's Yahoo
Omnifind Personal Edition search tool can help accomplish just that.
Another example is the Symphony accessibility plugin, which enables the
visually impaired to easily work with word processing, slide or
spreadsheet files. The accessibility plug- in uses an audio screen
reader to inform the individual of the content and status as changes
are made. For a full list of currently available Symphony plugins at no
charge, visit
(http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/plugin.nsf/home).
The underlying use of Eclipse through Lotus Expeditor allows
developers to use open tools to customize the Symphony user interface
so individuals can change their view of, and access to, desktop
utilities such as file menus and toolbars for greater personal
efficiency. Symphony 1.2 also contains data pilot tables, also known as
pivot tables, which lets people quickly and easily sort large
spreadsheets in more meaningful ways, making the spreadsheet data far
more applicable and accessible to business activities.
All types of users can benefit from Lotus Symphony - spanning the
spectrum of business, government and philanthropic organizations across
the globe. A valuable business tool as well as a way to reduce costs,
Symphony is being used by:
- Alok Industries, a publicly traded textile and apparel fabric
manufacturer in Mumbai, India.
- The Anglican Church of Australia, based in Sydney, which is openly
phasing out Office in favor of Symphony for an estimated US$150,000 in
annual savings. Client organizations that benefit from Church community
services will also use Symphony, including schools, youth groups and
aged care facilities.
- Calvary Baptist Academy, a private school located in Shreveport,
LA, which is using Symphony as part of a small-medium business solution
led by Lotus Foundations and delivered by IBM business partner, Altis
Computer Systems.
- DotRiver, a French computer services firm focusing on
virtualization and storage technology.
- The Hester Group, a Jacksonville, Florida-based branding and
marketing group specializing in public awareness service announcements
for diverse demographics. Symphony is part of a small-medium business
solution with the Lotus Foundations software appliance, delivered by
IBM business partner OnSite Technology, Inc.
- Grupo Schahin, one of Brazil's largest, multi-industry
conglomerates in banking, energy, aerospace, telecommunications and
other sectors.
- Pearson, an international media company with world-leading
businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing
based in the United Kingdom and New York.
- Premier Auto Electric Ltd (PAE), a nationwide distributor of
automotive parts in India.
- Sinochem Corporation, a Beijing, China-based, state-owned
petrochemical company helping to align the transformation of
agriculture, energy and chemicals with the development of China's
economy.
- Smartline, an award-winning financial services firm in New South
Wales, Australia.
- Suntel, a national telecommunications leader in Sri Lanka, which
installed Symphony in place of Office.
- Winsol, a Belgium-based manufacturer of PVC and aluminum doors and
other housing products.
"After one day of using Lotus Symphony, some of my users asked if
they could uninstall their Microsoft Office software," said Katia
Sanfins, CIO of Schahin Engineering, Grupo Schahin.
At least 80 percent of traditional and nontraditional office workers
are considered "task users," who create and edit documents,
spreadsheets and presentations. People in customer service and most
roles in other corporate support functions fit this use pattern. These
categories constitute the majority of Symphony users. Another category
that is migrating to Symphony consists of "medium power users" - those
with more robust needs for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
These users - such as sales departments working with clients - requires
stronger interoperability to enable collaboration with Microsoft Office
users.
"Lotus Symphony is an exciting offering which can save our business
real dollars, up to $600 per seat. Standardising our platform Office
productivity suite will allow us to streamline development by
maintaining a single codebase and reduce IT support issues," said
Ganesh Radhakrishnan, IT Manager, Smartline Mortgage Services. "I have
been using it to load in a huge complex spreadsheet and everything
works perfectly."
"Our initial evaluation and pilot of Lotus Symphony has gone very
well. We see a lot of potential in leveraging Lotus Symphony,
especially in support of our Mac OS X users, and look forward to
participating in this beta," said Michael Colucci, VP of Architecture,
Engineering and Support, Pearson.
"I have used the Symphony software and have found it to be as good
as or better than Microsoft Word," said Kathy Rutledge, Calvary Baptist
Academy. "After using MS Word for eighteen years, I was hesitant to
even try another word processing program. But after giving Symphony a
chance, I found it very user-friendly. I would recommend Symphony to
anyone looking for a user-friendly software that includes word
processing, slide presentation, and spreadsheet capabilities."
Lotus Symphony for Mac requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later.
Link: Lotus
Symphony for Mac
Eudora 8.0b4 Released
PR: Open Source email client now based on Thunderbird
client
Eudora is a mail and news application from Qualcomm based on the
open source Thunderbird client from Mozilla.
Qualcomm is committed to both preserving the Eudora user experience
and to maintaining maximum compatibility, for both developers and
users, with Thunderbird, and to build a single development community
around Thunderbird and Eudora, so that both mailers advance faster than
they previously have.
Whereas "Eudora" is a branded version of Thunderbird with some extra
features added by the Eudora developers, "Penelope" is an extension
(also called an "add-on") that is used in Eudora and can also be used
with Thunderbird. The Eudora installer includes the corresponding
version of Penelope along with it so there is no need to install
Penelope if you are installing Eudora. Most features in Penelope can be
accessed when used with Thunderbird, but there are a few that require
Eudora in order to work correctly and it's not something that gets
tested.
Sometimes in documentation there is a need to differentiate the
older versions of Eudora made by Qualcomm from current
Thunderbird-based versions of Eudora. This will normally be done by
labeling the older versions of Eudora as "original Eudora" or "Classic
Eudora".
The latest beta release of Eudora, version 8.0.0b4 (which includes
the Penelope extension version 0.5a1) is now available for
download.
The main web page for Eudora/Penelope can be found at <http://wiki.mozilla.org/Penelope>
System requirements
- Mac:
- Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.x and later
- Minimum Hardware: Macintosh computer with an Intel x86 or PowerPC
G3, G4, or G5 processor - 128 MB RAM (Recommended: 256 MB RAM or
greater) - 200 MB hard drive space
- Windows and Linux versions also available.
Link: Eudora 8
Desktop Mac
Deals
Low End Mac updates the following price trackers monthly:
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
iBook G4, PowerBook G3, and iBook G3 deals.
We also track iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle deals.
