In the world of personal computing, you can never have too much speed, too much RAM, too much drive space, or too many USB ports.
Category Archives: Mac Accessories
I don’t own a Mac mini, and I don’t plan on buying one, so why in the world would I be interested in the NewerTech miniStack? For those not familiar with the miniStack, it’s one of many “zero footprint” drives designed to sit under the Mac mini and match its design.
Many Mac users from way back in the legacy era consider the old ADB Apple Extended Keyboard II to be the best keyboard Apple ever made. Others of us might debate that, but the Extended Keyboard II was certainly the biggest, heaviest keyboard Apple ever made, covering a vast expanse of desktop and weighing in […]
The latest thing in laptops is using them as desktops. Devices such as the Lapvantage Dome and forthcoming Oyster Laptop Dock let you move your ‘Book off the desk to position the screen at a more comfortable, more ergonomically correct height.
I couldn’t believe it – a US$19 USB extended keyboard! At that price, it was worth a try. From the photo (below), it looked like a match for the Apple Extended Keyboard layout, or at least very close.
I’ve been using a different mouse and keyboard this week. I didn’t have to, but I wanted the full USB experience.
Supporting a over 80 Macs in three locations, consistency is very important. Most of the Macs at work are still running System 7.5.5. Newer ones are generally on Mac OS 8.1 or 8.6. We use the Apple ADB Mouse (in its various incarnations) almost exclusively, along with the Contour UniMouse on Macs without ADB ports.
1999 – Imagine something smaller, lighter, and far less expensive than an iBook. Imagine writing on a keyboard with no Mac attached. That’s one way of looking at the AlphaSmart 2000, the device I’m writing this review on.
First, thank you to Adesso for supplying a keyboard for this review. Since the advent of the Power Mac G4, we have to find a new keyboard we can use at work – the G4 has no ADB port for our old Apple Extended, Apple Adjustable, MicroSpeed KB-105M, or Adesso Nu-Form ADB keyboards.
1999 – I got home last night to find another box from Contour Design waiting for me. (The first one came in February; it contained the Contour USB UniMouse, a very nice three-button mouse for the iMac and the Blue & White Power Mac G3.)
I got home last night to find a box from Contour Design waiting for me. Contour Design? It didn’t quite ring a bell, until I got inside and saw the green box marked UniMouse.
Sometimes you just have more Macs than monitors – or wish you could free up some space in your network center. But you need a keyboard and mouse to run your Macs, and a monitor to see what you’re doing.
The greatest obstacle to third party mice is the quality of Apple’s mice. Although the early Lisa/Macintosh mouse was a rather chunky affair, it was good enough – and the Mac market was small enough to attract little competition. Also, Apple’s mouse came free with the computer.
There have been alternatives to the Apple keyboard since the Mac Plus era. Macs introduced from 1984 through 1986 were plagued with a particularly thick, clunky keyboard.