Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by
Dan Knight
- 2005.05.27
This Week's Apple and Desktop Mac News
PowerBook, iBook, iPod, and other portable computing is covered
in The 'Book Review. iPod news is
covered in The iNews Review.
News & Opinion
Tips
Reviews
Products and Services
News & Opinion
Macs Replace University's Linux Desktops
Computerworld Today's Rodney Gedda reports:
"Hope of Linux tackling the desktop market has suffered a
reality check with the University of Melbourne's Trinity College
dumping the penguin in favor of Unix cousin Mac OS X, not
x86-based rival, Windows.
"A lab of 20 PCs running Debian GNU/Linux will be replaced by
G5 iMacs with the compelling
reasons for the migration being a 'slick user interface' and ease
of use, according to Trinity College systems administrator Tim
Bell....
"An additional 33 eMacs
are being purchased for the library and administration along with
Xserve RAID storage systems for server backups."
Mac mini in Popular Science
123macmini.com reports:
"The June issue of Popular Science Magazine has an article about
the Mac mini entitled Mac of
All Trades on pages 87-88. The article covers the Mac mini in the
living room and in the car, as well as setting the mini up as a web
server and phone switch box. We are pleased to report the article
mentions 123Macmini.com...."
Mac of All Trades: Tiny and Affordable mini
Does It All
Popular Science's Mike Haney says:
"The most amazing thing about Apple's new Mac Mini isn't its
diminutive size, although you can't help but be surprised at how
small it is when you see it in person (about the size of a stack of
five CDs). Nor is it the price, although it is the first Mac to
break the $500 barrier (provided you supply your own display,
keyboard and mouse). The most amazing thing is how an entry-level
computer aimed at grandparents and switchers (PC users migrating to
the Mac) has ignited the geek community into thinking outside the
6.5-square-inch box....
"One of the most popular ideas to emerge was using it as a
living-room computer for recording TV and storing and playing back
movies, music and photos. It even inspired an ad hoc group of
programmers to begin working feverishly on a Mac equivalent to the
Media Center Edition of Windows XP. Called CenterStage, the
customizable, open-source app will provide a 10-foot interface to
navigate your media with a remote control. (Follow the group's
progress at centerstageproject.com.) Meanwhile, car tuners noticed
that the Mini fit nicely in a glove box, kicking off a flurry of
sleek "car-puter" installations. Sound like fun? On the next page
you'll find details on what you need for these two projects and a
couple others, as well as instructions for cracking open the Mini
for home upgrades."
Tips
FireWire Drive Boosts mini Disk Performance by
75%
budget-ha.com says:
"While Apple's Mac Mini is a great little machine for the money,
it comes with an excruciating slow hard drive. Upgrade options
exist, but no single option seemed to be the obvious choice for me.
I decided to go the FireWire Enclosure route after a lot of
research. Here's my thought process and results. I spent way too
long trying to figure out if this was a good option, maybe this'll
help you make the decision faster and in a more informed
way....
"Conclusion:
"A 75% increase in disk performance, making about a 15% overall
performance (Xbench benchmark) increase for the entire system. A
decent desktop disk in a FireWire Enclosure is 75% faster than the
Apple supplied disk, and yes it was certainly worth the $50
something I ended up spending after tax seeing how I already had a
drive. Even if you had to buy a drive, which I didn't, I think it
would be well worth the money."
Installing Fedora Core Linux on the Mac
mini
redhat.com's Colin Charles says:
"The Apple Mac mini is
Apple's latest offer in the arena of groovy computing. It also
serves a Linux geek's bliss: it sports an affordable PowerPC system
in a small, quiet, stackable, and attractive case....
"Turning it on, you get automatically booted into Mac OS X.
Don't get too used to it just yet, because to get Fedora on your
Mac mini, the disk is going to have to be repartitioned.
"This only applies to those wanting to dual-boot Fedora Core
alongside Mac OS X; if that's not you, skip over to the
section called "Starting with Fedora". Seeing that the Fedora Core
installer can't resize HFS+ partitions, and there's only one large
partition in the factory default shipped mode, its time to get the
installer DVD and reboot with it. When rebooting, hold down the "C"
key to boot from the optical media drive....
"To install Fedora Core on your Mac mini, you need to download
the ISOs. At the time of writing, the current release available is
Fedora Core 4 Test 3, and it comes in a set of 5 CD downloads, or 1
DVD, and is available from Fedora Red Hat. While test releases are
not recommended for general user installation (you even get a
warning at the start of the installation), you can be relatively
assured that most things work rather well in the test release -
however, waiting for Fedora Core 4 to be released is also an
option. Keep in mind that the PowerPC architecture port only made
its way out since the Fedora Core 4 cycle; it was always previously
based from the development tree."
Reviews
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.7 GHz vs. Dual Xeon PC
digitalvideoediting.com reports:
"....Apple has put a hot rod under the hood this time. It's the
Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL, with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory on
board. Even though its AGP 8x spec still falls far short of the
best graphics cards available on the PC platform today, this $450
option is certainly better than the run-of-the-mill cards usually
found inside Macs....
"After taking the scenic route through the insides of this
veritable essay of industrial design, it was time to harness it to
the test bench and see what it could do. For the first time ever,
here at the Midwest Test Facility, could this new Mac beat the
fastest PC? Well, yes and no. It came close, and beat our
eight-month-old Dell dual Xeon 3.6 GHz test machine in some of the
benchmarks, but overall, it still isn't as fast as our fastest,
albeit elderly PC. It's certainly telling that Intel's Xeon chips
from last year are still faster than the nearly speed-stuck IBM
PowerPC chips inhabiting Macintoshes. We can only hope that somehow
Apple will decide to start using Intel or even AMD chips in its
computers and at the same time find a way to quickly and
efficiently adapt all its magnificent software to a processor
manufacturer that has proven to be a more dependable source of
continuous speed and efficiency upgrades.... Irony of ironies, it's
IBM , that evil empire alluded to in Apple's 1984 commercial so
many years ago, that's supplying these chips that can't keep up and
are holding Apple back from its true potential. All that said, it's
still worth it to use a Mac because of its excellent operating
system, its futuristic industrial design, and its growing
collection some of the best software in the world. Even better, the
hardware and software are all now available at prices that are, at
the high end, lower than those on the Windows platform."
Products and Services
PaperHub: USB 2.0 Hub, FireWire Hub, and
Paper Tray
PR: Introducing
the PaperHub, the first Art-Techo product from Pressure Drop. The
Patent Pending idea to wrap state-of-the-art technology in what the
unknowing eye will assume is a very cool office accessory, wasn't
enough for us. We fused style into every line and every arc, and
built the unit from solid aluminum to give you a peripheral you
will want to show off- not hide behind your desk amidst a tangle of
cables like an evil technology-spider waiting to bite your
leg.
Overview
- 4 FireWire 400 downstream ports
- 4 USB 2.0/1.1 downstream ports
- The most ports of any hub today
- 2) hubs use just 1 power supply
- U.S. Letter-sized paper trays top and bottom
- Environmentally friendly aluminum, anodized for protection
- Polyurethane feet protect fine furniture
- One year warranty
Now shipping.
Price: $149.99
Newer Technology Introduces Accessories for Mac
mini
PR: Other World Computing (OWC) and Newer Technology
(NewerTech) are offering four acrylic accessories for Apple
Computer's popular mini - the
NuStand mini, NuClear mini, NuBlue mini and NuShelf mini. Prices
range from $24.95 to $39.95.
"The biggest appeal of the mini is its size, said Larry
O'Connor, president of OWC. "Our new accessories take advantage of
that size to improve its functionality. You can hide it under your
monitor, sneak it under a desk or put it on a pedestal."
The NuStand mini is a curved acrylic stand that allows you to
slip the mini underneath and a monitor on top. The stand supports
CRT displays up to 22 inches and LCD displays up to 30 inches. It
retails for $39.95.
The NuShelf mini
attaches to the bottom of a desktop or shelf and allows you to slip
the mini inside. It retails for $34.95.
The NuClear mini is a perfectly cut 0.75" piece of acrylic
plastic that raises your mini off the desk. It retails for $24.95.
The NuBlue mini is the same perfectly cut acrylic base but with a
cool blue glow. It retails for $29.95.
Save with AppleCare Direct at The Mac Support
Store
PR: Most people buy AppleCare that ships in a box. What's
in the box? A registration postcard and a diagnostic CD.
But did you know you can buy the same coverage for less money
when you buy AppleCare Direct from The Mac Support Store?
It's very simple -
- Enter your name, address, and serial number
- We'll confirm if your Mac is eligible for AppleCare
- Buy AppleCare Direct
- You're covered on order completion
AppleCare Protection Plan extends your computer's 90 days of
complimentary support and one-year warranty to up to three years of
world-class support - and provides you with long-term peace of
mind.
AppleCare in a box: Mac mini $149, iMac/eMac $169, iBook $249,
Power Mac $249, PowerBook $349
- Plus Shipping Costs
- Delayed Coverage
- Confirmation by Mail
AppleCare Direct Mac mini $138.17, iMac/eMac $157.11, iBook
$219.32, Power Mac $219.04, PowerBook $321.11
- No Shipping Costs
- Instant Coverage
- Confirmation by Email and Mail
After you buy AppleCare Direct, we'll email you a store receipt
and a separate email with an enclosed PDF of your official
confirmation with Apple Computer.
In 6-10 weeks, you'll also receive a mailed notice from Apple
confirming the previous AppleCare enrollment date.
There is some discussion of this at Jackwhispers:
Pleiades USB-FX 3.5" USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Enclosure
PR: The Pleiades USB-FX, a slim, stylish and
powerful aluminum enclosure for your 3.5" Serial or Parallel ATA
hard drive. Features fanless design and passive cooling, ideal for
multimedia users and quiet working environments.
Ports: 1 USB 2.0 High Speed (4-pin)
Data Transfer
- USB 2.0 up to 480 Mbps (60 MB/s)
- USB 1.1 up to 12 Mbps (1.5 MB/s)
Windows Requirements
- USB 2.0: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
- USB 1.1: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
- Your hardware device must have proper port or PCI card
Mac Requirements
- USB 2.0: Mac OS 10.2 or higher
- USB 1.1: Mac OS 9.1 or higher (You must update the USB
extension to v1.41 or higher between Mac OS 8.6 and Mac OS
9.04)
- Your hardware device must have proper port or PCI card
Power Supply
- External Power Adapter universal auto-switching (UL, cUL, CE,
TUV approved)
- Input: AC 100-240V, 1.2A, 50-60 Hz
- Output: DC +5V/2A, +12V/2A
Enclosure Size: 22.8 cm x 13.7 cm x 3.5 cm
Packing Accessories
- Pleiades USB 2.0 Enclosure
- USB 2.0 cable (4-pin x 4-pin)
- Power adapter plus cord, feet, screw package, driver CD,
manual
Bridge Chipset: J-Micron 20338
Case Material: Aluminum with internal metal chassis for
optimized heat dissipation
Application: Any single 3.5" Parallel or Serial ATA Hard Drive
(Desktop size) ATA-6 compatible! Only one hard drive can be
installed, either a Serial ATA hard drive or a parallel ATA hard
drive.
Western Digital's Simple-to-Use Network Hard
Drive
PR: Western Digital Corp. introduced its NetCenter
network hard drives for small office and home users. NetCenter
network drives are the newest addition to the WD Essential external
hard drive product family. In just three simple steps, WD's
NetCenter network hard drives make it easy to share and save
digital pictures, video and MP3 files, and printers across small
office and home networks using a wired or wireless router. Users
simply plug in WD's NetCenter network drive, run the installation
wizard and use WD's EasyLink utility to set up the NetCenter
network drive as a local drive on any PC and Macintosh computer on
the network.
WD's
NetCenter network drives will be available next month (June 2005)
in capacities ranging from 160 to 320 GB and are perfect for small
office and home users who want to centralize and share their
digital files and/or connect and share up to two printers on a
computer network. With WD's NetCenter network drives, users can
also create private, password-protected folders; back up files from
any computer on the network; access files anytime from any computer
on the network, even when all other computers are powered off; and
connect additional external hard drives to increase storage
capacity for multiple computers on the network. WD's NetCenter
network drives also allow for real-time duplication of
data.
NetCenter network drives feature:
- WD Caviar SE 7,200 RPM hard drive inside for fast, quiet and
cool operation without a fan
- 10/100Base-T Ethernet connection
- Common Internet File System (CIFS) for platform-independent
file sharing
- Two hot-swappable USB host ports
- WD EasyLink utility to set up NetCenter as a local drive on any
computer on the network
- NetCenter Manager software to easily view system status, share
folders and printers, set up mirroring for real-time duplication of
disk data, create and resize volumes
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client for automatic
assignment of TCP/IP addresses
- Automatic power management when the NetCenter hard drive is
idle
- Kensington security slot
Suggested retail pricing is $399 USD for WD's NetCenter network
drive with 320 GB capacity (model WDXE3200JBN). To mark the
introduction of WD's NetCenter network drives, customers who
preorder a NetCenter network drive 320 GB capacity from WD's online
store by May 31, 2005, will receive $30 off and free standard
shipping.
"Storage networking has never been easier," said Lonnie Arima,
vice president and general manager for WD's retail products group.
"Today's PC and Mac users want the convenience and flexibility a
network offers, without the hassle. With NetCenter network drives,
that's exactly what they get. In just a few simple steps, users can
be up-and-running, sharing files across a network."
WD Caviar SE hard drives were recently lauded by independent
hardware reviewer Tom's Hardware Guide (link below) which concluded
that WD Caviar SE desktop hard drives are "very fast and nearly
silent." Designed to provide the best desktop computer performance,
WD Caviar SE hard drives are equipped with 8 MB cache, FDB
(fluid dynamic bearing) motors and Shock Guard which allows
instantaneous data protection at high shock value. Data Lifeguard
embedded error detection and repair features automatically find,
isolate and repair problem areas that may develop over extended use
of the hard drive.
A demonstration of the new NetCenter network drive is available
during E3 Expo being held in Los Angeles May 18-20, 2005. A
demonstration may also be viewed on the company's website.
Desktop Mac
Deals
Low End Mac updates the following price trackers every two
weeks:
For deals on laptops, see our Best PowerBook G4 Deals,
Best iBook G4 Deals,
and Best iBook G3
Deals. For deals on iPods, see our Best iPod Deals.
