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 The iNews Review.
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
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.
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.
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:
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.
