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May 16th through 23rd Archives

Tuesday, May 23rd 2000 00:01 CDT

Pismo: Four Months Later

We've got a feature editorial today, discussing how Pismo has fared, having been around for almost four months. Given its overseas introduction, is it something Apple doesn't want to highlight? Or a worthy successor to Apple's well-refined PowerBooks? Find out our view here.

Any Interest in iBookesque Cover for 1400?

For those of you visiting on PowerBook 1400s, enterprising reader Andrew has a question for you:

I've been thinking about producing these [1400 "bookcovers" to make the PowerBook resemble an iBook-Ed.] myself... maybe there is no market for them, however, with the recent introduction of a 333mhz G3 upgrade for the Powerbook 1400, and the popularity of the ibook (which incidently runs at the same speed), I would think people would jump at the chance to make their 1400 have an "ibook"-esque feel to it. Do you think such an idea would fly?

On Tap for PBZone

Tomorrow we have a review of Adaptec's SlimSCSI PC Card for SCSI-less Pismo PowerBooks. Stay tuned!

Monday, May 22nd 2000 00:01 CDT

What do Millionaire Winners Do With Their Cash?

Keep in mind that this is sort of a second-hand story, so don't sweat the details. Anyway, last night's episode of ABC's wildly popular Who Wants to be a Millionaire was a "champions" episode, asking back previous winners who had won more than $250,000 on the show. One champion, when asked what he had bought with his winnings, replied:

"Nothing, except for a PowerBook"

Spire's Vurt Bag Reviewed

We're pleased to present our second full review from Todd Kelly. You can read his review of Spire's Vurt PowerBook bag here

BookEndz Feedback

Reader Paul replies to our review:

I had a Bookdenz for my Wallstreet PB a while back, and ran into a problem similar to that of the ViaVoice one. The specs for the bookendz clearly stated that it was "100% compatible" with my PowerBook. However, the Bookendz manual indicated otherwise. It said something about the mic port not being comptaible with Apple's PlainTalk microphone, due to Apple not giving them the necessary info to make it compatible.

Since I had previously been using Apple Speech Recoginition software with my PB & PlainTalk mic, I found this both inconvenient and misleading. If the Bookendz mic port isn't compatible with PlainTalk or ViaVoice mics, this needs to be stated up front -- both on the outside of the box and on their web site. After all, 100% compatible should mean 100% compatible, right?

Friday, May 19th 2000 00:49 CDT

Sonnet Upgrades Flying Off Shelves, Stock Reported

Dave of UpgradeStuff.com writes:

I just found out that we'll be receiving enough of the 333/512K PowerBook 1400 upgrades to satisfy backorders by tomorrow, and we'll have extras. We haven't been able to even put these on a shelf, let alone keep them there, until now. Looks like Sonnet is catching up with demand

BookEndz Feedback: No ViaVoice

Reader Bob writes:

i have been using a PB G3 bookendz for three years and wouldn't want to live without it, so when i got a pismo i waited to fully replace it at the office until the bookendz 2000 was released, in the interim i fell in love with via voice, so i was disturbed when a thread on another mac site indicated that the jacks and plugs on the bookendz wouldn't work with the via voice mike. i confirmed this with pilot, only solution appears to be buying a usb headset. expensive workaround.

Thursday, May 18th 2000 10:25 CDT

Pilot Technologies BookEndz Review

Today we've got a review by guest author Todd Kelly for you. His review covers the Pilot Technologies BookEndz docking station product for the Pismo class of PowerBooks. If you remember correctly, Newer Technology used to sell the "BookEndz" product, but it turns out that Pilot Technologies was manufacturing the line for Newer, not an uncommon practice in the technology retail world. Long story short, Pilot decided to sell BookEndz on their own. The review's positive for the product, so give it a look.

Cheap and Massive Pismo RAM

Several readers have let us know that MemoryToGo.com is offering 256 MB of RAM marked for use with Pismo PowerBooks for only $189 plus shipping. They ship via FedEx and one reader reports being very happy about the extra RAM.

New PowerBook Discussion List

Every now and then we get a note about something like this and we're happy to post it up here:

I recently hunted around for a Mac PowerBook mail list, but couldn't find anything specific. So I went to eGroups and started one today.

http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/Mac-PowerBook

The description states that it's focused on audio, video and design professionals, but that's mostly an attempt to steer conversation towards users who are setting up new PowerBooks, peripherals and software (under MacOS 8.6, 9 and X). This kind of thing benefits greatly from shared experience!

I'm hoping to gather support from all the great Mac sites that I read daily, such as PBZone. I will continue to visit and direct list members to interesting stories (with links, no copy/paste :). The list is not intended to be competitive whatsoever.

Thanks in advance! I look forward to some great, detailed, and especially obscure, 'Book conversation.

Apple Clears up Rubber Feet Problem on Tech Board

We don't know if we're going to cause a stampede to the Apple tech support message boards, but news is news:

Thanks for the info. But I got even luckier. I posted the problem on the Apple Powerbook tech board, and within minutes an Apple rep emailed me, asking for my serial number and address, which I gave him. Then he told me that replacement feet were being mailed to me and my posting had been taken off the board. Looks like they're probably aware of the problem. Thanks again.

Wednesday, May 17th 2000 00:01 CDT

WWDC Happenings

This year's WWDC has not been as exciting as last year's event for The PowerBook Zone, as a new PowerBook was introduced last year. However, there have still been some significant announcements and introductions.

However, you've probably already read these announcements on other sites (MacNN, and our own X Appeal are doing a good job), so we're not going to bore you. X Appeal's Sunday and Monday reports are especially nice and detailed, giving more of a feel for the atmosphere of WWDC, rather than cut and dried press release type information.

You're here for PB and portable news, and there wasn't really any at WWDC. Apple's next big event is MacWorld New York in July.

Schiller Denies Handheld Rumors

Apple's somewhat-goofy Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Phil Schiller, had a small comment on the endless (about two years now) rumors of an Apple-brand handheld PDA device:

We are focused on the personal computer space, not the handheld space, and that's that. I hate to use these words, but there's nothing going on

Farallon Intros 11 Mbit SkyLINE Card

Their press release says it all:

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. May 16, 2000 - Farallon Communications, Inc., developer of reliable, plug-and-play networking solutions for Macs and PCs, today announced their SkyLINE 11Mb Wireless PC Card for portable computers is now shipping. SkyLINE provides both Macintosh PowerBook and PC notebook users access to network resources such as file servers, email, printers and the Internet without the hassle of wires.

The SkyLINE 11Mb Wireless PC Card is based on the IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum standard and will interoperate on the same wireless network along with other 802.11 DSSS solutions. SkyLINE 11Mb comes with support for 40-bit WEP encryption and enhanced Control Panels for simplified configuration and management. SkyLINE is compatible with wireless solutions from vendors such as Apple, Lucent and Nokia.

"The availability of the SkyLINE 11Mb PC Card means that existing Windows notebook and Apple PowerBook owners now have a wireless solution that runs at speeds comparable to wired Ethernet without the hassle of being tethered to a network cable", says Ken Haase, VP Marketing for Farallon Communications, Inc.

Owners of Farallon's original 2Mb SkyLINE card can purchase the SkyLINE 11Mb Wireless PC Card at a reduced price through Farallon's direct upgrade program

Hardware DVD Decoding Software Note

Long-time reader Matt writes:

You may want to make a note that those with OS 9 can easily grab the DVD Software 1.3 (the latest HARDWARE based version) from their OS 9 CDs. It's MUCH better than the 1.1 software. ;]

PBZone Yardsale Update

The sell-off of our previous generation of PowerBook gear is going well. The PowerBook itself is at $1825, the media converter is at $430, the WaveLAN silver card is at $161, and the range extender is at $61. All auctions end at about 1:40 PM central US time.