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May 1st through 7th Archives

Tuesday, May 7th 2002 12:52 PDT

Complete AirPort System for $287

This was such a good price we wanted to mention it to everyone. Small Dog Electronics, a PBZone.com sponsor, offers a Version 1.0 Apple AirPort Base Stationi and two cards for $287. Thanks to Dealmac for pointing out the good buy. There are 132 of the deal in stock, but the offer ends tomorrow.

Zip 250 Deal

While the expansion bay Zip drive deals we linked last week were for 100 MB drives, MacZone is selling the Zip 250 expansion bay drive for Lombard and Pismo G3 PowerBooks for $39.99 with two free disks.

MiT Reader Report

Though these reports can be somewhat whiny and skew towards people having problems or complaints instead of those that are happy with their machine, it's worth scanning the MacInTouch PowerBook G4 DVI Reader Report, starting with the entries after May 1st.

New G4 is Cooler

According to reader reports at the top of today's news at PowerBook Central, the DVI G4 PowerBooks do not run as hot as the previous generation. Some readers report that their fan has yet to come on.

Monday, May 6th 2002 12:55 PDT

Apple WWDC Announcements

We're not a Mac OS X site, so we'll just link the Apple press releases from Steve Jobs' keynote session this morning in San Jose at the Worldwide Developer's Conference:

• Apple Previews "Jaguar," the Next Major Release of Mac OS X
• More Than 3,000 Applications Available for Mac OS X
• Apple Previews iChat Instant Messaging for Mac OS X
• Apple Delivers QuickTime 6 and QuickTime Broadcaster With "Jaguar" Developer Preview.

DVI PowerBook G4 Notes

A few reader notes and observations about their new DVI PowerBook G4s:

I recently purchased a new TiBook 800 and was worried about reports of them running hot. So far this new machine runs no hotter than my Pismo and, to be honest, I think it's quieter by a fraction too. The fan has yet to turn on even after some reasonable hefty audio tasks in ProTools sessions. I'm very, VERY impressed with this machine. Oh, and did I say it was QUICK!!!

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Got my DVI PBG4 today. Ordered at the online Apple store on 4/29. Based on past experience I was expecting an wait of a few weeks, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got the ship notification yesterday.

In any case, a quick note. One issue that a lot of people seem to be having with previous PPBG4s was the Airport range. Well, a side by side comparison with my wife's PBG4 (original 667Mhz) reveals that the new PB is improved considerably in Airport reception. Still weaker reception than our iBook though...

As for packaging, I echo previous reports. In my case, it was the DVI-to-VGA dongle that was sticking through the hole in the styrofoam case. Luckily it only slightly punctured the protective plastic bag that the PB was in, never scratching the actual PB itself. But I agree that Apple should pay more attention to how they package their $3000+ notebooks.

Thursday, May 2nd 2002 10:58 PDT

New DVI PowerBooks Poorly Packaged?

Reader Robert warns:

I just purchased a brand new PowerBook G4/800 Titanium at the Apple Store at Tice's Corner (Woodcliff Lake, NJ). The packaging includes a two-piece styrofoam "clamshell" which houses the computer, wrapped in a fairly thick, clear plastic bag. The cord for the AC adapter protrudes through an opening on the left side of the styrofoam. Usually the "prongs" of the cord are covered in plastic, so as not to cut or rub against anything below. Not so with this packaging. The prongs cut through the plastic bag and there is now a large, deep scratch in the titanium cover.

I am hopeful that the Apple Store will give me another, but I'd suggest that you carefully check your new purchase for any tears in the plastic bag before you leave the store.

JR Hill Announces Leather Lap Protector

We don't know how necessary or popular this will be, but there are some Mac users that have to have every accessory imaginable:

We have a new product to announce that we believe Mac users would be very interested in. Its our new Leather Lap Protector. The Lap Protector is designed to eliminate the uncomfortable heat that is transferred to your legs or lap from the bottom of your iBook or PowerBook. There is an 1/8" piece of Full Grain Coach leather on top and a 3/8" piece of Sole Light rubber on the bottom which are attached with adhesive and a decorative but strong stitch around the edge. The Lap Protector measures 15 1/4² long x 11 1/4² wide x 1/2² thick and weighs just one pound and fits the PowerBook G4 perfectly. It can also be used with any notebook on the market today. The Lap Protector retails for $42.99 plus shipping and comes with our Lifetime Warranty. For more information or to place an order, please visit our website at http://www.jrhillandcompany.com.

Wednesday, May 1st 2002 12:46 PDT

Reports on DVI PowerBooks

A few readers reported success finding the new machines:

Walked into the ComputerWare in Sunnyvale, CA today to ask them when the new Powerbooks were expected. The answer: "look behind you!" Both the 800 and 667 models in a nice pile. Freshly delivered, how could I hold out any longer? (I didn't, but did manage to call the wife first.)

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Just wanted to let you know that the Tyson's corner Apple store had the new DVI PBG4's on the day of the announcement. I almost drove an hour to Va to get one.

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After buying a open box Titanium 667/DVD on April 22, I returned it and purchased the new G4 Powerbook on April 29th from the Apple store in the Mall of America. I've been using it for about a day now and have some observations:

The fan has not yet come on. The previous unit cycled on within the first hour of use although I haven't given this one a huge workout.

The CD mechanism is much smoother. I'm sure the combo drives in the last build were similar. The DVD drive on the previous unit was noisy.

The graphics are very fast and sharp. So is the general feel.

Not enough experience to say much more.

Using GaugePRO, the memory bandwidth is ~250 MB/sec. The previous 667 was doing ~145MB/sec. CPU is identified as a 601 v.2.2 :)

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I ordered an 800 from MacConnection. The Apple site says if you buy an Airport base station at the same time as the computer the charge is $199 ($100 off the list price).

MacConnection makes the same offer but says they cannot offer an instant rebate so they say you download a coupon from their website for a $100 rebate after the fact.

So far I have not found that coupon, but I have not received the computer either. They say 2 wks is the estimated time.

Installable Parts QT Videos

We've posted this before, but it's worth mentioning again for those that may have missed it:

I'm sure this is old news, but I just now stumbled across Apple's "Customer Installable Parts" page, which offers several PDF files and QT videos on upgrading memory & hard drives, adding Airport cards, replacing modems, etc. There's quite a lot of content for PowerBook and iBook owners. It's at: http://www.info.apple.com/support/cip/

Getting Older PowerBook G4s at a Great Price

DealMac reports today that Apple Stores are sellng the PowerBook G4s without the combo drives for $1499 at 550 MHz and $1699 at 667 MHz. We called the two Bay Area Apple Stores and they weren't ready to sell these units yet, so we suggest callng your local store for more information.

DealMac also noted that ClubMac is sellng the discontinued combo-drive equipped PowerBooks for $2129 and $2519 for the 550 and 667 MHz versions, with instant rebates.