Portable News
 PB Zone

 iMac News
 Daily iMac

 Forum
 MacDebate.com

 Gaming News
 Mac 3D Dot Com

 Mac OS X
 X Appeal

 
 Quotes

 
 

August 8th thru 15th Archives

Thursday, August 15th 2002 13:46 CDT

Jaguar Included Reports

Two readers sent in conflicting reports of new Mac purchases on whether Jaguar was included:

I just received my new imac 17" -- and it shipped with 10.1.5 -- with no mention of free upgrade. Do you think I have any recourse with Apple?

Keep up the good work.

---

I just recieved my new 800mhz PowerBook today.. and the Jaguar package was incluced in the box.. haven't installed it yet.. but it is there..

A great gift..

Plasticsmith Debuts Lapvantage Dome Laptop Stand

We received this press release from Plasticsmith yesterday:

SAN CARLOS, CA. August 15, 2002 ‹ The Plasticsmith, Inc. today announced the release of the Lapvantage Dome, a sleek laptop stand designed to improve computing ergonomics. Inspired by the look of the new iMac, the Dome gives PowerBook and iBook owners the ergonomics and style of a desktop. The Deluxe model is a full-featured desktop enhancement unit that adjusts to your desired height, swivels 360º and sports a polished acrylic platform.

More and more people are replacing their desktop computers with laptops. But the inherent design of laptops‹a fixed screen and keyboard‹violates the most basic ergonomic guidelines. Now laptop users no longer need to compromise on comfort. The Dome lets you show off your laptop while at the same time providing you the ergonomic benefits of optimal viewing height, improved posture and enhanced functionality. Its small footprint saves valuable desk space and allows you to tuck an external keyboard under the platform. This keeps you close enough to your laptop's screen for comfortable viewing while preventing neck, shoulder, and back strain.

What's more, you can swivel the Deluxe Dome to your heart's content, making it easier to plug in peripherals and allowing you to more smoothly turn your laptop screen for presentations or simply showing your work to a colleague. Both models of the Dome come with 3M rubber feet that attach to the top of the platform, keeping your laptop running cooler.

At last, ergonomics and style come together like never before. And because safety is everything, the Dome, even at its maximum height position, supporting a heavy laptop, has been engineered to be exceptionally stable, weight tested to support 75 lbs.

The Deluxe model comes in black or white, made of super durable recycled ABS plastic with a polished acrylic platform and height adjustment and rotating features, selling for $69.95. The standard model comes in solid black or white with a stationary base and platform, both also made of recycled ABS plastic, which sells for $49.95. All four are sold exclusively at The Plasticsmith's online store at: http://www.lapvantage.com

MacLinkage.com Debuts

Tired of wading through myriad links to mediocre Mac journalism articles? Simon Helton of X Appeal.org fame has put together a site that will quickly become the homepage for thousands of Macheads looking for a quick fix.

Instead of linking every article out there, MacLinkage.com reviews each article for its content and selects the top 8-10 each day. Don't want to sift through 15 stories about the same thing? MacLinkage will select the best one and present it to you in the daily list of must-read Mac articles.

The site is up now and is ready to be bookmarked as a homepage. Suggestions are needed, so send those in to info@maclinkage.com.

Wednesday, August 14th 2002 12:46 CDT

More iPod 1.2 Reports

We received two more iPod 1.2 upgrade reports. Keep 'em coming, folks!

I had an odd experience today, while using my iPod for more than a few minutes for the first time since updating it to 1.2. After about 30 minutes play, it suddenly locked up - the display froze, playback stopped, and there was no response to any of the buttons. It stayed that way until the battery expired - I plugged it into my PowerBook when I arrived home, and it restarted, synchronised and is now charging.

This may be a one-off thing, or a symptom of a bug in the new software - I'm not sure. I'll let you know if it reoccurs.

---

flawless update on a 10gig ipod, from 10.1.5 on an ibook 500. very helpful icons on the ipod screen.

Experience with PowerLogix Upgrade Report

Reader Jon sent his report in:

Noticed the post on the Bluechip upgrade. Here is my experience with Powerlogix if you are interested.

I have been trying to get Powerlogix to get me functional a Bluechip G3 upgrade for a Wallstreet. The fist two they sent me did not work. They said it was a problem related to unannounced changes that Apple made to the design. I was told that I would have to send the computer into their tech support. Since the computer was needed I held onto it for a while. When I finally had down time to send the computer in they said they no longer needed the computer, just the upgrade card. They currently have had the card for almost 4 months and I still don¹t have a functional upgrade. Whenever asked, the tech support guy blames it on bad chips from IBM and says that they will honor their warranty, They have also offered a G4 upgrade at half price but with what I originally paid for the G3 upgrade it would still end up costing more than the G4 upgrade alone. It seems that by the time I get a functional G3 466 Mhz card from these guys Apple will be producing a G6 500Ghz Powerbook running OS XII. Well I guess that the upgraded Wallstreet will make a nice museum piece.

Apple Updates Product Guide

Apple has updated the Macintosh Products Guide. It's pretty now with "featured products" on the front page of the guide.

MacNN Reports New TiPB Buyers Receiving Jaguar

Yesterday, MacNN reported that a user has received a Jaguar upgrade disc with his new Titanium PowerBook. The user was in Australia. If you've received Jaguar in North America, please let us know.

New PowerMac G4 Report

If you're interested, Accelerate Your Mac!'s top story today is a report from a reader who has purchased a Dual 1GHz PowerMac G4 already and sent in his impressions. Scroll down for even more from the same reader.

Jobs, Anderson Sign Off on Apple Financials

Today's the deadline for the officers of over 800 public companies to certify their financial statements for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Because of its size, Apple is included in this bunch. To see Jobs' certification in PDF form, click here. Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson's is here. Neat.

Monday, August 12th 2002 1:51 CDT

iPod Software 1.2 Responses

Last week, we asked readers to email their experiences with the iPod 1.2 software upgrade:

Thanks for posting the update link, as it doesn't appear on Apple's main downloads page. I updated my original 5g iPod last night, and everything went smoothly. The new features make an already cool gadget just that much cooler. I am looking forward to iCal, because for now the iPod calendar is just that; a straightforward calendar. But the new browse features, clock and Breakout-style game make the update well worth it. It also gives you a large status display when Firewire is hooked up showing you if it's OK to unplug it or not, which is quite handy.

---

The 1.2 software update hosed my ipod; I could see my music in iTunes however could not access music from the device. The only workaround was to use the updater sosftware to restore the ipod to original settings (which also updated the firmware to version 1.2) and then sync up to iTunes again. All is well now! Cool new features.

---

I've got a 5MB iPod, and the update went smoothly. It's a bit confusing when it's done, if you've got Enable Firewire Disk Use checked, because you get the new "Do not Disconnect" message, and you think it may still be updating. But in fact it's done - it's just telling you that since you're in FireWire disk mode (the iPod's mounted on the desktop), that you need to dismount the iPod. When you do this, you will see the other new message, saying it's safe to disconnect the cable. Waiting for iCal....

---

Just wanted to let you know you CAN update your iPod even if you have OS versions earlier than 9.2.2. I tried this on my Pismo running 9.1 and it works just great.

Unlike some software updates (Microsoft), even the horror story turned out well in the end. Since there was a bad experience, we'd appreciate more responses from readers who've updated.

Also for iPod owners: iPod It is a software add-on for your iPod under Mac OS 10.1 and higher that allows you to bring your Entourage contacts/calendar/notes over to the iPod in addition to weather reports and driving directions. Until iCal functionality comes with the release of Jaguar, this is a great solution. Check it out...

Another One Bites the Dust...XLR8 Closes Shop

XLR8, one of the few Macintosh processor upgrade manufacturers, has closed its doors, saying no technical or warranty support will be available. Their website is still up, so if you own one of their products, go grab any documentation that you can get your hands on soon!

Apple Air/Auto Adapter Offer

If you buy a build-to-order PowerBook from the Apple Store between now and August 30th, Apple will throw in a free Lind Auto/Air power adapter, a $79 value. Details on the coupon code and eligibility are here.

PowerBook G4 Screen Scratch Question

Reader Tom asks:

Thought I would ask about a small scratch that is on my G4 500 Mhz screen and see if there is anything I should do? Computer still is under warranty But I don't know if they cover mid range scratches that "might" spread. Any Suggestions.

Unless the scratch was there when you opened the PowerBook box, it's likely that you're out of luck. If it's unbearable to look at, you could have a technician at an Apple Authorized dealer take a look at it, but it's probably going to cost upwards of $500 to fix it at all. We haven't heard of any scratched "spreading" at all. If any other readers have any suggestions or similar experiences, we'd love to hear them.

Solution to Entourage/Palm Database "Bloat"

Reader David wrote in with a solution and we like solutions:

The solution to Entourage Palm bloat is actually quite simple: set the Entourage Conduit to overwrite the Palm for one sync session. You have to use Palm Desktop to access the settings. This will shrink the database in the Palm to reasonable levels. It probably wouldn¹t hurt to compact the Entourage database first (hold down the option key when launching Entourage). This solution has appeared on MacFixit. It worked for my ³unsupported² Handspring.

PB1400 Bookcover Template

For any veteran PowerBook 1400 users that'd like to use the template documents for making a decorative "vanity plate" for their beloved aged PB:

Hello,

I noticed your story about the PowerBook 1400 BookCover. I have the files that came with my 1400, it contains a couple of ClarisWorks documents and an EPS file. I have posted a .sit file with them at: http://homepage.mac.com/mattparker/FileSharing1.html if anyone is interested in downloading them.

Let me know if you have any problems accessing it.

Thanks

Matt

More Enclosures Available

We're probably crazy. A distributor came to us with the rest of his stock on a FireWire enclosure we had our eyes on a few months ago. Well, we bought his entire stock. So we'd now like to sell them. Quickly. The CompuCable FireXpress is the best FireWire enclosure package we've come across yet--and we've seen quite a few.

If you were squeamish about performing an upgrade yourself, now's the time to buy: this package comes with a 30 page detailed manual that makes the already-simple installation that much easier. For details on the $90 unit, check out its page here. It's available for shipping today.

Friday, August 9th 2002 12:06 CDT

iPod Software 1.2 Posted

If you've got a first-generation iPod, you can score the software update to give you the new features here. It adds the Audible.com support, "sound check" volume variation control, calendar, clock, and the iTunes playcount/playlist interaction features among other smaller changes.

We're interested to see how this upgrade goes for the readers out there. After you've installed the update, please drop us a line and let us know how it went.