PowerBooks at Berklee, 'Book Made into Car MP3 Player, New Mac Only Auction Site, and More

Charles Moore - 2005.01.07

The week's PowerBook, iBook, and iPod news

• PowerBook Is Musicians' Muse at Berklee College of Music
• Car MP3 Player Made from Old PowerBook
• Macintosh Only Auction Site Ready for Business with Free Listings
• Slot-loading Combo & SuperDrives for Lombard & Pismo
• MacMice iBreeze Laptop Cooling Stand
• Eumax Titan Notebook Cooler Fan Pad
• Apple's 12" iBook - Time to Give Apple a Chance?
• Foldable Keyboard Resists Shock, Dirt, Water, and Pressure
• KanguruMicro Drive 2.0 Palm Sized USB Flash Drive

Tech Trends

• Laptop Battery Breakthrough at TI

Windows Watch

• TiVo Upgrade Shifts TV Shows to Computer Laptop
• Samsung Q30 Ultra-portable Notebook

Bargain 'Books

PowerBook Is Musicians' Muse at Berklee College of Music

NEWS: Apple Education reports:

"On orientation day at the famed Berklee College of Music, new students receive everything they'll need for the upcoming school year: a student ID card, a list of their scheduled classes, a tour of their dorm, and more. At the beginning of the Fall 2004 school year, 1700 students also headed over to their local Apple office, where they attended a session called 'Pick Up Your Mac' and received a PowerBook G4 laptop. As all students have discovered, the Mac laptops (now a requirement on the Berklee campus) keep their coursework note-perfect.

"Should prospective parents and students wonder 'why Mac,' the answer can be found on Berklee's own website. In the opinion of faculty and administrators, 'We have found that students who have experience working on the Macintosh platform at Berklee are better prepared when they enter the music profession, where the Macintosh platform and the same software used in our coursework are prevalent and vital tools.'"

Car MP3 Player Made from Old PowerBook

NEWS: hackaday.com contributor Phillip Torrone has made a Linux car MP3 player using Debian Linux on what appears to be a PowerBook Lombard G3/333 (the text on the site says 233 MHz, but there was no 233 MHz Lombard), a Kensington auto/ac/air adapter, and Crystalfontz LCD screen with USB-to-serial adapter.

Macintosh Only Auction Site Ready for Business with Free Listings

NEWS: Celebrating the New Year and the one event that it brings that concerns all Mac faithful, Macworld San Francisco, Blue Moon Bids announces that it is open for business.

Founded by Macintosh users and made with the Macintosh community in mind, Blue Moon Bids strives to make it easier for all to find what they are searching for in the Macintosh world of computers.

Why should a seller be charged for something that doesn't sell? Why should a seller be charged twice for an item that does sell? Blue Moon Bids thinks this is unfair and has implemented a free listings system for all items posted. The even better thing is that this is the business model, not a gimmick. Free listings are here to stay.

Have you ever tried to find something on that other auction site? Something that works with your Macintosh, but seems to only be listed in a PC category? Blue Moon Bids is the place to find Macintosh or Macintosh Compatible products quick and easy, as that is all that is listed for sale.

We invite all buyers and sellers to stop on by and check us out, post that item that you have been wanting to get rid of or buy the one you have been looking for.

Slot-loading Combo & SuperDrives for Lombard & Pismo

PR: Wegener Media offers Combo & SuperDrives in a slot-load format for all G3 Lombard & Pismo/FireWire PowerBooks. Just slide into your right hand bay, and you're in business.

These drives are 100% compatible with OS 9.2, OS X (Jaguar, Panther) and bootable - just hold "C" when booting. The new mechanism is fully compatible with iTunes, CDBurner, Toast, and even Retrospect, and it includes buffer underrun protection, so no more bad CDs.

The casing fully matches your laptop - no ugly faceplate - and you can get $40 rebate for sending your old complete DVD drive (dead or alive). Simply return it and receive a refund check (details included with your order). Rebate not available for kits.

24x Combo Drive

• 24x CD burn capability
• 24x CD rewrite capability
• 8x DVD playback
• 24x CD-ROM/CD capabilities
• Complete drive - just slide in and use
• 100% compatibility with your system
• Introductory Sale: First 100 units at $199.99

SuperDrive

• DVD-RAM Burn capability
• 24x CD Burn capability
• 24x CD Rewrite capability
• 8x DVD Playback
• 24x CD-ROM/CD capabilities
• Complete Drive - just slide in and use
• 100% compatibility with your system
• Introductory Sale: First 100 units at $249.99

Buy as a kit. Use your old drive frame and save $$.

Requires 3 minute installation. Very easy installation. Photo guide and screwdriver included. All electronics are new - you'll just use your old plastic drive frame (the black plastic on the bottom of your drive. Just remove 4 small screws, slide old out, and new drive set in.

24x Combo Drive Kit

• Same as Combo drive shown above, only as kit.
• Introductory Sale: First 100 units at $149.99

SuperDrive Kit

• Same as SuperDrive shown above, only as kit.
• Introductory Sale: First 100 units at $189.99

MacMice iBreeze Laptop Cooling Stand

PR: As PowerBooks have gotten smaller, thinner, and more powerful, they have also gotten hotter. That heat can make the top and bottom panels uncomfortable to touch, and can contribute to deterioration of your PowerBook's performance and reliability over time.

The iBreeze is a dual fan cooled, USB powered, clear acrylic desk stand for your PowerBook or iBook. It is powered by the computer's USB port and provides a passthrough port so you don't lose the use of that USB port when using the iBreeze.

The iBreeze is built to provide quiet cooling, as well as improved ergonomics (by providing a nicely raised angle for using the keyboard).

Instead of using one large, loud fan, the iBreeze uses two small (60mm) fans, each operating at less than one-half their maximum rated speed. The iBreeze is a bit quieter than your internal PowerBook or iBook fan. And, as clutter is very inelegant, the iBreeze gets its power not from an ugly wall transformer, but directly from the USB port of the connected 'Book. Not only that, but there's a USB passthrough port on the iBreeze, so you don't have to lose one of your precious USB ports. Any (low-power) USB device can simply be plugged into the rear of the iBreeze.

The subtle silver/gray appearance of today's PowerBooks is nicely complemented by the design of the iBreeze. Crafted from clear acrylic sheet, the iBreeze is completely transparent (both its casing and its fans), and looks great - even without a PowerBook sitting on top.

The iBreeze uses a clear coated, stainless metal braided USB cable to provide both maximum electrical shielding and maximum appearance. The clear polymer bumpers on the top face of the iBreeze are gummy enough to securely hold even your 17" PowerBook in place and are tall enough to provide substantial air flow space between the iBreeze and your 'Book.

In other words, MacMice believes that details count, and the iBreeze has them. Why would you even consider using a less inspired and less well executed cooling product when the iBreeze has everything you want - even an on-off switch, should you decide you don't need the cooling function.

Using a PowerBook on a standard height desk surface requires lifting your elbows and curling your fingers down to the keyboard, a decidedly unnatural posture. The iBreeze lifts the rear of your PowerBook just enough to match the natural angle of your arms, and avoid much of this physical stress and discomfort.

iBreeze Specifications:

• Width: 10.9" (fits 12", 15", and 17" 'Books)
• Depth: 9.5"
• Height: 2.25" (at rear)
• Voltage: 5.0V
• Current: 130mA
• Cooling: typically -5 to -15° F

Eumax Titan Notebook Cooler Fan Pad

PR: The Eumax Notebook Cooling Fan Pad TTC-G1T with four heavy duty quiet fans with speed controller helps prolong your notebook's life.

Notebook Fan Pad has four fans with the effective ventilation design to provide the maximum heat dissipation, which helps to reduce the notebook bottom temperature more than 10° C and keep your notebook running cool. The unique fan speed control design allows users to choose the desired fan speed; even with the slowest fan speed, the temperature drops dramatically and the noise level is even lower than the noise of notebooks.

Features:

• 4 built in high performance fans
• USB interface for power supply
• Power on/off switch
• Fan speed controller
• Compliant with majority of notebooks
• Light and portable solution of notebook cooling
• Built in 4 high performance fans USB interface for power supply
• Power On/Off switch Fan speed controller

Specification

• Fan Dimension : 60 x 60 x 10mm (4 PCS)
• Voltage : 5 VDC(USB)
• Current : 0.4A
• Power : 2W
• Fan Speed : 1900 ~ 2600 RPM
• Air Flow : 40 CFM
• Noise : < 24 dBA
• Total Dimension : 325 x 263 x 18mm
• Weight : 660 g
• Power Adapter : 5V, 800mA (This Adapter is for option)

MSRP: $24.99

Apple's 12" iBook - Time to Give Apple a Chance?

NEWS: notebookreview.com's Louie Tran says:

"Being a diehard PC user for over 15 years, I had never considered switching to an Apple Mac or ever using an Apple product. In fact I avoided using QuickTime as much as possible because I always thought anything made by them was a joke. I mean, my gosh, why won't Apple just give in and add a second mouse button? Besides, Macs are mainly for graphic designers, moviemakers, musicians or ignorant consumers who need a computer with training wheels, right? It turns out that I was the one who was ignorant and completely clueless in using the Mac OS until I recently acquired this new iBook G4 12-inch to satisfy my Mac curiousity and have enjoyed using it everyday since.

"....in terms of physical structure, the iBook feels very solid unlike the cheap, dull plastic feel of Dell or HP notebooks....

"Safari is a much better browser overall compared to Internet Explorer. There is a built in popup blocker so it makes web surfing more enjoyable. The iBook does come with Internet Explorer 5.0 but it's really buggy so I don't recommend using it unless you really want to.

"In setting up the actual LAN, my three PCs found the iBook on the network and my iBook found the three PCs....

"While operating for long periods of use, the iBook does not heat up us as much as other laptops including my Toshiba M200 Tablet PC. I also noticed that the hard drive is extremely quiet even when running intense applications.

"Using the OS X is such an incredible experience after coming from Windows XP because it is so easy to customize and organize.... and the OS doesn't freak out like Windows does when you have the hard drive disconnected and it sees that it's missing. Plus there is no registry to mess with and missing or corrupted DLL files that will call for a reformat."

Foldable Keyboard Resists Shock, Dirt, Water, and Pressure

PR: With it's sealed feature, the Eumax Foldable Keyboard offers extreme durability and resistance to shock, fluid, dirt, grime, acid, peptide, moisture, salt, sands, etc.

It is extremely durable to wash and flexibly foldable to transport. So it has been used widely - in hospitals, universities garages, emergency medical units, police departments, kitchens, ships, army troops, even wars. You can use it in any polluted environment or simply as a conventional keyboard.

It also makes an ideal take-along keyboard for laptop users.

Features:

• Sealed design for preventing fluid, dirt, grime, acid, etc.
• Water resistant, foldable, portable and washable
• Dimension: 475(L) x 155(W) x 14(H) mm
• Weight: 220 g ± 10g
• Color: Translucent blue, red, purple, orange, or green
• PS/2 and USB available
• Switch life: 10 million life cycles
• Operating humidity: -20° C - 50° C
• Operating temperature : -36° C - 165° C
• Demattia flexing: 150,000 cycles non-damaged
• 100% compatible with Win95/98/ME/NT/2000 and Office 97/2000 (USB version should work with Macs)
• FCC, CE, CNS, VCCI, EMI, AUSTEL, Windows Logo approved

List Price: $31.95

KanguruMicro Drive 2.0 Palm Sized USB Flash Drive

PR: The KanguruMicro Drive is the first USB 2.0 Flash Drive to incorporate a built-in compression program to multiply your storage capabilities.

This high speed, high quality USB 2.0 Flash Drive (also referred to as a USB Key Drive or Thumb Drive) excels in mobilizing and sharing data. The KanguruMicro Drive is ultra compact, fitting easily in the palm of your hand, yet able to store up to 4 GB of data uncompressed. Plug the KanguruMicro Drive 2.0 into any available USB or USB 2.0 port and begin using it. Drag and drop or save data directly to the drive.

These Mini USB 2.0 Flash Drives work with Windows, Macintosh and Linux, most without any device drivers. Store and transport your work files, MP3s, pictures, email, and more.

Key Features

• High speed USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) interface
• KanguruGuard Data Compression
• KanguruGuard Encryption (128 bit)
• Extremely Portable, Only 3" long
• Weighs only 21g
• Backwards compatible with USB 1.1
• Uses top grade flash memory
• Works with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux
• Driverless on most operating systems
• Cable free, requires no external power

Package Includes

• KanguruMicro Drive 2.0
• USB extension cable
• Neck strap
• Manual and driver CD

$27.95 for 32 MB, $29.95 for 64 MB, $34.95 for 128 MB, $49.95 for 256 MB, $79.95 for 512 MB, $129.95 for 1 GB, $349.95 for 2 Gb, and $849.95 for 4 GB.

Also get a free subscription to Smart Computing, CPU, or Consumer Electronic Tips (a $30 value).

Tech Trends

Laptop Battery Breakthrough at TI

NEWS: The International Herald Tribune's Anne Eisenberg reports:

"Drivers can trust the fuel gauges in their cars to tell them whether the tank is half full or close to empty. But laptop owners do not have the same security when they check the time left in a lithium-ion battery. A click on the battery icon may suggest that 20 minutes are left when, in reality, only a few minutes remain.

"Now Texas Instruments researchers have come up with a monitor that they say laptop users can trust to measure remaining battery energy accurately. The new gauges should help people avoid unexpected shutdowns that could result in a loss of data.

"'Whether the battery is new or old, you will know within 1 percent accuracy what the remaining energy is,' said Scott Eisenhart, director of battery management at the company."

Windows Watch

TiVo Upgrade Shifts TV Shows to Computer Laptop

NEWS: Reuters reports:

"TiVo Inc., maker of television recording technology, on Monday said it has started shipping 'TiVoToGo,' a service upgrade that allows some subscribers to view recorded programs on a computer or laptop.

"TiVo, the best known maker of digital video recorders (DVR), said the upgrade is free, and will be available to standalone customers who own the 'Series 2' version of its set-top box. TiVo first announced the service one year ago."

At present, "it will not work on computers that utilize Apple Computer Corp.'s Macintosh operating system."

Samsung Q30 Ultra-portable Notebook

NEWS: The Register's Riyad Emeran. reports:

"Last year I reviewed Sony's Vaio X505 notebook and was stunned at just how wafer-thin and light it was. Although I've looked at a number of ultra-portable notebooks since then, I've yet to see anything as slim, light or sexy as the Sony - until now. There are few technology products that I'd describe as beautiful, but the Samsung Q30 definitely falls into that category....

"OK, so the Q30 isn't quite as light as the Sony X505, weighing 1.1kg as opposed to the X505's 822g, but the Samsung can hardly be described as heavy. And with dimensions of only 28.7 x 19.7 x 2.4cm it's small enough to be slipped into almost any bag unobtrusively. But despite the tiny dimensions, the Q30 is a well-featured little machine. In fact, even though the X505 is lighter, you'd have to carry some extra bits and pieces with you to match the functionality of the Samsung....

"The screen is stunning considering the size of the Q30. The 12.1in TFT display is a widescreen panel with a resolution of 1280 x 768, giving you an impressive amount of desktop real estate. Samsung has made the screen even more special by using what it calls 'Super Bright'. This is a coating similar to the X-Black/X-Brite coating pioneered by Sony, and it generates extremely vivid colours."

Bargain 'Books

There are two different versions of WallStreet running at 233 MHz, the cacheless MainStreet version and the later Series II with a level 2 cache. It's not always possible to determine from the vendor's listing which is being offered, so we've included links within this paragraph to the two models. The same goes for the PowerBook G4/667 (Gigabit Ethernet/2001) and G4/667 (DVI) and the titanium vs. aluminum 15" PowerBook G4 at 1 GHz.

Wegener Media

• 12" iBook G3/500, 192/10/CD-ROM, 60 day guarantee, $399.99
• 12" iBook G3/500, 192/10/Combo, 60 day guarantee, $499.99
• Add an AirPort card, $79.50
• Add an AirPort Base Station, $39.50
• Add 256 MB (total of 320 MB, free installation), $41
• Add 512 MB (total of 576 MB, free installation), $93
• Order your iBook with a Targus carrying case (lifetime warranty!) for 99¢ extra

• 12" iBook G4/1.2 GHz, 256/30/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $999.99 less $100 mail-in rebate.
• Order with Amazon Visa and receive $30 Amazon Visa discount.

• 12" iBook G4/1 GHz, 256/40/CD-ROM, AirPort Extreme, $929
• 14" iBook G4/1 GHz, 256/40/Combo, AirPort, PC2100 SO DIMM 512 MB DDR 266, $1,249

• 12" iBook G3/500, 192/10/CD-ROM, $469
• 12" iBook G3/500, 192/10/CD-ROM, AirPort, $559

Special Deals: Apple Certified

Free shipping.

• refurb 14" iBook G4/1.33 GHz, 256/60/SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme, $1,299
• refurb 12" PowerBook G4/1 GHz, 256/60/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $1,099
• refurb 12" PowerBook G4/1.33 GHz, 256/60/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $1,349
• refurb 12" PowerBook G4/1.33 GHz, 256/60/SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme, $1,549
• refurb 15" PowerBook G4/1.33 GHz, 256/60/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $1,699
• refurb 15" PowerBook G4/1.5 GHz, 512/80/SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme, $2,099
• refurb 17" PowerBook G4/1.5 GHz, 512/80/SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme, $2,399

For more deals on current or recently discontinued models, see our Week's Best PowerBook G4 Deals, Week's Best iBook G4 Deals, and Week's Best iBook G3 Deals.