The 'Book Review 2001.09.17

Except as noted, prices are in US dollars, bold links are to outside sites, and regular links lead to 'Book profiles on Low End Mac.

• Lind Electronics Releases New Small-Lightweight Auto/Air DC Power Adapter for Apple Portables
• PCI Expansion for PowerBooks
• See Through iBook
• G4 Processor Upgrade for Lombard Coming?
• Lifestyle Notebook Cases
• iBook Portector (Not a Typo)
• Bargain 'Books

Lind Electronics Releases New Small-Lightweight Auto/Air DC Power Adapter for Apple Portables

Lind Electronics' new $79.95 smaller/lighter DC power adapter for the new iBook and PowerBook G4 is only 3.75" inches long and weighs a mere 6.5 ounces. The new DC adapter provides power to charge internal batteries and operate the Apple iBooks and G4 Titanium laptops from automobile 12 VDC or the airline in-seat power sources.

These units' ruggedized construction and replaceable input/output cables make them ideal for mobile users who rely on mobile power for their daily operations. The power adapter is housed in a sealed, lightweight ABS plastic case designed to resist moisture and all manners of shock, vibration, and physical abuse. The adapter filters incoming power and boosts the voltage to the level required by the laptop. The adapter is designed to emulate the AC adapter provided with the laptop. It contains shut down circuits that protect the laptop and the adapter from damage due to input power or output load surges. The adapter automatically resets itself when fault conditions return to normal. The Lind Adapter has been engineered to minimize EMI interference with mobile wireless communication systems and is warranted for 3 years from the date of purchase including input and output cable damage.

The Lind Electronics AP2425-523 offers the following features:

• Ruggedized adapter, sealed for durability
• Output short circuit protection
• Safety current limiting
• UnderVoltage & OverVoltage Protection
• Internal temperature limit cutoff circuitry
• Automatic Reset after shutoff conditions return to normal
• TUV Approved for Airline Use
• 3-year warranty includes repair of damaged or broken plugs or cables
• Nylon carrying case

Retail pricing is $79.95.

PCI Expansion For PowerBooks

Mobility Electronics offers two modestly priced PCI expansion storage, and back-up chassis for PowerBooks.

EasiExpansion T35 PowerBook

Mobility's EasiExpansion T35 PowerBook provides fast, affordable, high-capacity storage and PCI expansion for Apple PowerBooks (G3 Pismo & G4 Titanium). With 5 available drive bays, you can easily install hard drives, CD-RW, DVD, Zip, or other drives to satisfy your storage needs. Use the 3 full-length PCI expansion slots to easily add PCI cards such as IDE, SCSI, FireWire, Video and Ethernet.

Features

• 3 internal drive bays for 3.5" drives
• 2 user accessible drive bays for 5.25" drives
• 3 full-length PCI Expansion Slots
• 2 Integrated USB Ports
• Plug-in your favorite USB peripherals

Product Warranty 1 Year Limited

System Requirements

• Mac OS 9.1 or later
• PowerBook with 32-bit CardBus slot, PowerBook G3 (Pismo), or G4(Titanium)

The EasiExpansion T45 PowerBook is similar to the T35 except that it offers 4 full-length PCI Expansion Slots

This week you can purchase the Mobility Electronics EasiExpansion T35 expansion and storage chassis for $149.95, $100 by using a discount coupon on the DealMac Web page.

See Through iBook

Mitsunobu Tanaka, PhD, has posted photos of his clear plastic iBook (Dual USB) on the KODAWARISAN NO OHEYA user group website.

It's a very nice job, and well worth a look.

G4 Processor Upgrade for Lombard Coming?

A Japanese website has posted pictures and details about a prototype G4 card for Lombard from PowerLogix called BlueChip LS.

Apparently, Apple had introduced a roadblock to PowerBook processor upgrades with the OS X and OS 9 license agreement in the form of a provision to prohibit copying the boot ROM content for use with upgrade card.

Nice going Apple. :-(

Lifestyle Notebook Cases

Lifestyle Notebook Cases from CaseDirect offer professional styling and excellent protection, with extra pockets and organizers for pens, cell phone, discs, and files.

Several models are offered, including:

• Nylon notebook cases
• Koskin notebook cases
• Lifestyle notebook cases

iBook Portector (Not a Typo)

vSee has released the iBook Portector - a polyurethane strip to protect your ports from dust and dirt. Reseller arrangements are reportedly being negotiated, and vSee will also be selling the Portector on its website soon.

President, Zac Henderson says "We are currently looking at a number of distributors and resellers for our product. However, we will soon also be offering the product directly online through our Web site."

Pricing details are not yet available. For more information or reseller opportunities contact Portector@fueldesigninc.com.

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Bargain 'Books

This Week's Best PowerBook Deals

PowerBook Guy

• PowerBook G3/500 Pismo 128/10 GB/DVD/56k/FireWire/14.1", $1,679.95
• PowerBook G3/400 Pismo 128/6 GB/DVD/56k/FireWire/14.1", $1,499.95

MacResQ/MacWorks

• PowerBook G3/266 96/4 GB/20x CD/56k/10Base-T/ 14.1", 1 MB cache, $899.99

In addition to their individual and company donations, MacResQ will donate $5 to the American Red Cross for every Ink Bundle sold until Sept 19th.

Small Dog Electronics

• iBook G3/466 refurbished, 64/10 GB/DVD/56k Graphite, $1,129
• iBook G3/500 new, 128/10/DVD, free 128 MB RAM upgrade, $1,499

In lieu of specials this week, Small Dog has selected two charities that are in need of donations. Small Dog will match contributions made to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation and the National Organization for Victim Assistance. They also donate an additional $10 to either NDSDF or NOVA for every Web-based order completed in the next week.

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from shelters or breed rescue groups and turns them into rescuers. Dogs and firefighters are both professionally trained to search for victims when disaster strikes. In partnership with state emergency agencies, these dog/handler teams are community, state and national resources. Foundation Teams have been deployed to the tragedy in New York.

The National Organization for Victim Assistance is a private, nonprofit organization of victim and witness assistance programs and practitioners, criminal justice agencies and professionals, mental health professionals, researchers, former victims and survivors, and others committed to the recognition and implementation of victim rights and services.

For the last fifteen years, NOVA has been providing Crisis Response Teams to catastrophes as diverse as the Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 Americans, the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, which killed some 7,000 people, the war in Bosnia, and the school shootings since 1998. NOVA has a database of some 4,000 crisis responders who have received at least 40 hours of

intense crisis response training, and hundreds who have received at least 64 hours of crisis response training with an emphasis on practical skills in the immediate aftermath of disasters. Many have been deployed to numerous crisis events over the years.

For more information on donations, visit <http://www.smalldog.com/donate.html>.