The 'Book Review

The 'Book Review

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - November 2, 2001

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

• Internal CD-RW Drive For 1st Generation iBooks
• Rev. A vs. Rev. B TiBooks Benchmarked
• Atek Super Mini Optical Mouse
• Fuel Cell Powered Laptops Coming?
• PowerBook Battery Performance Under OS X
• PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Deals
• Bargain 'Books

Internal CD-RW Drive For 1st Generation iBooks

Wagener Media is offering CD-RW drive conversions for 1st generation iBooks. These CD-RWs will work in any of the Colored iBooks - 300, 366, 466 MHz models.

The drive is a 4x4x24x unit, providing these iBooks with a way to save data.

The price is $145 (requires return of your old drive mechanism core) plus shipping. Installation is $10 plus shipping, with a 24 hour turnaround via FedEx. Call for direct help or any questions!

Rev. A vs. Rev. B TiBooks Benchmarked

And yet more benchmarking, this week Bare Feats' rob ART morgan got his hands on a new, 550 MHz TiBook and ran some comparisons with a Revision A machine. The Revision B unit offers a bigger performance boost than you might expect given the modest increase in processor speed, thanks largely to its doubled VRAM capacity.

It appears that Apple has worked at fixing the TiBook's poky FireWire throughput performance, although the iBook still has a slight edge.

Lots of cool graphs

Atek Super Mini Optical Mouse

The Atek Super Mini is very small mouse (that is not a redundancy in this instance) is designed with road warriors in mind.

Features

• Perfect for mobile computing - only 2-1/2" long and 1" wide, small enough to use right on the palm rest of most notebook computers
• Convenient to carry - extremely lightweight and occupies very little space in a laptop travel case
• Smooth and precise optical technology - point and click with ease, speed, and precision
• Left and right buttons, just like a regular mouse
• Works on almost any surface - no need for a mousepad
• Maintenance-free - no ball or moving parts to clean
• USB version for use with Windows 2000, XP, Me, and 98
• PS/2 version for use with Windows 2000, XP, Me, 98, NT, and 95
• Mac users: USB version is compatible with Mac OS 8.6 or later. For button programming for OS 8/9 download the Atek free driver or use USB Overdrive. A driver is not available yet for OS X, but the right button does bring up the contextual menu.
• Free travel pouch included
• Cord length: 3 ft.

Retail price is $49.95

Fuel Cell Powered Laptops Coming?

TechReview's David Voss says that methanol micro fuel cells will soon be a reality, quoting Atakan Ozbek, vice president for energy research at Allied Business Intelligence, in Oyster Bay, NY, predicting that "In five years this could be potentially a billion-dollar-a-year market."

Not surprisingly, a race to commercialize the technology is in full swing and includes everyone from Motorola and Korean electronics giant Samsung to startup companies like Hockaday's. The competitors are betting on different designs - and even slightly different chemistries - but they share a common goal: taking a bite out of the $6 billion world market for rechargeable batteries.

Fuel cell battery packs small enough to actually fit in the battery compartments of laptop computers are predicted, which will essentially eliminate the biggest problem with unplugged laptop use - battery life limitations. As Voss notes, the storage batteries currently used in laptop computers and other portable electronics are basically just highly refined and developed 18th century technology that has little evident potential for improvement.

Fuel cells, on the other hand, will keep producing electricity as long as they have fuel, which can be replenished, usually hydrogen or methanol.

PowerBook Battery Performance under OS X

Speaking of laptop batteries, TechnoJunkie's Bernie Case has posted a report on battery management efficiency on a Pismo PowerBook running OS 9 and OS X.

The OSes tested were OS X 10.1 and OS 9.2.1, and Bernie ran three tests: Idle performance, DVD playback, and Sleep performance. In order, battery performance under OS X was 12.25% worse, 2.7% better, and a dead heat compared with OS 9.

PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Deals

BUYAIB.com and googlegear.com are both offering exceptional deals on IBM TravelStar 20 GB 2.5" hard drives for about $100.

The newest members of the IBM Travelstar family of hard disk drives are the first in the industry to implement Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor technology for industry-leading idle and operating acoustic performance. In addition, these new TravelStar models support the fast Ultra DMA mode-5 interface for transfer rates of up to 100 MB/sec.

The IBM Travelstar hard drives provide areal densities up to 25.7 Gbits/sq. in., yielding up to 15 GB of capacity per disk, combined with an industry- leading operational shock rating of 180 G/2 ms, which makes these drives well suited for today's most demanding users.

---

Bargain 'Books

MegaMacs

• PowerBook 3400c/200, 32/2 GB/floppy/CD/VST Zip/33.6K modem/ethernet/AC adapter/Targa Case, $599.99

PowerBook Guy

• PowerBook Pismo G3/400, 128/6 GB/DVD/56k/FireWire/14.1", $1,399.95

Global Deals

• PowerBook 3400c/200, 16/2 GB/6xCD/modem, $525
• PowerBook 1400c/133, 16/1 GB/8xCD, $450
• PowerBook 1400cs/166, 16/1 GB/12xCD, $525

MacSelect

• PowerBook Pismo G3/400, 128/10 GB/DVD/56K/14.1", 90 Day MacSelect Warranty, Refurb, $1,149
• PowerBook WallStreet G3.300, 128/8 GB/DVD/100 MB ZIP/56K/14.1", Refurb, $999

PowerMax

• PowerBook Pismo G3/500, 256/12 GB/DVD/ethernet, Used, 1,588
• PowerBook WallStreet G3/292, 96/2 GB/CD/14.1", Used, $999
• PowerBook 5300/100, 8/500 MB/floppy/10.4" Grayscale, Used, $229
• PowerBook 1400cs/166, 48/1 GB/CD/floppy, Used, $349

LA Computer Center

• PowerBook G4/400, 128/10 GB/6xDVD/15.2", New, $1,770

Recent 'Book Reviews

• Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
• Upgrades for New MacBook, Quad-core MacBook Pro Expected, New MacBook Benchmarked, and More, 10.30. Also equivalent PC laptops nearly the same price as Apple's MacBook, Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, 8 GB memory upgrade for new MacBook, and more.
• MacBook Best Selling Mac Ever, New MacBook Disassembled and Reviewed, New Notebook Cases, and More, 10.23. Also Apple ignores netbook market and thrives, resurrecting a dead 'Book, seamless dual display from Samsung, new drives, bargain 'Books from $179 to $2,294, and more.
• Living with a 'MacBook Nano', Netbook Users 'Not That Satisfied', Lightest Notebook, and More, 10.16. Also nVidia halts new chip development, fix for iBook G4 kenrel panics, world's lightest notebook, matte display options, bargain 'Books from $179 to $2,294, and more.
• More in the .

Links for the Day

• Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
• Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
  
• November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
• Support Low End Mac

Recent Content on Low End Mac

• Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
• WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
• IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
• QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
• More links in our archive.

Recent Deals

• Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
• Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
• Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
• Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
• Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
• Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
• Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
• Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
• Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
• More deals in our archive.

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