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The 'Book Review

PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Tutorial, TiBook Touchup Paint, 16x FireWire CD-RW Drive, and More

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - January 25, 2002

Except as noted, prices are in US dollars.

Great PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Tutorial
TiBook Touchup Paint
MCE Announces Lucid-16, 16x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive
Sleeves and Computer Transporter Bags from eBags
Another Computer Sleeve and iPod Case
Do-It-Yourself iPod Sleeve
Bargain 'Books

Great PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Tutorial

Insanely Great Mac's Remy Davison has posted an excellent tutorial on how to do PowerBook hard drive upgrades, covering everything from the latest TiBooks back to the old 100 series machines.

Remy notes that IBM, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Hitachi are the main 2.5" notebook hard drive manufacturers, and that most Apple OEM hard drives supplied in PowerBooks and iBooks have been IBMs and Fujitsus, with IBMs being the preferred drive.

There is a ton of useful information and many links to more in this article. If you're contemplating a hard drive upgrade, it's well worth reading.

TiBook Touchup Paint

Samuel Hotchkiss has paint for touching up scratched Titanium PowerBooks.

Samuel's packs of grey paint for TiBooks are ready to ship. To order transfer $11.50 to his PayPal account (hotch@hotch.org) and he says he will ship within 24 hours.

For more information, email hotch@hotch.org

And a tip of the hat to The PowerBook Zone for bringing this item to our attention.

MCE Announces Lucid-16, 16x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive

MCE Technologies, LLC has announced a 16x version of their Lucid Portable FireWire CD-RW drive. The Lucid-16 CD-RW drive sports the slimmest dimensions and lightest weight of any FireWire CD-RW drive on the market today, as well as a sleek industrial design intended to complement all of Apple's current system lineup, particularly the Apple PowerBook G4 Titanium.

The Lucid-16 16x10x24x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive burns recordable CD-R discs at 16x speed (2400 KB/Sec) and rewritable CD-RW discs at 10x speed (1500 KB/Sec), while reading CD-ROM discs at 24x speed (3600 KB/Sec). It does so while weighing in at less than a pound and measuring 5.5 inches in width, 6.5 inches in length, and only 0.8 inches in height. The Lucid-16 also features JustLink buffer underrun protection to prevent the creation of defective CDs from interruptions in the flow of data to the drive.

Since the Lucid-16 CD-RW drive is bus-powered, it does not require an AC adapter for operation, drawing all required power from any FireWire port which supplies bus power. The Lucid-16 drive supports all Power Macs, iMacs, PowerBooks, and iBooks with built-in FireWire ports as well as those with PCI FireWire cards which supply power to the FireWire bus. An AC adapter which is available separately is required when using the Lucid-16 drive with a system that has FireWire ports that do not supply power to the FireWire bus, such as with some CardBus-based and PCI-based FireWire cards. The Lucid is compatible with both Finder burning and Apple's iTunes under Mac OS 9.1 through Mac OS X.

The Lucid 16x10x24x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive is bundled with Roxio Toast CD-recording software, a FireWire cable, and a user's guide. The Lucid-16 CD-RW Drive will retail for $399.00 The optional universal AC adapter is listed at $14.99. MCE will begin shipments on February 1, 2002.

Computer Sleeves and Computer Transporter Bags from eBags

eBags' Business Express Computer Sleeve is an inexpensive padded sleeve that protects your laptop computer. Price: $24.99. On sale for $19.99

eBags' Jelly Computer Sleeve comes in three colors, and also is on sale now for $19.99.

Computer Sleeve features:

Diamond Poly Ripstop
Size: 13.5" x 11" x 1.5"
Interior computer dimensions: 12.25" x 10.5" x 1.5"
Weight: 5.5 oz.
Warranty: Lifetime

eBags' Computer Transporter features:

High density poly ripstop
Size: 13" x 11.5" x 2.5"
Interior dimensions: 13" x 11" x 2.5"
Weight: 1.3 lbs
Warranty: Lifetime

Regular price: $44.99; Sale price: $35.99 (20% off)

Another Computer Sleeve and iPod Case

SFBags' sleek, minimalist SleeveCase keeps your laptop out of harms way without taking up much S F Bags SleeveCase valuable space, and is available in custom-fit models for the TiBook and iBook. A plush layer of high grade neoprene wrapped in a Ballistic shell surrounds and protects your computer. The ultra smooth neoprene skin makes sliding your laptop in and out a snap.

Available in Black Ballistic nylon with Lead Indium trim.

Sizes:

Small $35
Medium $37
Large $39
X-Large $42
Titanium G4 $39
New iBook $38

Optional custom features

D-rings, Shoulder Strap & Shoulder Pad +$25
Ballistic flap +$15

The SFBags Super Dooper iPod Case is protective and extremely functional. Once in the case, you can instantly access everything on your iPod. The padded top slot allows any iPod compatible headphone, and the removable belt clip securely grabs on to anything. A padded front flap protects you iPod and serves as a pocket for the ear bud storage.

Shipping third week of February

Do-It-Yourself iPod Sleeve

Norbert Scully has posted a PDF file containing a pattern that anyone can use to make their own vinyl sleeve costing less than a dollar for their iPod with about 20 minutes work.

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.

Small Dog Electronics

PowerBook G4/400, 128 MB with an additional 512 MB (640 MB total)/10 GB/DVD-ROM/56K modem, refurbished, one year Apple warranty, Brenthaven Titanium 1 case, $1,699
PowerBook G4/400, 128/10 GB/DVD, new, $1,569
PowerBook G4/400, 128/10 GB/DVD, refurb, $1,499

That's right - a TiBook for under $1,500!

PowerBook Guy

PowerBook G3/400 Pismo, 128/6 GB/DVD/56k/FireWire, $1,249.95
PowerBook G3/333 Lombard, 128/4 GB/CD/56k/SCSI, $1,049.95

PowerMax

PowerBook G3/250 WallStreet, 32/4 GB/CD/FD/13.3", refurbished, $799
PowerBook G3/500 Pismo, 128/12 GB/DVD, $1,588
PowerBook G3/233 WallStreet, 32/2 GB/CD/13.3", $599
PowerBook G3/292 WallStreet, 96/2 GB/CD/14.1", $859

MacSolutions

PowerBook G4/500, 256/20 GB/DVD, three years of Apple Care Warranty, free 2 day shipping, $1,899
PowerBook G4/500, 256/20 GB/DVD, free 2 day shipping, $1,699
Also 500 MHz iBooks for $850

Recent 'Book Reviews

Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
OS X 10.6.2 Breaks Atom Netbooks, 320 GB MicroDrive, Adamo XPS World's Thinnest Laptop, and More, 11.13. Also Mini DisplayPort now a VESA standard, Modbook price drop, Litl Webbook Internet appliance, 3G USB device from AT&T, and more.
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.
More in the .

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac mini Core Solo, Feb. 2006 - The only Mac to use a Core Solo CPU, this model ran at 1.5 GHz, has integrated graphics, and includes a Combo drive
Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
November 23 in LEM history: 99: Should I buy a USB card? - 01: Can a low-end Mac be an only Mac? - Palm Desktop without a PDA - CyberDog saves the day - 05: How Consumer Reports could compare Macs fairly - Speakers for your Mac - Living with the hi-res 15" PowerBook - Birth of the PowerBook - Daystar 1.9 GHz iMac G4 upgrade - 1.92 GHz PowerBook upgrade
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Recent Deals

Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
More deals in our archive.

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