Low End Mac: Worth It!

Featured link: Multiroom audio with iTunes, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2009.11.03. Apple's iTunes software makes it easy to stream audio to another room. All you need is the right hardware and sometimes an extra app.
Mac of the Day: Power Mac 4400, Nov. 1996 - Apple does cheap to compete with clones - and nobody is impressed.
Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
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Newest Content

Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More: The 'Book Review, 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.
Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More: Mac News Review, 11.06; /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
November 7 in LEM history: 00: PowerBook Lite dreams - Our first Macs - 01: OS 9, OS X, or Linux? - 02: Xserve for the classroom - 03: Panther on slot-loading iMacs - High capacity Lombard/Pismo battery - 05: Clean keyboard residue from laptop screen with ROR - SeaMonkey - 06: Dan Bricklin, inventor of the spreadsheet - Turn any Mac into a gameshow buzzer - 07: The transforming PowerBook 1400 - PowerBook 540 on Compact Flash
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 editorial 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 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 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 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 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.

Around the Web

Opinion: I Am a Future PC: Why I'm Dumping Apple after 15 Years, Mike Doyle, Chicago Carless, 11.04. "After a 15-year relationship with all things Apple, I've finally had it with the Steve Jobs 'you'll use your computer they way we tell you to use your computer' method of customer relations."
News: Proprietary cable can put the brakes on upgrading Late '09 iMacs, Other World Computing, 11.02. New iMacs us temperature sensors built into hard drives, but there is no standard, so drive replacment may mean an expensive new cable as well.
Benchmarks: OWC Benchmarks Show Newest iMacs 46% Faster with More RAM, Other World Computing, 11.03. By upgrading new iMacs from stock 4 GB of RAM to 16 GB, performance improves up to 46%. (Quad-core iMacs not yet available for testing.)
Tech: iMac Upgraded to SSD, ThatSiebGuy, 11.02. With a dying hard drive and most files on an external drive (a Drobo at that), the author decided to put a 120 GB OCZ Summit SSD in his iMac.
Opinion: The decade of Steve, Adam Lashinsky, Fortune, 11.05. "...he has radically and lucratively reordered three markets - music, movies, and mobile telephones - and his impact on his original industry, computing, has only grown."
History: Lisa Earns Her Loyalty, Adam Rosen, Vintage Mac Museum, 10.30. "I'm finding that a Lisa can be like an ailing older family member: someone you love and respect, but as they age the relationship can get stressful."
Software: Optimized Firefox Mac Builds, Furbism, 10.31. PowerPC G3, G4, G5, and Intel builds include: Firefox 3.7 alpha 1, 3.6 beta 2, 3.3.3 final, and more.
Software: Firefox 3.6 beta 1 arrives with better performance, new personas feature, Fairer Platform, 10.31. Firefox 3.6 moves from alpha to beta. Personas let you change appearance with a single click. We've been impressed with the alphas. Give it a try!
Opinion: The Psychology of the non-Apple consumer, Applepeels, 10.30. "I have often wondered at how someone could have a horrible experience with a computer and turn around and buy another one just like it."
Web: Say hello to .كوم as domain names go truly global, Jacqui Cheng, ars technica, 10.30. "The Fast Track Process, which begins in November, will enable countries to apply for new domain name extensions (such as .com or .net) in their own national language."
Web: CANN Approves Non-Latin Character Domain Names, Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer, 10.30. "The coming introduction of non-Latin characters represents the biggest technical change to the Internet since it was created four decades ago."
Web: ICANN Approves Non-Latin ccTLDs, Slashdot, 10.30. Thought son the pros and cons of ICANN's decision.
Humor: A Comparative Study of User Intellect Based on Anti-Productivity Applications Included in Operating Systems, Spaceman, Airbag Industries, 10.29. Windows comes with Solitaire, a great time killer. Macs? They come with chess.
News: Apple stores upgrading from Windows-based EasyPay to iPod touch, Prince McLean, , 10.28. Apple eats its own dogfood: Some Apple Stores are already running EasyPay on Apple's iPod touch instead of a Windows PDA.
Advice: A Fresh Look At The 'Old' Rules of Upgrading, Grant, OWC Blog, 10.28. The old advice is still good: First, make sure you have enough RAM, next get a bigger, faster hard drive.
Software: How To Control Multiple Macs With Teleport, Henry Bennett, Mac AppStorm, 10.26. A great, free program that lets you use one mouse and one keyboard with multiple Macs. (We use Teleport at LEM headquarters.)
News: Firefox gains 30 million users in eight weeks, Tom Espiner, CNET News, 10.27. The headline says it all. Firefox is the #2 browser on Macs and Windows, and it's encroaching more and more on Internet Explorer.
Dark Side: Hasta la Vista, baby: Ars reviews Windows 7, Peter Bright, ars technica, 10.26. What's new, what's the same, and whether it's worth swiching from XP or Vista to the new Windows.
Review: MacBook Polycarbonate Unibody Teardown, iFixit, 10.21. Higher capacity battery than previous MacBook, and no more easy access hard drive.
News: Schiller: MacBook is Apple's best selling Mac ever, Jim Dalrymple, The Loop, 10.20. "If you thought the iMac is Apple's best selling computer ever, you would be wrong." Apple has sold 10 million MacBooks.

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