Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, MacBook Pros and more. Optical Drives for Apple iBooks, Powerbooks, MacBooks, MacBook Pros in Stock. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Juice up your iPod w/NewerTech High Capacity Battery from $19.99. Free Installation. Videos for most models. Pro Installation Service w/FedEx Shipping From $57.95 (Battery Included).

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Miscellaneous Ramblings Mailbag

Lombard/Pismo Battery Replacement, Webmail Problems with OS X, OS X on an iBook 300, and More

Charles Moore - 2005.01.11 - Tip Jar

Lombard/Pismo Battery

From Michael Bearpark

Hi,

You mentioned the Newer Tech replacement batteries for Lombard/Pismo PowerBooks in a recent column...

I've used one of these batteries in a Lombard for a few months, and my impression is that it lasts almost twice as long as the stock battery ever did. Highly recommended. Worth buying one of these older PowerBooks to install this battery if you need long life between charges at times.

Best wishes,
Mike Bearpark

Thanks for the report, Mike.

I need a new battery for my Pismo and you've helped shorten the list of candidates.

Charles

Yahoo Mail, Hotmail Problems with OS X

From Steve Eberly

Hello Charles,

I have scoured the Net and gone thru all your Miscellaneous Ramblings in search of an answer to my problem. Nothing seems to deal with my situation. I assume it is so simple that I can't see it easily.

I have happily been running my [PowerBook] 3400 and [Power Mac] 7300 with OS 8.1 Last month, my son gave me a tangerine iMac/333 with OS X installed. I cannot open either my Yahoo mail or my Hotmail with it regardless of what browser I use. I have tried IE 5, iCab 2.9.8, Mozilla, and now I just downloaded Camino (which is nice). I can always open to the log in page with no problems, but once I try to log in I get a drop down message telling me the document (my mailbox) has no data.

If I go over to the 3400, everything is fine. I have thought that this iMac, which was from a corporate clearance sale, may have some things blocked to prevent employees from doing personal mail.

OS X is OK for me, although I like Classic lots more and don't need OS X as such. Is it the system, the browser, or me? Thanks so much for your thoughts. I truly enjoy your columns.

regards,
Steve

Hi Steve,

It's not the browsers. It's not OS X per se. My son uses Hotmail (with a hacked Umax SuperMac S900 and OS X 10.3) and has mentioned no problems.

It may be the particular installation of OS X on your iMac. The potential cure would be to do a clean system reinstall from a regular install disk.

Either that or just use OS 9.x since you like it better anyway.

Charles

iBook and OS X

iBookFrom Jamie Saunders

I have an original iBook (no FW) with 364 MB RAM. Will it run OS X at a decent speed? I didn't know who else to ask and I did a search.

Jamie Saunders

Hi Jamie,

It will run, but "decent speed" is a value judgment. It will be a lot slower than OS 9 on that machine. My son ran OS X on a 333 MHz Lombard PowerBook for a couple of years, and the current owner of that machine continues to do so.

My personal view is that I wouldn't want to use OS X on anything less than a 500 MHz G3 or 400 MHz G4 with 640 MB of RAM, and consequently I run OS 9 on my 233 MHz WallStreet. Many would disagree with me.

Charles

Editor's note: I've used OS X on an overclocked beige G3, iMac 333, iBook 333, my 400 MHz PowerBook G4, and some faster Macs. "Decent speed" is a personal call, but even with lots of memory, the G3/333 machines feel slow. The 400 MHz G4 is comfortably fast. dk

Adding FireWire to a G4?

From wen

Hello

My [Power Mac] G4/533 in 2001 and got the extra 1 gig of RAM, I had no idea that I would need FireWire when I bought Final Cut Pro.

How do I get the FireWire now so I can use last years version on F.C. Pro?

Thank You.

Wen

Hi Wen,

What sort of G4 has no FireWire? [Editor's note: None.]

However, if you have PCI expansion slots, it's a simple matter to add a FireWire upgrade card, and they're relatively cheap.

Charles

Re: Recalcitrant B&W

From Gahanna

Both hard disks I have are at least OS 9, although both are HFS (not +).

Now, I'm not too sure about the memory speed. It's Kingston, so I know it's good. Also, how would this Mac take to 133 memory? A local store has 133 cheaper than 100. Any problems you know of?

Hi G.

To the best of my knowledge (although I make no claim to being an expert) it won't work.

Best to stick with PC100.

Charles

Rodney Lain

From Jason Walsh

Below is the link to my latest piece in the Guardian. It mentions Rodney Lain, so I though it might interest you. The links at the bottom weren't supplied by me (if they were, then LEM would be among them).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,,1383609,00.html

All the best,
Jason Walsh
Freelance journalist

Email Hosting on a Classic II?

From Jeff Hewitt

Hi.

I recall reading an article on Low End Mac about a fellow who ran an ISP with email off of Mac Classics. I was wondering if anyone out there might know of the software he would have used to do so? I have a mint condition Mac Classic II that I'm interested in trying this on. Thanks in advance for any help.

-Jeff Hewitt

Can anyone out there help Jeff out?

Charles

DigiTools 1.2

From Joshua Coventry

Charles,

Thank you for writing an article about my program, DigiTools 1.2. Your article has seemed to to get the word across to even more people.

I can verify your curiosity over why DigiTools doesn't have a spell checker or a link to the Mac OS X spell checker. DigiTools is written using REALbasic and is a Carbon application (not Cocoa), therefore I do not have access to the Cocoa Mac OS X spell checker seen in TextEdit. But after intense research on the topic I may be able to get access to the Cocoa Mac OS X spell checker and also the Font panel (cmd+T in TextEdit).

In an upcoming release of yet another but this time completely rewritten DigiTools you can look forward to hopefully seeing a spell checker and a bug-free word processor, along with new features such as line spacing, preset styles, and insert date/time in the word processor.

Thanks again!

Joshua Coventry
Founder & Manager, MegaWorks
http://www.megaworks.co.uk

Hi Joshua,

Thanks for your note.

I look forward to checking out the next DigiTools update.

Charles

Thanks for Differentiating 'News' from 'PR'

From Ed Hurtley

I just wanted to write to thank you for now differentiating what is a straight reprint of a press release - and what isn't - in your 'Book Review column. Makes it much easier to ignore self-promoting hype. :-)

Ed Hurtley

Hi Ed,

We aim to please.

Charles

Letters sent may be published at our discretion. Email addresses will not be published unless requested. If you prefer that your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style. LEM

Go to the Miscellaneous Ramblings Mailbag index.

Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and began writing for Mac websites in May 1998. His The Road Warrior column is a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com. If you find his articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Miscellaneous Ramblings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Miscellaneous Ramblings ©1999-2009 by Charles W. Moore. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.