Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

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.

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.

Virus-Free Macs, G5 Delays, Joys of Mplayer, and Negative Mac Reviews

Dirk Pilat - 2003.09.17

Arrrr!

Walk the plank and jump off the mast, you horrible little man!

(Note to self: When referring to Bill Gates, stop using pirate speech, as neither funny nor appropriate.)*

Good day, dear virus-free members of that more and more elitistic cult of Apple users. Now that we all have stopped grinning and gloating to our Windoze using friends after our OS has once again been kept free of any weird script-kiddies virus catastrophes, it's time to clean the inbox of "re: movie" files and go back to work.

I gather the electricity is up again wherever you read this, as I am pretty sure this column is not yet syndicated for international print use. The news roundup this past week for the Apple community has actually been quite positive, but only if you're not waiting for one of the new G5s, in which case there seems to be a slight delay in your order.

As Slashdot reported recently, Virginia Tech has ordered 1,100 Dual 2 GHz G5s and apparently have jumped the cue with this project. The orders for VT have been (so we're told) prioritised, and everybody else will just have to wait. If this baby works, the project is to jump into the Top 5 of the Linpack Supercomputer list, which I think is a first for an Apple powered cluster. Good luck to them and happy wiring.

The other customers waiting for their supercomputers will have to wait a bit, though.

The next bit of good news is the first prerelease of the upcoming 1.0 version of Mplayer. I don't know about you guys and girls, but my Mplayer has slowly but surely replaced the rather clumsy QuickTime player - at least on my humble and aging 500 MHz iBook, it plays AVIs. MPEGs, MOVs, and even has taken over playing streaming content destined for the (still in stone age beta) Windows Media Player rather snappy even in larger windows. Kudos to this Hungary-based project.

Access to a range of free software that works is obviously one of the numerous benefits of having a *nix-based operating system, and everybody who has Fink and X-Windows installed will vouchsafe for that.

There is bad news as well: According to Germany's most influential computer mag c't, Apple's current hardware is overpriced and underperforming: They compared the iBook to its cheaper PC colleagues and, although it got good points for usability and design, it wasn't able to keep up with the Windoze colleagues when it came to speed, ports, screen, and, of course, price.

They looked even less favourable on the smallest of the new G5s (1.6 GHz PowerPC G5): Although they congratulated Apple on the brilliant design and accessibility of the hardware, they criticised the rather old video card and the price. With 10.2.7, they did not see a significant speed increase compared with the 1 GHz G4s and commented that hopefully later OS X versions would give the user the speed increase we'd all be hoping for.

The most damning, however, was the comparison to a 2.6 GHz Pentium 4 machine for a third of the G5's price, which outshone the Apple's performance in every category. That really hurts.

So all there is left to do is cross our fingers and hope that Panther might put the tiger in the tank of the smaller G5s.

Literally speaking.

* Editor's note: September 19 is Talk Like a Pirate Day. This has nothing to do with Bill Gates, Microsoft, sharing music files, or Macs. It just seemed the right place to drop a link. ;-) dk

Recent Down But Not Out Columns

Thoughts and advice on replacing a two-year-old iBook G4, 02.01. This iBook G4 has taken a beating. Does it make more sense to buy a new iBook G4, wait for the Intel models, or look at the used market?
iBook on last legs, Mac mini saves marriage, and Macintel meanderings, 01.23. With the iBook G4 "falling apart at the seams", does it make more sense to buy a new G4 iBook or wait for the Intellified next gen iBook?
First impressions of the 14" iBook G4, 11.13. "Apple has managed to produce a machine that combines everything I want from a portable computer with appropriate processor performance for a competitive price."
Apple shines after a poorly timed iBook order, 11.06. The frustration of ordering a G3 iBook just two days before it was replaced by a G4 model.
More in the Down But Not Out index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Lisa, Jan. 1983 - The ancestor of the Macintosh had a mouse, a graphical interface, and a $10,000 price tag.
Group of the Day: Unsupported OS X is for those using OS X on unsupported hardware.
March 22 in LEM history: 00: Macs and digital video - 01: My Performa - Fun at CompUSA75 Mac Advantages - 02: Don't try this at home - History of portable computing - 04: Prolong battery life - 05: Symantec's ravings spread FUD about OS X security - 06: Picking a Power Mac G4 - France and the end of DRM

Recent Deals

Best 13" MacBook & MacBook Pro Deals, 03.22. Used 1.83 GHz, $570; 2.0, $599; 2.4 GHz, $889; refurb 2.26, $849; new, $900 after rebate; Pro, $1,119 a/r, 2.53, $1,399 a/r.
Best Power Mac G5 Deals, 03.22. 1.8 GHz single, $399; dual, $445; 2.0, $609; 2.5, $724; 2.7, $799; 2.3 GHz dual-core, $669; 2.5 GHz Quad, $799.
Best AirPort Deals, 03.22. Refurb AirPort Express, $79; new, $95; refurb dual-band AirPort Extreme Hub, $129; new simultaneous dual-band, $168.
Best Intel iMac Deals, 03.17. Used 17" from $600; 20" from $750; 24" from $825; refurb 21.5" nVidia, $999; new, $1,099; refurb Radeon, $1,299; new, $1,399; refurb 27" 3.06, $1,499; more.
Best G5 iMac Deals, 03.17. 17" 2.0 GHz, $380; 1.9 GHz iSight, $479 shipped; 20" 1.8 GHz, $509 shipped; 2.1 GHz iSight, $549 shipped.
Best Time Capsule Deals, 03.17. Close-out 500 GB, $140; new 1 TB, $279; used 2 TB simultaneous dual-band, $400; new, $455. Shipping included.
Best iPad Deals, 03.16. 16 GB iPad, $499; 32 GB, $599; 64 GB, $699; 16 GB with 3G, $629; 32 GB 3G, $729; 64 GB 3G, $829. Free ground shipping.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Down But Not Out begun April 26, 2002. All Down But Not Out articles ©2002-03, 2006 by Dirk Pilat. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 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.