- Featured link: Win the depreciation game by buying on the low end, Charles Moore, 'Book Value, 2008.06.24. The worst depreciation afflicts high-end models. By buying a less powerful version, choosing certified refurbished, or picking up a used computer, you'll come out ahead.
- Mac of the Day: 'WallStreet' PowerBook G3, May 1998 - WallStreet offered 3 screen sizes and CPU speeds from 233 to 292 MHz.
- List of the Day: System 6 is the email list for those who choose System 6.
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Mac Pro overclocking, Windependence with Darwine, Blu-ray for Macs, and more, Mac News Review, 2008-07-04. Also more on running Leopard on non-Apple hardware, Ubuntu on a Mac mini, the first autofocus webcam with Zeiss optics for Macs, and more.
- Wouldn't life be great with an iSlate?, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 2008-07-04. PDAs and smartphones are too small for some tasks, full-fledged Tablet PCs are overkill, and ebook readers are too limited. Apple has the tech to own this niche.
- The Macintosh Portable started a notebook revolution, Carl Nygren, Classic Macs in the Intel Age, 2008-07-03. Before Apple introduced the Mac Portable, notebook computers were text-based and ran MS-DOS. Ever since, graphical interfaces have been the norm for laptops.
- More links in our archive.
We've phased out the WebTV version of Low End Mac, which accounted for less than 10 page views per day. Links now go to the normal pages on our site.
Around the Web
- Advice: Master Your Digital Media with VLC, Adam Pash, Lifehacker, 07.01. "From ripping DVDs to converting files to iPod-friendly formats, let's take a look at the four coolest things you can do with VLC and start you on your way to becoming a VLC ninja."
- Huh?: Solid state drives eat battery life, don't save it for later, Dan Moren, MacUser, 07.02. "...Tom's Hardware did some extensive testing, comparing four SSDs to a conventional Hard Drive, with surprising results: the SSDs actually reduced battery time instead of extending it."
- Benchmarks: Shootout: 500 GB Notebook Drives Samsung vs. Hitachi, Bare Feats, 06.27. The Samsung benchmarks slower overall, but it's only 9.5mm thick and fits all notebooks. Hitachi's faster drive is thicker and only fits some notebooks.
- News: Survey: 8 in 10 businesses now using Macs, Gregg Keizer, Computerworld, 06.26. "Nearly 80% of businesses have Macs in-house, nearly double the percentage that said they had users running Mac OS X two years ago, a research firm said today."
- Virus: How to Protect Yourself from the New Mac OS X Trojans, Rich Mogull, TidBITS, 06.24. "The good news is that based on the nature of the vulnerability the risk is low, but the bad news is that this kind of attack could become more serious."
- Benchmarks: AA Battery Test, Zach Honig, Popular Photography, 06.25. 7 sets of single-use and 7 sets of rechargeables tested - which has the best value?
- History: 5 Obsolete Storage Formats, Charlie Sorrel, Wired, 06.19. Remember 8-tracks, paper tape for computers, Zip! disks, cassette tapes, and Sony's MiniDisc? Some aren't completely dead yet, but definitely on the way.
- News: OS X Trojans in wild: beware of geeks bearing gifts, Dan Moren, MacUser, 06.23. Two Trojans for Mac OS X found in the wild: the ASthtv05 and PokerGame.
- News: Optimized Firefox 3 builds available, Brett Terpstra, TUAW, 06.23. Called "Minefield", optimized versions are available for Intel and G5 Macs. No word yet on a G4 build.
- History: Cracking Open the Apple Macintosh Classic, Mark Kaelin, Tech Republic, 06.17. "In this Cracking Open Photo Gallery, TechRepublic examines just what went into a Mac Classic - and what technology was like in 1991."
- News: Mozilla Records 8.2 Million Downloads in First Day, Monkey Bites, 06.18. Definitely worth a try! (3 of those downloads were from Low End Mac headquarters - because the first two didn't work.)
- News: MobileMe: What you need to know, Macworld, 06.18. You'll gain push email and Mac/Windows/iPhone synching of email, contacts, and calendar. You'll lose iCards and iSync support for Panther.
- Opinion: Is It Time to Dump Your PowerPC Mac?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 06.16. Until Mac OS X 10.7 comes out, PowerPC Macs should remain viable.
- Opinion: MobileMe: Revolution Apple Style, Holden Scott, This Old Mac, 06.13. "MobileMe improves on .Mac [with] powerful, Ajax driven Address Book, Email, iPhoto, iCal and iDisk web applications bundled together into one neat, tidy, cohesive screen."
- News: Toshiba Goes to 5400RPM with 1.8-inch 160GB Hard Drive, Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer, 06.11. This would be a great thing to see inside the MacBook Air....
- Opinion: Late Night PowerBook 5300ce, Holden Scott, This Old Mac, 06.01. "These columns are written on a PowerBook 5300ce with a high capacity battery and a 4 GB SanDisk Ultra II internal Hard Drive."
- News: 3G iPhone Unlimited Data Plan Will Cost $30 Per Month, But You Can Only Activate in Store, Jose Fermoso, Wired, 06.09. The iPhone 3G will not be sold online, and you will have to buy and activate it in a retail store.
- History: From iTools to MobileMe, Dan Moren, Macworld, 06.09. MobileMe takes over from .mac this summer, but before .mac, the service was known as iTools and available for free.
- News: TileStack: HyperCard comes back from the dead and onto the Web, Josh Lowensohn, Webware, 06.06. HyperCard is back from the dead, sort of. TileStack converts HyperCard stacks into programs your browser can access.
- Analysis: WWDC 2008: Is Mac OS X 10.6 the Death of PowerPC?, Daniel Eran Dilger, Roughly Drafted, 06.07. "Increasingly fewer PowerPC machines are less than three or four years old, which makes them less likely for consumers to want to upgrade beyond Leopard...."
