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OWC Tips & Deals 10/26/2007
Intro: Greeting to all you 'Cat' lovers out there! By that I'm of course talking of the various OS X incarnations - Jaguar, Panther, Tiger... and now a brand new cat leading the pack, Leopard 10.5! It's been a long time coming, a little longer than originally expected with the iPhone diversion (which, ok, a really good thing after all) - but with one feature alone, so worth the wait. Time really flies and sometimes you just don't know what you've missed or accidentally blown right over... Can't turn back time, but love Apple's Time Machine for taking you back in your own history - so to speak. On to Leopard, Time Machine, and plenty more. Apple Leopard 10.5 now in stock and shipping - What's needed? The wait is over, Leopard is for real here! Light years ahead of the beleaguered Windows Vista (many PC customers actually _requesting_ XP still!) which didn't even compare to 10.4 Tiger, it's one for all pricing (compared to Vista's flavors up to $249) at $129 retail (OWC $119) makes it one heck of a competitive OS value. So lets take a look at what it takes to run it... First off - you must have an Apple with a G4, G5, or Intel processor running 867MHz or faster. The good news? We have tested with our OWC Mercury Extreme, PowerLogix PowerForce, and NewerTech MaxPower G4 Upgrades and confirmed full compatibility with Leopard. So - even if your stock system was a PowerMac G4 AGP/Sawtooth 350MHz - so long as you have one or our past or current G4 upgrades installed and running G4/900MHz or faster, Leopard is supported and can be installed on your Mac. That investment to soup up your PowerMac G4 is still A-OK. Next - gotta have a DVD Drive....at least if you want to install right from the DVD vs. some other work around. While you don't need a DVD drive to use Leopard, Apple is only offering Leopard on DVD. Every Mac since near the end of 2002 came standard with at least a CDRW+DVD combo drive. That covers most everyone who still has a stock optical. For those don't have a DVD capable model, from $34.99 - that's very easy to fix. If you have another DVD equipped Mac around, etc - there are ways to trick around this - but really now.... Then you need to have at least 512MB of memory. 512MB is the minimum. You want that cat engage warp engines? More memory = a lot more performance. Got a G4? Max it to the 1.5GB or 2.0GB (depending on model) max allowed. Got an Intel Mac? Go at least 3.0GB, or if a original Core Duo user - then the max 2.0GB. You'll see a difference with Leopard and that's also especially true even remaining with Tiger 10.4.x too. In addition to applications benefiting from available memory, OS 10.4 and later happens to use additional memory very efficiently to optimize its own performance. Presently we've got installed memory performance benchmarks for the Intel Macs - but the results are pretty universal across. You can see where upgrading beyond 1GB can be better than buying a faster machine with one 1GB. Oh - have only 512MB not - if you can upgrade to 1.0GB - you're talking Night and Day new machine like change. We've got the right memory for all your Macs and priced as low as $30 per 1.0GB - so - memory makes a huge difference and is very cost effective right now too. The next requirement I think is to cover Apple on general definition, that requirement being that your Mac have a built-in FireWire port. Every G4, G5, and Intel based Apple model has a built in FireWire port - so there are no worries there. We haven't tested the PCI PowerMac G3 B&W or G4 'Yikes' (pre-agp) yet - but since they have the FireWire port, I'm hoping that if you have a Sonnet G4 1GHz ZIF installed, those machines too will be Leopard capable. We'll test early next week and add a note to that item description one way or the other. For $300, I think a better deal is a used PowerMac G4 AGP + new OWC Mercury 1.2GHz that's faster too... but if you've already got the investment in the PCI Mac, hopefully it too is friendly to the new cat. Now we need to talk a little about Video. Quartz Extreme acceleration was introduced with Jaguar. Core Video Acceleration was introduced with Tiger. While none of these OS versions require a video card with Quartz and/or Core video support - to get reap the full performance benefit of Leopard (as well as Tiger), it really does you good to have a video card compatible the Core Video acceleration. Video upgrades are only a possibility for owners of PowerMacs. This Apple online article lists out what Video Card chipsets that are supported for the Quartz and Core technologies. Core requirements are the same in Leopard as they were in Tiger. You can see all of the current Mac Video Card Options online + below is a quick guide to what's what by Mac models. Owners of PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics/Sawtooth, GigE, Digital Audio, and Quicksilver models, your only current Core Video supported option is the ATI Radeon 9800 MacEdition. The good new - it's also the fastest Core supported video card produced for any PowerMac G4 model. This card supports 2 displays including 1 x DVI up to 24". Owners of PowerMac G4 'Mirrored Drive Door' models are able to use the aforementioned 9800 or the slightly less expensive Radeon 9600 Video Card. If you don't already have the core video card, why not just go for the 9800? The 9600 is still very fast + it supports up to two DVI or VGA displays including ability to drive 1 x Dual-DVI 30" display & 2nd display (VGA or DVI) up to 24". If you have a PowerMac G5 with PCI/PCI-X Slots, out of the box you have a minimum of the GeForce 5200. This stock Nvidia card is supported for Core Video Acceleration. Those with a 5200 would consider upgrading to the ATI retail 9600 Video Card for a decent video performance boost + if you want support for a 30" display. The ultimate performance video card upgrade available for this G5 is the ATI Radeon x800 Mac G5 Edition. This card also is able to support up to one 30" Dual-DVI + a 2nd display up to 24" - one note, as the 2nd port is an ADC port, unless you have an Apple ADC display you will need to procure an ADC to DVI or to VGA Adapter to use a second monitor. If you have the PowerMac G5 'October-2005' PCI-Express model, you've already got a pretty sweet video card stock. Even the base Nvidia 7800 model is just fine for Leopard if you're already happy with it now. Anything other than the 7800, you're good.... if you have the 7800 and want faster - the Radeon X1900 PCI-Express G5 Edition is a significant step up and it also lets you have up to two 30" Displays too. Also, you can add the X1900 as a 2nd video card to your PCI-Express G5 for more display support, more performance, or both. Right out of the box, any Intel Mac at least meets the minimums for running Leopard. Depending on what Mac you have, if you're ready for Leopard - upgrading to Intel Mac to get there is certainly not a bad way to go. That said, if you've got an investment in PowerPC software that gets the job done - while it will run on the Intel Mac, you need to upgrade to Intel Native versions to really get the total performance benefit and it is this additional cost that, depending on your software needs, can make upgrading an existing Mac a far more appealing option. There's always more, but the above covers what you'll need to be ready for Leopard. Whatever your Mac, if it meets the mins it will run Leopard - but a night a day difference exists when you have a system equipped to take care of that cat right. Take a Leap into your data's past with 10.5 Time Machine There's a ton of great new features and improvements in Leopard. Some of it's window dressing, but the majority of it really rocks. Stuff like the 'QuickView' that lets you preview a doc file before opening it into its application (be that word, excel, acrobat, etc) are really slick. In fact when it comes to the ability to go back in time with your data on time machine, QuickView is a great way to find that original version you overwrote, for example... This is the tip of the iceberg with Time Machine that I lead into... Apple's Time Machine is probably one of the best reasons to get Leopard and here's why and how it works: Being Honest... Some of us are good with backing up and use something like ProSoft DataBackup to do good, regularly scheduled backups of our important data. Then there is the larger majority that backup once in a blue moon risking to find out just how important that data may be only after it's in jeoapardy. Whichever category you fall into, Time Machine has got its place. First of all, you will need an additional hard drive, ideally with more space than what you are currently actively using. The additional space allows for Time Machine to maintain 'multiple histories' of your files. This additional drive can be an internal drive connected via stock IDE/ATA/SATA, an External FireWire/USB2, or an internal or external drive connected to an add-on HD controller/FireWire controller/etc. If you plug it into your Mac and it shows up on your desktop, it pretty much is good to go for Time Machine. And of course... you can find all sorts of hard drive options at OWC. :) Like any drive you add, faster hard drive options give you better performance when it comes to accessing the files stored upon. So you've got the drive installed/connected and have turned Time Machine on - what's so special now? The first thing it's going to do is make an initial backup. With that done, on a daily basis it's going to maintain an hourly backup of files you change. Accidentally make a major mistake and saved over the 'good' version, delete a file, etc? No problem - during the same day you can review prior saved versions and easily transfer a prior version of the file back to live use. It then also keeps daily, weekly, and monthly backups based on the space available. This is very efficient in terms of space use too - for each recovery point, it has mapped and archived just the files that have changed. Once it has the master backup, the additional points of 'time and space' only require space enough for those files that have changed from one snap to the next. Pretty cool! For someone who's not backing up now, you go from no backup to a very versatile backup solution. Even so - for truly mission critical data, you will still want an additional backup. Why? For one, it's always a good idea to store a backup in a safe secure place. What else? Normally when you have a regular backup drive, you're only using it when you make a backup. With the lower level of use, the probability of a failure(be it HDs fault or someone accidentally bumping, OS soft error, etc) is much lower. This is compared to the Time Machine allocated hard drive, which is always cranking away so long as you're updating data. I'm not just talking about a physical drive failure here either, things sometimes go wrong and soft errors occur. Although I expect a high level of reliability with Time Machine, should a soft error/data transfer error occur and cause corruption to the Time Machine volume, it is possible that loss of data on that volume could occur. Which brings me to the next bit... It's highly expected that dependencies on Time Machine will develop with the multiple copies thing kind of taken for granted... One tech even noted that people might actually delete needed files off their main volume because they've got a Time Machine archive that can be easily accessed whenever it's needed again in which case no longer a backup. So - if your Time Machine drive fails, it's not just a current backup you lose - it's all those moments in time where deleted files still exist, prior doc versions live on, etc. And thus where having a backup of your backup comes completes the strategy for more complete protection. Ideally the backup of your Time Machine volume, if you go the full backup route, can be kept in an alternate location and thus well securing your ability to traverse time and space should a worst case event occur. If you've already got a good backup habit, Time Machine gives you a way to significantly enhance what you can back up. If you're not backing up now, Time Machine is reason and makes it easy for that to be corrected. If Time Machine was just a basic automatic application built into Leopard, that would still be pretty nice. But this is no ordinary basic backup app and it's the allure of mastering time and space, the sexiness of Time Machine, all of that makes backing up fun. It's cool, it's super easy, instead of a procrastinated chore - here's a backup you can't wait to turn on. OWC's Chris Stevens has written a nice Time Machine quick start summary, sums things up quite nicely. :) For Fun and of interest It was really pretty cool of Jobs to take care of the early iPhone buyers (myself included) and kick us back the $100 to spend on more Apple gear. It certainly softened the blow of what had been a $200 price drop, or 33%/40% reduction (4GB/8GB) only 10 weeks after introduction. In the interest of garnering even more good will, rumors of a rebate are about for those who purchased a Lisa in 1983. What's really incredible though, adjusted for inflation Lisa buyers spent about $20,000 for that machine. Pretty amazing what 10% or even 5% of that gets you today. That Windows Vista isn't all it's cracked up to be is no surprise to those reading this newsletter. Really hilarious that it's so bad that PC buyers have demanded that XP remain available with a large portion of 'New Windows PCs' now shipping with XP. This following video has a couple light expletives towards the end, but it's done in excellent humor - and all at Microsoft's expense! Check it out. :) - Thanks Michael! Intro Closing: The cats out of the bag and we're just getting started. Only just 'scratched' the surface of Leopard tonight - but will be going plenty further in depth. This is an amazing OS and just as amazing is how compelling just Time Machine alone is plus you have so much more. It's fast, it's sleek, it's stable, and it's a worthwhile upgrade for pretty much any Mac capable of running it. Some features you'll need a new Mac to utilize, but even where that's the case - this cat makes a well worthwhile 'leap' over Tiger. Hasta La Vista - Vista - for the 2nd time. Vista didn't catch the Tiger and can't even see the Leopard's tail. As always, thanks for reading and the very best to you and yours. But more does follow... Still in this newsletter we have Remote Mac Control Quick Tip, this week's Reader Specials Highlights, and Roger's Music on the Mac following some 'messages from our sponsor'. Quick Links Online Installation Videos, PDF Docs, FAQ & more in OWC Tech Center: From installing memory to ipod batteries, installing processor upgrades to Optical Drive you'll find help with OWC's Installation Videos. Tips on setting up hard drives, creating raids, proper memory handling, network setup, basic trouble shooting, and just a whole lot more. There is a lot of experience here and we're happy to share that with you. A better Apple/Macintosh ISP at a better price - FasterMac.Net Super competitive rates, Toll Free Tech Support, and a brand new level of Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam protection coming on line - you'll be amazed at how much you get for less at FasterMac.Net. Even just for e-mail, FasterMac.Net makes the hassle of Spam effectively no hassle at all. Just what does OWC do with trade-ins, open box items, discontinued goods, etc.? We put 'em up on our Clearance Deals Page. Watch for major update on/about September 1st! Use Apple OS 9.2.2 & Apple OS X on Macs Apple doesn't support because OWC does with OS 9 Helper and Xpostfacto! Quick Tip: Quick Tip: Remote Control other Macs No, this isn't some sneaky way to take over unsuspecting user's Macs... Rather it's about a way to help others or help yourself by remote control access to other Macs on your network. Applications for this include doing maintenance on another Mac, installing updates, etc - from your Mac. Multi-task to the max in that respect, working a way on not just your Mac, but getting things squared away on another as well. Maybe you've got a Mac that's a media server in another room. Use to control Macs that are headless, no displays attached. Whatever it is - there are definitely times when being able to control that other Mac right from your Mac can come in handy. While there are commercial applications you can buy to do this, OWC's Chris Stevens shows you one that won't break the bank - cause it's free. The technical term for what these remote control apps enable is Virtual Network Computing and Chris's article on the 'Chicken of the VNC' application will have you remote controlling in no time. Check out our Quick Tips Archive, Hardware/Software Review articles, and more - all in the OWC Product Reviews and Editorial center. Great Buys and Featured Exclusive Specials for OWC E-Mail Subscribers: A much larger selection of regularly updated Tips n' Deals reader discounted specials can be found on the Tips n' Deals Specials Page, which is updated just for - well - readers like you! Highlights: Who Let that Cat Out? Apple 10.5 Leopard from $119.00 Long awaited and well worth the wait, Apple OS 10.5 Leopard is now available. Requires an Apple with a G4, G5, or Intel Processor that is 867MHZ or faster, 512MB min of Memory, DVD optical drive, and built in firewire port. Note - OWC Has tested its OWC Mercury Extreme G4, PowerLogix PowerForce G4, and NewerTech MaxPower G4 Upgrades and found them 100% Leopard compatible. What's more, if your Mac was originally slower than 867MHz, so long as you've got a current or prior G4 Upgrade that is 900MHz or faster - you're good to go (so long as have the memory and the DVD drive). Apple OS 10.5 Leopard Retail Box Version Single User - $119.00 Apple OS 10.5 Leopard 5-User 'Family Pack' and more from $197.99 Upgrade to a modern DVD SuperDrive the reads & rights DVDS, DVD-Dual Layer, and CDs from $34.99 Check out faster G4 Processor options for your PowerMac G4 from $175 Memory makes the difference Memory Market Update: I'm almost afraid to say it, but there does seem to be some growing stability with the bottom possibly reached on at least some memory lines. I know from the public releases that memory chip makers like Micron, etc have been bleeding millions with the plummet in memory prices this year... and when you consider that 1.0GB is about 1/4th what it was a year ago, a little pressure on the pricing from these latest bottom lows isn't all that unreasonable to expect. Personally - I love it, memory so cheap, no easier and more effective way to boost the performance of a machine that doesn't already have enough of it. 4.0GB for DDR2 today is less than 1/5th the cost of what just 2.0GB had cost a year ago at this same time. Amazing too are the benefits when you upgrade.. be it from 512MB to 1GB, 1GB to 2GB, 2GB to 3GB and higher too. We've even got real world application testing comparing this. If you've only got 512MB (oh my gosh) or even 1GB - adding more can literally be like you've bought a brand new Mac for the difference it makes. We sell top quality, major brand memory at what are really cheap prices right now - and not to be confused at all with selling cheap memory that's not the good stuff. More memory = Faster Mac = Less 'Spinning Beach balls' Top Quality, Apple Spec Qualified Memory and backed with a Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty - We've got ya covered! Upgrade MacBook, MacBook Pro Models (Core 2 Duo & Core Duo) For all speed/models of MacBook and MacBook Pro All models have 2 slots - upgrade one at a time or with a set. 1.0GB PC5300 DDR2 now $29.00; Upgrade with a 2.0GB Set $57.50 Add a 2.0GB Module to any Core 2 Duo Model for $82.50, 3.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $112.50, or 4.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $159.00! See other up to 4.0GB Memory and Hard Drive Upgrades options online. Add up to 16.0GBs to Apple Mac Pro Quad Xeon Max the Apple Mac Pro Quad Xeon with up to 32GBs of Top Quality Memory Apple Qualified with Apple Approved Heat Spreader for Optimal Reliability Mac Pro has 8 Slots, Memory must be installed in Matched Pairs. 512MB x 2, 1GB x 2, and 2GB x 2 Module Sets now starting from about $56.25 Per GIG! Upgrade iMac Intel, Mac mini Intel Models (ALL) Both Systems have 2 Slots, May be upgraded one module at a time or pairs. 1.0GB PC5300 DDR2 now $29.00; Upgrade with a 2.0GB Set $57.50 Add a 2.0GB Module to any Core 2 Duo Model for $82.50, 3.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $112.50, or 4.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $159.00! See other up to 4.0GB Memory and Hard Drive Upgrades online. Upgrade your PowerMac G5 and iMac G5 with PC3200 iMac G5 1.6GHz, 1.8GHz, and 2.0GHz; all PowerMac G5 Models with PCI-X Slots (all PowerMac G5s prior to the PCI-Express 'October 2005' models) PowerMac requires Matched Pairs, iMac allows one at a time. 2.0GB Matched Pair PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMMs - $117.50 1.0GB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMM Module - $59.50 512MB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMM Module - $27.50 Click for All Memory Options. More Memory for iMac G5/1.9GHz & 2.1GHz Models, PowerMac G5 'Oct 2005' PC4200 Memory for Late 2005 Model iMacs; PowerMac G5 PCI-Express PowerMac requires Matched Pairs, iMac allows one at a time. 1.0GB PC4200 DDR2 240 Pin DIMM Module - $31.50 2.0GB PC4200 DDR2 Matched Pair 1GB x 2 Matched Set - $60.00 Click for All Memory Options including 2.0GB modules/4GB kits from $90 per 2GB! Upgrade PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12"/15"/17"; iBook G4 12" & 14" PC2700 for all iBook G4 Models, All 'Pre-Oct 2005' PowerBook G4 Aluminums PowerBook has two slots, iBook only 1 slot - no advantage to matched pairs. 512MB PC2700 DDR SO-DIMM 200 Pin - $29.50 1.0GB PC2700 DDR SO-DIMM 200 Pin - $73.75 Click for All Memory Options. Upgrade PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, Quicksilver models Three or Four total slots, up to 512MB per Slot - Each slot independent with no advantage to matched sets. 256MB PC133 CL3/PC100 CL2 SDRAM DIMM 168 Pin - $22.50 512MB PC133 CL3/PC100 CL2 SDRAM DIMM 168 Pin - $49.00 Click for All Memory Options. OWC stocks top quality, fully tested - Apple Spec Memory for nearly every Mac made If you don't see your model listed and/or are not sure what your system needs, use our 'MyOWC' compatibility guide will list out just options are correct for your Mac. Desktop/Tower/External HDs - Big, Fast, 500GB from $112, 1.0TB $295 Add 500GB to your Mac: 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 7200RPM 16MB Cache with 3yr Warranty Internal IDE/ATA Model for $127.99, SATA I/II Model for $115.99 500GB OWC Neptune FireWire 400 Complete 7200RPM 16MB Cache Solution $167.99 500GB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 7200RPM Firewire 400 + USB2 Solution - $179.00 Includes all cables, Intech HD Speedtools, DataBackup, 2yr+ Warranty & More 500GB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 7200RPM FW800/400,USB2,eSATA Solution - $225.00 Includes all cables, Intech HD Speedtools, DataBackup, 2yr+ Warranty & More Add 750GB to your Mac: 750GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 7200RPM *32MB* CACHE SATA I/II $205.00 500GB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 7200RPM FW800/400,USB2,eSATA Solution - $299.00 Add 1.0TB to your Mac: 1.0TB Western Digital 'Green-Power' SATA I/II HD 16MB Cache HD $289.00 Hitachi and Seagate 1.0TB Hard Drives 7200RPM Models 32MB Cache from $347.99 1.0TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL RAID 7200RPM FW800/400,USB2 Solution - $345.00 1.0TB 1.0TB NewerTech miniStack compact FW800/400/U2/eSATA + Power Hub Solution - $495.99 See solutions from 80GB and up to 4.0TB online! Transfer/Access Data from Drives easily with Universal Adapter NewerTech 2.5/3.5/5.25" IDE/ATA/ATAPI/SATA I&II to USB 2.0 Adapter $25.00 The Swiss Army Knife of Data Accessibility, all cables included. Big Storage for your Apple Laptop - 120GB $75; 160GB $95 MacBook and MacBook Pro 2.5" SATA Internal Hard Drive Upgrades: *Most Popular & fastest* Hitachi 200GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache for $209.00 80GB and up to 160GB 7200RPM by Hitachi & Seagate from $92.99, 160GB $167.99 120.0GB Western Digital Scorpio 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $73.75 160.0GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K160 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty **$95.00 ** 250.0GB Western Digital Scorpio 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $179.00 PowerBook & iBook G3/G4 Internal IDE/ATA 2.5" Hard Drive Upgrades: *Special - WD Scorpio 5400RPM 60GB, 80GB, 100GB - $45.99, $53.99, $62.99! 100.0GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 7200RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $112.99 160.0GB Western Digital Scorpio 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $98.99 Use and/or transfer data from the 'old' drive externally: SATA 2.5" Portable HD Enclosure Kits for MacBook/MacBook Pro Hard Drives OWC Mercury On-The-Go FireWire 800(+400)/USB2 SATA 2.5" Enclosure Kit $80.00 OWC Mercury On-The-Go USB 2.0 SATA 2.5" Enclosure Kit - $34.99 For IDE/ATA 2.5" from PowerBook or iBook: OWC Mercury On-The-Go FireWire 400 IDE/ATA 2.5" Enclosure Kit - $55.00 OWC Mercury On-The-Go USB 2.0 IDE/ATA 2.5" Enclosure Kit - $29.95 Awarding Winning Prosoft Utility Specials - DataRescue II $55 If ever you've got an issue with data on one of your hard drives, the award winning DataRescue II is an application you want in your arsenal and ready to deploy. Be it data corruption or accidentally deleted files, DataRescue has saved the day for many. Prosoft DataRescue II normal retail $99, Super Reader Special - $55.00 Also check out Prosoft Drive Genius - this is the same utility Apple uses for the system maintenance they charge you for at the Genius Bar which you can buy and thus be doing that maintenance yourself. :) Normal $99, $67.50 for you. Kensington Car/Auto 12V to AC 200w Inverter for $29.50 This Kensington Car/Auto AC Power Inverter is in like new condition, factory refurbished and complete with a 1yr Kensington Warranty. Very solid, conveniently compact, and a heck of a deal at less than half of new retail, this product provides one AC Outlet and also One USB Port for power in addition to passing through the 12V Auto. Perfect for powering your laptop, ipod, cell phone, etc. Great solution too for MacBook/MacBook Pro users who don't have a cost effective Car/Auto Adapter even available out there. Plenty of stock available at the special reader price of $29.50 Watch, Schedule, Record, Edit TV/Video on your Mac from $59.99 Special Factory Refurbished Deals on Award Winning Elgato Mac EyeTV products EyeTV Hybrid USB 2.0 same as above, but Analog&Digital for $97.99 EyeTV 250 Fully Featured Digital Video Recorder/AV-in Solution $119.00 A big step forward, this model originally retailed for $199 and in more than just for watching and recording video, this incorporates hardware video encoding to keep the load off your processor and make the recording, scheduling, etc of TV/Video super easy and effective. Not a refurb - but a great product to have from Elgato if you've got an iPod/iPhone, AppleTV, or Sony PSP: The Elgato Turbo.264, brand new for $85.00, works with any Mac via an available USB 2.0 Port, takes the burden off your Mac's Processor(s), and does the h.264 encoding (for watching your videos on those aforementioned devices)up to 5 times faster when compared to a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro - so worlds faster for older PowerPCs and lets you work unhindered on any Mac while the encoding job runs. 802.11n Wireless Options for Mac at $62.50 Add 802.11b/g/n Wireless support to pretty much any Mac (or PC) running Apple OS X 10.3.x or later - including 10.5 - with Edimax nMax. nMax 802.11n Wireless for PowerBook G3/G4 PCMCIA Cardbus Slot or nMax 802.11n Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter works via any available USB port or nMax 802.11n Wireless PCI Card Adapter for use via any available PCI/PCI-X Slot All three models now in stock and available, your choice at $62.50. See your home's power usage real-time, reduce power bill Few of us like to see our monthly power bill, any bill for that matter... but when it comes to our power usage, that's usually when we think about it. Enter the Blue Line Innovations PowerCost Monitor - this nifty device works with pretty much any type of power meter, is allowed/legal (in fact power utility companies are starting to promote this product), and lets you see you're power consumption in real time. I put one on my meter and while have always tried to be energy conservational, this gives that extra reminder and even challenge to make sure lights, tv, etc, computer, etc - is shut off when not in use. For those with variable rate plans (different power cost for peak vs. non-peak), it's easily programmable and helpful for shifting power intensive activities (doing laundry, etc) to those non-peak hours. When you have it displayed front and center how much the power is costing you real-time, it's quite motivating to make that number as low as can go. The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor is available for our readers discounted to $119 and I can tell you first hand, it definitely is an investment that will pay for itself. It's also nice no longer being surprised when the power bill shows up. :) Again, deals like these and more - reserved just for Readers - found on your regularly updated Tips n' Deals Exclusive Specials Page. Music on the Mac: Sibelius Mac Music Notation Software Greetings from the macsales.com Music Department! Sibelius arrives! What is it? Many musicians, composers, band directors and arrangers need music notation software. Sibelius, named after a late classical composer, is a very exciting music notation application. Historically, similar products out there have a very steep learning curve. The makers of Sibelius have strived to make an application that is just as powerful, but more intuitive and user friendly. Let's take a closer look at Sibelius and see what's under the hood. The idea here is to have a way to input music for an individual instrument or an ensemble like a pop group, jazz combo or even a symphony. You can use your mouse to place notes on the staff but that is a bit tedious. The real eloquent way to input notes is with a connected midi keyboard. Simply play in the parts with two hands or one hand at a time. There is a click track that plays when you record so you can "stay in time" with the beat. When you start a new project, Sibelius asks you some basic questions such as the key, the instrument you are recording a part for and the tempo. You can record at a slow tempo to make things easy if need be and then speed it up later when playing back your parts. The application is very good at interpreting what you play and turning it into easily readable printed music. You can even add lyrics above the melody if you want. A typical project might involve creating an arrangement of an existing popular song for an ensemble. The ensemble would probably consist of drums, bass, keyboard, guitar, horn section including Bflat Trumpet, Trombone and Tenor sax. When starting such a project, you create a template for the song that includes parts for all of those instruments. It is as simple then as playing in the part for each instrument. One nice feature is that the application supplies the right sound for each part, so your trumpet part is played by a trumpet sound, bass part by a bass guitar sound etc. As you work through the arrangement, you can play it back and it sounds just like the ensemble you are writing for. You may not have noticed but I made reference to " Bflat Trumpet" above. Some instruments, such as trumpet, are called "transposing" instruments. A Bflat trumpet sounds a whole step lower than a piano when playing the same written note on a page of music. Because of that, when creating parts for trumpet, they need to be written in a key a whole step higher to compensate. This may seem confusing but Sibelius makes this easy. It lets you "play in" your trumpet part in the regular key and then moves it up to the new correct key for trumpet automatically. I find Sibelius to be intuitive and, dare I say, "Mac like" in its operational approach. When you have your arrangement sounding and looking good onscreen, you can easily save and print out the whole thing or print the individual parts to give to each member of the ensemble. Band directors and music teachers can easily create arrangements for marching band or music theory instruction too. Another feature in Sibelius is called Photoscore Lite. This allows you to use a scanner and "scan" in music from a music book. Once the scanned music is part of a Sibelius file, you can play it back and add additional parts alongside it. You can also upgrade to Photoscore Ultimate which can even recognize hand written music scores...an amazing feat. This is a fantastic tool designed to get the music in your head onto a printed page and easily readable by musicians. A person needs to understand at least the basics of music theory to really make this application work its magic. Many pro musicians and educators use notation software on a daily basis and Sibelius is the perfect tool for any notation job! There is also an "Education Edition" available that is a fantastic value for educators and students. Explore the features of this application with a demo and videos at Sibelius.com. I personally use Sibelius and other notation programs daily so if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at our audio/music forum. Don't forget about our Audio/Music Forum. We want to be your resource for answers to your questions...and let you share your experience with others too. Please find the "right stuff" at great prices here. Get our entertaining Widget called Daily Guitar Jam. Browse and read other 'Music on the Mac' articles by Roger posted online. See how Roger created The Garage Album CD at The Garage Album website. About our Music Guru: Roger Adler is a four-time Emmy nominated composer, producer, and performer. He is an endorser and clinician for the iGuitar by Brian Moore Guitars and his work is recognizable in over 1000 television commercials. Adler performed at the Presidential Inaugural Ball in Washington D.C. as recently as 2005 and his recordings include appearances on the Groundhog Day feature film soundtrack and The Garage Album. He is widely recognized for his role as Music director for the A&E television series "The Best of Comic Relief" starring Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg and for 16 years as Music Director for the popular series "Wild Chicago." Adler is the owner of two recording studios serving the professional entertainment industry, i^3 audio at North Pier in Chicago and studioA at Lakeside Legacy Arts Park in Crystal Lake, IL. In addition to facilitating the Daily Guitar Jam Widget, Adler produces the popular Podcast Show "Rock Your Computer" which broadcasts to an international audience via Apple's iTunes Music Store. Closing: I'm going to really be looking to see much more Time Machine can really do. My son Larry is well past 2 years and our latest 'addition', my daughter Julia is just past 7 months - and now is all but crawling thanks to the helpful coaxing of her brother. The time goes quick, really quick. It's certainly the best of times watching them come along and suppose such is the time that blinks by the fastest too. Planning to write a bit sooner than the normal interval and will have plenty more to share. We'll have new Leopard performance tests, reviews of additional Leopard features + looking forward to sharing with you details about our new 'Green HQ'. That's all yet to come. Good stuff, and well - I not sure just how these few words can really encapsulate what's to come, but that's what the next newsletter is for except not encapsulated. Ok then... Time to finalize today's writing and send this newsletter on the way. To be sure, will have read it once and corrected it twice... Hope you enjoyed it, even if the occasional typo may have missed the read through hear or there. Thank you very sincerely for subscribing to and reading our Tips n' Deals newsletter. Have a great weekend + a safe and Happy Halloween. 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