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OWC Tips & Deals 3/09/2007
Intro: Hello again! Seems like it's been awhile. Then, suppose that's all a matter of definition. At Macworld, Jobs closed the keynote by telling the audience 'will see you all soon'.... Apple has changed the world and perhaps changing the definition of 'soon' is becoming a part of that legacy. That keynote was two months ago. This was the keynote with no new Macs introduced or upgrades/speedbumps to existing models - no updated OS 10.5 Leopard talk - not even a new iLife release (first Macworld without that in four years). Apple did release the iPhone with a June shipping date and the AppleTV that was supposed to be shipping right now... And in recognition of their new consumer products 'balance' - the keynote was used to officiate the renaming of Apple Computer, Inc. to just Apple, Inc. Yes, hit on this stuff last time and that's alreayd a month ago. Hopefully this is just an extended lull before a product launch storm. Apple's got a lot going on, no question about it. And I am very excited for that. Just looking forward to some actual Mac computers to get released to keep that excitement real. At the same time, I hope whatever glitches have delayed the AppleTV aren't also affecting Apple's Computer side of things. The good news - the current Mac line up really is a good one... Still, with the Intel chips inside, they're more in an Apples to Apples PC vs. Mac value position now... Faster processors - processors with more cores, such is now shipping in other PCs - well time to see them in Macs too. AppleTV - Delayed Originally planned to ship in February, Apple announced on February 26th that the AppleTV would be delayed until sometime mid-March. Plenty of theories floated out there ranging from FCC certification taking longer to new versions of iTunes with HD support being the hold up. We are looking forward to playing with the $299 AppleTV, and hope it's worth the extra delay. FWIW, this is the first product in a very long time that Apple has actually missed a ship date on. Got kind of spoiled with stuff usually shipping way ahead of implied or rumored release dates... TV on your Mac right now! Ok - we're not talking about an AppleTV type solution which is for watching media content from your Mac via your television. This is about being able to use your Mac to watch, record, tune, playback video taken off the air or from other sources. As it would be, both Miglia and El Gato provide a nice line up of this product type. Starting from $89.99, these options available today plug and play via an available USB 2 port - which also makes them easily movable to different Macs if the need would be. In addition, several of these products are both compact and USB2 bus powered - making them ideal for portability too. Whether you just want to watch over the air Analog TV, Digital TV, HDTV and/or bring A/V in from a Cable or Dish receiver, or as a means to digitally covert your old VHS library - a model for your needs is in the line up. The performance is such that they are well touted as a way to use your Mac display for Video Game console play too (Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox, etc). These things used to cost a lot more and be a lot more complicated to use. Today, the whole Watch/Tune/Capture/DVR on your Mac - even making DVDs from what you record - is as easy as plug and play. More Memory for More Performance and for a lot less cost Good news and more good news. Memory, which is among the easiest and most noticeable upgrades you can perform, happens to be at some of the best prices ever. Depending on which memory your Mac uses, we're talking about prices that are down more than 40% just since the start of 2007. I can speculate that some of this is from Microsoft launching Vista late + a less than spectacular demand for it (Good to be a Mac user).... but the bottom line is that it costs you a whole lot less right now to make your Mac faster with more memory. If you'd like to get an idea of what more memory might be able to do for your Mac, some testing we did a couple months ago with 512MB through 2.0GB memory configurations in two MacBooks may help illustrate. Although the testing had a different initial angle/purpose - it still hits the mark for this. Please note - this MacBook memory test example was done with a relatively light 'home user' load - heavier load conditions only increase the difference more memory makes to performance. So, sure you can get by at 512MB.... But you'll see that the Mac you have now under OS X can be like brand new again if you give it some more. Depending what system and what applications, even from 2.0GB to 3.0GB... from 3.0GB to 4.0GB and all the way up to 16.0GB can make the difference. Our online memory guide makes it real easy - and with memory priced from under $40 per 512MB and under $90 for 1GB modules - you've got a great performance return on the upgrade. For now, prices appear to be pretty stable... but they could go up or go down even further. If I had a crystal ball for this kind of thing.... well, I'd be long retired. :) Having said that - memory can make a big difference in the now and right now these prices make what benefit it provides a value that can hardly be beat. Check it out.... and check out your special Reader deals on Memory too! Apple Airport Base-Station Stacks so nice Last time I talked about Apple's newly 802.11n enhanced and newly designed Apple Airport Base Station. Once of the really cool features is the NAS support. While there are plenty of compelling reasons to go with Apple's new wireless solution, but the ability to plug and play pretty much any external USB2 storage solution as a place to store, backup, use data from across your network is the icing on the cake. And as would turn out, our miniStack USB2 product (as well as the FW+USB2 version) are 'a perfect stack'. Maxtor SATA 500GB Rerun, but new and improved at $129.00 Every dollar adds us up and it's always a pleasure when we can take a few dollars off. Our Maxtor 500GB deal we've not got down to $129.00, $4.99 less than a month ago. Was the best 500GB, no rebate mess deal then - and was still even before we made it even better. This is the enterprise rated, 5yr Warranty 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA I/II drive talking here... The price is cheap, but this is no 'cheapo drive'. Also have some special external kits, bundles with Prosoft Backup, PCI bundles and more with Maxtor 500GBs online here. Maybe 400GBs is all you need? If so, starting from $109.99, both internal and external 400GB options are priced pretty darn right too. Might be worth checking those out too. :) Store up to 50GBs per disc with Blu-Ray While the big guys duke it out in a Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD battle, we're pleased to have started shipping internal and external solutions from the Blu-Ray camp. Format war or not, this is what our customers have asked in the realm of high capacity optical data archiving/backup. Can't do video playback from these drives until Apple ads such support to the OS (probably with Leopard), but if you need big data stored via optical - we've got your Blu-Ray options for that today. Internal from $599.99, external FW+USB2 from $679.99. For the rest of us we've got the standard SuperDrives that burn up to 8.5GBs per DVD disc from $29.99 for Desktops and from $79.00 for iBooks/Powerbooks. You can upgrade that Mac for up to 18X DVD and 40X CD burn speeds to set that iLife creativity free. For Fun and of interest Knowing all the product launches coming up this year, perhaps it was wise to put the resources in on a one time basis to make the whole product launch process more efficient. Introducing Apple's iLaunch. It's the product launching, hype building, voice recognizing, artificially intelligent Mac app to make sure you every product gets that proper introduction to the world. Whatever works, so long as Apple starts releasing some new stuff again. :) Intro Closing: In the last newsletter, I spoke a little too soon. Always plenty of new stuff and changes to discuss on our own product offerings, just that I truly look forward to sectoring out what's the latest and greatest from Apple. Consumer products can tend to have a longer shelf life than the average computer. Now that it's Apple, Inc. with the consumer angle, just hope there's no forgetting about keeping the computer part of the equation in a more cutting edge update cycle. Actually, Apple was waiting for me to get this newsletter out. And surely in just a couple days, it'll all get released so I can be back again a week from now to write once more. I hope so. It's just been a longer than average time since major release action. It feels time. Now time to move on to our Quick Tip: Das Boot in depth, this week's Reader Specials Highlights, and Roger's Music on the Mac following some 'messages from our sponsor'. Thanks for reading, and I hope to 'see you soon'. Quick Links 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. New goodies recently added! Upgrade the Mac you have or get a new one? OWC's exclusive Benchmark Reporting System helps you answer your own question. Compare various stock Macs vs. New Macs vs. Upgrades - you pick the Macs to compare and from up to 15 different tests we've completed. 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: DasBoot makes iPod, Flash - something more This is really a follow up to the last Quick Tip. To summarize... If you have an Apple iPod, USB Flash Drive, whatever device either sitting idle or with some free space on it, you can give it a new life or further purpose. While I am going to essentially 're-run' the rest of this tip from the last newsletter, I do have a key addition. Last time, I said we'd have an online how to - and OWC's Chris Stevens has done a nice job for just that. In addition, the web how to also provides a listing to see which Macs can boot via the built in USB 2.0 and which boot via the built in FireWire ports. Setting up your own 'emergency tools' device is a great project for right now, when you hopefully don't need it. Ideally, you'll never need it - but if you do, no doubt there will be some frustration saved. Btw... don't forget to keep the utilities you install on such up to date! The rest is from last time... DasBoot is a Freeware utility by SubRosaSoft which allows you to create a bootable utility volume on various pocket devices. Your Mac must be able to boot from the interface type of the device of course, but with that part covered - this makes it easy to have a handy, bootable diagnostic tool at the ready. Not only does this give you a solution that boots far faster than a CD - you can also put whatever utilities you have on the one device to be at your disposal should the need arise. The programmers at SubRosaSoft have long been writing for the Mac and are actually the party behind some of the most popular commercial retail utility applications available today. While you may not know them, you've likely heard of the award software they've written for another company. More recently and in addition to the other non-named applications they support, SubRosaSof began offering their own titled utilities that are first rate and powerful too. By the way - if you have a USB bootable Mac or any Mac with USB and would like a nice USB flash drive, we've got a great price on these Techworks High-Speed Flash Drives. 1GB for $14.95 and $24.95 for 2GB. Enjoy while they last. :) 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: More Memory, More Performance, Top Quality Upgrades for Less Market update March 9th: Already tapped on this in the intro... It is a excellent market right now if you're a buyer. In my opinion, the price of memory can pretty much always be justified given that at twice its current - the payback is very quick in terms of the better system performance an ultimate use it can bring. That having been rambly said, it's all even better when the prices are so low as what we've got right now. Set that Mac Free! :) More memory = Faster OS X and Application Performance. More memory from OWC means getting the right, top quality memory for your Mac that's backed by our Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty. 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 $85.00; Upgrade with a 2.0GB Set $170.00 See other up to 3.0GB Memory and Hard Drive Upgrades online. Add up to 16.0GBs to Apple Mac Pro Quad Xeon Max the Apple Mac Pro Quad Xeon with up to 16GBs 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 $141 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 $85.00; Upgrade with a 2.0GB Set $170.00 See other up to 3.0GB 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 - $165.00 1.0GB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMM Module - $84.00 512MB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMM Module - $39.00 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 - $99.00 1.0GB PC4200 DDR2 Matched Pair 512MB x 2 Matched Set - $87.50 2.0GB PC4200 DDR2 Matched Pair 1GB x 2 Matched Set - $195.00 Click for All Memory Options. 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 - $45.00 1.0GB PC2700 DDR SO-DIMM 200 Pin - $105.00 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 - $26.00 512MB PC133 CL3/PC100 CL2 SDRAM DIMM 168 Pin - $63.50 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. Storage - 500GB SATA $129.00; 400GB $109.99; FireWire 250GB $115 Maxtor 500GB 7200RPM SATA I/II 16MB Cache HD 5 Year Warranty - $129.00 Same with Prosoft DataBackup II Full Retail($59.95 value) - $139.00 Check out other Maxtor 500GB Bundles/related specials here. Hitachi 400GB 7200RPM PATA and SATA Drives $109.99 and $112.99 OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 800GB RAID FireWire 800/400 Solution for $335.00 Includes all cables, Intech HD Speedtools, DataBackup, 2yr+ Warranty & More 250GB Seagate Barracuda SATA I/II 16MB Cache 7200RPM HD for $71.00 OWC Mercury Elite-AL 'Quad' FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Enclosure Kit $107.50 Flexible interface, performance solution - just add SATA I/II HD 250GB Seagate Barracuda IDE/ATA 16MB Cache 7200RPM HD for $72.50 320GB Seagate Barracuda IDE/ATA 16MB Cache 7200RPM HD for $94.50 NewerTech miniStack FireWire/USB2 Enclosure+FW-USB Hub Kit - $67 OWC Mercury Elite-AL Oxford912 FW800/400 Kit for IDE/ATA HDs $67.99, 15% off 250GB NewerTech miniStack FW/USB2 Complete Solution for $142.50! 250GB OWC Neptune FireWire 400 Complete Solution for $115.00! Techworks USB 2.0 High-Speed Flash Drives (Pen size) While they last, got some handy high-speed Techworks USB 2.0 Flash Drives. 1.0GB for $14.95 and 2.0GB version for $24.95 A great way to take up to 2.0GBs of data between different machines and places. These weigh like an ounce! PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics / Gigabit Ethernet Model Processor Upgrade OWC/PowerLogix G4/1.2GHz 7455 with 256K L2 & 2MB L3 Upgrade $165.00 30 Day Money Back + backed by 2 Year OWC Warranty NewerTech G4/2.0GHz 7447 with 512K 1:1 Performance Cache $345.00 Over 10% off norm! 30 Day Money Back, 3yr NewerTech Warranty 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: The Right Fast Track to Garageband Greetings from the macsales.com Music Department! Greetings from macsales music dept! On The (FAST) Track I get a lot of letters and email on the forum about how to use the popular M-Audio Fast Track audio interface. There seems to be some confusion about how to configure this hardware with GarageBand. One of the issues is whether to create a mono or stereo track. When you plug a mic into the Fast Track it is a "mono" signal. Keeping that in mind, when you create a track in GarageBand to record the signal from that mic you should create a mono track on input one. Input one is the default place that mic signals come in on from the Fast Track. You will see then in GB what appears to be a stereo track (it is) but the mic will be on both sides and it is that way so you can pan the signal from the mono mic anywhere in the stereo field when mixing. Just below the place where you choose mono or stereo track creation there is a slider for input volume. That usually has to be all or most of the way to the right. You must also choose monitor "on" or "off....choose on so you can hear the mic. The new track you create for the mic also has to have the leftmost record button clicked and showing red or you will not hear the signal coming from the mic. By the way, when plugging in a guitar in the instrument input on Fast Track, the default is that that signal will come in mono channel 2. I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion about this popular device. I used one to record vocals and guitar on an entire album with great results. If you have any audio hardware/software questions, please email our Forum..thanks! Please find the "right stuff" at great prices here and use our audio forum to ask any questions you may have or simply share your experiences with others! Thanks! Get our entertaining new Widget called Daily Guitar Jam. For all your audio/music needs, www.macsales.com/music online. 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. Interact with Roger and other Apple Music/Audio users in our online music and audio forums. 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: At the end of the day, well, actually, it's great to go home to my wife Shannon and our little guy. He's about to have a sister too. Almost hard to believe sometime, anytime in the next couple weeks I'll have a new daughter. I know my wife is ready. :) So not to let Larry think we were forgetting about him - and even as remotely impossible that would be - we decided to take him to the Shed Aquarium this past Monday. One our little girl arrives, it's going to be hard to get out get out for stuff like that, at least for a little while - and well, my son loves fish. When I was younger I used to be big time into aquariums and well, that's my next project - watching Ebay and what not to get a nice setup going again. We have a small tank with a Jack Dempsey and a Plecostomus right now... but, after Shed Aquarium - anyway... Was a great day, and well, got a handful of pictures of the little guy enjoying that day. Hard to believe he was the 'baby' in what feels like only yesterday. Any how - I think there should be something new out of Apple pretty soon, and even if not - there's a nice line up of new OWC gear will be talking about anyway. It's just computer stuff - I just like seeing Apple at the top of their game, and this is not say that their not, btw. :) As always, thanks for reading and I expect to be writing again soon. Have a great weekend and the very best to you and yours. We Support our Troops The 'fine print': Contact Information+ ++++++++++++++++++++ Sales: sales@macsales.com or 800-275-4576, International 815-338-8685 Customer Service: custserv@macsales.com or 800-275-4576 / 815-338-8685 Tech Support: Online Tech Center or 815-338-8685 Please feel free to e-mail any comments or suggestions to:suggestions@macsales.com You may ALWAYS reply to our OWC Tips and Deals e-mail at owc@macsales.com with any questions or comments as well - PLEASE change the subject to reflect your e-mail question/comment to ensure a speedy reply! Other World Computing div. of New Concepts Development Corp. 1004 Courtaulds Drive Woodstock, IL 60098 815-338-8685 This is an free subscribed E-Mail Newsletter that can be joined via or website. This e-mail is only received if you have joined our list. Notification is e-mailed to your address when you join as well as if you choose to cancel, which you may do at anytime, no hard feelings. :) To change, remove, or add an e-mail address for our newsletter, you can visit our online subscriber page anytime. If you'd just like to unsubscribe, that can also quickly be done by clicking the link at the end of this e-mail. Prices & availability subject to change without notice. New specials go up and old specials updated everyday. We Apologize for typographical errors. This e-mail may be freely distributed in its original form, complete and without any modification, alteration, insertion, or anything else that would make this different from the original intent. If you would like to 'reprint' just a portion you may make a request by e-mail to: larry@macsales.com. All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2000-2007, Other World Computing - Since 1988 |