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OWC Tips & Deals 8/30/2007
Intro: Greetings for all of us at Other World Computing. With the month about done, glad to have the next newsletter done to get some bases touched on. We'd been waiting eagerly for those iMac and Mac mini updates which are now released and our spotlight. But that's certainly not all. It's never quite as short as intended, but will try to make this as brief as possible ahead of this Labor Day Holiday. Real quick too... got the new Macs covered this time, but we understand new iPods out next week. So - resisting the urge to splurge on a new iPod this weekend ought show benefit in just a week. New iMacs - Faster, Sleeker, Greener - totally cool We knew that new Apple iMacs were right around the corner although we hadn't expected the new look. Maybe that's why they took just a little longer on them - as it's more speed, more memory supported in a slimmer, sleeker, and greener exterior that sets this new iMac apart. Replacing the 'classic' white plastic framed design is a new Aluminum enclosure design closer in look to Apple's Cinema displays, but with a black border around the screen that can only remind you... at least me... of the iPhone. The new iMac is ever thinner than its predecessors and it also is claimed to be far more recyclable for a greener tomorrow. Of other significant note, Apple replaced the 'click' keyboard with a new slimmer 'membrane' type keyboard. It's not a bad keyboard, but I personally prefer the tactile response you get with a click. Either way, not a huge deal since plenty of keyboard options out there should Apple's not be to the liking. There's nice form in the new iMac, and function very nice as well. The new entry level is the iMac 20" 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo at $1199 and it comes nicely equipped with a 250GB HD, Radeon 2400 HD Video, 1GB of memory, 8 DVD DL SuperDrive, Airport Extreme 802.11b/g/m, etc. Another nice standard addition is a FireWire 800 port on all the new iMac models - in addition to FireWire 400 and USB 2.0. In the prior generation, FireWire 800 was standard with only the 24" Model. In a nutshell, the new models entry level is $200 more - but it's also 20" vs. 17", 2.0GHz vs. 1.83GHz, has double the memory, a larger hard drive, Superdrive vs. CDRW Combo, and far better video. More of an Apple's to Apple's comparison - this new 20" $1199 model is a great value upgrade from the 17" $1199 prior gen iMac model it is clearly positioned to replace. The next model up is the iMac 20" 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo for $1499. Compared to the 2.0GHz, for $300 your getting a 20% boost in processor speed, the HD bumped from 250GB to 320GB, and an upgrade to the Radeon 2600 Pro 256MB video vs. the 2.0GHZ Radeon 2400XT 128MB. From the testing I've seen - it you'll mainly appreciate the better video if you're playing games or connecting a 2nd display up. Even so with all else being equal, the 2.4GHz performance is quite nice and not a bad deal for the $300 extra to get to it. From here we move on to the 24" Model. Now - on Apple's store site, it's a little bit confusing. There is only ONE 24" model and it has all the same standard specs as the 2.4GHz 20" Model. That's $300 to move up from the 2.4GHz 20" display iMac to the 24" model. That 24" screen is awesome and if $1799 is within budget, money well spent for a slick all in one solution. Another option, if all in one isn't required, would be to look at the 20" model and a 2nd display. But that is just food for thought. Back to that 'one' 24" Model. In addition to the 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, for an additional $250 ($2049 total) you can select the option to make it a 2.8GHz with an Intel Core 2 Extreme processor. So what about that $2299 2.8GHz system Apple lists? It's the same thing, but you're spending an extra $100 to upgrade to a 500GB HD and $150 to increase the memory from 1GB to 2GB. How do I know what the additional break out is? Well - you can upgrade the $1799 model exactly the same... that $2299 system just has the upgrade options already selected and locked in. Now - great news on all of these iMacs is that the standard 1GB of memory is provided as a single 1.0GB installed module. All these systems have 2 slots for upgrade, and you can upgrade to either 2.0GB or 3.0GB while getting use of that factory 1GB that comes with. Perhaps getting a little ahead of myself - Apple charges $150 for the same 1GB memory we sell for $45, we offer the 2GB Modules for $122.50, and we charge $239 now for the same 4.0GB of memory Apple takes $850 just to go from 1GB to 4GBs total. For those looking at the going to the 'Extreme' with the 2.8GHz processor, I especially point out that it's available as a $250 option up on the 2.4GHz 24" and that you don't need to pay the other extra $250 to get Apple's extra 1GB and 180GB of HD space. Be it with OWC or other just pure savings, we're sure you can probably see that $250 go a bit further in other ways. Regardless of which iMac you go with, memory makes the difference. You've got to upgrade it to at least 2.0GB and far better yet with 3.0GB or 4.0GB. Memory is very cost effective and if you already have an iMac that didn't get it's memory bumped, well - more memory can do you better than a faster machine for a lot of things. In the past we've shared memory benchmarks for the MacBook and MacBook Pros - and these new benchmarks on iMacs illustrate more of the same. Seeing is believing and it's clear that if you do nothing else at all, at least upgrade the memory so you get the full value from your Mac. One other tidbit before a final summary... Although the Radeon 2400 and 2600 video chipsets are not so much of an upgrade compared to the Nvidia 7800GT from the high end-prior iMacs - both are a significantly better than the iMac Radeon X1600 video option (and the GMA950 entry video doesn't even compare to any of them) + their 3D performance (talking games mainly) is expected to improve as Apple brings their drivers to maturity. Something else about the 2400 and 2600 is that they have ATI's new 'unified video decoder' technology. While it is not clear how Apple is using this just yet, that 'UVD' is able to fully offload the processing of most HD formats (including those used for Blu-Ray and HD DVD) to leave the iMac's Core 2 processor open for other tasks. The HD future is coming and these iMacs are well prepped for it. In my opinion - all of these new iMacs are of a very good value. Which one is right for you comes down to what your needs and budget are. The only possible consideration would be to hold out for Leopard.... 10.5 'Leopard' is scheduled for an October release and if you get your iMac with Leopard, saves you any upgrade fee or even full price to get Leopard later. Now - on the other hand... 10.4.x Tiger is is solid and proven, getting an iMac now with 10.4 might save some of the fun always to be expected when a new OS is first introduced. So there ya go! Apple gives the Mac mini a Speed Bump too It's long overdue, and such timing even created speculation that the Mac mini might be no more.... but the Apple Mac mini lives on to finally get it's bump to 64 bit and faster Core 2 Duo speed. Other than processor, very little changes to these August/2007 models vs. the September/2006 models replaced. The base model remains $599, but is now a Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz vs. Core Duo 1.66GHz. You also get an 80GB HD vs. the 60GB and 1GB of memory vs. 512MB standard before. For another $200 you can move up to a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo Mac mini for $799. In addition to the faster processor, you also get a 120GB HD and an 8X Dual-Layer SuperDrive (1.83GHz has CDRW/DVD Combo drive only). These headless Macs have their place... but as they still have the extremely limited GMA950 Intel On-Board Video - which shares it's 64MB of VRAM with your system memory - it's hard for me to get to excited about this upgrade that was a year in the making. That video, btw, is the same video chipset that's been standard with ever Mac mini Intel since the very first which shipped in February of 2006. We're not sure why Apple suggests pairs for the Mac mini as all the testing we have done shows that you're better off with more memory (1.25GB 256MB + 1.0GB) vs. having less with a pair (vs. 1.0GB 512MB+512MB). We actually did our original test series to illustrate why Apple suggested pairs, but the results gave us an entirely different conclusion to discuss. On that note - one significant benefit with the new Core 2 Duo Mac mini is that they WILL go up to 3.0GB. There is a significant gain in performance from 1.0GB to 2.0GB and then another from 2.0GB to 3.0GB. So - if the Mac mini has is the right model for you, these memory benchmarks be of use. Right now we've only got two of the Mac minis in there - one old and one new... but will be updating that soon. On the subject of memory, you can go to 1.5GB by adding 1GB memory from for $45 or get two of them for 2.0GB. You can also take these new Core 2 Duo Mac minis to 2.5GB by adding a 2GB Module for $122.50 or purchase a 1GB and a 2GB from us at $160 for 3.0GB max. For purposes of comparison - Apple offers a factory upgrade from the 1GB to 2GB for $150.... That's nearly what we charge for a 3.0GB Kit + you still have the original Apple memory after doing our upgrade. :) Anyway - I am kind of non-plussed with the Mac mini. IMHO, better off saving for an iMac. A lot more machine with better video + the display of course. I'd like to see Apple do a 'real' headless consumer Mac... something with some PCI-Express slots and a couple HD bays and for the same kind of cost. One can dream.... One other option is to watch the Apple clearance page. We've been seeing the old Core Duo Mac minis there for $429. At that price, for a basic starter Mac, a bit harder to complain. Best time to check is first thing early AM as they are usually gone by the afternoon when posted. And that's that. Go 802.11n Wireless for $62.50 - 3 ways to do it too Apple officially introduced 802.11n Wireless support this past January. Wasn't a spur of the moment thing either as the hardware support had been built in standard on all the Mac Pros and Core 2 Duo iMac/MacBook/MacBook Pros shipped by Apple prior as far back as August 2006. If you've got one of those Macs, it's just a firmware update that enables 802.11n. So what about the rest of us? Thanks to RaLinks newly released Mac Support, this excellent line of Edimax nMax 802.11b/g/n solutions fits the bill for upgrading virtually any Mac (or PC) for the benefits of 802.11n. The Edimax nMax 802.11b/g/m is available in a USB 2.0 'stick' for use with any available USB port, a PCMCIA Cardbus for PowerBook G3 FireWire or PowerBook G4 (and so equipped PC laptops), and a PCI card version that works via any available PCI or PCI-X slot (not for PCI-Express). All three models are in stock and available for $62.50, you can choose the one that best suits your system. Compared to 802.11g, 802.11n nominally offers about 5 times the performance and 3 times the range. The higher speed of 802.11n (up to 300Mbps) is nice, but really only going to affect data transfers from other 802.11n or highspeed ethernet connected systems on your local network. For most of us, the bottleneck is our connection to the internet - and even the fastest internet found with some cable providers at 6.0Mbps is still about half what even the much older 802.11b can support. Until in home wireless HD video streaming becomes the norm, the main benefit of 802.11n (in my humble opinion) is that increased range. With a range of 225 feet indoors (500 feet outdoors) vs. the 75 foot indoor range of 802.11g you've suddenly got a lot more flexibility with that signal. That 75 foot range with 802.11g really isn't when certain obstructions come into play. The bottom line is that if you're 802.11g signal reception is spotty, the same with 802.11n will be full strength and with full throughput. Remember, you'll need to have an 802.11n Router (or a Mac with built in 802.11n set as a station) to use it - but it is so worth it where 802.11g can fall short. Watch, Record, Playback, Edit TV on your Mac with ElGato It's just never been easier to watch, record, and work with TV/Video on your Mac. Thanks to some great deals from ElGato, we've got some of the best deals ever for this now too. ElGato EyeTV EZ USB 2.0 Watch/Record Analog TV or A/V In for $59.99. This got 4.5 Mice from Macworld in 2006 and originally retailed for $149. These are like new, factory refurbished and for watching or even recording TV on any PowerMac G4 or later with a USB 2.0 port running OS 10.3 or later - it doesn't get easier or cheaper. ElGato EyeTV Hybrid USB 2.0 is the same but does Digital & Analog at $97.99 Another top rated ElGato goodie... this is essentially the same as the EyeTV EZ deal above, except that it supports both Digital and Analog TV signals + requires Apple OS 10.4 or later. Factory Refurbished and complete like new. ElGato EyeTV 250 Fully Featured Digital Video Recorder/AV-in Solution $119.00 This gem works with any Mac running OS X 10.4.x or later that has a G4/500MHz or faster, G5, or Intel Processor and is a fully featured Analog/Digital TV + A/V In + Hardware Video Encoder solution. It's essentially plug and play right via any available USB port too. While the other products also do recording, the EyeTV 250 takes the load of your Mac's processors with its built in encoding hardware. The Eye250 also adds full DVR function for automated scheduling of program recordings. Got an iPod/iPhone, AppleTV, or even a Sony PSP? Encoding video you've imported to your Mac to H.264 for playback on these devices can be a very time consuming process.... In that respect, the Elgato Turbo.264, brand new for $87.50, is a real winner. This product works with any Mac via an available USB 2.0 Port, takes the burden off your Mac's Processor(s), and does the encoding 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. So there ya go - some really easy and cool Elgato goodies and great prices to put TV and more on your Mac. Only 2 more days for the $99 Enterprise SATA I/II Hard Drive Deal Since end of June we've been running a super special on the Maxtor-Seagate 500GB MaXLine Pro 7200RPM SATA I/II Enterprise Class Nearline Model for $99.00. This deal will be gone after the month ends with a more normal price being back in place. What makes this deal particularly special is that it's not just for any 500GB drive - it's for the Enterprise rated model. These are the final days... :) 500GB Maxtor/Seagate MaxLine Pro 7200RPM SATA I/II 16MB Enterprise $99.00 Same thing is also on special bundled with Prosoft DataBackup III for $117.50 This enterprise class drive is fully backed with a 5yr Maxtor/Seagate Warranty. We also have a deal on some Apple Genuine Firmware Seagate Barracuda drives. These are original Apple OEM drives and the warranty is 1 year from OWC: 750GB Apple/Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA I/II 16MB Cache HD - $197.50 500GB Apple/Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA I/II 16MB Cache HD - $109.00 We know some of you prefer to have actual Apple Rom drives in your systems and drives are brand new and a pretty rare find. Pricing isn't half bad either. And one more cool deal - Until September 15th Hitachi has set up Rebates for our customers buying their 200GB NoteBook Drives, 1.0TB SATA Desktop Drives, as well as OWC Solutions that use these Hitachi drives. The rebate is $30 per drive be it just the drive or drive(s) in our solutions with a maximum rebate of $150 allowed. Just click on this for all the rebate eligible models. Price listed is before the rebate. We've got a full gamut of drive solutions online, but wanted to make you had your shot at the above. :) For Fun and of interest Jamie was recently given and is sharing a dozen digital photos taken during the recent Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-118 mission. Talk about some of the most amazing pictures from space, certainly that I've seen in a long time. So good, real they almost look fake. Who needs an iPhone when you can have a Table Computer? The technology behind it is pretty cool, but I this well done video spoof on the Microsoft Surface computer takes the cake. :) Somethings just leave me shaking my head. And the 'Official iPhone Tool' a customer received from Apple for removing the SIM card - just too funny. When Apple II Users said "Apple II Forever" - this was not just big talk. I've still got a couple machines I'd love to fire back up and this device would make that a lot of fun to do. For the true Apple II Enthusiast, and hopefully available soon, will be the 'BlueFlash' - an Apple II Disk Controller that allows you to transfer disk images via Bluetooth from a Mac or PC to then execute on the Apple II. I think it's pretty darn cool. :) Intro Closing: Hard to believe it's already Labor Day, kids going back to school, even my son starting preschool next week. Got to make the most of all the time, that's for sure. Thanks for taking the time to give our newsletter a look over and the best to you and yours for a well deserved three day weekend. New iPods are expected next week, so will be writing again soon. Still in this newsletter we have Our site for tips, answers, and more, 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: Resolving system problems This isn't the freshest subject in the world, but good for a refresher. While 99.9% of the time we can count on our Macs to behave and provide us with the reliable operation we take for granted, it's that small window for failure that can catch you when you least expect. Oh - and that doesn't include the things you might accidentally do in error. First and foremost, keep a good backup. Be it work you've invested time into, or your family photos - a good backup of your important data (and maybe less than important stuff to) makes it easy to sleep easy. I happen to recommend the highly acclaimed Prosoft Data Backup III which we sell for $39 alone as well as include with all of our FireWire/USB2 storage solutions - which are excellent backup options themselves. From here, probably easiest to share a little story. About three weeks ago I wanted to boot my laptop via FireWire Target mode. Something went wrong with the startup and while I could make out that it did get to the log-in point, the video was all messed up and I ended up force powering the Mac down. Well - it did not power down, it just went to sleep courtesy of Apple's sleep via power button option. I didn't hold it down long enough to power down. I the booted my MacBook up in single user mode and ran AppleJack to make sure any problems were cleaned up. I highly recommend AppleJack, by the way, it is a great application for running some regular maintenance and also resolves some pesky OS X preference and cache corruption problems with ease. Anyway... so far so good - my MacBook was booting fine - with AppleJack run, any OS X permission problems, etc were no longer... just being careful and making sure everything perfect before I tried to boot via Target mode again. Well, I wasn't that careful as I missed that the dumb light in the power button was doing it's sleep probe thing. Or maybe I did notice, but it was too late when I did. Had the MacBook back in target mode and ready to be booted - but instead, my Tower Mac woke from sleep with garbled screen and all - and proceeded to write whatever data it does at that wake point. Because the system had been booted separately, the directory pointers were way out of synch and although I quickly powered it right back down, the damage was already done. Now instead of having booting, all I immediately got a kernel panic. I forget the exact error, but now my drive volume was neither mounting nor was it repairable by Disk Utility. The hard drive was physically fine - but some serious issue was now present with the directory structure. Plan of action.... #1 - I had a recent backup and at most was looking at about a day's worth of new work files that I'd need to recreate. Having the good backup made it easy to breath easy - despite being rather annoyed at myself for the dumb mistake. And while doing the slow breathing, decided the steps I'd take to at least give recovering my recent data a shot. First I started with ProSoft DataRecovery II. Although the drive was unmountable, DRII had no problem at all doing a full recovery of every file on the drive. I kind of figured whatever damage I did was unlikely to affect my data and if anything beyond the directory issues, probably limited to OS X system files anyway. Either way, I now had all my files recovered and in a safe place. Being back to where I was, fully assured and Data Recovery II worked like a champ so that not even that day's work would be lost. But I didn't settle for that. I really wanted to have a seamless recovery possibility and that meant getting that drive to mount so I could clone it. And that is where Prosoft Drive Genius came into play. While it was not able to fully rebuild the and restore the drive... at least not with the couple times I let it try - it DID repair the volume enough so it would now mount. With the drive now mounting, I then used the utility to make a clone of the drive to one of FireWire drives. The clone also mounted and all my data was there and clean... (note, cloning copies bit for bit, if you clone a drive the won't mount, the clone isn't likely going mount either as the problem clones too in the case of a 'soft' directory/corruption problem). From there I wiped my MacBook drive, did a clean install of OS X, and then used the OS X Data Migration option to import all my apps and user files to the 'fresh' drive. After all of that, I was right back in action as if nothing had happened at all. Without a backup, I'd have been frantic. Without at least having DataRescue, I'd have likely lost some of my work since that last backup. Without DriveGenius, I'd have ended up re-creating my user instead of having the repaired volume clone from which I instead just had my user migrated in from. Having a good backup + the utilities available and ready should any kind of disaster strike makes a world of difference. Professionals charge big bucks to run these very same applications (and some others of the like) when clients have software related problems and want data recovered off otherwise perfectly functioning drives. You can get Prosoft Drive Genius for $67.50 and ProSoft DataRecovery II for $55 from us and have these great applications at the ready for when the unexpected strikes... Or if an emergency comes up before you've bought them - they can be downloaded and purchased online from Prosoft for $99 each. At some time or another, you're probably find use for these applications. We'd certainly be happy with you having them ahead of time purchased from us at the lower cost... but if there's an emergency - price matters less at that time and it is really convenient to have the ability to get it online in a pinch. Stuff happens - and it's being prepared with the right tools that makes what could be a big deal just a minor inconvenience. First and foremost though - it all starts with having a good backup. 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: 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 $87.50, 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 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. Desktop/Tower/External HDs - 500GB SATA $99.00; FireWire 500GB $170 & More 500GB Maxtor MaxLine Pro Enterprise Class 7200RPM SATA II now $99.00 This is one of the fastest, most reliable drives you can get. Not just a standard fare drive, this model is Enterprise 'Nearline' rated for mission critical data storage needs and backed by a 5 year Seagate/Maxtor Factory Warranty. Get that SAME drive bundled with ProSoft DataBackup III for $117.50 That's $18.50 more to get the $59.95 Retail Value Prosoft Backup App. **Above two 500GB Specials end after August 31st!*** ***Get up to $150 in Rebates on purchases of select Hitachi and OWC Storage Products. Click here to see eligible products***. 750GB Apple/Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA I/II 16MB Cache HD - $197.50 500GB Apple/Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA I/II 16MB Cache HD - $109.00 300GB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 7200RPM FW800/400,USB2,eSATA Solution - $167.50 Includes all cables, Intech HD Speedtools, DataBackup, 2yr+ Warranty & More 500GB OWC Neptune FireWire 400 Complete 7200RPM 16MB Cache Solution $169.99 500GB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 7200RPM Firewire 400 + USB2 Solution - $185.00 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 1.0TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro FireWire 7200RPM 800/400+USB2 RAID - $345.00 Includes all cables, Intech HD Speedtools, DataBackup, 2yr+ Warranty & More Big Storage for your Apple Laptop - 120GB $75; 160GB $95 MacBook and MacBook Pro 2.5" SATA Internal Hard Drive Upgrades: 80GB and up to 200GB 7200RPM by Hitachi & Seagate from $94.95, 160GB $187.99 120.0GB Western Digital Scorpio 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $73.75 160.0GB Western Digital Scorpio 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty **$95.00 ** 250.0GB Western Digital Scorpio 5400RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $207.50 PowerBook & iBook G3/G4 Internal IDE/ATA 2.5" Hard Drive Upgrades: *Special - WD Scorpio 5400RPM 60GB, 80GB, 100GB - $44.99, $49.99, $57.99! 100.0GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 7200RPM 8MB with 3yr Warranty $114.99 160.0GB 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 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. 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. Memory makes the difference Memory update 8/30/2007: Pricing did go up some since July 30th, but we've since been able to bring things back down a little. There is little room for compromise and our memory is built with only the best Micron, Hynix, Samsung, Nanya, Elpida - and other major brand manufacturers to fully meet and exceed Apple qualifications for a lifetime of reliable operation in your Mac. We back that up with a money back guarantee and Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty too. 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 $45.00; Upgrade with a 2.0GB Set $89.00 Add a 2.0GB Module to any Core 2 Duo Model for $122.50, 3.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $160.00, or 4.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $239.00! 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 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 about $80.00 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 $45.00; Upgrade with a 2.0GB Set $89.00 Add a 2.0GB Module to any Core 2 Duo Model for $122.50, 3.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $160.00, or 4.0GB Memory Set (2.0GB + 1.0GB Modules) for $239.00! 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 - $107.50 1.0GB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMM Module - $55.00 512MB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin DIMM Module - $28.50 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 - $47.50 2.0GB PC4200 DDR2 Matched Pair 1GB x 2 Matched Set - $90.00 Click for All Memory Options including 2.0GB modules/4GB kits from $120 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 - $87.50 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 - $25.00 512MB PC133 CL3/PC100 CL2 SDRAM DIMM 168 Pin - $53.50 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. 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: Over 4 Years of Music on the Mac Greetings from the macsales.com Music Department! Roger will be back with a new article in our next newsletter... And it's not an anniversary or anything, but still hard to believe we've got over 4 years of Roger's OWC Music on the Mac articles archived online. Amazing how time flies, but also how timeless a lot of that info is. Roger will be back next time, but in the mean time, there's a lot of good reading already online. :) 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: About that time I go to press the send button. Since I didn't keep it so brief at the front end of this send, going to do so now. Have a great Labor Day Weekend. As always - Thanks for being a Tips 'n Deals Reader. 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 |