Low End Mac: Worth It!

Featured link: Why Is Apple ditching netbook support now?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.16. Mac OS X 10.6.2 deliberately removes Atom support. What does Apple have to gain by doing so?
Mac of the Day: iMac Core Duo, Jan. 2006 - The first Intel-based iMacs ran at 1.83-2.0 GHz, came with 17" and 20" displays.
Group of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
Low End Mac's RSS News Feed

Newest Content

Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks: Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20; Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More: Mac News Review, 11.20; Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More: The 'Book Review, 11.20; Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More: Ian R Campbell, 11.20; Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
November 23 in LEM history: 99: Should I buy a USB card? - 01: Can a low-end Mac be an only Mac? - Palm Desktop without a PDA - CyberDog saves the day - 05: How Consumer Reports could compare Macs fairly - Speakers for your Mac - Living with the hi-res 15" PowerBook - Birth of the PowerBook - Daystar 1.9 GHz iMac G4 upgrade - 1.92 GHz PowerBook upgrade
Replacing the Hard Drive in a Clamshell iBook: John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.19; Yes, it is one of the most difficult Apple notebooks to disassemble and reassemble, but a 10 GB hard drive just will not do.
IBM Model F: A Great Old Keyboard with an Outdated Layout: Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 11.19; Although it used a different technology than the revered IBM Model M keyboard, the Model F was a great keyboard in its own right.
Soft Touch Keyboards, Wireless Mouse Options, Loving SeaMonkey 2, and More: Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.18; Also the future of browsing with PowerPC Macs and the multiple mouse input bug introduced with OS X 10.5.8.
More links in our editorial archive.

Recent Deals

Best eMac Deals (11.18): Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals (11.18): "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals (11.18): Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals (11.17): Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals (11.17): Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals (11.17): "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
Best Mac mini Deals (11.16): Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
Best iBook G4 Deals (11.16): Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
Best iPod shuffle Deals (11.16): Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
More deals in our archive.

Around the Web

Software: Camino 2.0 delivers enhanced tab, Growl, security, more, Fairer Platform, 11.19. After over a year in alpha and beta, Camino 2.0 has achieved release status. It's fast. It's Mac-like. And it's our favorite browser at LEM headquarters.
Analysis: Is There a Method in Cellphone Madness?, Saul Hansell, New York Times, 11.14. "On average, we effectively spend about 5 cents per minute of talk time and about a penny a text message, lower than anywhere else in the developed world."
Benchmarks: CPU Crunch Shootout: iMac Core i7 versus Other Macs, Bare Feats, 11.16. The 2.8 GHz quad-core i7 iMac benches over twice as fast as the 3.06 GHz dual-core iMac on 3 of 4 tests - and comes close to 2.93 GHz quad-core Mac Pro.
Low End: Grackle68k, retards.org, 11.16. Would you believe a Twitter client for Mac OS 6 through 9? It's still rough, but you can use it to tweet!
Opinion: Downsizing: Going from a 17-inch MacBook Pro to a 13-inch MacBook, Peter Cohen, Loop Insigh, 11.10. Going smaller is "quite a change, but it hasn't been nearly the sacrifice I expected it to be."
OS X: Mac OS X 10.6.2 Update Released. Intel Atom Support Officially Missing, breaks Hackintosh Netbooks, OS X Daily, 11.09. "Mac OS X 10.6.2 has been released, for most Mac users this is great news because it fixes over 40 problems and bugs, including the rare but very problematic user account deletion bug."
Opinion: In Praise of the $100 Computer, Adam Rosen, Vintage Mac Museum, 11.06. You can still have a lot of fun and even be productive on an old 1 GHz eMac.
Tech: How to Move Your Home Directory to Another Drive, Jon Deal, Ransom Note, 11.06. How to run your Mac from a smallish SSD and store all your files on a hard drive.
Software: 6 Free Mac Apps, MacHeist, 11.09. Twitterific, ShoveBox, WriteRoom, TinyGrab, and Horde of Orcs free for 1 week. Mariner Write free with 500,000 participants.
Opinion: I Am a Future PC: Why I'm Dumping Apple after 15 Years, Mike Doyle, Chicago Carless, 11.04. "After a 15-year relationship with all things Apple, I've finally had it with the Steve Jobs 'you'll use your computer they way we tell you to use your computer' method of customer relations."
News: Proprietary cable can put the brakes on upgrading Late '09 iMacs, Other World Computing, 11.02. New iMacs us temperature sensors built into hard drives, but there is no standard, so drive replacment may mean an expensive new cable as well.
Benchmarks: OWC Benchmarks Show Newest iMacs 46% Faster with More RAM, Other World Computing, 11.03. By upgrading new iMacs from stock 4 GB of RAM to 16 GB, performance improves up to 46%. (Quad-core iMacs not yet available for testing.)
Tech: iMac Upgraded to SSD, ThatSiebGuy, 11.02. With a dying hard drive and most files on an external drive (a Drobo at that), the author decided to put a 120 GB OCZ Summit SSD in his iMac.
Opinion: The decade of Steve, Adam Lashinsky, Fortune, 11.05. "...he has radically and lucratively reordered three markets - music, movies, and mobile telephones - and his impact on his original industry, computing, has only grown."
History: Lisa Earns Her Loyalty, Adam Rosen, Vintage Mac Museum, 10.30. "I'm finding that a Lisa can be like an ailing older family member: someone you love and respect, but as they age the relationship can get stressful."
Software: Optimized Firefox Mac Builds, Furbism, 10.31. PowerPC G3, G4, G5, and Intel builds include: Firefox 3.7 alpha 1, 3.6 beta 2, 3.3.3 final, and more.
Software: Firefox 3.6 beta 1 arrives with better performance, new personas feature, Fairer Platform, 10.31. Firefox 3.6 moves from alpha to beta. Personas let you change appearance with a single click. We've been impressed with the alphas. Give it a try!
Opinion: The Psychology of the non-Apple consumer, Applepeels, 10.30. "I have often wondered at how someone could have a horrible experience with a computer and turn around and buy another one just like it."
Web: Say hello to .كوم as domain names go truly global, Jacqui Cheng, ars technica, 10.30. "The Fast Track Process, which begins in November, will enable countries to apply for new domain name extensions (such as .com or .net) in their own national language."
Web: ICANN Approves Non-Latin ccTLDs, Slashdot, 10.30. Thought son the pros and cons of ICANN's decision.

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