New iPods vs. Old iTunes, Some Netbooks More Flexible than MacBooks, iCab 4 Uses WebKit, and More

• New iPods vs. Old iTunes
• Many Netbooks Have Better I/O Options than Apple 'Books
• Linux More Resource Hungry, Less Responsive than OS X
• Value of a Used 17" PowerBook
• 17" PowerBook Presses On
• Looking Forward to Logitech diNovo Mac Edition
• iCab 4 Uses WebKit

New iPods vs. Old iTunes

From James:

Dan and Charles:

I like the new 2nd generation iPod touch and the 4th generation iPod nano, but I have no plan to get one, and here is why:

I have a 400 MHz iMac running Mac OS X 10.3.9 and a Mac mini running 10.4.11, and I do not have the budget for a new iMac or, if ever Apple makes a new Mac mini that is interesting to me, a Mac mini. I can not run the newest version of iTunes on the iMac without upgrading the operating system to Mac OS X 10.4.x, and I do not have the budget for that. On the Mac mini I could run iTunes 8, but every time I move to a newer version of iTunes, I hate it and end up reloading an older version - so I have iTunes 7.4 on the Mac mini and iTunes 6 on the iMac. I like the older versions of iTunes, because I can click on the EQ button instead of hunting through the menus in the bar, and I can not transcode podcasts to my favorite bit rate (48 Kbps) and sample rate (24 kHz) with newer versions so I can save hard drive space and iPod memory space.

I would love for Apple or some enterprising software "engineer" to make a patch or plugin for the older versions of iTunes so I could use my 3rd generation nano with iTunes 6 and make the newest 4th generation nano work with iTunes 7.4 or 6.0. Maybe Apple could simply improve the iTunes software so I can do what I want with the newest version . . . Like that's ever going to happen. I will get a computer running with Linux so I can use Banshee or the Linux version of Songbird, and I will see what kind of success I have with an iPod. Too bad SongBird requires an Intel-based Mac.

In this economy and with shortsighted politicians growing in power, can Apple really shut out those of us who are not rich?

James

Hi James,

Apple has never shown much consideration for low-end users of its products other than to keep designing and building computers that seem capable of going on and on indefinitely.

Software advances (?) are one way of boosting demand for current models.

Charles

Many Netbooks Have Better I/O Options than Apple 'Books

From Jeffrey in response to Netbooks Tempting, Cry Out for Mac OS X:

Charles,

Good point regarding the better I/O options on some Netbooks. Those machines give up little beyond screen space and raw CPU capability. I too find them tempting, as must numerous others. For example, I noted that one entrepreneur was selling MSI Wind Netbooks on eBay with Leopard preinstalled!

Your comment about FireWire hit a nerve. I cannot imagine purchasing a Mac without Target Disk Mode. I find it a valuable capability. Whereas one can add FireWire to any desktop Mac with a free internal slot or any portable with a CardBus or ExpressCard slot and such an upgrade will give one access to FireWire peripherals, it will not replace FireWire Target Disk Mode. I am curious if the new MacBooks have a USB Target Disk Mode.

Finally, my comment regarding openSUSE and "prime time" was intended to convey that it meets the minimum usability criteria. In other words, close to Windows XP. I have yet to encounter an OS that I would consider on par with the Mac experience, although Mr. Shuttleworth wants to give it a try. Sure, people can make the Linux desktop look like a Mac OS, but it still does not behave as well and as well integrated as a Mac OS.

I work my Macs hard, often several at once, and the Mac OS makes it easy to use them and to set them up to do what I want them to do and how I want them to do it. There is nothing else that I've touched that comes close. This is based upon my experience installing, configuring, and using three different BSD distributions and more than a dozen Linux distributions on at least four different computer architectures.

Jeffrey

Hi Jeffrey,

I would probably have pulled the trigger and ordered a new MacBook on Black Friday save for the FireWire issue. Like you, I can't imagine trying to get along without FireWire.

There is definitely not an USB equivalent to Target Disk Mode at this point. I have no idea whether one is under development. Given USB's spotty bootability support, it would probably be a formidable challenge.

Bang on about the Mac's superiority as an efficient tool that gets your work done with a minimum of hassle and bother. Some folks like, or at least don't mind having to muck about with and do a lot of maintenance on their systems. I detest the tediousness and waste of time. Using a Mac cuts that to a minimum.

Charles

Linux More Resource Hungry, Less Responsive than OS X

From Dan in response to OS X More Efficient than Linux:

For years I've always found Linux to be significantly more resource-hungry and less responsive than Mac OS X, on a wide variety of both PowerPC and Intel hardware.

Dan

Thanks for the comment. I haven't used Linux on a Mac since my 233 MHz PowerBook G3, so my frame of reference is rusty to say the least.

Charles

Value of a Used 17" PowerBook

From Dan Bargen:

I have a the 1.67 GHz 17" PowerBook (January 2005) model will the following specs:

• 1.67 GHz PowerPC 7457B (G4)
• 100 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
• Sudden Motion Sensor
• slot-loading 8x SuperDrive
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics with 128 MB video memory
• DVI (Dual Link for 30" support), VGA, S-video and composite video support
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• optical digital audio input and output
• scrolling trackpad

Bought in July of 2005, I've upgraded two things on it: The RAM is maxed out at 2 GB, and I've used MCE's OptiBay to replace the optical drive with a second hard disk - 250 GB, 5400 rpm. The optical drive is sitting in an external chassis that connects via FW400 (bus powered). At the time, the upgrade was $400 and well worth the extra space, since I could afford to take my entire Aperture library with me. Now I'm wondering as to what these upgrades amount to in added value.

I'm considering selling this machine towards buying a used Mac Pro, as long as the payout is enough to offset not being able to do on-site photography edits. You seem to be up on current rates for these machines, so I thought you might have experience with the resale of similar configurations - perhaps in a different PowerBook size or processing power.

What's your opinion?

Hi Dan,

Most users will appreciate and value having maxed-out RAM, although RAM is relatively cheap these days.

Regarding the second hard drive, that is an esoteric enough tweak that in order for it to substantially increase the price of a used Mac laptop, you would have to find a buyer to whom it would particularly appeal.

As ever, the market ultimately determines used prices. You could take the going price of used 17" PowerBooks (see Wegener Media or other sites that traffick in them on eBay), add $150 or $200 as a price premium for the mods, and see if you attract any takers.

Charles

17" PowerBook Presses On

From Eric Schneck:

Just installed 2 GB of RAM and 250 GB of disk in my 'Book for barely over $100.

Ready for another 5 years of rock-n-roll.

Eric

Hi Eric,

Good on you for that. Love to hear of satisfied users getting long-term service from their older Macs.

Charles

Looking Forward to Logitech diNovo Mac Edition

From John Q:

Hi Charles:

Enjoyed the review of the diNovo Edge.

Hope to see a followup when Logitech ships the diNovo Mac Edition, as that would (will?) be my choice as well.

As a (picky) keyboard enthusiast, it's great to see more no-compromises truly Mac-oriented options appear on the market.

No more extraneous keys to remap or Windows-key labels to ignore!

Regards.
John

Hi John,

Thanks for the comment. Logitech has done the Mac community proud with the diNovo series of keyboards. My personal fave remains the Kensington SlimType, but the diNovo's are very high on my list of desirable keyboards.

Charles

iCab 4 Uses WebKit

From Ken:

Charles,

While I have no problems with your "favorite" browsers, it should be noted that iCab 4.x is also another WebKit-based browser. 3.x and earlier used the developer's own rendering engine. I never thought those earlier releases were very compatible across the Web, nor particularly speedy in rendering pages.

Not surprisingly, iCab suddenly became much more snappy, stable, and compatible (Safari-like in its rendering) once it became a WebKit-based browser. But it does have some unique features. For one thing, it works with 10.3.9 and later, whereas Safari and most of the other WebKit browsers require Tiger or Leopard.

You did mention Sunrise, Shiira, and OmniWeb as a WebKit-based browsers. Thought iCab should get the same mention, because being based on WebKit (and adding new features to it) is a good thing.

That's why so many developers, including Google, are doing it.

Ken

Hi Ken,

You're entirely correct, and I should have mentioned that iCab 4 .x uses the WebKit browser engine. Thanks for the comment.

Charles

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