- Featured link:
Software should
come with a fresh date, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 01.09. Sooner or
later, some hardware or OS update will probably break a program you
own. Software vendors should be up front about how long they'll support
it.
- Mac of the Day: 15" 'TiBook' PowerBook G4, Jan. 2001 - A new 1" thin PowerBook design with a titanium case, 15" widescreen display.
- Group of the Day: ModBook List covers the Axiotronic ModBook tablet Mac.
Join the Mac USB or
Mac
FireWire email list.
We launched this section when USB was something brand new and not
much was available for it. Since then USB and FireWire have become
commonplace; we have stopped updating our keyboard, mouse, and other
product guides.
USB and FireWire Reviews
- Review: Macally iceKey slim USB
keyboard, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2003.07.07.
This inexpensive, white keyboard has short key travel and light
keyboard action.
- Quill gripless ergonomic mouse,
Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2003.03.31. Uniquely
designed mouse reorients hand, greatly reduces stress on wrist and
fingers.
- Griffin iMate Lets You Use ADB pevices
with USB ports, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings,
2003.03.24. Griffin's compact, low-cost iMate lets you use most ADB
mice, keyboards, and other peripherals with modern USB-equipped
Macs.
- Review: Wacom Graphire2 graphics
tablet, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2003.02.10. A
pressure sensitive graphics tablet plus wireless mouse and software for
$99.
- Review: Keyspan 4-Port USB 2.0
Hub, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2003.01.13. How and
why you might want to add USB 2.0 support to your G3 or G4 PowerBook or
Power Mac.
- Review: Logitech Cordless Elite Duo,
Dan Knight, 2002.10.10. This first rate mouse and keyboard are stunning
under OS X, but the keyboard lacks the necessary drivers to shine with
the classic Mac OS.
- Review: Macally iOptiJr mouse, Dan
Knight, 2002.10.04. A compact, inexpensive, two-button, scrolling
optical USB mouse that works quite nicely.
- Hands on: Iomega Value-Line USB Zip
drive, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report, 2001.09.06. A look at Iomega's
low-cost USB bus-powered Zip drive.
- Review: QPS Que! QuadSlim M2 FireWire
hard drive, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2001.08.27.
Compact, bus-powered FireWire hard drive highly recommended.
- Review: Epson Stylus Photo 870,
Dan Knight, 2001.06.08. Yes, it really does output photographic quality
prints.
- USB & FireWire drives,
Dan Knight, Mac Daniel, 2001.05.21. What's the best way to add an
external drive to a modern Mac?
- Updated: Review: Oxford 911 FireWire
Bridge, Dan Knight, 2001.05.15. Benchmarks show FireWire
performance on TiBook pales compared with Cube.
- Review: Contour MiniPro Mouse, Dan
Knight, 2001.04.27. This compact optical mouse is especially useful
with portables.
- Review: Oxford 911 FireWire Bridge, Dan
Knight, 2001.04.23. New FireWire bridge means faster external drives -
but how much faster?
- Add FireWire, USB to older Macs,
Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2001.03.19. It's easy to add
FireWire and USB to older PCI Macs and clones.
- Feedback on Mac advantages, Jeff
Adkins, Mac Lab Report, 2001.03.15. More on Windows DLL libraries, Mac
vs. Windows USB, aliases vs. shortcuts.
- Setting up a floppy server, Al
Miner, My Turn, 2001.03.15. How to set up an old SE or SE/30 as a
floppy server for a newer Mac.
- Hot swap or not?, Charlie
Ruggiero, Mac Daniel, 2001.02.28. Which ports on the Mac allow hot
swapping, which don't, and what are the dangers of hot swapping?
- Review: Flex-HDD 3.5" FireWire/USB
Enclosure, Dan Knight, 2001.02.20. Turn an IDE drive into an
external FireWire and USB drive -- at a price.
- 75 Mac Advantages, Jeff Adkins,
Mac Lab Report, 2001.02.15. A look at the "75 Advantages" brochure to
see which still apply.
- Review: SmartDisk's VST FireWire CD-R/W
Drive, Dan Knight, 2001.02.09. One pound, 1" thick, a FireWire
powered - the perfect portable CD-RW drive?
- Down the digital lifestyle road,
Stephen Van Esch, Mac Scope, 2001.02.07. How well positioned is Apple
to become the leading hub for the digital lifestyle?
- Introduction to drive interfaces,
Charlie Ruggiero, Mac Daniel, 2001.01.29. An introduction to SCSI, IDE,
FireWire, and USB drives.
- Make mine optical, Dan
Knight, Mac Musings, 2001.01.26. Until I used an optical mouse, I was
content with traditional mice. That's no longer the case.
- Review: Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box
Optical, Dan Knight, 2001.01.26. A nice mouse at a very nice
price.
- Review: OrangeLink FireWire USB
Card, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report, 2001.01.25. Hands on with the
OrangeLink combination FireWire and USB PCI card.
- Review: Wacom Graphire 4x5 USB
Tablet, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report, 2001.01.18. Hands on Wacom's
inexpensive graphics tablet and mouse.
- Adding USB, FireWire, Evan
Kleiman, Mac Daniel, 2001.01.02. Yes, you can add USB and/or FireWire
to any Power Mac or clone with PCI slots.
- Oops: Mac USB not 1.2
Mbps, MacFixIt, 2000.12.12. Quoting from the Roxio/Adaptec
newsletter: "Apple's USB device driver . . . has a maximum data
transfer rate of 680 KB/sec." and is therefor unsuitable for 4x CD
burns.
- SuperMac, Seagate, and USB,
Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2000.11.13. Hard drive
nightmares, but a new USB card installs like a dream.
- Quest for a user-friendly hub,
Joshua McKinney, My Turn, 2000.08.22. If USB is supposed to be plug and
play, why do so many hubs make that difficult?
- Review: Macsense UKB-600 Keyboard, Dan
Knight, 2000.07.27. Quite simply the best USB keyboard we've used to
date.
- Advice: Macs and digital video,
Charlie Ruggiero, Mac Daniel, 2000.03.22. Starts out looking at video
editing on Macs, then examines various video formats. A good read if
you're at all interested in video editing or buying a camcorder.
- Update: Review of Aspire USB
keyboard, Dan Knight, 1999.12.28. Thanks to a little ResEdit work,
it is possible to remap certain keys and live with a Windows
keyboard.
- Consumer: Guide to USB Hard Drives,
1999.12.22. Listing of all known USB hard drives.
- Opinion: Apple's USB Mouse Is Not
an Ergonomic Dud, Paulo Rodrigues, iMac Musings, 1999.12.21.
- Review: Pertec USB Hub Master, Dan
Knight, 1999.12.15. Ugly but functional.
- Review: Aspire USB Keyboard, Dan
Knight, 1999.12.14. Great price, but some problems for the Mac
user.
- Review: Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box
USB/PS2, Dan Knight, 1999.12.10. A scrolling mouse for the
Macintosh.
- Review: Aspire USB Mouse, Dan
Knight, 1999.12.09
- Review: MoniSwitchUSB, Dan Knight,
1999.12.08. Share a mouse, keyboard, and screen with two or more
Macs.
- Hands On: Wireless mouse &
keyboard input, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings,
1999.12.07.
- Consumer: Guide to USB Keyboards,
MacUSB. Most comprehensive listing of USB keyboards on the web.
- Advice: Should I buy a USB
card?, Charlie Ruggiero, Mac Daniel, 1999.11.23. Any PCI Mac can
take one, but is it for you?
- News: Short Takes, Charles
Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 1999.11.22. Information on backup, the
Lombard keyboard, USB drivers, and accelerating the PowerBook 500
series.
- Update: Macally iKey USB keyboard review,
Dan Knight, 1999.11.09. Appends note on "mouse freeze" issue being
tracked by MacFixIt.
- Review: Macally iKey, Dan Knight,
1999.10.25. Extended keyboard for iMac, other USB Macs.
- Review: Adesso iMouse, Dan Knight,
1999.10.12. "The more conventional shape is a welcome improvement for
those who don't care for Apple's round mouse."
- Opinion: CardBus USB for
PowerBooks, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 1999.09.27. How
to add USB to some older PowerBooks.
- Review: Aiwa TD-UM8000 USB tape drive,
Donovan Watts, 1999.09.24. Is this USB tape drive a good way to back up
your iMac, Blue G3, or other USB-equipped Mac?
- Hands on: Microtech XpressSCSI, Sathe
Dilip, 1999.09.21. The author explains how to make this USB-to-SCSI
adapter work with unsupported drives, including Zip drives.
- Consumer: Guide to USB PCI cards,
1999.09.11. These cards let you connect USB devices to older Power Macs
and clones.
- Advice: Older Macs as file servers, Dan
Knight, 1999.09.10. Follow up to ethernet vs. USB article discusses
options for setting up an older Mac as a file server.
- Analysis: The ethernet alternative to
USB drives, Dan Knight, 1999.09.08. Is a networked Mac a reasonable
alternative to a USB hard drive?
- Why USB is a good thing, the iMac
channel, 1998.10.06. A look at the emerging USB market two months after
the iMac's release.
- Where no Mac has gone before, the
iMac channel, 19998.08.03. An early look at Apple's decision to force
the USB issue.
- USB: Okay for the low end, Online
Tech Journal, 1998.06.08. Comparing USB to SCSI shows some limitations,
but declares it adequate for most applications.
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reviewed? Please read our review
policy.

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