David Casseres is such a wonderful writer, we are hoping that by making his first article here at MyMac.com a weekend archive spotlight, it will fire him up to write something new! We LOVE David here, and his first article is simply great. Feel free to contribute to the talk-back as well!

Read it after this link!, why I hate word processors!

Okay, bear with me here for a moment. I just want to make sure I have this right; Real has reversed engineered the iPod to make their own propriety music format files (the songs they sell) work on the iPod. Well, I don’t know that they actually reversed engineered the iPod, I am just assuming that is what they did. The iPod is a closed architecture, meaning Apple does not release specs on how it work, or at least they don’t share it with everyone.

So Real gets its protected music files to work with the iPod, right? Meaning people have more choice on where they purchase their music. And now, Apple is all pissed off, calling Real… actually, this is what they had to say:

"We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods."

Gotcha, thanks.

Why is Apple all upset? I don’t have any love for Real by any means, I think their software is buggy as hell, and they have pretty much treated the Mac platform as crap for years. But really, Real did come to Apple a while back, asking to work with Apple on this. Apple, meanwhile, did not even bother to reply to them. Complete snub. “Talk to the hand, Real” was, I think, the official position.

Real then did it without Apple. And Apple basically had a hissy-fit.

Why is Apple upset? Because they want to control and sell you all the legally purchased content that can work with the iPod. In other words, unless you bootleg your music, or already own a CD of said music, you have to buy it from Apple.

Apple talks about investigating their acts under the DMCA. Yeah, good idea. Perhaps the creators of Watson should do the same. Or Konfabulator for that matter after you outright stole their software design, concept, and idea. (For those not in the know, Apple’s forthcoming dashboard, part of Mac OS 10.4, is a direct rip-off of Konfabulator. There is no debate here, even from Apple apologists, that Apple stole this idea. Same with Watson and Sherlock. They STOLE it.)

Back to the point. Apple is going update the iPod in such a way that will make what Real did void. In other words, Apple is closing whatever door Real found to get their music to work on the iPod.

Apple, Champions of Choice! Harbinger of original ideas! What a great company.

Look, I know what the argument here will be. (After ten years of writing about Apple and the Mac, I kinda have the readers figured out at this point, at least in what I can expect from reactions to my lame posts.) “Apple owns the iPod, they have to protect their intellectual property rights!”

Yeah, right. Tell that to Arlo Rose…

I love Macs. Unfortunately, I’m not paid to love Macs, so I work for the Federal Government. Working for the Government or the Military means one thing. Acronyms. Unless you are fluent in acronymic speech, you undoubtedly will have a short career working (in whatever manner) for the government. For the English as a second language or just those that don’t know (or care), an Acronym is defined as follows…AHEM.

Acronym – acro·nymic or a·crony·mous - adj. – A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women’s Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.

A quick round of applause for dictionary.com.

The government loves acronyms. The ability to reduce complicated foreign and domestic policies to single undecipherable words is an art form all its own. Why say National Aeronautic and Space Agency when you can save so much time and taxpayer money by saying “NASA”? Why say Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus when you can say “SCUBA” instead? Or everyone’s favorite, “SNAFU”, which is an acronym for Situation Normal, All Fouled Up. Feel free to replaced Fouled with one of your favorite words if you wish.

Being a child of the 70s with all the distractions therein (Sex, drugs, and Rock n Roll), plus the added double handicap of being a blonde from Florida (OUT! DARN CHADS!), the first acronym I remember was uttered by our only President that was never elected or even voted for during his term. Yes, that paragon of stair climbers, Gerald Ford. His contribution to the greatness of acronyms was “WIN!” This stood for “Whip Inflation Now”. Since high inflation continued well past his Presidency, I guess the program was less than successful.

The reason I bring this all up, besides padding this article out by ridiculous means, is because at the top of this page is the following acronym. YARALCAC. Just roooolls off the tongue doesn’t it? Don’t bother looking it up in your dictionary since I just made it up. Its meaning?

YARALCAC – yar’ rowl kak –adj – A word to describe an article that will once again bash Apple Computer (see multiple business blunders) for not having a low cost, no monitor, entry level computer. This acronym stands for Yet Another Rant About Low Cost Apple Computers (see myth).

As recent as the early to mid nineties, Apple had a series of vaguely pizza box shaped computers that they sold under their regular Mac label (The LC II/ III/ III+), the consumer Performa line (The Performa 400 series), and the business Quadra line (The Quadra 605).

All of these computers had the same form factor and used Motorola 68000 series processors (68020, 68030, 68LC040, and 68040) and when taken into consideration with the prices Apple was charging for their “Professional line”, quite reasonable. Once Apple switched to the PowerPC chips, the small form factor pretty much disappeared. Were they powerhouses? No they weren’t, but they ran all the software that was available for Apple computers at the time. With the exception of the LC series, they were also failures. The reasons behind their failure had more to do with Apple’s business practices at the time than any technical issue.

Let’s look at some of those reasons and why things are different now. First off, look where the different machines were sold. The once vast fleet of Apple resellers was selling the LC line and the Quadra’s. With new models coming out every few weeks sometimes, the resellers were reluctant to order these models in bulk. Why would this matter? Well, once you ordered a system as a reseller, you were stuck with it. If you couldn’t sell it because Apple came out with a new one in the meantime, too bad. Remember as well that Apple held their dealers to selling a certain amount of equipment each fiscal quarter (a practice that continues today). If they didn’t make quota, they ran the risk of losing their dealership and the discount that Apple gave those dealers.

The Performa line was different (though the machines were almost identical). These computers were being sold by the major national retailers that Apple was doing business with at the time. These retailers included Montgomery Wards (now gone), Sears (still here, but struggling), Computer City (also gone), Circuit City, and many others. These guys bought in bulk quantities and then threw their untrained salespeople into the fray. They were not exactly motivated to sell Apple computers as they got paid the same whether inventory was cleared or not. Often you would see dead or broken machines lying in various states of disrepair. Sure makes me want to whip out that credit card.

Times have changed since then. Many of the mom and pop Apple retailers are history, along with their hands-on approach of selling you computers. This is a shame in this day of sell it as fast as you can regardless of what the customer really needs. When you buy a computer today, you are either going to get it on-line or go to a Comp-USA type store. The people who are selling you these boxes rarely (some places are better than others) are able to tell you much about it beyond how much it costs. It’s even worse when purchased from a big all-in-one retailer like Wal-Mart whose employees know little or nothing about what they are selling whether it’s computers or pet food. Unless of course you are buying a Mac and are fortunate enough to live near an Apple Store. While I have on occasion heard differently, my experiences in Apple Stores have been uniformly positive. Lots of Macs lined up connected to various peripherals and everything just works. Your mileage may vary.

The confusing line of the same computers being sold under different names is also long gone along with the CEOs who made them infamous. When you look at Macs today, you have three basic product lines. Portables (iBooks and PowerBooks), Consumer (eMacs and iMacs), and Professional (Dual G5 Towers). Educational needs are covered by the iBooks and eMacs mostly, and the Pros are digging deep for drool-worthy G5 Towers and PowerBooks. The rest of us are left with a choice. Go for everyone’s favorite lampshade, the iMac (Soon to be redesigned with a G5….maybe), the retro look eMac, or the compromises you need to make with a portable.

So what’s the problem? Don’t have a lot of money? Get an eMac with or without a SuperDrive. Only $799 with a CD-R/W – DVD combo drive or $999 with that nifty CD – DVD burner. It’s a great machine that I have recommended to the three people I have brought in from the dark side (Microsoft based PCs). When you look at what you get for this price, it really is a bargain. For the princely sum of $799/$999 you get a 1 GHz plus G4 processor, a 32 Meg graphics card, built in 10/100 Ethernet, built in 56K modem, built in Wireless Internet (Airport) capability, 256 Megs of RAM, a combo CD/DVD burner or SuperDrive, stereo sound output, a nice sized (60 gig or more) hard drive, FireWire – USB2 connectivity, a good quality keyboard, a nicely designed one-button mouse (Why only one button is a rant for another day), and a 17-inch monitor. On the software side you get that paragon of darn near uncrashability, Unix-based operating system, OS/X, Apple’s backward cousin to MS Office, the AppleWorks office suite (MS Office is really much better. Get it if you can), a few games, some productivity software that mostly works seamless with each other, and the untouched on the PC side of the world iLife suite consisting of iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, iPhoto, and the latest addition, GarageBand. All this for $799-999. When compared feature for feature with its PC brethren, Apple is not that much more expensive.

Unfortunately, it’s all about perception. Apple is perceived as being more expensive out of the box and unless there is a product to compete at the low-end (under $600), there is little that can be done to fight this. Apple needs to bring back a cheap(er) Mac. The thing that really irks me is that the hard work is already done.

I love the G5 and wish dearly that I had one. However my QuickSilver 933 G4 and 933 iBook do everything that I want painlessly and promptly. Are they as fast as a dual 2.5 GHz G5? No, and I won’t claim they are. They run all the currently available software and do it with no fuss and no muss. The G4s are still a viable processor and it’s a way to breath life into the whole cheap Mac argument.

Why not take the eMac motherboard and chop off the monitor? Sell it strictly as a beginner’s Mac with little or no upgrade path. Heck, the people who buy the cheaper machines rarely if ever upgrade the. They just want a computer solution out of the box. Take off the monitor; add an SVGA output (Along with one DVI). While excluding the monitor won’t take off $300, the $200 (cheaper box and shipping) range is feasible. Make up the price difference by selling Airport cards and base stations. Once people get their feet wet with the Macintosh experience, it’s rare that they’ll want to go back.

Next up, the education market. Apple used to have this market practically all to itself. They were the dominant force in computer education sales and now they’re what? Third? Fifth? How did this happen? Again, it’s the perception that Macs are more expensive that killed the market (Well, that and rotten timing on new product releases). Schools don’t need huge honking towers in their computer labs; they need small powerful, easy to use and safeguard computers. That ain’t Windows and Linux is still too difficult for the beginner. How’s this for small? Take off the display for the iBooks, again, add a SVGA output and you have a darn good, takes up little room, easy to network (wired or wirelessly) computer. An iBook sells for between $1100-1500. Take off the display and save a bundle. Offer them for little more than what it takes to make them (PC margins) and watch what happens. How many remember that when the eMac first came out, it was only supposed to be for the education market? Didn’t take long for the clamor of Mac users wanting one for Apple to change their minds.

You could save even more money for this little gem by removing the CD/DVD drive. Save configurations and projects to a server (Mac or PC) behind a protected firewall. Put one or two CD/DVD burners in a classroom connected to the network for output along with a printer or two. The schools save on space needed, techs required to maintain them (Apple still has a lower overall TCO), and with simple wireless networking, a bunch of money from not needed huge network cable bundles.

I think I’ve said enough. Apple can make this work with little or no cost to themselves using off the shelf equipment. Everyone wins. So the next time you’re looking at Apple CPU prices remember YARALCAC!

Following Mark’s recent discourse (and Chris’s subsequent accomplishment) concerning which budget Mac portable computer to purchase prompts me to go public with a little-recognized appraisal of the best MacLaptop of all. In my work as a traveling computer tutor I sample everything from Apple’s original 100 series PowerBooks through the mighty monster PB 17” G4.

Looking backward, PowerBook 3400 is a great computer that runs forever but has limited memory capacity and won’t work with OS X. The current PowerBooks and iBooks are lean, mean, workhorse machines, but they only run OS X.

Why should I mention long-forgotten OS 9, now that Panther, Jaguar, Tiger, Bobcat, and Ocelot are here or around the corner? Mac OS is dead — long live Mac OS! Right or wrong?

People who spend more time with me than it takes to boot up their OS X systems understand that I actually enjoy working with OS 9.2.2. If this possibility makes you tremble with rage and break into hives, stop reading now and deliver your pithy pronouncements below in the Article Discussion box.

Is there a viable Macintosh laptop model that runs OS X efficiently and delivers top performance in OS 9? Of course! Plenty of TiBooks and white “Chicklet” iBooks do both with ease. Best bets for demanding users on a budget are most recent 14” iBook G3 or 15” Titanium PowerBook G4 models, purchased used or reconditioned from companies such as our loyal sponsor, Small Dog Electronics.

Let’s talk about styling and conveyance. While 12” and 14” iBooks have a contemporary flair, with their slick surfaces they are not easy to carry by hand for any length of time (I tried), and appear somewhat foolish when held like a book or thick pad of paper. The iBook latches are not as robust as the cases, and iBook hinges can easily lose their alignment (or worse).

TiBook case material scratches easily. You won’t want to carry a just-running TiBook by hand unless your extremities are made of asbestos, because the computer generates enough heat to cause second degree burns on your delicate palms. Then it’s good luck if you set a tender Titanium down too briskly.

This discussion is degenerating rapidly, you assume, to some wisecrack punch line. Wrong again. Can we locate a long-forgotten but still recent Mac portable that meets all our criteria?

Enter from backstage the humble original clamshell two-tone G3 FireWire iBook (mine is blue and white <see photo on the right here ). With a 366 MHz processor and loaded with over 500 MB of memory and an AirPort card, offline and network computing in OS 9 is fast and efficient. Hinges are hearty and hale, there’s no snap latch to break, computing temperature is at most lukewarm, styling is retro-classic, exterior plastic case material appearance improves with age, internal guts are well-cushioned, typing and mousing positions and sensitivity are handy dandy comfy, and typical battery charge duration is over four hours for most usage.

And then there’s the handle! Wowzer. I use mine daily, and it’s a delight.

What about OS X, you ponder with a menacing grin? Or that lousy pop-out CD unit. Or the meager 800 x 600 maximum screen resolution. Or its tinny, tiny single speaker. Get real, Nemo, you mutter.

How many FireWire G3 iBooks did Apple make and sell? How many are still humming along nicely in either or both operating systems? How many are available on eBay, and at what price?

Do a little homework, roll up your sleeves, then let me have it in rebuttal as I pronounce my Blueberry FireWire G3 iBook 366 the best Mac laptop of all time.

Computers are expensive things. A premium laptop
can cost as much a decent second hand car, and even
at the budget end something like an iMac still demands
expenditure comparable to a really good television
or sound system. Even the bits and pieces added afterwards,
like software, printers, and so on can easily come
in at over a hundred dollars a throw. Even the best
computers can seem to have a frighteningly short
shelf life: without significant upgrades, after two
to three years it can be difficult to find new games
that will work on your once top of the line desktop
computer, and only slightly longer for multimedia
applications and things like Internet browser plug-ins.
All told then, people who place high demands on their
computers for their work and entertainment can easily
tie up two or three thousand dollars in them, and
expect to replace a large portion of that every few
years.

Unsurprisingly then, many people look to find ways
of saving money when shopping for computer equipment
by buying second hand. If all you want to do is surf
the web or use productivity applications like word
processors and spreadsheets, then an older Macintosh
can fit the bill very well. Many offices and schools
use computers that are four or five years old without
any problems at all. However, once you start looking
at older machines than the USB-equipped G3 computers
of the late nineties, you run into the problems of
the radical change in the ports used for connecting
printers and other gizmos like scanners and removable
drives. Getting hold of devices that use the serial,
ADB, and SCSI ports popular then is difficult now,
while the majority of modern FireWire and USB devices
cannot easily be adapted to work with Macs lacking
those ports.

But assuming you are looking for computers that
have the right set of ports for the peripherals you
own and adequate speed, storage, and memory for the
tasks you intend to use it for; then buying a used
machine can be a sensible way to save money and a
lot of fun to boot. Of the Macintosh computers I
have owned over the last ten years, eight have been
second hand machines, compared with only four that
I have bought brand new. Some have been bought for
serious use, but others simply to add to my collection
of vintage Macs, and for the most part all have worked
well. What follows are a few tips that are worth
considering if buying a second hand Macintosh appeals
to you.

Refurbished and Ex-Demo Machines

Buying a refurbished or ex-demo machine is by far
the safest way to get hold of good Macintosh at a
low price. Refurbished machines are usually current
or previous generation stock that has been sent back
to the dealer for a variety of reasons, and were
then rebuilt and repackaged. Apple sells refurbished
computers online at the Apple
Store, and that should certainly be the first
port of call for anyone wanting a deep discount on
the usual retail price. There are numerous computer
stores that sell refurbished Macs as well, such MacResQ,
Small
Dog Electronics, and Power
Max. A search on Google using "refurbished
Macs" will bring up a host of other sources.
Generally, refurbished computers are in good physical
condition and come with the original packaging, system
disks, and so on. They also come with a warranty,
typically for 90 days, though Apple offers the full
1-year warranty that comes with their regular stock.
The only catch to all this is that the discounts
relative to buying similar machines new is fairly
small; expect something of the order of ten to thirty
percent.

Ex-demo, or ex-demonstration, stock are machines
that have been used in a showroom or sales floor
but have now become obsolete since the stuff being
sold has changed. To promote a quick sale, ex-demo
computers are sold at a significant discount. This
commonly happens when a computer producer changes
their line-up and dealers need to quickly make space
for the new models. Ex-demo stock often shows a bit
of wear and tear, as you would expect, but otherwise
comes with the same sort of security as the dealer’s
regular stock. So unless otherwise stated, ex-demo
equipment can be expected to come with the regular
Apple 1-year warranty. This is because demo equipment
is drawn from the retailer’s regular stock, and not
loaned by Apple, and so the retailer, not Apple,
bears the costs of the discount. Although ex-demo
equipment isn’t available all the time, the time
to look is when Apple announces a new range of products.
Discounts are comparable to those on refurbished
stock, maybe even a bit better, depending on how
anxious the dealer is to clear out the stuff.

Computer Repair Stores

Many cities have stores that specialise in buying
in used computer equipment, particularly PCs, games
consoles, and entertainment software. These can be
well worth visiting. The advantage to many of these
stores is that they have their stock set up and working
in the showroom, which gives the prospective purchaser
the chance to test out the machines before laying
down the cash. The salespeople are generally knowledgeable,
particularly if computer sales is only part of their
business and complements their repair and upgrading
services. Another bonus is the wider range of stock
likely to be seen. Whereas conventional retailers
carry only the most recent lines, these stores can
be expected to carry stock of all vintages: you are
just as likely to find a ten year old PowerBook as
a two year old iMac.

Location is everything when it comes to shopping
in used computer stores. Places located in big, commercial
cities are the best as they tend to buy in bulk purchases
of desktop and laptop machines from publishers, accountants,
and so on that regularly update their IT equipment.
Prices vary wildly depending on the age of the item
being sold, but in general tend to be competitive
with the going rate for used computers sold on the
Internet.

Yard Sales, Small Ads, and Thrift Stores

The American tradition of yard sales provides fertile
ground for Mac users wanting a machine on a budget,
but unlike refurbished or ex-demo stock, anything
bought from a yard sale is very much caveat emptor
("buyer beware"). Usually anything offered
for sale is simply dumped in a box and priced, and
it may be impossible to even check the computer works.
The plus side is of course the prices can be ridiculously
low: the Mac SE sitting on the table across from
me here came with the cables, manuals, and a printer
all for the princely sum of one US dollar.

The small ads, or classified ads, in many newspapers
and magazines can be a useful way to track down used
computer equipment, but like yard sales there are
no guarantees involved. The one notable thing about
people selling used computers in computer magazines
is that they often expect unreasonable prices (you’ll
often see a used Mac a year or so old being sold
for much the same as a similar refurbished item –
but without the pre-sale servicing or a guarantee).
On the other hand, sales in newspapers are often
much more realistic, but still, be sure and compare
the price asked there with what similar equipment
is going for at one of the refurbished Mac dealers.

Thrift stores occasionally take in computer equipment,
and price them a little higher than a yard sale but
generally much less than a private seller in a small
ad. Almost always they are sold "as is",
with no warranty that they work, though you may be
able to ask to plug the thing in and see if it works
before buying. Even if the thing dies when you get
it home, at least you can console yourself that the
money wasn’t wasted and is probably doing more good
with Goodwill than in your back pocket.

Online Auctions (Such as eBay)

Buying online is the easiest way to see a wide variety
of equipment, but it is not without its problems.
The most important of these is that auctions are
designed to get people to pay over the market value
for goods by stimulating their desire to win. Skillful
buyers circumvent this by bidding very carefully,
but most people who log onto eBay do it not to make
a wise purchase but to get hold of something rare
or difficult to find in any other channel. This certainly
holds true for used Mac hunters; no other venue offers
such a wide range of computers of every age and at
every price point.

A big problem for computer buyers is that a lot
of the stuff sold on eBay and other similar auction
and trading sites is sold without a warranty. Since
you cannot inspect the goods, you must go very largely
on trust that what you are buying is in good condition.
To be fair, many of these auction sites have feedback
or ratings given for the various sellers, so you
can at least get a sense of how trustworthy other
buyers have found them to be, but this still falls
short of an actual guarantee.

Often, you’ll see the seller point out some flaw
to the machine, but mask it somewhat by saying that
"they’re no computer expert" or that "someone
told them it was easy fix". This may or may
not be true, but don’t place any money on it. Assume
only what the advertisement says, that the thing
has this fault, and bear in mind that few computer
repair jobs come in at under a hundred dollars. Another
common disclosure is that the seller "lacks
experience of Apple computers" and so has no
idea if the thing works since he or she can’t test
it out. Again, play it safe and assume this is nonsense,
and a heads-up that something might be wrong.

A hidden catch to buying from an auction is that
while the price of the actual computer may seem low,
many sellers use the shipping costs to guarantee
a healthy profit (a quick look on eBay while I was
writing this gave me fixed shipping fees on SE and
Classic sized computers ranging from $25 to $50).
So it is critical not to look just at the bidding
price, but on the delivery costs as well. On balance,
buying on an online auction is my least recommended
way to get a used Macintosh. The risks are high,
and the savings often not that great and frequently
non-existent.

Buying from Friends

Not recommended. I sold a PowerBook to a friend
once, and now he’s no longer my friend. The problem
with money and friendship is they don’t mix; if something
goes wrong with the computer after it’s sold, the
buyer is going to feel tricked. If you must buy from
a friend, then at least come to an agreement on the
condition of the machine at the time of sale, and
ask the seller if you can try the thing out for a
week or two to reassure yourself everything is working
properly.

Conclusion

There are two golden rules to buying used computers.
Firstly, do your research before spending any money.
It is all too easy to get a computer at a bargain
price, but then find out that it doesn’t run the
applications you need or connect to your printers
or network. Even if the thing was a steal at twice
the price, if it’s no good to you, it’s still a waste
of money. Portable computers in particular do not
age well, so if you are shopping for a PowerBook
find out not just about the condition of the main
battery but the internal PRAM battery (that keeps
track of date, time, and other settings), whether
or not the AC adapter works properly, and if all
the ports still function. Cosmetic details are less
important and usually a cheaper fix, but a computer
that looks good from the outside is likely one that
has been well looked after and so a much better bet
for the careful shopper.

The second golden rule is to examine the deal carefully.
A warranty is worth paying extra for and dealers
who offer them are much more likely to be sure that
the goods they are selling are sound and in working
order. If you cannot get a warranty, then at least
try and see the machine first hand to see that it
is working. Finally, don’t forget that shipping can
up the cost of purchases markedly, especially at
the cheaper end of the market. A $25 shipping fee
on a $2000 machine is trivial, but on a $100 one
it is far more significant, and probably prohibitive.

After two weeks of looking and searching I finally broke down and replaced my aging iBook 500. Being a serious cheap skate. I was looking at all of my options. I rarely buy anything of substance new. My entire Harmon Kardon stereo system from the mid 80′s was a demo model I picked up at half price. My Celestion speakers (hint: the best speakers are either American or British) were bought used in 1990. My cars have all been lease returns or former rentals. Every computer I’ve owned starting with a Commodore 64 has been a demo model.

So, with that background in mind I was focused on my new laptop being reconditioned. In the beginning of my search I was focused on the Apple Store online, however, I needed to sell my current iBook, so that option fell by the wayside. Luckily for me, I have three Apple retailers within five minutes of each other: The Apple Store, Mac Store NW, and CompUSA. The Apple Store doesn’t accept trade-ins so scratch Steve’s shop. Mac Store NW has been serving the area for decades and they have a nice selection of reconditioned iBooks and PowerBooks, plus they accept trade-ins. Since my father was an independent pharmacist, they were my first choice.

Then, two bombshells happened; first, my principal agreed to let me trade-in two other old laptops along with the iBook. Secondly, by chance I looked at the CompUSA web site and noticed they had a trade-in program with prices based upon MHz. My iBook was worth a whopping $575 if all was ok. The two older Windows laptops added another potential $450. The Mac Store could only give me a realistic $340 on the iBook, and of course wouldn’t even touch the other two notebooks. The down side to CompUSA was that they only sold new equipment. I consider my demo/refurbished/used purchases to be a personal badge of frugal honor.

For the better part of three days I debated my choices. Finally deciding that I would stop by the Mac Store first. If they had an absolute bargain I would jump and try to sell the Windows laptops myself. Well, they did have a few possibilities, but no true bargains. So, with trepidation I drove the two minutes to CompUSA. I waited my turn in line at the service department. The employee was a little shocked to find out the online trade-in form was not up and running. After a few minutes of scurrying about he located the proper forms and proceeded to record the pertinent information. Then I was told that the evaluation should take approximately 30 minutes. Knowing the retail world, I knew to double the time and set about inspecting every nook and cranny.

First, I must say the Tigard, Oregon CompUSA is clean and organized. Every piece of technology that I saw worked perfectly. No dust on anything. All the boxes, books, and signage were in neat, straight rows. The “Mac Shop” section was impeccably setup. All the computers worked with the volume set at the appropriate levels. It was obvious that at least one Mac fanatic worked in the store. My only trivial complaint was that someone had selected some silly color scheme on several of the laptops that took away much of the color folder buttons.

I was pretty well set on another iBook 12”, but the sexy sleekness of the PowerBook 12” was temping. I decided to run a couple of speed comparison tests. I counted “Mississippi’s” during the startup of both iMovie and iPhoto. The difference was less than a second. Next, I compared keyboards and cases. The PowerBook’s keyboard is an absolute joy, the best I’ve felt since the IBM 770X. The iBook felt stiffer than my old model, something that I never complained about but on occasion did notice. The difference in cases is dramatic. The aluminum PowerBook screams cool, contemporary, however, being a teacher the iBook’s polycarbonate case has proven its durability and toughness on many occasions. The all white palm rest does disappoint me, as it shows dirt easily, plus on the side you can feel where the plastic seam is fused. I wondered how quickly the Maine iBook’s turned a dingy grey? After some final debating, I just couldn’t justify the price difference and settled on the iBook.

Next, I wandered over to the 17” PowerBook. What a monster in comparison! As I looked it over I came up with the second question I would ask Jonathon Ivy if I every met him (the first being why the processor is set under the palm doing the slow roast). With all the extra space why didn’t it come with a true number keypad on the right? The speakers could have been moved. Talk about unique design on top of the lighted keyboard. I’ would guess that most 17” PowerBooks actually sit on a desk full-time.

My next stop was the iPod, I had never played with one before and I must admit it is cool. I also agree with audiophiles that even with quality earphones the sound quality is degraded compared to a CD Walkman. The key though is that the iPod is music on the go; it is not a replacement for a quality home stereo system.

After killing more time in the Windows laptops, (only the Sony’s were a match size-wise). I went back up to the counter and after a few more minutes of waiting received trade in values. Just as advertised and even a bit, a total of $1040. The iBook was virtually paid for. After receiving my gift card, I marched back to the Apple section and grabbed the first sales person I could find. Steve was obviously a Mac fanatic and quickly set about to get my iBook. Since I’m a teacher I was planning on buying Apple Care from a friend at the nearby Apple Store with my education discount. When I told Steve this, he was more than happy to match it (with a few extra $$, total savings of $75), plus pointing out that CompUSA does free battery replacement. That sold me, so I bought it as well. He did try to sell me an Airport Card but I already had one.

Once I got home, I immediately set out to install my Airport Card, which is when I discovered that the new iBook only took Apple Extreme cards. Damn, That was an unexpected expense. For the first night in months I didn’t check my email that night. The next morning it dawned on me, if CompUSA can match my Educator’s discount on Apple Care, it should be able to match the $999 price on the iBook itself, and the $69 price on the Airport card. The entire drive in I was consumed by thinking up all sorts of debating points in case they refused to honor the price. Instead, the manager and customer service person bent over backwards apologizing and quickly took care to set up my reimbursement.

So, for the first time I actually own a new, out of the box, main piece of electronics. Many thanks to whomever decided at CompUSA to give such a generous trade-in allowance on my iBook 500. You made my purchasing decision very easy. All in all, kudos to everyone involved at the Tigard, Oregon CompUSA, for taking the time to care about your job. It was service equal to that of any small business.

iLap lap stand
Rain Design, Inc.
$49.95 15" model

Is your Titanium toasting your thighs?

Is your Aluminum PowerBook always too hot?

Don’t like typing with your PowerBook flat on the desk?

Rain Design’s PowerBooks iLap lap stand may the solution you’ve been looking for. Plenty of Titanium ‘Book owners, as well as a smaller number of AluBook owners, feel the underside of their machine radiates too much heat for comfortable work.

The iLap, which comes in sizes to fit 12", 14", 15" and 17" PowerBooks, is a simple yet elegant lap stand that gets your computer off your thighs to your legs cool. iLap also tilts your computer toward you, producing what many find to be a more comfortable angle.

MyMac Labs found the iLap to be well constructed. There are no hidden sharp edges or screws waiting to reach out and grab you in places you don’t want to be grabbed; it’s called the iLap, after all. The velvet end pad nearest the user holds the front edge of the PowerBook firmly enough to keep the machine from sliding off the iLap. The adjustable pad that rests on your thighs is also velvet.

We used the iLap for several hours of surfing and typing, and found the it to be very comfortable. My normally horrible typing improved with the tilt provided by the iLap. Your words per minute count may vary…

The only drawback is that the iLap may be difficult to travel with. It won’t fit in many computer bags, and would take up a fair amount of space in a standard suitcase.

For use around the house, the iLap works very well. If you love your PowerBook, but tire of poor typing posture, or third-degree thigh burns, get an iLap.

MyMac rating 4 out of 5.

Didi and Ditto
Company: Kutoka Interactive
Price: $19.95 MSRP
http://www.kutoka.com

Kutoka Interactive bills itself as an edutainment software developer for children’s titles and I have to agree with their own assessment. My grandson Preston, who will be four in August of 2004, has been highly entertained, sitting once for over two hours mostly by himself navigating through the various activities. For an almost four year old with a limited attention span I would have to conclude that the software developers do indeed know how to keep children’s attention focused.

Didi and Ditto is an adventure game, where the players must complete a learning activity in order to add a fruit or vegetable to their carry sack. At the beginning the child is instructed to choose whether he wants to play as the female character (Didi) or the male character (Ditto). The game starts with a very well constructed flash movie where Didi and Ditto are playing Turnip Tennis. Along comes Zolt the Wolf who is very, very hungry. Zolt tries to steal the turnip, but through a series of mishaps involving, Didi, Ditto, and HipHop the rabbit, the turnip rolls into a tunnel. Zolt is a vegetarian wolf who would much rather eat fruits and vegetables than a beaver, so it’s up to the player to complete the learning activities and gather the food to save the sibling held captive by Zolt the wolf.

Learning activities include lessons in math, literacy, music, thinking skills and creative/artistic. The game is played on one of three levels; easy, medium, or hard. In addition to the learning activities there are activities which are there purely for entertainment. Characters such as Couki the dog, Hootdini the owl, Grumpy the bee, and Venus the chicken pop up in areas where they are not the main character, to add a certain silliness appropriate for this age level.

Didi and Ditto has been written specifically to reinforce what children are learning in kindergarten and as such much of the material is over Preston’s head. Even so, the software provides a great teaching tool for me as a grandparent. By sitting with the child through the activities I’m able to help advance both his cognitive skills and his computer skills. With three levels of difficulty from which to choose, some of the learning activities are still too advanced even at the easiest level for Preston, while others are within his skill range. Because there are so many activities in this software, and with the entertainment value it provides, I can easily see him using this program over the next two years to help him be well prepared for when he does finally enter kindergarten.

With all the interactive toys in today’s market, children these days are quick to learn. Preston has learned how to load the CD, start the game, and navigate to his prior game or choose a new one from his very first sitting. He has also learned functions on the iBook such as click and drag, which was rather daunting the first few times he tried it. Trackpadding requires a different skill than mouse clicking. So the other indirect benefit of this software is teaching my grandson computer skills.

There are a couple of very minor aspects of the software that I believe could be improved. In one of the games, the player is asked to spell a word which appears in the center of the screen. The letters are lowercase and, to my eye, very stylized. If a child is just learning how the lowercase letters look, this may be difficult for them. The other change I would suggest is that the developers make a separate English version for the US in which the letter Z is called "Z" and not "Zed", as it is in the present version. While Zed is common usage in countries that speak "British English", it is not the common form used in the US.

Didi and Ditto Kindergarten in a hybrid CD-ROM that is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh computers. Minimum system requirements for Macintosh are System 9/OSX; 300 MHz G3 or above processor; 128mb RAM; 800×600 and 24-bit color; and 280 MB of hard disk space. Flash 6 is also required. There is a well-written instruction guide for adults that explains how to navigate around the game.

I’m not a professional educator so my evaluation of this software is based on my grandson’s reaction, and he likes it very, very much. So much so that he asks to play it every time he is here. To ignore his videos and toys to play a fun learning game says a lot to me about the appeal of Didi and Ditto to the age group for which it is intended.

MyMac.com rating: 5 out of 5.

Video iPod Schmideo iPod

Apple makes cool tech. While this is no surprise to anyone who follows the various goings on in Cupertino, there is a whole world of techie feely things happening out there! In a moment, I’ll talk about one.

Apple makes and sells iPods. These nifty devices play music. They also allow for portable storage from 4 to 40 gigs. With the right add-ons, they also record voice and accessorize BMWs. An entire industry has arisen to give iPod fanatics just about every type of widget imaginable. Well, except for one area. Video.

Ever since the iPod came out, people have clamored for a similar device for video. Some companies have actually gone out and created gadgets for people to easily take their videos with them. They are typically some sort of combo DVD player with a 4 to 10 inch screen. These work well, but you must take your DVDs with you and battery life has been somewhat…challenged. A decent one from a major maker with at least a 7-inch screen runs in the neighborhood of $300-700 dollars. You can use a laptop computer (Mac/Windows/Linux) and have a great big screen (12-17 inches) with no need to take your DVDs (unless they have some kind of Orwellian copy protection scheme), but that also takes up a lot of room. Laptops capable of running video on the Mac side run from $699 (for a G3 iBook) to $3k plus (for a 17 inch G4 PowerBook). What is missing from most of these solutions is a device that allows you to play video, have a decent looking screen, not take up a lot of room, be reasonably priced, and not force you to carry a bunch of disks around.

So there is a need. Based on the amount of portable (hand-held or car based) video devices released in the last few years, there is a market. So, you can either hope against hope for Apple to engineer and sell a video iPod (don’t hold your breath), or wait until someone creates one that possibly does what an Apple branded gizmo might do. How much would you pay for a device with a 7 inch 16:9 (720 X 480) based high-resolution screen. A device that plays MPEG-4, DivX, wmv, and QuickTime video files. A device that is desktop mountable with a USB 2 connection. A device with a built-in 20 gig hard drive. A device that also plays MP3 and WMA audio files. Displays JPEG, BMP, and GIF files. NOW how much would you pay? WAIT! There’s more! What if this device was also a portable Digital Video Recorder (DVR)? Based on what I’ve been reading, someone might already have one ready.

 A Taiwanese company named MobiNote has a device out right now that is essentially a Windows CE tablet computer. Why is this important? Well, to Mac users it isn’t. It’s another product that is being developed by this company that caught my eye. Its name? The MobiNote DVX-Pod 7010. It’s even comparable to what an Apple Video iPod might look like. Besides being a portable video device, it also allows you to hook up through your cable box or television (PAL or NTSC) to record your favorite programs or movies. It has a 7-inch screen for viewing videos or pictures located in its internal 20 gig hard drive. According to the literature, it can hold 30 MPEG-4 films (nothing said about the lengths of the film), 5000 MP-3s, or 20,000 pictures (BMP, JPEG, or GIF compressed). It can be a portable drive connected through a USB-2 (or USB 1.1 if you have a LOT of spare time). No FireWire connectivity at this time.

Its controls and connections are located along the sides and top of the unit. It also has its own screen based O/S that is navigated through what MobiNote calls a “Fly-Roll” button. Probably similar to the little nubs that Windows based laptops used to use. Pictures also show a triangular stand for the player to sit in for hands free use. The product literature I have received points to a AV-in port that allows direct recording from a Television, VCR, or DVD player. The unit encodes it as MPEG-4 files onto the built-in 20 gig hard drive. I don’t know what options are available for programming DVR functions (setting times to record and stop and the like). I also don’t know what the operating system looks like, as I haven’t played with one yet. I have been told by company representatives that it is NOT Windows CE based. According to these same reps, it is an in-house developed O/S. Apparently this has been produced apart from the PMP based audio/video devices most commonly known now. One big advantage that the MobiNote DVX-Pod 7010 has over these other units is screen size. Most of the PMP based players I have seen have relatively small (3-5 inch) screens. The DVX-Pod 7010 has a 7-inch screen. When you’re talking movies, bigger is better. I’m hoping I can get one to put through its paces sometime in July.

What exactly will the unit come with besides the player itself? A built-in Li-polymer battery for video on the go. No word on battery life. Hopefully in the 3-4 hour range. An power adapter for recharging or using on external power. A headset for listening in private and the AV cables necessary to connect to a TV or video player to record or view on external monitors.

So if you have been waiting for Apple to make a video iPod, maybe your wait is over. The estimated cost of the DVX-Pod according to the manufacturer will be between $599-699. Considering everything MobiNote claims this device will do, this is a pretty good price. Will it live up to the hype? Time will tell.

(Xanadu News) Apple Computer Inc. announced on Thursday plans for a next-generation iMac desktop computer, but said it won’t ship until September, missing its original internal schedule.

The company also said it has stopped taking orders for the current iMac, sales of which have slowed in recent quarter, and didn’t give details about the forthcoming iMac replacement.

"We planned to have our next-generation iMac ready by the time the inventory of current iMacs runs out in the next few weeks," the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. "But our planning was obviously less than perfect."

Apple’s statement was somewhat unusual in that the secretive company hasn’t said anything publicly about redesigning the iMac, analysts said.

Analysts said that Apple shouldn’t be hurt by the lack of an iMac for the back-to-school shopping season, which is important for the company, because it has emphasized other models for the education market.

In the education market, Apple has historically emphasized its iBook notebook PC and the eMac desktop machine rather than the iMac computer, which has a circular base and a flat-panel screen that hovers above it.

Apple may have had a problem with a supplier of the flat-panel displays used in iMacs or another component, Kay said, adding that sales of the current iMac have been slowing in recent quarters.

Apple had a hit with the original iMac all-in-one design which had a traditional video monitor and came in colors like blueberry and tangerine. Other computer companies, such as International Business Machines Corp. had nowhere near the success Apple did in the quirky all-in-one PC category.

"They did remarkably well with the original iMac and then they got another pop with the flat-panel version," Kay said. "But the current iMac line has been tapering down for the last few quarters."

- – -

Interestingly, most people prefer buying the new G5 Tower if they want desktop computing. There is expandability with the G5s. If they want portability, they have their choice of the PowerBooks or the iBooks. An excellent all-in-one is the eMac, which is also very inexpensive.

So where does this leave the iMac? We will have a completely redesigned and form factored G5 iMac in a few months. A September release date means it will likely be released during the Paris MacWorld Show.

Will the new iMac be so drool-worthy that everyone will want one?

Apple is pretty good at creating world-class designs. If it has the gotta-have-it design of the iPod, or the Mini-iPod, or indeed, the first colorful iMacs, then the new iMac will be a hit.

The current iMac design is very hard to top. In fact, some designs are so good that it is ‘wrong’ to abandon them. The current iMac world-class design is definitely one of those, and it would be a shame if there were to be no more of them.

Many all-in-one designs are simply the computer stuffed behind the monitor. As such, they are NOT memorable designs. But this is probably the direction Apple will go with the new iMac. Hopefully, they will put it on a pedestal with a movable arm.

So what do you think? Will Apple knock another one out of the ballpark? Will the new iMac make your wallet leap into your hand when you see it? Stay tuned.

Prosoft Engineering Data Backup v.2

http://www.prosoftengineering.com

$59 US
URL for this product
Part One of a Two Part Review

Admit it — you rarely or never perform a comprehensive complete backup of all the precious data on your Macintosh. You’ve heard it’s important, but the software is expensive, difficult to use, and a lot more inconvenient than burning CDs of your Photoshop and word processing files. And now, with OS X, everything is much more stable on your monster hard disk (you a-s-s-ume), so an infrequent drag-copy onto a handy dandy FireWire external drive suffices as cheap insurance.

Baloney. Serious power users buy and run mission-critical, task-specific backup applications very frequently, often daily, and they develop reliable, redundant, rotating sets of restorable backups that are stored securely offsite. A couple of less-than-intuitive apps have existed for ages that experienced Macintoshers rely on for backing up and restoring everything.

Into the ring strolls Prosoft’s Data Backup 2, developed for OS X. We’re reviewing it in two parts, because we first want to make you aware of its existence and basic features, and then we’ll report on extensive real world usage. David Weeks and I spent a day with Data Backup 2 (DB2), and our initial comments are favorable, with a couple of important questions.

We were surprised to observe no printed material whatsoever in our packaged retail equivalent box. Why doesn’t the manufacturer give people a QuickStart pamphlet, since everybody is new to DB2? How can all of us newcomers know where to click and what to do without requiring emotional therapy afterward? This backing up business is already looking too complicated.

(Answer: Prosoft tells MyMac.com that such a printed guide should be available now, or very soon.)

A 34 page PDF manual is included. The instructions are helpful, concise, and informative. Additional files include a basic Read Me and an uninstaller. Prosoft’s website contains a thorough FAQ, which we urge you to read along with your study of the PDF manual, once you print it out.

Installation was uneventful on David’s dual processor 1.42GB G4 with 1GB of memory running OS X Panther 10.3.3. An admin password is required each time DB2 is used, to make sure renegade visitors don’t invade your privacy.

David suggests you CLONE your entire drive to an external destination upon initial setup, especially now that affordable FireWire drives are available with tremendous capacity. This process will take a long time! David’s "WildGeeker" primary HD contains 107 GB of data, encompassing 242,066 files. Wowzer. "Go plant some cacti, David and Nemo," says Nancy Weeks. "See that big patch of open desert out the window?"

You can use your computer for other tasks while DB2 is cooking. A blue progress bar, listing files being processed, is at the bottom of the open backup window.

Subsequent "Quick Backup" operations will typically use the INCREMENTAL feature. DB2 has no Menu Bar preferences, but plenty of options reside within the large backup window, including:

* Versioned, Single Copy, Clone, Full, Incremental, or Synchronize
* Entire, All Non-System, All User’s Folders, All File For Current, or All User’s Documents
* Very flexible Scheduling interface
* Choices for Source and Destination

Quick Backup has ample default settings for most users. David approves the IGNORE ITEMS feature, but he can’t yet figure out how to bypass selected folders. Our follow-up review will deal with advanced features in DB2 once we use it for backing up and restoring during the summer months, so watch this space!

Prosoft has engineered DB2 so it completes a backup cycle even if the application quits. How is this possible? We’re intrigued, and we’ll test it ourselves soon.

The procedure to create a bootable copy of our Mac OS X hard drive is not obvious to us (see comments below). Experienced geekers and newbies will find the process to be unfamiliar and tedious. Request! Please, Prosoft, refine this method for streamlined clarity, to encourage all of us to have safe, secure bootable duplicate drives.

(Answer: Prosoft tells MyMac.com it should be easy:

Drag internal drive icon to "Source" bin. Then drag external or network drive to "Destination" bin. Check off "Clone" and hit start. That’s all there is (or should be) to it.

We’ll try it and let you know the result in part two.)

"Backup, Made Easy," is Prosoft’s motto, and we agree, almost. Newcomers will still be intimidated unless some easily accessible printed hand holding is obviously attainable.

A 30-day trial version of Data Backup 2 is available from the Prosoft Engineering web site. We tested the Uninstaller, which worked quickly and completely.

Gordon Bell, product manager for Prosoft Engineering, tells MyMac.com in an exclusive email:

Our goal with Data Backup 2 (first release) was to get a product out that was on par feature-wise with the "old" Data Backup X (not only because that was a good starting point, but also because we had a large customer base that wouldn’t want to lose a bunch of features on an "upgrade").

Data Backup 2 was indeed a free update for all our former Data Backup X users. The main differences are UI changes (we get a lot of compliments on how we’ve made a nicer UI).

However, our work is not done!

We will soon be releasing a new version with some of those features we’ve always wanted to have…. CD/DVD Sessioning and Spanning. There are a few other yet-to-be-announced features coming soon too… Very cool ones indeed. Oh, and these new features… All included in a free update to current users (we don’t believe in gouging our customers every time we add new stuff in).

David’s phase-one evaluation is:

A solid intermediate-level backup utility, easy to use and configure. DB2 is has decent, average, built-in features, but no elaborate scripting capability, which is probably a plus. For synchronizing disks and folders, for moving data between desktop and PowerBook, for a dozen other reliable uses, my rating is 4 out of 5. We’re looking forward to digging deeper.

Primera Bravo II Disc Publisher
Company: Primera Technology, Inc.
Price: $2,695.00 for DVD-R/CD-R
http://www.primera.com

Primera Technology continues to update its impressive Bravo disc publishing hardware. Mymac.com reviewed the original Bravo almost a year ago, and found it to be a competent unit in spite of a few annoying software flaws. 

Time marches on, and computer hardware gets cheaper and faster. Primera now markets the Bravo II, which can duplicate DVD’s with the same ease as the original Bravo duplicated CD’s. The Bravo II incorporates the popular Pioneer DVD-RW-107D mechanism, which can burn DVD±R/RW’s at up to 8x, and CD-R’s 24x. To get the maximum 8x DVD burn speed, you’ll need to pop for pricey 8x media. If you’re going to be duplicating lots of DVD’s, the time savings will be worth it.

The Bravo form factor is unchanged from its previous incarnation, with the Improvements coming in the software and internal hardware.

The Bravo II now uses USB II, so data transfer from the Mac to the unit is substantially faster than with the Bravo I. If you don’t have a USB II connection, you can plod along with slow USB I transfer rates 

The inkjet printing has been improved, with maximum resolution now up to 4800 DPI. Weeks and Nemo used the included Discus software and Photoshop Elements to design a custom label for an audio CD. We printed sample CD’s at varying resolutions up to the max 4800 DPI. Our label was not particularly intricate, and we felt that the additional ink used for 4800 was not worth the extra time and ink compared to 2400 DPI on our design. A more detailed label would benefit from the high resolution, if you want to use the extra ink.

High-resolution printing requires accurate hardware alignment. Primera’s setup is exactly like the alignment process used by most inkjet printers. We found the new setup procedure painless, although you end with sacrificing two discs to the alignment test. No data is burned to the disc during printer alignment, so feel free to reuse them, if you have a job where you won’t mind the alignment pattern.

New to the Bravo II is “streaming.” Streaming uses multiple master discs in a single duplicating run. You can load 50 discs, and have 25 duped from one master, and 25 duped from the second.

I continue to love the Bravo hardware, but the software continues to hold the hardware back from its full potential. Our earlier review criticized the Bravo for odd software glitches. Most have been resolved with Discus 5.2, the bundled CD DVD/CD burning software Primera uses to control the hardware. Earlier issues with random inability to eject CD’s have been fixed. However, Weeks and Nemo still found it awkward to set up audio CD’s. Discus wants AIFF format audio tracks when creating audio CD’s, yet it insisted that numerous audio tracks already in the proper AIFF format were not AIFF’s. We were forced to have Discus convert the files. Conversion went well, but the step was quite unneeded in the first place. Ironically, The disc with the audio tracks was one created with Discus during the Earlier Bravo I review.

The workflow to create a duplication run with label printing remains somewhat complex. I took plenty of time to re-familiarize myself with the process. While not complex, you must do all the steps in sequence, or run the risk of misprinting the labels on the entire run, or possibly mis-burning all the disks. If you’re doing a run with two different master discs (see above) you better make sure you get it right! Infrequent Bravo users would do well to make up a short checklist to make sure they’ve set up the run correctly.

Once you’ve check and double-checked the run, the Bravo is a wonder to watch. I used Discus 5.2 to duplicate and burn 4 copies of a video DVD I made with iMovie. Discus handled the setup with aplomb, and the hardware burned all 4 DVD blanks with nary a hitch. My patience was tested, as I used 1x DVD media for this first test run. The original DVD was almost full, so it took almost one hour for the Bravo to burn each blank.

Redoing the run with 4x DVD blanks cut the burn time to just over 15 minutes per blank, so including the overhead for shuffling disks in and out of the burner, the entire duplicating run for four discs took about 1:10.

I tested each fresh new DVD, and each played perfectly, both in my Power Mac dual 1.42, and my regular DVD player.

I did not test 8x burning.

For those who need to duplicate DVD’s, the Bravo II is a great piece of hardware. You have to get used to the software, and learn to work around some idiosyncrasies. If you don’t use it frequently, make yourself a checklist, and you’ll save yourself from making some coasters. Remember, 8x DVD blanks aren’t cheap!

But once you’ve got the hang of it, the Primera Bravo II is fine tool.

MyMac rating; 4 out of 5