F-Secure Online Backup
Company: F-Secure
Price: $49 for 12-month subscription
f-secure.com

Over the past 15 years I’ve purchased, used, reviewed and even trained other users in numerous applications that were “ported” from their Windows versions to run on the Macintosh platform. Some have been supremely Mac-like, showing little or no evidence they were originally written for an entirely different computing platform. Others appeared to be assembled with less regard for the Mac user, perhaps still sporting some Windows-specific close boxes or other user interface elements. Some contained references in the help system to the C:\ \ drive, or to files or directories that aren’t actually present on Macs.

Then there’s F-Secure’s Online Backup, the alleged Mac version.

Maybe it’s just me, but if I’m going to purchase a program I’ll be trusting to back up all the critical files on my Mac – and enable me to restore them easily and accurately – I’d like that program to at least appear to be created for the Macintosh platform. Not only is F-Secure Online Backup (hereinafter referred to as FSOB) the sloppiest port of a Windows application I’ve seen in recent memory, but it also appears designed to deliberately confuse the user right from the start in terms of which files are actually being backed up.

That’s unfortunate for the folks at F-Secure, because FSOB does indeed “work.” In my testing I was able to back up well over a gigabyte of data to their remote vault, then successfully restore various document types to my Mac in an intact and accessible state. But the program’s Byzantine file selection process makes for a great deal of head-scratching when it comes to designating files for backup, while the default settings inexplicably omit all music files, yet include all video files. Remarkably, FSOB even asserts that it will be protecting my Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird or Windows Mail e-mail data, with no mention of Apple Mail or Entourage; that’s not the kind of interface screw-up that inspires confidence in a backup system.

My initial – and futile – attempt to fully grasp FSOB’s configuration process sent me scurrying back to the printed manual included in the box, only to discover that it contained exactly one page of Mac installation instructions and one page of uninstallation instructions. The downloadable PDF manual was much more revealing, providing a table that details how the default settings for the five categories in the file selection area operate, while at the same time confusing me beyond all rational measure. I’ll try to make some sense of the process as I go along, but there are some mysteries even an experienced writer/reviewer is incapable of unraveling.

The Backup tab provides info on which files are to be protected on F-Secure’s remote servers – or at least, it attempts to. The completely Windows-centric descriptions of the documents destined for backup make me question whether I’m truly using a Macintosh application. By default, the “Music” category is inexplicably turned off, while “Pictures and Videos” is enabled. Could F-Secure be refusing to back up my music because it’s detected the presence of The Partridge Family in my iTunes Library?

The file selection window, under the “Backup” tab, looks simple enough at first glance. Your files are grouped into five categories: Office documents, Pictures and videos, Music, E-mail, and My important files. The first three can be turned on or off, with no further configuration possible. The final two, “E-mail” and “My important files” both feature a “Change…” button to allow for manual file selection. So far so good, but here’s where it gets dicey.

“Office documents,” the first category, indicates that FSOB will back up “Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents on the local drives.” OK, so that’s all my Word, PowerPoint and Excel stuff, right? Well, not exactly… According to the manual, “Office” doesn’t mean “Microsoft Office” or “OpenOffice” specifically, but rather an eclectic collection of files that includes InDesign, QuarkXPress, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, along with files from a bunch of apps that don’t actually run on Macs, like Microsoft’s Project, Money, Publisher, Access and Vizio, plus a handful of files ending in .pz3 and .pzz, among others. PDF and text files are also thrown into the mix here. What’s troublesome about this is that FSOB appears to make its selections based strictly on file suffixes, so if you happen to be working with documents created by programs that aren’t included here by default (in my case, FileMaker Pro .fmp files and Multi-Ad Creator .crtr files, to name but a few), they simply won’t be backed up.

FSOB’s Settings window provides a few basic configuration options. Again the “office documents” confusion reigns here, as the “Save a version history of office documents” option is remarkably vague about which file types will have multiple versions preserved. Is it all “Office” documents, as in Microsoft Office, is it all documents included in the “Office documents” category, or does it refer to any changed files at all? Why would FSOB do this for the “Office documents” category, but not “My important files”? Or even “My unimportant files,” for that matter?

Moving along to “Pictures and Videos,” this category is turned on and enabled by default, ready to back up “Video and picture files on the local drive.” As previously noted, no further configuration is possible. So what exactly is a video or picture file where FSOB is concerned? The manual indicates that the usual suspects are covered (TIFFs, JPEGs, RAW files and others), plus “Creative application documents,” which encompasses another alphabet soup of file suffixes, some recognizable as belonging to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, and OmniGraffle, and some rather obscure (.wec, .xar). Indicating the application name that’s associated with these suffixes would go a long way towards helping the typical end user understand exactly what is – and isn’t – being backed up. The video file formats supported by default are even more problematic, as only .wmv, .mov and .3gp (some mobile phones capture video in this format) files are protected. So for those of us with Flash video, or .dv files, MPEGs, AVIs, etc., you’re apparently out of luck here, assuming the file selection is based entirely on the suffix.

Ditto for “Music,” with the additional caveat that this category is disabled by default. If that’s done for space considerations on F-Secure’s servers, I can understand, as iTunes music libraries can be quite large. But having noted that, the default settings in FSOB are set to back up every QuickTime (.mov) and Windows Media (.wmv) file on my local drive, which in my case could easily encompass 20 gigabytes. So why ignore music files? As it is, only .mp3, .m4a, .m4p, .wma, and .aac files are protected by FSOB; what if a user has a large collection of .wav or .aiff files? These three initial categories all have the potential to mislead the user into thinking that all music, video and picture files will be backed up, when a careful reading of the manual reveals that in fact that is not the case, and to me forcing a user to chase down an extensive list of file suffixes just to figure out what’s actually being backed up borders on the absurd.

And speaking of absurd, when was the last time you used Outlook or Windows Mail as the primary email client on your Mac, instead of Apple Mail or Entourage (leaving aside Windows emulators here)? Based on the fourth file selection category, “E-mail,” FSOB claims it will back up your Outlook Express, Thunderbird or Windows Mail files, with nary a mention of any of the two most popular Mac email clients. Clicking the “Change” button reveals a very Windows-looking selection dialog with a “Mac Mail” entry pre-selected; although I have Entourage 2004 on my test Mac as well, there’s no option to designate Entourage mail for backup. My guess is that FSOB respects the default email client as defined in Apple Mail and ignores any others, again not a healthy approach to backup. The manual states that Entourage and Apple Mail are both supported for backup; users of alternate email clients like PowerMail, GyazMail, or Thunderbird (Mac) need not apply, as there’s no way to manually direct the E-mail backup category to the data files for any mail program other than the default.

The final category, “My important files,” indicates that it will back up the “My Documents folder, Favorites, desktop files and selected files and folders.” Last time I checked, Macs don’t have a “My Documents” folder; only Windows users do. Macs have Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music and Movies folders. Yet a click of the Change button shows me definitively that FSOB stands ready to begin backing up the “My Documents,” “My Pictures,” “My Music” and “My Videos” folders on my Mac, in spite of the fact that they don’t actually exist. Only “Desktop” and “My Documents” are selected by default, presumably because the first three file selection categories are enabled and already encompass pictures, movies and music (leaving aside all the unsupported formats noted previously).

File selection dialog for “My important files,” showing the various categories presented for backup including “My Videos” (aka the Movies directory). Given the folder icons and the fact that clicking the + (disclosure) button shows the files and folders within each directory, it’s easy for a user to be confused between the real directories on their Mac and the faux versions depicted here. Also note, there’s no specific provision for backing up Favorites (aka Safari/FireFox bookmarks) in spite of what the main Backup window suggests.

Here’s where the real confusion sets in. If I select “My Videos,” which appears to refer to the “Movies” folder in my user directory, my assumption is that everything in that directory will be backed up. But given that the “Pictures and videos” category is still selected, will my .mov files now be backed up twice? If I have a bunch of .flv (Flash video) files in “Movies,” will they not be backed up at all, because the .flv suffix is not designated for backup by FSOB? Or does that apply only to the first three selection categories?

Entourage is not selected in the “E-mail” backup category, but if it were, and “My Documents” (aka /Users/gil/Documents) is also selected under “My important files,” will my Entourage data also be duplicated in the backup, since it resides in the Documents folder? As far as “Favorites,” the manual indicates that refers specifically to Microsoft Internet Explorer favorites, a program that’s not only omitted from the standard Leopard installation, but can no longer even be downloaded from Microsoft’s Web site. There’s no mention of whether or not Safari and FireFox bookmarks are protected, and no option to manually select them from a “Bookmarks” selection dialog, even if you happened to know where they’re stored on your Mac.

That brings me to possibly the most glaring omission in terms of the default selection of files to be backed up – a user’s Library folder. In addition to Safari bookmarks, the Library directory stores all preference files, keychains, Safari bookmarks, Address Book and iCal data, downloaded Mail files, various support files for installed applications from both Apple and third party developers, Web browser plug-ins, and a host of other essential files. Yet it’s omitted from the default file selection, and nowhere is it suggested that you take the step to manually select it. Most if not all other backup systems simply pre-select the user directory (which encompasses the Library folder) and go from there; it’s unclear why F-Secure would elect to construct such an onerous, confusing and potentially incomplete file selection process based on file suffixes, rather than simply designate either the entire Users folder or the entire hard drive to be backed up (with the exception of the System folder), and let the user decide if they want to omit any file types in particular.

Unfortunately, even if FSOB did “do the right thing” with regards to file selection, there are a host of other inconsistencies and glitches that further blemish a program which, as I previously noted, is fully capable of basic backup and restoration. For one, backups won’t take place unless the program is running; there’s no background process that would allow you to use the app just for configuration purposes and then quit out of it. Conversely, there is a menu bar icon for FSOB, which does badge itself with a red X if the program is not currently backing up, but once you’ve quit FSOB, the icon disappears instead of retaining the warning icon, which would alert you to the fact that your backup’s not currently working and you need to relaunch the app.

And speaking of quitting, selecting Quit from the F-Secure Online Backup menu, or hitting Command-Q, instantly minimizes the FSOB window into the Dock, as if you’ve closed the window but not actually quit the app. Eventually the program does quit completely, and while this isn’t exactly a show-stopper, it epitomizes the half-hearted and sloppy effort involved in making this program a true Mac application.

I’ve used the word “windows” a lot here, both with a capital W and without, but my final beef with this program concerns the capital “W” variety. So much of the user interface and file selection process screams “Windows” that I fail to see how any self-respecting Mac programmer would have let this program out the door in the first place. In particular, the file selection dialogs in the “E-mail” and “My important documents” categories not only make me think I’m using a Wintel machine, but seem designed to make it nigh impossible to drill down and select files in subfolders. The extremely narrow window can’t be resized, and the Size and Date fields occupy half of the available space, so only about ten characters of any file or folder name are visible. Narrowing the Size and Date fields helps somewhat, but once you get about three levels deep in a folder you run into the same problem again. So you need to drag the horizontal scroll bar back and forth constantly just to read the names of your files, an endlessly frustrating process that tempts one to abandon the idea of manual file selection completely.

Any attempt to drill down to select subfolders is an exercise in frustration, as depicted here. Once you get about one level deep, you must constantly drag the Size and Date column headers to the right to compress them, and then use the horizontal scroll bar to navigate left to right in order to keep track of where you are in the folder hierarchy. The Mac OS X toolbox for developers provides lots of selection dialog options, like Column View or even a new window for each directory, but apparently the programmers at F-Secure felt they could do a better job by simply recycling the dialogs from the Windows version.

Were FSOB the only available option for remote offsite backup on a Mac, I’d grudgingly recommend that you purchase a copy, because it is capable of basic backup and restoration in spite of its myriad of flaws. But the competition in the online backup arena is keen, and there are numerous other options available to Macintosh users; these include (in no particular order), the ever-improving CrashPlan, see my review here, Carbonite, iDrive, Mozy, BackJack, iBackup and Twin, any one of which is more powerful, more polished and more Mac-like than the current version of FSOB.

I’ve noticed that more and more Mac users – myself included – have come to recognize the value of keeping copies of our files in a secure offsite location in the event disaster strikes, whether as our primary backup option or as an added layer of security on top of Time Machine or a similar “local” solution.

So, sure, we’ll do backup.

But we won’t do Windows.

MyMac.com Rating: 2 out of 5

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GarageBand 09 (Apple Training Series)
by Mary Plummer
Publisher: Peachpit
Price: $39.99 (US); $47.99 (Canada); £28.99 (UK)
Paperback: 312 pages; published May 11, 2009 (language: English)
ISBN-10: 0321648528
ISBN-13: 978-0321648525
http://www.peachpit.com

History

GarageBand is a music-making application that has grown significantly since its first appearance at MacWorld San Francisco in January 2004. Apple developed it under the lead of Gerhard Lengeling of Emagic, a specialist company which had been acquired by Apple 18 months previously. GarageBand 2 came in 2005; GarageBand 3 a year later. GarageBand 4 (also called GarageBand ’08) two years after that, in 2008.

This year the fifth iteration, GarageBand ’09, was published. In common with the other four versions, GarageBand ’09 forms an integral part of the iLife (in this case, of course, iLife ’09) suite. New in this latest version are the abilities separately to record individual sections of a piece; to create and export iPhone ringtones; support for automated tempi and instruments; a ‘Magic GarageBand’ feature… a virtual ‘jam session’ with a 3D view of the instruments. For electric guitar players there is now a dedicated 3D track. The interface has been redesigned and is easier to use; there are also project templates. Significantly, too, GarageBand ’09 includes its own music lessons and allows the user to buy instructional videos by contemporary musicians.

These – and the rest of GarageBand ’09′s features – are the subject of a new, comprehensive and very well-written and produced book by Mary Plummer.

Despite the bundled tutorials, paper-based instruction is still very useful. Such a book as this is particularly welcome to anyone new to the software, which requires Mac OS X 10.5. or above. The GarageBand ’09 software’s functionality and interface can be confusing or slightly overwhelming. A guided, graded introduction is a boon. And if it takes you further into the less immediate features of the software, as this book does, so much the better.

‘GarageBand ’09 (Apple Training Series)’ is written by experienced musician and (Apple Certified) trainer, Mary Plummer. It’s clear from the first word that she knows her subject; and that she understands teaching and learning… for instance where the absence of small reminders (such as that 10.5.6 is needed as you consider an interface for your instrument because that’s what GarageBand ’09 itself needs) would confuse, she gives them. You soon feel in very safe hands.

This Peachpit book is also part of the Apple Training and Certification Program. The material it contains has been certified by Apple and aims to leave you sufficiently well-prepared to take the necessary qualifications for Associate-level proficiency in the relevant entry-level examination for the iLife ’09 product suite. It offers a discount of 30% on the exam costs. The book can also be registered with PeachPit as a Safari Book Online and viewed online for 45 days.

Lessons

The book is divided into eight lessons, all the material for which is on the accompanying DVD. These lessons cover: Learning to play music; Jamming with a virtual band; Recording Music; Scoring a movie, arranging loops; Creating a ringtone; Mixing music and effects; Podcasts; and Sharing your work – as well as a 30-page appendix of bonus lessons/materials. The shortest lesson is just 16 pages and the longest 51. The progression – essentially from installation, first time opening, connecting a MIDI keyboard through to publishing via iWeb or iDVD – is a logical and realistic one. The steps between stages are neither too steep nor do they labor points when to do so would irritate.

Typically each lesson contains one or more sequence(s) of a dozen or so tasks broken down into from two or three to up to 20 steps. The layout (with clear, color screengrabs and (close-up) photographs where needed) facilitates navigation through these steps… white space, alignment, numbering, use of meaningful color, consistent conventions for menus and so on all mean that you should in theory be able to complete what amount to project assignments simply and without error. Fortunately this isn’t one of those books which merely teach you how to complete itself.

There is enough contexualising detail to explain why and how you are being asked to work through the exercises. It has to be said that these steps – rather than background and more focused explanation and theory – do constitute the bulk of the book’s material. This is deliberate: the approach is unapologetically ‘hands on’. What’s more, each is designed to build on material covered previously. If this is your learning style, then you will be well-suited to ‘GarageBand ’09 (Apple Training Series)’.

Rich Text

At various points throughout the lessons appear Notes and Tips – e.g. to the effect that you only get the ‘My Recordings’ track if you have first recorded your instrument in a lesson; that ‘M’ and ‘S’ toggle Mute and Solo; how exactly to crop an Artwork image… inexperienced users my not be familiar with the conventions: that they are catered for this way is all to the good.

What’s more, the book isn’t a glorified walk-through the menus of GarageBand ’09. The lessons take real world projects and guide you through their satisfactory completion from the point of view less of the tasks involved as of the objectives. Like all successful such approaches, you get to know the files with which you work. To that end there are almost always introductory paragraphs (or sections) explaining why and how you’re going to tackle what’s next. At the end of each, moreover, there is an informal summary of what you’ve just done – as well as a formal review of the material covered. This would serve as (the basis for) a useful checklist.

Each actual lesson contains at its head reference to the three or four files you’ll be using; an estimate of the time needed satisfactorily to complete it (that ranges from 30 to 90 minutes – and is particularly useful since the number of pages in the book allotted to each topic doesn’t invariably correspond to the time needed) and the half dozen or more goals. That’s all equally useful; and sound pedagogically. The index at the back of the book occupies nine pages and was found to be more than adequate for locating subject matter outside of the lesson sequence.

Conclusions

Pros: GarageBand 09 (Apple Training Series) is clear, comprehensive and well-paced. If you learn best by doing, by following tutorials that lead you through the software’s functionality, it will work well for you. It’s cleanly produced, well illustrated, simply written and relies on thorough explanations just when you need them.

Cons: If you prefer more of a narrative, a description and explanation of what Garageband 09 can do with projects taking a back seat, then the style of the book, no matter how well produced, may not suit.

MyMac.com Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Tim, Guy, and David discuss the new iPhone 3GS in great depth, as well as a new mini-podcast event. And the news of Michael Jackson’s death is learned as we record the show, and he is also briefly discussed.

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Surface Sound Compact
Company: Contour
Price: $99.95
http://www.contourcase.com/bluetooth/ssc/

Hand-Free Visor Car Kit for iPhone
Company: Kensington
Price: $119.99
http://us.kensington.com/html/16236.html

California, like many other states, recently enacted a “hands free” law when using cell phones while driving. It is now illegal to hold a cell phone in your hand while talking on the phone and driving. (Note to some drivers, hands free does not mean you can still hold the phone in front of your face instead of near your ear and talk on speaker phone! It means “hands free”!) Sure, you can look like a Star Trek character and wear one of those silly little Bluetooth earpieces in your ear, but I have never liked them. Personally, I do not find them very comfortable, and I have tried about 30 different ones. And they seem to always break after a few months, they easily get lost, either people have trouble hearing me, or I cannot hear them well, and they constantly need recharging after just a few hours. Even my expensive Jawbone broke twice! And using the speakerphone built into the phone is not a good option unless you want to yell a lot, they are just not meant for car driving. But there is another option, try a Bluetooth hand free speakerphone kit.

I tried two different units, both of which were similar in operation. Basically, you pair them with your Bluetooth phone much like you would a Bluetooth headset, and then clip them to your visor. Then, when a call comes in, you press a button, answer the call, and carry on your conversation. Since the unit sits on the visor, the microphone is right in front of your face, so the caller hears you well, Additionally, the speaker is also close to you, so the caller is also easier to hear over all the road noise.

The first of these units is sold by Contour, and is called the “surface sound compact.” This is a good looking unit that sits flat on the visor, and measures in at 5.51" x 3.7" x 0.51" and weighs just over 4 ounces. To turn it on, you lift a small arm on the right side that also contains the microphone, moving it closer to you as well for better sound pickup. The unit beeps until it finds your cell phone and pairs, and then a female voice says “Handset Connected” to let you know that everything is ready. Very simple.

The speaker is a high tech, large, flat panel design, and produces great sound from the incoming call. The unit uses an internal digital signal processor to improve sound and eliminate echoes, and gets about 15 hours of talk time on a single charge, or 21 hours of standby time, MUCH better than a headset. For privacy, a small earphone is included, which can be plugged into the side of the unit, turning off the external speaker. There are only two rocker buttons on this unit, a volume up/down and an answer/hang-up along the right edge. They become accessible when the microphone arm is lifted, but I found them still hard to reach while driving. Charging of the internal battery is accomplished using the included USB cable, which can be plugged into the included USB cigarette lighter adapter, or a USB port on your computer. The battery is not removable, so you are either charging in your car or next to your computer.

While overall call sound quality was fairly good, it did tend to pick up a lot of background noise in my tests. While I liked the beeping sound it made while trying to connect to the cell phone, this unit tended to drop the Bluetooth connection every few minutes, and then immediately try to reconnect. Each time it would do this, it would start beeping again. After about 30 minutes of this over and over, I ended turning the unit off, quite tied of the beeping at that point. I hoped my unit was defective, because this was very annoying, and Contour agreed to replace it. Unfortunately, after finally receiving a replacement unit, the new unit failed to pair with my phone at all, so I could not test it. Quality control obviously seems to be an issue here.

I like the looks and sound of this unit a lot, but if my two samples are typical of the quality control, there is a serious problem here. In addition, Contour only markets the unit which is actually built by Bluetrek, and the two companies had differing opinions on just who should handle my technical issue. Not good.

The second unit I tested was from Kensington, and is called the “Hands-Free Visor Car Kit for iPhone.” Don’t let the name throw you, as it can be used with any Bluetooth phone. While at first glance this unit does not look as slim and sleek as the Contour, it is actually a bit smaller in length and width, and only a fraction of an inch thicker at 4.68” x 2.4” x 0.63” also at about 4 ounces. That said, it is nowhere near as stylish as the Contour unit, looking more like a small little box with holes in it. Style is not its strong point.

This unit turns on with small button on the side, and offers a two-tone beep to tell you that it has found your phone and paired. Unlike the Contour, this unit has more controls and options, but also looks a bit more cluttered with the extra buttons. I liked that the volume was easily changed by a physical slider control along the top, much easier to reach, read, and use while driving than a toggle button. There are also three large “speed dial” button on the face of the unit, but they are a bit strange to set. First, you must receive a call from the number you want to save, and while the call is in progress, press and hold one of the three buttons to save the incoming call. If successful, a blue LED will light and the number will be stored. To use a speed dial, you simply press one of the three buttons and the unit will connect the call. To answer an incoming call, or hang up, you simply press the small phone icon just above the speaker. If the incoming call happens to be from one of your stored favorites, the blue LED in that button will also flash. Not exactly caller ID, but good for those three common numbers. There are two other LEDs on the front to tell you of the status the battery, power, paring status, and call status.

A few other features make this unit especially nice. First off, it comes with two removable, rechargeable batteries as well as an external battery charger, a USB charging cable, and a USB cigarette lighter adapter. This allows the charging of one battery while the other is in use. Talk time is around 10 hours on a full charge per battery, much less than the Contour unit, but batteries are easily swappable by quickly popping them out on the side and sliding in the new one, so that is actually 20 hours combined. This unit also allows it to be paired with more than one phone. To change users, and thus which phone it pairs with, just press the small button at the bottom of the unit. This is especially great for people who share a car, as either person can easily use it when they drive.

The biggest downside of this unit is the placement of the power button next to the battery. Unfortunately, if not careful when trying to turn it on or off, it is quite easy to press on the battery rather than the power button, easily popping out the battery. This happened to me several times while trying to turn it on, and the battery ended up on the floor. The button really should have been moved away from the battery, or some kind of battery lock should have been added to solve this problem.

To test sound quality, I drove across a long bridge during non-rush hour. I drove the bridge twice, and phoned my answering machine at home to record a message from each device, then listened to the quality when I got home. I also called a few friends, twice! Sound quality on the Kensington unit was excellent. Background and road noise was all but eliminated from my voice, and the callers were fairly easy to hear as well. Output volume was lower on the Kensington than the Contour, but not significantly. In several test calls, the Kensington outgoing (my voice) sound quality was significantly better for the other end, even with Contour’s DSP technology. However, the large flat speaker of the Contour had much better incoming sound quality, and was easier to hear callers in a noisy car.

Side by side, both these units worked much better than any of the Bluetooth headphones I have used in my opinion, and callers said I sounded better and clearer on most calls with both units. Of course, unlike a headset, you cannot wear these everywhere you go, but maybe that is a good thing! They also both worked well sitting on a small conference table and on my desk as a conference phone. While the Kensington is $20 more expensive than the Contour, it seemed a rather small price to pay given its extra features, better sound quality, and what appears to be better Bluetooth reliability as well. And I especially liked the ability to pair with two phones. But in either case, both of these were an excellent alternative to wearing the little Star Trek thing in my ear, and let me stay legal as well.

Pros:
Hands Free in the car with nothing stuck in my ear.
Easy to use, and longer batter life over a headset.
Makes a better conference/speaker phone than phone’s built-in system.

Cons:
Not very useful when walking down the street. (Maybe a good thing?)
Contour has Bluetooth reliability problems.
Contour button placement hard to see and reach while driving
Kensington unit just not "slick" looking enough.
Would love an LCD display to show call time, calling number, caller ID, etc.

MyMac rating:
Kensington: 4 out of 5 (fix the battery eject)
Contour: 2.5 out of 5 (fix the Bluetooth issue)

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BurnAgain FS
FREERIDECODING
Price: $22
http://www.freeridecoding.com

In May of 2007 I reviewed BurnAgain DVD and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Now the company has released a new version called BurnAgain FS. Does it meet the expectations from BurnAgain DVD? Read on.

For those who are unfamiliar with BurnAgain, it allows you to burn a CD or DVD over and over and over again adding additional content to a burnt disc (as long as you continue to use the BurnAgain software). It does a great job and is a great way to get the most out of your blank media.

The FS in BurnAgain FS stands for file system, and it adds a cool feature to the BurnAgain system. When you identify the disc you want to use in BurnAgain FS the disc is remounted on the desktop with a BurnAgain icon.

You can then open this new disc and add content to the disc just like you would if you were burning any other disc from the Finder. There is no special window you have to drag and drop your files to (like you would in Toast, for example). The difference here is that once you burn the disc you can burn to it again, and again, and again. To burn the disc you simply close the BurnAgain window and the disc will be written.

There is another difference when burning a disc in BurnAgain FS. You can “remove” content from a disc/ I put remove in quotes because you technically aren’t removing anything from the disc, it appears that way. When you want to “remove” content from a disc you send it to the trash and re-burn the disc. BurnAgain FS will hide the deleted content so it appears to be gone, but the disc space is still used. You will not be recovering and disc space like you would be if you deleted something off a hard drive. However, this is a good way to reuse a disc and get rid of content you don’t want the next person using the disc to see.

BurnAgain FS supports CDR, CDRW, DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs.

Even though blank media is relatively cheap these days, BurnAgain FS is a good way to save some money. It is also a good way to be “Green” and not wasteful of disc space.

My only problem with the program is the same one I had in my last review. There is no way to control the speed of the burning. This probably does not matter, but I have had times when I have wanted to burn a disc at the slowest speed possible rather than top speed. Why? Some files and even discs burn better at slow speeds. I don’t know why. That is just my experience.

Even with that said, for $22 you can’t go wrong. You can try BurnAgain FS out with a free 20 burn demo from the FREERIDECODING website.

MYMAC.COM RATING 4.5 OUT OF 5

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Run Windows on your Mac without rebooting!  Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac provides the complete suite of essentials to run Windows on Mac the easy, fast and powerful way.

So how does the new iPhone 3G S stack up against the original (first generation) iPhone? Let’s have a look.

First, taking pictures. The picture on the left was taken with the original iPhone, the one on the right, the new iPhone 3G S. You can download the original, full-size .jpgs by clicking each photo.

–

Next up, launching applications. I think the video speaks for itself.

Click here for the full-size MP4 version

Last, how well does the iPhone 3G S do at shooting video? Take a look. Each is a YouTube version, but the better, MP4 version is also available below each movie.


Download the full-size MP4 file here

Download the full-size MP4 file here

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Download the show here, or subscribe and downlod via iTunes
Tim, Guy, and David welcome Jim Felder, our first “invite the listener” participant to the show. As we have talked about, we want to begin to include more listeners into the show itself, and Jim is the first. Topics this week include AT&T and buying a new iPhone 3G S, Apple and video games, and reader feedback from Barry White in New Zealand. Plus, Jared Zelek of Zelek Software provides a bargain on his new Ringy Dingy iPhone ringtone application! (Windows and Mac versions!) Check the show notes for two free ringtones Jared made with the new software.

Save almost $350 on RAM for the new MacBook Pros

Review our show on iTunes Please!

Links from the show
See show notes here
Mac:
http://zeleksoftware.com/mymac
Windows:
http://zeleksoftware.com/mymacwindows
Download the MyMac Ringtons from Zelek Software here and here.

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Adobe Photoshop CS4
Company: Adobe Systems, Inc.
Price: $699
http://www.adobe.com/

ABOUT THIS REVIEW:
As I worked my way deeper and deeper into the many features and changes, it became obvious that there was no way to lay it all out for you. Frankly, I don’t see how anyone can adequately review an app this large and complicated. It’s taken me a long time to get ready for this — in fact, I’m still not ready, but a six-month delay is long enough. Read on to see if anything surprises you!

OVERVIEW:
My version of Photoshop came with the review copy of the CS4 Master Collection. A brand new stand- alone version at full retail price will set you back $699 at the Adobe Store, but a quick Google search will reveal other options. And if you own virtually any older version of Photoshop or the Creative Suite, Adobe probably has an upgrade deal for you. Don’t think you’re necessarily priced out of the action! You can upgrade from CS3 for only $199, for example. For the record, the current version of the app itself weighs in at 258.8 MB, a hefty increase over CS3′s 216.9 MB, and that should tell you something.

But what, exactly? It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Do you really need to keep buying the new versions? In other words, with so many of us dependent on Photoshop for image editing and creative work, is maintaining Adobe’s profits and goodwill the real game in town, or have they honestly built a new version of Photoshop that’s worth the money?

WHAT’S NEW IN PHOTOSHOP CS4?
The best thing to do is visit this page, where you’ll notice the following new features:

1. Smoother panning and zooming and fluid canvas rotation: "Navigate to any area of an image with new, ultra-smooth zooming and panning. Maintain clarity as you zoom to individual pixels and easily edit at the highest magnification with the new Pixel Grid. And use the revolutionary new Rotate View tool to smoothly turn your canvas for distortion-free viewing at any angle."

2. Adjustments panel: "Simplify image adjustment by easily accessing every tool you need to nondestructively adjust and enhance the color and tone of your images; on-image controls and a wide variety of presets are also included in the new live and dynamic Adjustments panel." (Very cool, BIG time saver!)

3. Masks panel: "This panel offers all the tools you need to create editable pixel- and vector-based masks, adjust mask density and feathering, easily select noncontiguous objects, and more."

4. Content-Aware Scaling: "Use the new and revolutionary Content-Aware Scaling feature to automatically recompose an image as you resize it, smartly preserving vital areas as the image adapts to the new dimensions. Get the perfect image in one step without time-intensive cropping and retouching."

5. File display options: "Easily work with multiple open files by using tabbed document display or n-up views."

A number of other features have been "enhanced" and do work better, including the reengineered Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools. Nothing to sneeze at here. All of this is wrapped up in a slightly modified interface, especially evident in the "Save for Web and Devices" window, which we’ll be looking at below.

HARDWARE & INSTALLATION:
I originally installed the entire Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection on a 1.83 GHz MacBook with 2 MB of DDR2 SDRAM and a 160 GB Hitachi 7200 rpm hard drive. Photoshop runs just fine with this configuration, you’ll be happy to know, and even better on my current desktop machine, a 24" iMac (3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 memory, 1 terabyte 7200 rpm hard drive). Lots better, in fact, and working with my photos on the big, bright screen is pure joy.

THAT DARNED INTERFACE:
Okay, check out the "Save for Web and Devices" windows for the same image in CS3 and CS4. I adjusted each one to take up slack around the photo before taking a screenshot, so the UI text would be the same size in each one:

The CS4 version of this window is larger by almost 100 pixels. It also has a few more options, and the image itself is surrounded by a thin black border. The major change, however, is the placement of the Save, Cancel, and Done buttons, which now are at the bottom right corner of the window instead of top right. Is this a good thing?

I honestly don’t know. You’d think there was an ergonomic reason for moving them, but maybe it was just an afterthought when someone realized there wasn’t room for them after adding the Image Size info box below the Color Table box. Even after six months with the software, I still find myself flinging the cursor to the top right-hand corner to save an image! But what’s truly aggravating is that with the window taking up most of the screen on my MacBook, the Save button is perilously close to the Dock, which I keep at the bottom: I have to be very careful how I move the cursor, or else there’s a magnified Dock icon hopping up and getting in the way. The problem is much less evident on my iMac, obviously, but laptop owners may curse a lot.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS & CONCLUSIONS:
This being Photoshop and me being me, I’ll never be able to use every single new and enhanced feature. But Photoshop is an app that makes you say, "Wow! I never knew I could do THAT!" The new Adjustments panel is probably the best toy I’ve used so far, automatically creating adjustment layers for every tweak I want to try. To compare the Photoshop CS4 version to CS3, just peruse this chart. Beyond that, we’re down to the minor but irritating interface changes, and hopefully I’ll eventually get used to those.

If all you do with your old version of Photoshop is crop, resize, and adjust your photos, you don’t need to upgrade. As far as that goes, I probably don’t need the latest version myself, although I’m very happy to have it. Is CS4 intrinsically worth the $199 upgrade price? Absolutely! If you don’t have an older version and want an app to edit photos for the Web, say, is Photoshop CS4 the way to go? Not unless you’re wealthy. (For any kind of professional image work, sure. Of course. We live and die with Photoshop.) In any case, the full Creative Suite 4 is a MUCH better deal, considering what’s included, and that’s always the way to go if you or your employer can pay for it.

But can you run it?

MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
• Power PC G5 or multi-core Intel processor
• Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.7
• 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
• 2GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on flash-based storage devices)
• 1,024×768 display (1,280×800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and • OpenGL 2.0
• DVD-ROM drive
• QuickTime 7.2 software required for multimedia features
• Broadband Internet connection required for online services

That "512 MB of RAM" is something of a joke. I can report that 4 GB does make Photoshop CS4 get up and scoot, however.

MYMAC RATING:
I’d give this 4.5 or even 5 if it weren’t for those new Save buttons and the off-putting anti-piracy measures that make life more difficult for paying customers. Nevertheless, this rates a very comfortable 4 out of 5.

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iLynx USB + FireWire 800/400 Hub
Price: $60
Company: Aevoe Moshi
Moshimonde.com

Stop looking for the perfect port for any cable connection, you iMac owners (and potentially all Macintoshers). The brushed metal base of your late model iMac or Apple Cinema Display can be home to Aevoe Moshi’s iLynx, a multi-port bus-powered masterpiece of a hub. For $60, you’ll enhance the appearance and functionality of your desktop or portable Mac, and never again worry if you have enough USB or FireWire ports for your peripherals.

iLynx is the strangest Mac accessory we’ve seen for a long time. From its rear emerge one USB 2 and FireWire 400 source cable, with a versatile removable FireWire 400-to-800 adapter attached to the latter. These cables plug into the appropriate ports on your computer. On both of iLynx’s two angled sides are one FireWire 400 and two USB 2 ports, for your external devices. One each USB 2 and FireWire 400 extension cables are included, to lengthen iLynx’s reach. When the whole setup is active, cables are coming and going in every direction from the gorgeous beveled base with an illuminated "moshi" etched into the aluminum. Its underside has two clever parallel non-skid grip bars.

FYI: The three removable cables are alone worth more than half the cost of iLynx, when purchased at full retail cost. This is one sweet deal of a well-priced product.

iLynx will work perfectly well with almost any Mac, including Apple laptops. Recent MacBookers won’t be interested, on account of having no FireWire ports on their computers, but that is the only exception. When used with a laptop Mac, iLynx looks like it is from a different planet, because its cable array is so ungainly. Who cares — it works!

Aevoe Moshi is a high-style company, unique in the Mac marketplace. Some of their design implementations are better than others, but iLynx is a grand slam home run. When it is used in conjunction with an iMac or Apple Display, its appearance is intriguing, and its ability to add so many ports is brilliant.

But wait! It gets better. A company representative tells MyMac:

"iLynx uses our own patented technology called Dynamic Power Sharing (DPS). This means it can power multiple devices without the need of an AC adapter plugged into an outlet. In order for this to work, it must have both the USB and FireWire cables plugged in. You can test this out by connecting multiple devices (hard drives, iPods, card readers, etc.) at the same time. 

"From a design perspective, the iLynx was meant to rest on the iMac stand and to be perfectly color-matched to the iMac. It looks nice with MacBook / MacBook Pro as well, but there isn’t a standard way to connect it. You would just set the iLynx next to your notebook and connect it any way you see fit for your workstation. 

"The iLynx is compatible with the any notebook / desktop that supports both USB and FireWire. The machine must have both in order for our iLynx to properly power connected devices. The older PowerBook, MacBook 13, and MacBook Pro models all have USB and FireWire, so it works great with those models. They removed the FireWire from the recently-discontinued unibody MacBook 13, so it won’t work with that model, only with the new unibody MacBook Pro 13, 15, and 17. It is also worth mentioning that any machine you use iLynx with must have Mac OS 8.6 – 9.2.2 or Mac OS X（10.0 – 10.5.x)."

The first paragraph from the company contains huge information. You can bus-power peripherals that previously required a powered hub. I can’t overstate the significance of this capability for experienced users. The last paragraph is remarkable for its inclusiveness of all FireWire/USB equipped Macs reaching back nearly to King Tut’s nursery school graduation.

If I had enough iLynx units in the trunk of my car to use for every client, friend, student, neighbor, and family member who could have used it during the past years, I wouldn’t be able to shut the lid of the trunk. Two words of advice on iLynx: get it.

Highly recommended. MyMac rating: 5 out of 5

Quote from Nemo’s wife: "It’s very cool looking, John — sleek. What is it? What does it do? I have absolutely no idea!"

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TechTool Pro 5.0.4
Company: Micromat
Price: $98 (upgrade from any prior version, $59)
Micromat.com

As a very young boy, I can recall many a time when I’d try my darnedest to convince my Dad, a glazier, to take me to work with him. “Tell you what,” he’d say. “The day you can lift my toolbox, that’s the day you’ll be ready to come with me.” Of course at that age I couldn’t even budge it, and wouldn’t be able to for many more years, given its size and weight and the hundreds of tools contained therein. But I always figured if I could just carry that toolbox around with me, I’d be able to fix anything.

Thanks to Micromat’s TechTool Pro 5, I’ve finally got that toolbox – and the best part is, it’s all on a DVD that weighs less than an ounce. The comprehensive suite of diagnostic tests covers virtually every part of your Mac, the tools are capable of addressing a wide variety of disk-related problems, and the protection features provide early warnings for problems yet to come. Sure, there are a few tests whose usefulness is debatable, and some of the tools already exist as freeware or as part of the operating system itself, but after putting TTP through its paces on a selection of Macs both old and new, I’m convinced that this is one toolbox that’s coming with me on every job.

TechTool Pro 5 (hereinafter referred to as TTP) takes a three-pronged approach to Mac troubleshooting – tests, tools and protection. The Tests area of the program consists of diagnostic routines that check the “health” of your hard drive, memory, volumes and files as well as select components like the processor and USB bus. The Tools area of TTP provides the ability to repair disk directories, optimize files and volumes, recover deleted files and even securely “wipe” data from a drive. One unique aspect of TTP’s Tools is the eDrive feature, which allows you to create a separate bootable partition on your hard drive containing a copy of TTP, which can be used to boot up your Mac and attempt repairs in the event that your primary partition becomes damaged or unusable.

The third and final aspect of the TTP program are the Protection features which, when enabled, monitor the amount of free space on your hard drive, back up your disk directory, track deleted files and check the SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology status of your drive. TTP will alert you if your free space drops below a specified threshold, or if the SMART reporting for your hard drive indicates a potential failure. You also have the option for email alerts to be sent out in case you don’t happen to be in front of your Mac when a potential problem rears its ugly head. While TTP can be run by booting from the DVD (OS X 10.5.5 is pre-installed), the protection features aren’t available until you actually install it on your Mac, and are controlled via a System Preferences pane, as shown in the illustration below.

The TechTool Protection preference pane allows you to enable or disable TTP’s protection features, as well as fine-tune some of the settings. Here, I’ve adjusted the threshold for the free space warning on our boot partition to 10% and the Check Interval to 30 minutes. Note that you can toggle individual TechTool Protection features like the Directory Backup on or off, in addition to enabling or disabling the entire suite all at once.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the three TTP areas, starting with Tests. Each time you fire up TTP, whether you’ve running it from the bootable DVD or your own hard drive, a series of automatic tests are initiated which check the cache, USB and FireWire busses, processor, and network (if connected wirelessly or via Ethernet) and provide the relevant specs for each. The results appear not as numerical displays or bar graphs, but as a series of readouts on the gauges of a faux instrument panel; it’s no wonder the system requirements for TTP 5 specify Quartz Extreme capability, a requirement that might seem, er, extreme for a troubleshooting utility. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for over-the-top eye candy as much as anyone, and Micromat has included plenty of it in this package.

TTP’s Automatic tests display the critical specifications of my 2.0GHz MacBook using animated instrument panel gauges, an example of the over-the-top graphical displays that appear throughout the Tests and Tools areas. The program also identifies the specific model of Mac being tested, as well as when and where it was built. Strangely, while TTP identified my MacBook accurately, it labeled my PowerBook G4 12” 1.33GHz as a “PLG” and an ancient G4/533 tower as an “L8G,” although it was able to determine the correct system specs, build date and location for both G4 models.

Once the automatic tests have run, you have the option to initiate the “Check Computer” sequence, which steps through all the tests available, or you can select to conduct individual tests from the Test Selection menu. Any test can be cancelled at any time after being initiated, without incident, so you’re never locked into the last 03 minutes of any test should you elect to bail prior to completion.

The complete suite of tests include:

• Memory Test – This runs a series of esoteric test routines like “Extended March C-” and “moving inversions” on all installed RAM, with the option to limit the duration of the testing to anywhere from one minute (the default) to 90 minutes. While having control over the duration of the testing is essential, I think the default should be at least five or ten minutes, as memory problems can be elusive and it’s very possible they would not be detected via a one-minute scan.

Testing RAM thoroughly can take a while, and in some cases problems appear only when your Mac’s internal temperature exceeds a certain point. If you want to give this test the best opportunity to find defective RAM chips, run the test for the maximum 90 minutes duration, and then run it again, just to be sure.

• Surface Scan – Scans the entire hard drive for bad blocks. This test took approximately 50 minutes to run on my MacBook, and could take much longer for larger drives. Although the test will identify any files that reside in bad blocks, there’s nothing you can do at that point but back everything up and format the entire drive, since if the file is located in a bad block it’s probably not recoverable anyway. I would recommend skipping this test unless you’re working on a very old drive or a drive that seems to corrupt files on a regular basis, and even then I’d run it only after I’d run the Volume Structures check (see below) and “Volume Rebuild” from the Tools area.

• SMART Check – As the name implies, checks the aforementioned SMART status of your drive. If any of the SMART parameters appear in red, you should consider backing everything up immediately and replacing your drive, as most problems revealed by the SMART system are indicative of a hard drive that is in imminent danger of failure. Hard drives are inexpensive enough these days that it’s not worth taking chances with your data.

• Volume Structures – Basically, this test does what “Verify Disk” in Apple’s Disk Utility does – it checks the integrity of the disk directory, which keeps track of where everything on a particular volume is stored. If problems are found, you should reboot from the DVD and use TTP’s Volume Rebuild tool to repair the directory.

• Video Memory – ”Exercises the VRAM” to check for problems with your video chipset. While it only takes about three seconds, it’s a throwaway in my opinion; if your video output was on the fritz you’d certainly know about it prior to running this test.

• File Structures – Checks individual files for corruption; unfortunately it works only on a limited set of file types (.plist and .xml files, some image formats like JPEGs and TIFFs, MP3 files, and .TXT files) and isn’t able to repair the corruption, but simply alert you to it. In my testing it accurately detected a pair of AirPort configuration files with badly-formed XML and a corrupt PDF, but also flagged a couple of Photoshop sample files whose only crime was being in 16-bit TIFF format. Micromat claims TTP will support more file types in the future, and I’d suggest that support for Microsoft Office, QuarkXPress, and Adobe Illustrator/InDesign files would be most useful here.

Moving on to the Tools, we first encounter TTP’s eDrive, a truly innovative feature that’s phenomenally easy to set up and could prove to be phenomenally useful if the directory of your main volume is damaged. The eDrive is actually a separate partition containing a stripped-down, bootable version of whatever operating system is on your Mac, along with a working copy of TTP. In the event your Mac refuses to start up, you simply boot with the Option key held down, choose the eDrive icon as the boot drive, and then you can run the various TTP Tools from the eDrive in order to resurrect your Mac.

To create the eDrive partition, all you need do is boot from the TTP DVD and proceed to the eDrive option under Tools. You select the volume you want to “split” to create the eDrive, and you even have the option to choose a different drive from which to copy the system files (although in most cases you’ll want to use your boot drive for this, as you know for sure the system on there will boot your Mac). There’s no need to reformat your drive, or copy all your files to another volume; TTP creates the partition “on the fly” while employing some more nifty eye candy, as folders corresponding to each directory being installed march across the screen. In about 20 minutes, you’ve got a separate bootable partition, ready for the next Mac emergency. The manual states that a 12GB partition will be created, although mine was a more-efficient 7GB, with about 1.3GB of free space remaining. The eDrive is read-only, and does not mount during “normal” computer usage, both of these steps taken by Micromat to ensure that the eDrive remains intact and ready to assist.

Starting up from the eDrive results in a desktop studded with massive eDrive icons and a background color looking for all the world like a heaping helping of pure Florida orange juice. Apparently Micromat’s programmers wanted to ensure there’s no mistaking which partition you’ve booted from.

I was able to create eDrives on my other two test Macs as well, boot from them, and run the various tools successfully, although my venerable G4/533 tower struggled with some of the Quartz Extreme-dependent eye candy. Interestingly, the tower booted with the TTP Pro DVD running OS X 10.5.5, somewhat surprising given that Leopard can’t be installed on any G4 with a processor speed of less than 867MHz. So apparently even those of you with pre-Leopard compatible G4 Macs can still boot from the DVD and make use of the eDrive; according to Micromat the official system requirements for TTP are a G4 processor, OS X 10.4.9 or better, 512MB of RAM and, of course, a DVD drive. And for those of you who might be wondering, “What if I start running out of room on my boot drive, and I need the space back,” fear not. I was able to remove the eDrive partition successfully from all three test Macs, without incident or data loss, simply by booting from the TTP DVD and clicking “Remove eDrive.” Twenty minutes and an icon parade or two later, all the free space previously used by the eDrive was restored to the original volume.

The other available tools are as follows:

• Volume Rebuild – Checks your disk directory structure for problems, creates a new directory, and presents you with comparison data so that you can decide whether or not to replace the original one. Changes to the original directory are indicated in green if they are “favorable” (in which case you should go ahead and replace the directory) and in red if they’re “unusual,” meaning that replacing your current directory might cause you to lose some data. The Volume Rebuild tool is basically a more sophisticated version of Disk Utility’s “Repair Disk,” though perhaps a less sophisticated version of Alsoft’s Disk Warrior in that unlike Disk Warrior, it does not allow you to mount a preview of the replacement directory as a disk and, if necessary, drag files from it in order to recover them from a severely damaged drive. I replaced the directories on all three test Macs successfully, though none indicated any “unusual” changes, so I can’t really say how well TTP’s Volume Recover would fare in a head-to-head-to-head competition with Disk Utility and Disk Warrior.

• File Optimization/Volume Optimization – Although there are some who maintain that optimizing/defragmenting your drive does boost performance, the general consensus among Mac techs seems to be that defragmentation under OS X offers minimal benefits, and an Apple tech note states that for the most part, optimization is not necessary. I previewed TTP’s File Optimization on my MacBook, and out of a total of 469,397 files, the only fragmented file was my Windows XP partition running under Parallels Desktop. Granted, your mileage may vary, and I’ve no reason to think these tools won’t work as advertised, but given the questionable advantages of defragmentation, I wouldn’t bother with them.

• Data Recovery – Assuming you have the TTP Protection features enabled (as noted earlier), you have three options for recovering lost or deleted files. When the Data Recovery tool is employed, the first option, under the Protection tab, contains a list of backups of your disk directory. You can search these backups individually to locate a particular file using a search string (like “Home Inventory”) and TTP will check every directory that’s available for a record of that file. The second option, the “Drives” tab, searches the current directory in the same manner. Files matching your search are listed by name and date, in black if they can be recovered, in red if they cannot. “Trash,” the third option, simply shows you all the deleted files that have been “remembered” by TTP in red, while files in black text are currently in the Trash. For all three of these options, not all files TTP finds will be fully recoverable, but for those that are, Data Recovery is a potential lifesaver. I deliberately trashed and recovered a Web location file and a PDF, both intact, but keep in mind that the more time elapsed since the file was deleted, the less likely your odds of recovering it, since there is greater potential for the deleted file to be overwritten by new data.

TTP’s “Data Recovery” tool can reach back into previous saved versions of your disk’s directory, giving you a much better chance of locating and recovering missing files. Here we’re narrowing the search to find only Web location files by entering .webloc as the search string and choosing “Ends with” as the search criteria.

• Wipe Data/Volume Journaling/Disk Permissions – These tools seem to be included merely for convenience, as you can easily do a Secure Erase from the Finder instead of using the Wipe Data tool, you can repair Disk Permissions in Apple’s Disk Utility, and you can enable and disable journaling there as well (the command to disable journaling isn’t readily apparent; you need to hold down the Option key with any journaled volume selected and go to “File – >Disable Journaling”). In any case, it’s extremely unlikely that you would want or need to do this on a journaled volume anyway. By way of explanation, think of journaling as the disk keeping an actual journal of what happens to all the files, so that if you crash at an inopportune time (as if there is an opportune time), the condition of the disk at the time of the crash will be automatically reconstructed from the journal upon rebooting.

• Video (Monitor calibration) – This is probably the most presumptuous of all the tools and tests in TTP. The “monitor calibration” merely displays a screen filled with one single primary color, with or without animation (sometimes helpful in detecting dead pixels), or it can present a test pattern, noise, repeating text, or animation featuring the word “Micromat” spinning, twisting and changing colors randomly. It doesn’t even come close to a tool that performs true monitor calibration, whether done via software in the “Displays” control panel, or with a dedicated hardware calibrator, so don’t be misled into thinking that TTP will actually calibrate your display.

• Video (iSight verification) – This displays the input from your iSight camera, to confirm that the iSight is functional. It’s designed to assist in ruling out a software problem as the cause of your iSight not working correctly.

• Audio – The Audio tool allows you to adjust the volume, frequency, balance and gain for the audio output by issuing a constant test tone. Typing text into the Speech Synthesis box and clicking the “Say Text” button will also confirm that text to speech is functioning as well, although this didn’t work when booted from the TTP DVD; only when the tool is run from the hard drive. Other that confirming that sound does comes out of the speaker(s), this one seems to be reserved for the audio geeks among us.

All in all, it’s quite the toolbox. Clearly some tests and tools are more useful or valuable than others, and some of TTP’s functions can be performed using software already supplied with the operating system. But having this multitude of testing and repair utilities all contained within a single program – on your startup drive, the eDrive partition, and on the bootable DVD – makes TTP the clear winner when it comes to a “total package” of troubleshooting utilities. I’m not convinced that the Volume Rebuild tool can replace the aforementioned DiskWarrior, a disk directory repair utility that has saved mine and my client’s bacon innumerable times, but since DW is pretty much a one-trick pony, TTP’s extensive tests and tools complement it perfectly.

Lest you get the impression that there’s no more room in the TTP toolbox for additional tools or improvements, rest assured that I have a few suggestions for Micromat along those lines. First off, I’d love to see a test for the PRAM battery; the remaining capacity would be very helpful info, but even just to know whether or not it’s functioning would be useful, as a dead PRAM battery can often prevent a machine from booting and is usually a cheap and simple repair. For laptops, why not a test for the battery itself? A lot of the info is available in System Profiler, so perhaps capturing that info and offering some commentary on whether it’s nearing the end of its life in terms of remaining charging capacity. There’s no modem test, either; while the vast majority of us most have graduated to wireless Internet access at this point, there are still plenty of Mac desktops and laptops with built-in modems out there and certainly some users who, even if they’re not stuck with dial-up Internet access, still employ their modems for FAX send/receive.

The Protection features, comprehensive as they are, don’t allow discrete settings for each volume on your Mac, meaning that the free space warning threshold, directory backup interval, days to keep Trash history and other settings apply to all connected drives at once, and can’t be customized for individual volumes. And while the windows displaying the results of directory searches and the Trash history allow you to sort by filename, created/modified date, etc., you can’t reverse the sort direction, something that would be very handy if you had thousands of files displayed as the result of a search and were using the “Created” or “Modified” date columns. Also absent from the Trash History window is a column with information as to whether the file will be recoverable or not, such as the percentage of the file that’s already been overwritten or a similar indicator.

None of these issues subtract in any significant way from the usefulness of this utility, and TTP is really in a class of its own, far eclipsing the old Norton Utilities of days gone by as an all-in-one troubleshooting package. As much as I wanted to accompany my Dad to his workplace and carry all those tools around as a young boy, I’m very appreciative that Micromat managed to fit all this functionality onto a DVD; nowadays I feel like I’m getting too old to be lugging around that huge toolbox.

MyMac.com Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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A very busy of Apple related happenings, from a new look at Snow Leopard and its great low price to the new iPhone and MacBook Pros. We cover it all on the latest episode of the weekly MyMac.com Podcast with David, Tim, Guy, and Mark.

Save almost $350 on RAM for the new MacBook Pros

Review our show on iTunes Please!

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Apricorn iPod Upgrade Kit
Company: Apricorn, Inc.
Price: $269
www.apricorn.com

Ever since I started using my iPhone, my 5th generation 60GB iPod has been relegated to dust catching duty. That is really a shame. The iPod works great, holds a ton more music than my 8GB iPhone, and looks brand new. But because my iPhone is also my cell phone, it is always with me. And because it, too, is an iPod, I don’t find the need to bring the 60GB iPod with me very often. In fact, it has been down graded to the “take on a long trip” mode. Besides, it holds all my music, not just the playlists I choose to sync with my iPhone. (Usually only top rated, new albums, and podcasts.) Unfortunately, as my music collection has grown, it has now surpassed the 60GB limit of my iPod.

A few weeks ago, a company called Apricorn emailed me about a self-upgrade kit for the iPod. For $269, the kit includes a 240GB Hard Drive, a new 850mAH battery, and the plastic tools needed to crack open and update the iPod.

On first inspection, the iPod upgrade kit may not sound like a great deal to you. But when you consider that a brand-new iPod classic comes with a max HD of 120GB, you are actually getting twice the storage space, and a longer lasting battery for only $20 more. And if you are like me, you have tried very hard to keep your iPod in good condition.

I had never cracked open my iPod. To be honest, the thought of opening up my iPod scared the hell out of me. I mean, it’s in almost perfect condition, it works great, and while the battery may not last on a charge as long as it used to, it’s by no means worthless. But I decided to go ahead and take the plunge anyway. (In the name of science, or at least a review.)

When the package from Apricorn arrived, I unboxed everything, and laid the iPod out as if it were going into surgery… which it was.

Included in the box from Apricorn besides the tools, battery, and hard drive is a CD-ROM, on which is a video tutorial on how to perform the upgrade. And it is here that the value of the kit is truly realized.

Yes, there are a lot of video tutorials online for taking apart your iPod. Many of those are of dubious quality, especially those on YouTube. Here, on the included disc, is a video of much higher quality, with an easy to navigate menu to let you jump right to the part you need. There is also a troubleshooting area, in case things don’t go according to plan.

Let’s break down each item.

240GB Hard Drive
The included Hard Drive is, well, a Hard Drive. It comes with new padding (shock absorbers) that seem a little thicker than that which came with the original hard drive. Because of the increase in space, I can easily fit my entire music library on my iPod, three times over.

Battery
The included 850mAH battery has 30% more capacity than the battery that originally came with the iPod. And after years of use, as my iPod has on it, that capacity begins to decrease. Eventually, the iPod battery will no longer hold a charge, at which time most people simply go out and buy a new iPod. But the battery in this kit brings new, longer life to your current iPod. It will play for longer on a charge than it did when the iPod was new. And the new battery will push the lifespan of your iPod out for years to come.

Video Manual
As I wrote above, this is a clear winner. It takes you, step by step, through the entire process. Both the vocals and the voice-over are well done, and the intuitive menu makes jumping back to a particular session easy as can be.

Case Opening tools
Ah, the green plastic tools. This is the one area where I was disappointed in the Apricorn iPod Upgrade Kit. The tools are cheap, and the sharp edges, meant to help you crack open your iPod, both bent and broke on me while trying (carefully!) to open my iPod. I had to make a trip to my toolbox and use a pair of metal screwdrivers. Very, very small screwdrivers to be sure. But metal, and that worked like a charm.

While I did not run into many problems upgrading my iPod, I don’t recommend everybody try this unless you are both very comfortable around very tiny electronics, and you have confidence in yourself to do it. If you don’t, please let a professional update and upgrade your iPod for you. It will cost more, yes, but the security of letting someone else with much more experience than you is worth the price.

I am, overall, very pleased with the Apricorn iPod Upgrade Kit. I would recommend to them that they include better tools, but everything else is first-rate!

MyMac.com Rating: 4 out of 5

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Audio Pack
Company: Skullcandy
Price: $100
http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/audiopack-p-88.html

It’s a backpack. It’s a computer case. It’s an iPod dock. It’s a mobile speaker system. It’s a winner. You need one. Which color should you get?

Skullcandy’s black and yellow color scheme makes the most sense from the three available models of this pack. Your pack will get filthy through constant use. I really like my red and white colored pack, but its white straps quickly picked up dirty smudges when the pack was placed underneath an airline seat.

I didn’t receive an official written manual with my evaluation pack. A company representative provided brief itemized instructions that are less than comprehensive. One customer support web query and one quick call to tech support answered my questions about the slightly confusing sequence of buttons to press for optimum audio and battery management. High marks go to Skullcandy for its responsive customer support, in spite of the missing manual.

MyMac recommends you buy and use rechargeable AA batteries for this and all suitable battery-powered devices. You will save a load of money in the process, and you’ll help keep landfills less full of throwaway batteries. Best is to have rotating sets of four rechargeable batteries, so that freshly-charged batteries are always on hand.

Audio quality from the small built-in shoulder strap speakers is good but not great. Low to medium volume is fine, but high volume has some distortion. Once you become familiar with the pack’s right hand in-strap iPod controls, you’ll use them instinctively. They are easy to operate, and are responsive to the touch. You will get a thrill from having your pack burst into song in places and with people who least expect it, but don’t be any more obnoxious than you need to be. A punch in the nose is not worth a Cheap Trick.

For $100, Skullcandy’s audio features are alone worth the price tag, but this is not a novelty or instantly-disposable pack. The audio components are fully integrated into the pack’s construction, which is exceptional. At that price, the pack minus audio is also a great value.

We test a lot of computer packs and cases at MyMac, and this is one of the best. I’ve used it on two demanding trips, with great success. During last January’s Macworld Expo, a red Skullcandy Audio Pack was my constant companion. It performed flawlessly. It’s the one on the left in the photo below.

On a recent family reunion vacation, friends and family were intrigued and impressed with the pack’s many features and components. At last month’s Tucson Mac User Group demo, the members were amazed at how I could fill the auditorium with music from my laptop backpack, and how easily I could switch tracks, all at the touch of a button on the pack strap.

The exterior long, vertical mini-compartment is where I keep pens, business cards, a charger, a book, and an apple (the edible kind). In the large central zippered drop-in compartment, I travel with food, eyeglasses, and technology accessories. In the main zippered drop-in compartment I store my MacBook Pro, change of clothing, and personal accessories. This pack holds a load of gear with comfort and style, and has half a zillion zippered and velcro enclosures and storage pockets. My iPod and headphones reside in the designated size pocket; the pack has a mesh water bottle pocket on the opposite side. Bonus: computer and iPod each have rugged, flexible neoprene sleeves to contain them.

Balance and weight distribution are good whether the Audio Pack is mostly full or not. I don’t use the stomach cinch snap strap, but there is no way to remove it. The top deck neoprene grab handle is large, flexible, and comfortable to hold.

Skullcandy is more of a lifestyle company than a serious laptop case manufacturer, but don’t let appearances fool you. Their Audio Pack is a quality item that deserves to be recognized for its many merits and competitive price. MyMac strongly recommends it, with a rating of 4 out of 5. It would have a perfect score if the red pack’s straps were black, and if the written manual was better or available online. Otherwise, load up and boogie!

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Omniverse 13.3-inch Universal Tote
Company: Uniea
Price: $39.95 from uniea.com
http://www.uniea.com/universal/omniverse.html

Omniverse Small Camera Case
Company: Uniea
Price: $14.95 from uniea.com
http://www.uniea.com/universal/omniverse_s_small_silk.html

It’s impossible to find a laptop carrying case that will appeal to everybody. Some are too big. Some are too small. Some users prefer something with a shoulder strap; others want a backpack. I’ve owned five, including a couple of backpacks, and all have at least the basic protective cushioning necessary for ordinary use. My latest is Uniea’s new Omniverse 13.3-inch Universal Tote, and right now it’s my favorite way of carrying my MacBook, but I’m well aware it’s not going to appeal to everybody. Like all the other cases congregated in my closet, it has its pros and cons.

Initially, the primary appeal of my other cases was their size. I could fit my laptop, a thermos, a book, keys, Day-Timer, wallet, a piece of fruit, whatever files I happened to be working on that day, maybe a newspaper, sometimes a digital camera, my iPod, a Blackberry, a card reader, flash drive, and so on. However, the initial appeal of these trough-sized laptop cases quickly vaporized when I realized I was not so much going to work as I was going to a work-out. The bag got heavier each time I added a new "indispensable" gizmo. Was it really necessary to haul all this gear around?

For me, the answer was, "Absolutely not!" Which is why I like the Omiverse tote. First, it has a nice compact feel about it. And although it’s well-padded with memory foam on the inside and silk fiber on the outside, it’s small enough so that if I feel compelled to carry all my other junk along, I can just slip the Omniverse into my larger briefcase.

The external compartments on the Omniverse have very little clearance. You can take a cable along to recharge your laptop, but it’s a clunky fit; there’s a tiny space for an iPod and cellphone, but really this case is going to turn you into a minimalist. If you believe the old saying that "less is more," you’ll be in heaven with the Omniverse.

It suits me because it enables me to carry as much as I really need, while discouraging me from hauling all kinds of "just in case" gear that ends up being annoyingly heavy. Less is more is very good to remember when you’re changing flights and your connection is in a terminal three muggy blocks away.

Which brings me to the cons. The Omniverse has a good strong zipper and metal snap, but that means you can’t leave it in its case when you slide it through the security checkpoint at an airport. MyMac writer Russ Walkowich, in an evaluation of another laptop case in April (http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=3592), noted that, "…in August 2008, the TSA changed the regulations and began to permit certain types of laptop bags to go through the X-ray machines without the owner having to remove the laptop from the bag. There are primarily three styles of bag that have been authorized: butterfly style, trifold style and sleeve style. The TSA further spells out the requirements for these bags —

• The laptop bag has a designated laptop-only section that can lay flat on the X-ray belt.
• There are no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on-top of the laptop-only section.
• There are no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section.
• There is nothing in the laptop compartment other than the laptop.
• The bag is completely unfolded so that there is nothing above or below the laptop-only section, allowing the bag to lie flat on the X-ray belt."

The snap and zippers on the Omniverse tote mean you’ll have to remove the laptop for airport security, not a deal breaker for me but perhaps an issue to frequent flyers. The Omniverse also lacks a shoulder strap. Arguably, it’s small and compact enough so that one is not necessary, but I like to have my hands free for other things.

Still, these are small matters. The Omniverse tote is useful and stylish and has a distinctly techie feel to it. If you don’t need to haul a saddle blanket and spurs along with your laptop, this quality product should suit you fine.

And if you need an accessory for your accessory, Uniea also recently released a small padded case with two zippered compartments suitable for either a 2.5" hard drive, a digital camera, or an MP3 player. The small outside pocket is handy for carrying an extra battery or a USB cable. You can slide the case on to your belt or clip it to your belt loop or a ring in your backpack. It’s well-constructed and useful, especially since so many point and shoot digital are sold without even a basic carrying case.

MyMac.com Rating (both products): 4 out of 5

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UltraDock v4 with Combo Adapters v4
Company: WiebeTech
Price: $200 to $800
http://www.wiebetech.com

A drive dock is a generic-looking electronic contraption that allows a bare, exposed, internal hard drive to be mounted for read/write on any computer, using any interface: USB, SATA, and FireWire 800 or 400. In my professional capacity as a computer tutor, trainer, and troubleshooter, I use UltraDock or one of its WiebeTech predecessors several times each week. My personal backups and archives also rely on WiebeTech drive docks, and on their RTX series drive bays, which MyMac reviewed previously.

WiebeTech’s new UltraDock v4 has built-in connectors for 3.5 inch IDE/PATA drives, and for both 3.5 inch and laptop size 2.5 inch SATA drives. With all power, FireWire, USB, and SATA cables included, this drive dock ships fully equipped to attach an exposed external drive to a computer for testing, cloning, data transfer, or any other purpose.

MyMac has used and evaluated every drive dock from WiebeTech since the company’s inception early this decade. Some of their drive docks are better than others, but the new UltraDock v4 is the best of the bunch, and well worth its $200 price tag. Intrepid techies and repair shops will bundle this dock’s purchase with one or more v4 Combo Adapters. Most expensive and top value is an ultimate bundle for around $800 (see below).

WiebeTech considers its drive docks to be professional equipment, as compared to consumer quality docks from competitors such as NewerTech. I don’t know if WiebeTech is the industry leader in this professional category, but they make outstanding gear that is priced fairly and is supported by rapid and reliable customer service. UltraDock v4 is all metal, and has the requisite LEDs that would make any science teacher grin from ear to ear. My personal and review units occasionally need to be repaired or replaced, as will yours. Response time and results are always satisfactory.

MyMac tested an UltraDock v4 with and without several of the newest v4 Combo Adapters, using each of the possible port connections. FireWire 800 remains our optimal favorite for use with most Macintosh computers. Two of our evaluation v4 Combo Adapters appeared to be defective. WiebeTech replaced them immediately, and made certain the newer adapters were fully functional. Product development is ongoing, meaning the company is always working on better ways to deliver efficient hardware solutions. You may find that a replacement item is slightly different than the original one, which in this case has always meant it has been improved during the interlude.

The v4 Combo Adapters I use most often in real life are for pre-SATA laptop internal IDE/PATA drives, camera storage cards, and internal iPod drives. The aforementioned adapter set includes equipment to connect speedily all the above to an UltraDock v4. The physical rig looks weird, but works like a charm.

An UltraDock with or without an adapter is not elegant, and will never win any Apple Design Awards. Technicians are comfortable using such equipment, and don’t think twice about swapping internal drives and their exposed circuitry hour after hour, day after day. Techies make mistakes just like normal people do, but WiebeTech’s v4 UltraDock and Combo Adapters usually won’t themselves cause careless errors.

Many of you will have exposed internal computer or iPod/iPhone drives in your lives, even if you are not the slightest bit interested in mounting them on a computer using a drive dock. Don’t simply smash your old faithful drive, or toss it into the dumpster, or give it a nice warm bath, or leave it sitting on a dusty shelf. Work with a technician who will erase or repartition it, and then will either use it him/herself for bench testing, or will encourage you to put it to good use for additional storage. WiebeTech can provide cover plates to protect the guts of internal drives and make them almost bulletproof-handy for a life out of the box. Take note of the many accessories offered at UltraDock’s product web page.

Our MyMac rating of WiebeTech’s v4 UltraDock and Combo Adapters is 4.5 out of 5. This equipment is essential for serious technical work on internal drives of every possible flavor. Using UltraDock with or without an adapter, external drives mount on a Mac quickly, without any nasty or annoying error messages most of the time. If your tech bench qualifies for a superior array of handy drive mounting hardware, the modest price of this dock and its adapters is a bargain. Strong recommendation.

LINKS:
UltraDock v4 product page, including all accessories
MyMac reviews of RTX drive bays

”
WiebeTech’s Product Development and Support Manager tells MyMac: “Here’s what you’d need to order to get everything, Nemo:

Caption: Photo provided by WiebeTech

UltraDock (PN 31200-2409-0000, $199)
Pelican 1450 case with custom foam (PN 31310-0000-0005, $204)
All seven Combo Adapters (PN 31100-0000-0004, $420)
Total:  $823

You don’t actually need the SATA adapter, so you might save a little money buying the six other adapters separately instead of together. That would reduce the total price to $792.”

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This week, the MyMac podcast crew interview CEO Rashantha De Silva of Quo Computer, the new maker of Macintosh computers. We go in-depth with Rashantha, asking the questions you want answers to. Afterwards, Tim, David, Guy, and Mark keep the discussion going, and give our take on the interview, what we think Apple will do, and more.

Check out the Voyager from Newer Technology

Review our show on iTunes Please!

Links from the show:
http://quocomputer.com/

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PXC 300
Company: Sennheiser
Price: $179.95
http://www.sennheiserusa.com

The PXC 300 headphones from Sennheiser are part of the Travel Line of products offered by Sennheiser. As such, they employ a number features ideally suited for the road warriors among us. The PXC 300s include: an Ultra-lightweight design with ergonomic headband, two-point suspension and soft high-quality ear cushions for improved passive attenuation and comfort, a patented folding mechanism and protective case for storage and transportation, Advanced Circuit Technology (ACT): which reduces susceptibility to mobile phone interference, closed, supra-aural mini headphones with switchable NoiseGard™ active noise canceling technology, and duofol diaphragms with spiral embossing. To view a complete list of features, jump to the product page.

DESIGN
The PXC 300s include everything the audio-centric traveler will need on that long and winding road (cue the Beatles).

The fit and finish of the PXC 300s are what one would expect from any Sennheiser product, the highest quality and craftsmanship.

USABILITY
The PXC 300s are some of the most comfortable headphones I have ever used. The soft and supple padding used on the earpieces and headband, provide great comfort while insuring a proper fit.

I found the PXC 300s easy to use and transport. I could easily throw the travel case into my messenger bag with little added weight or space consumption.

While the headphones themselves are very comfortable to wear, I found the noise-canceling module to be cumbersome.

The size and shape made the module difficult to position in a comfortable manner (more on this later).    

PERFORMANCE
Comfort and convenience aside, if the PXC 300s can not perform their two prime directives, then they are basically a subpar set of earmuffs. After extensively testing the PXC 300s, I can confidently confirm, they preform their duties wonderfully.

As audio headphones, the PXC 300s did not disappoint. I listened to my reference playlist (various types of audio content at varying bit rates) and was somewhat surprised at just how well these headphones performed. As one would expect, at 128 kbps, the content was average. At 256 kbps the PXC 300s demonstrated their true metal (with a bass toward the lower end, my classic and new rock tunes got the blood pumping). The high and mid ranges were above average across all types of content. Overall, I was very impressed with audio produced by the PXC 300s.

As noise-canceling headphones, the PXC 300s created a quiet, calming, and peaceful environment in which to contemplate the great dilemmas of our time. I have used some of the other brands of noise-canceling headphones (which are better known) and found the PXC 300s to meet and exceed the other brands in the space spec for spec and dollar for dollar. For those looking for a nice set of travel headphones, I can highly recommend the PXC 300s by Sennheiser.

MAKING A GREAT PRODUCT EVEN BETTER
I have only one issue with the PXC 300 travel headphones, I would like to see the noise-canceling module redesigned in order to reduce its overall size. I found it difficult to find a comfortable place for the module while the PXC 300s were in use. 

MyMac.com Rating:
I am very impressed with the PXC 300 headphones. They combine many comfort and convenience features and perform in a manner becoming a product adorning the vaunted Sennheiser name and reputation. When compared with other products in this space, the PXC 300s provide a nice value as well. While I must give a very slight deduction for the noise-canceling module, make no mistake about it, these are great headphones and highly recommended. Therefore, I am awarding this outstanding product a 4.5 out of 5 on our MyMac.com Rating System.

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Bento App
Filemaker
$4.99
http://www.filemaker.com
iTunes link

The only database program I have ever used in the past has been the one in Appleworks. When I was presented the opportunity to try out Bento for the iPhone/iPod Touch it was perfect timing. I was looking for a way to organize some data, and Bento looked like it was a good solution. Was it? Read on.

The Bento app is designed to work with the Bento desktop application or as a stand alone program. As a stand alone program it is great. You can organize your data on your iPod and create a custom database or use one of the many predesigned templates. It also works in conjunction with other apps such as iCal, Address Book, and Mail.

One of the databases I created is used to store all my MyMac product review information. I created the fields I wanted and the database was ready to go. There are fifteen different field types, and each field can be renamed as you need. However, once you make a field and name there is not going back unless you start over or sync with the desktop application.

If you have never seen or used the Mac application, the Bento app will not disappoint. It is extremely easy to use, and the templates are great for a jump start. The one thing I did not like about the pre-made templates is that I could not delete any of the fields I did not want to use. It would be nice to have a custom database, but a little help getting started.

If you have used the desktop application you might be left wanting more. I also had some problems syncing my data. As a partner to the desktop application it is good, but not perfect.

The app is made to sync with the desktop program and transfer data back and forth. This works great once the database is set up in both places. However, when I made a blank database on my iPod and had it sync to the desktop program it did not go the way I thought it would. The fields I created appeared as options in the desktop database, but they were not part of the table or entry screen until I did some dragging and dropping. Once I set up the fields in the application the data started to appear. After the initial set up everything worked fine. It would e nice if you didn’t have to do this.

It is almost easier to set up the database in the desktop application first and then sync it with the iPod/iPhone.

Also, as eye candy the desktop application has beautiful themes for the data entry fields. These themes do not carry over to the app. The icons for the database do carry over, and are visible in a coverflow like directory. You can also see you databases in a list view, if you prefer.

Overall, the Bento app is a nice database program. It is great for those without the desktop application and a great way to take data on the go if you have the desktop application. It isn’t perfect, but I still recommend it.

MYMAC.COM RATING 4 out of 5

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