Category Archives: 'Apple'

G4 Mac Mini for Sale

I enjoyed the Mac mini, but I have decided to sell it. So why am I selling the Mac mini when it has been in my possession less than three months?

I can think of several reasons why a desktop computer would be useful. The biggest disadvantage of a desktop is portability. I enjoy using a laptop and the mobility that comes with it.

Another reason is because I am saving for another laptop. MacBook or MacBook Pro? Still not sure, but I have plenty of time as I plan on paying for my next laptop with cash.

There are no major defects with the Mac mini. AppleCare is not included as it was not available when I purchased. It is over one year old. The only thing I can think of is the FireWire port not working. I never did figure this out. It may work, but did not get the chance to have it looked at.

Includes:

• 1.25 GHz G4 processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 40 GB hard drive
• Combo (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) drive
• Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
• 17 inch Apple CRT Studio Display
• USB Keyboard
• Mighty Mouse

Selling price: $600.00. Interested? Let me know.

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First week with the G4 Mac mini

Well I have had my Mac mini for a week and it has been an interesting week. First I noticed how fast the Mac mini started up. It seems very snappy at running tasks.

Since I am new to Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4), I wanted to use the new features, such as Dashboard and Spotlight. I have to admin I have not used Spotlight much as I am accustomed to using an application called Quicksilver. Quicksilver is an application launcher, but it also does much more. I really only use it for opening applications using the keyboard.

I have played with Dashboard and have found that for the most part it is not very useful. There are tons of widgets you can download from Apple’s website. There are only a few widgets on my dashboard and my weather widget receives the most views. As I continue to use Tiger I may find more use for Dashboard.

I transferred everything over from my iBook and for the most part everything works great. The Mac mini runs quiet and only a few times has the fan kicked on to a high level.

My main problem is that I cannot sync my iPod using the FireWire port. It charges but is not recognized by the computer. I have spent the last week researching this and have found I am not alone.

I have reinstalled iTunes and also reset my iPod. It still syncs with my iBook so I know it cannot be the cable. My iPod has no problems. My conclusion is that there might be something wrong with the FireWire port.

In the meantime I sync my iPod via USB then connect it to another FireWire cable to charge. My iPod is a third generation so I cannot charge via USB. This is a temporary solution until I can find out the true problem.

The Mac mini is no longer covered through AppleCare so if it is broke I may not be fixing it. Stay tuned.

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Mac mini as an early birthday gift

I just got a Mac mini and I was so excited that I missed last night’s episode of 24. Because of my wife’s recent obsession with myspace, I decided that sharing a computer may not be the best option anymore.

I did not buy a new computer, but instead searched craigslist in my area for any computer sale ads. I found a great ad for a Mac mini. After many emails to the seller I got it. Here are the specs:

• 1.25 GHz G4 processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 40 GB hard drive
• Combo (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) drive

This does not come with wireless installed, but that is not a big deal. I am using an Ethernet cable for my network connectivity. This comes with 2 USB ports, which I have already used, and one FireWire port.

What made this so sweet is what I got with the Mac mini. An Apple keyboard, Mighty Mouse, and a 17″ Apple Studio Display. The display is not a flat screen. It is a CRT and is a monster to carry. Tiger is also installed, which is nice since I have Panther (10.3) installed on my iBook.

First thing I did was erase the hard drive and run a clean installation of Mac OS X. I am now in the process of moving my data from the iBook to the Mac mini. This process should be completed by tonight. So what about my iBook? Well, I am giving that to my wife to use.

No more sharing and having to wait for my turn to use the computer. Unless I need access to a laptop I will be using the Mac mini as my primary computer.

Since I got this used and was initially purchased over a year ago, I am not able to purchase AppleCare. This is a little disappointing, but if anything were to happen I have resources available to me to assist in fixing the Mac.

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iWork in second place

According to a survey, Apple’s iWork is second place after Microsoft Office in market share. This does not mean that iWork is going to dominate over Microsoft Office. Microsoft has a strong lead, but in one year iWork has taken an impressive percentage of users. The latest numbers are

• Microsoft Office: 95%
• Apple iWork: 2.7%
• Corel WordPerfect: 1.6%

NPD analyst Chris Swenson stated: Apple’s share is particularly impressive considering that iWork runs only on Macs, which account for a small fraction of computers.

Mac users may not be in high numbers, but the iPod has introduced many people to Mac and the user base is increasing.

iWork was introduced January 2005 and includes presentation software (Keynote) and word processing software (Pages). While this is not a full office suite, the numbers are impressive. For instance, it is reported that on the Mac platform iWork accounted for about 17.4% while Microsoft Office got about 82%.

A few things may contribute to this increase in market share. One is the fact that a trial version of iWork is bundled with Mac OS X may help in the figures as users may buy once the 30-day period runs out.

If you do not use the full potential of Microsoft Office, there are many free alternatives available. OpenOffice is the most widely known alternative. It is a full-featured office suite which is compatible with Microsoft Office.

For my office suite I use NeoOffice, also an open-source project, which makes OpenOffice run natively on Mac OS X. What does this mean? In short, this means that NeoOffice has access to Mac OS fonts and other features. OpenOffice does not have this access as it runs as a UNIX program in Mac OS. If any of this is confusing to you then do not worry about this techie stuff that I speak of.

Because I have no desire to spend large amounts of money on Microsoft Office, I find that NeoOffice works well for me and I can save file in the Microsoft format if I choose.

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Macworld

Tonight at the ApplePickers meeting we discussed the announcements during the keynote address. iLife ‘06 made some updates and even added a new application. Apple is making lots of the features only accessible with a .mac account. iLife ‘06 sells for $79. I’m not going to go too much in detail about this.

iWork ‘06 is still not the full-featured replacement for AppleWorks, it does add more features to both Keynote and Pages. Pages 2 adds mail merge with Address Book and new templates. Keynote 3 adds new HD themes and new cinematic transitions. Both Keynote and Pages add 3D charts, tables with calculations, and freeform curves, shapes and masks.

The last announcements were the first Intel powered Apple laptop and desktop. The new laptop is the MacBook Pro and the desktop is the iMac. The PowerBook is slowly dying as they are still making them, but all Apple computers will transition to Intel processors by the end of 2006.

This seems to be last nail in the coffin for classic Mac OS (Mac OS 9 and earlier). Only Mac OS X is supported by the Intel Macs. Apple seems to be making a smooth transition. During this transition Mac software will become Universal Binaries, which mean the application will run on Intel Macs and PowerPC Macs (the current processor Apple uses). Many programs are already universal binaries.

That is just a brief overview of what happened at Macworld. I will probably add more information as I learn more. Back to the ApplePickers meeting, we had a great question and answer session and had our monthly raffle which included some software which sold at great prices.

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.mac: Your services will no longer be needed

Apple’s .mac service has served me well over the past two and a half years and I have used nearly every feature of .mac at one point or another, except for Groups. The features that I used the most were Mail, Bookmarks, Address Book sync, and iDisk. However, my yearly service expires next May and this time there may not be a renewal. I can no longer justify the price when I do not use many of the features.

There are features that do not neccessarily need a .mac account which I will still use. One is the sync feature and the other is iCards. I sync my addresses and calendars to my iPod and not the internet. iCards are free electonic postcards that can be sent to anyone. Of course there is extra functionality with .mac, but I do not need them.

I have found alternatives for the other items I used. Instead of using iDisk I now keep data stored on my domain server. I even used Homepage for a short while until I wanted to start implementing PHP and MySQL, which is used for this website and not a feature of .mac. Syncing bookmarks was a great feature until I found del.icio.us which seems to be a better option without a .mac account. I like the setup and all my bookmarks are web based.

Backup is a program I used once or twice and then stopped. I now use a different program for backing up my data which I feel better suits my needs. This is another feature that I believe can be used without a .mac account as long as you backup to something other than iDisk.

The only feature I still use is Mail and I am in the process of phasing that out. Again since I have my own domain I can create as many address and aliases as I want. Once this is done then my account will not be used. Now the only way I would consider keeping the service is if I had multiple computers. In this case I could keep all my data synchronized on every computer and not have to worry about having incorrect information.

Apple’s service works well and is very useful for many situations. But the time has come for me to move on and use other services that offer more functionality for my needs. Apple is constantly improving the service and adding more functionality. If I find myself wanting to use functionality that is offered by .mac, then I may consider renewing. I have until May 25, 2006.

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Could a Windows powered PC handle this?

Show me a computer running Microsoft Windows that can go this long without a restart. I bet it is hard to find, if not impossible. There are people who may say that Windows is capable of staying on for that long, but in my experience Windows needs a restart at least once a week for the computer to operate without problems.

My Mac would have went longer without a restart, but I had to perform some updates that required a restart. My goal is to keep the iBook running longer for my next update.

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Another Apple Customer?

I just sold another person to the Macintosh platform. Take that Microsoft! Had a customer call and he was asking if it would be better to buy a Mac than a Windows PC for home use. I told him absolutely. I went on to explain the differences between the two operating systems and why a Mac would be a better option.

I told him that since Mac OS X is based on UNIX, it is more stable than Microsoft Windows. He also would not have to worry about virus attacks and spyware that has been infecting Windows for years.

Using both Mac OS X and Windows XP on a daily basis, I know how both systems work. I do computer support for Windows based computers, and the problems customers call in about are the same problems that I do not have to worry about when using Mac OS X. I would never recommend a Windows computer to anyone. Mac OS X is a more stable and smoother operating system.

I have family and friends who use Windows. If they have problems I am willing to help them. Of course I may try to sway them into buying a Mac. however, if they choose not to listen and continue to use Windows, then that’s fine too. A computer is a tool. What operating system it runs does not matter as long as the tool works well with the task at hand. I just happen to think that Mac OS X is a better tool to use for just about every task.

I have had no headaches with my Mac. Surfing the web does not scare me. Viruses, pop-ups, and spyware mean little to me. I get on my computer, do what I need to do and I am done. Spending more time cleaning viruses and spyware than actually doing work seems like a waste to me.

Macs are not just for graphic artists, they are for everyone. Hopefully that customer will remember what I said and will buy a Mac. He will not regret it.

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