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Insanely Great Mac Accessories - That Work With iOS Gadgets

MacGizmoGuy — 2013-03-02T23:19:24-08:00

A huge shift is occurring in the personal computing marketplace: Desktop computers and even good ol’ laptop sales are under tremendous pressure as more and more people take to iPhones, Smartphones, and tablet computing on Apple iPad and others. The chart below from IDC reveals the increasing trend towards mobile computing devices and phones and away from conventional computing platforms.

These trends are of interest to Apple computer users. Many of us use both a Macintosh desktop or MacBook laptop AND have one or more iOS gadgets like an iPad, iPhone or iPod to complement it. So our notion of shopping for the “Best Mac Accessories” these days should really take into account the kinds of Apple compatible peripherals that will work well on MULTIPLE computing platforms.

One good example of shopping for tech peripherals with the most versatility and usefulness for both Mac OSX and Apple iOS would be in the Bluetooth computer speaker market. Ideally, look for wireless Bluetooth speakers that can pair with - and remember the configuration for MULTIPLE devices. And if you use an iPhone, HANDS-FREE Bluetooth speakers with built-in microphone and call management features are the smart buy.

For more private audio needs - a stereo Bluetooth headset for Mac and iOS can serve both Mac desktop and MacBook users - as well as mobile computing needs for music listening and handling calls on your iPhone as well. Again, look for on-earpiece controls for call management if you plan to use a handsfree capable headset for your cellphone needs.

Another example is the insane demand for Apple AirPrint compatible printers for iPad - iPhone or iPod Touch. More and more laser, inkjet and All-In-One multifunction printers now support wireless iOS AirPrint printing, as well as compatibility with Mac OSX.

Lastly, compact wireless Bluetooth keyboards for iPad, iPhone and Mac which implicitly support some of Apple iOS or OSX special function keys are available when keyboard input is needed as well.

In conclusion, when you’re shopping for Apple accessories, think with a multi-device big-picture view so that your peripheral purchase can work well on existing platforms you already own -- and those mobile gadgets you’re more likely to acquire in the future.

Mac Speech To Text Dictation Services

MacGizmoGuy — 2013-01-09T08:26:46-08:00

Mac Speech To Text is a new feature of OSX Mountain Lion. Apple voice recognition and Mac speech recognition has taken a huge step forward in OSX 10.8 and higher. OSX has had some degree of Mac voice recognition capabilities with VoiceOver assistive software in the Speech preferences pane. But now, Mac dictation services take Apple speech recognition to a new level. It allows you to simply say what you want to type in any application that supports text input. That includes not just word processing and text editing apps, but also inside of any web pages which have text fields as well. For example, Apple speech to text capabilities are very handy for filling out online forms, composing a Twitter tweet or FaceBook status update, or dictating a new blog post.

Apple dictation services are not on by default. To enable Mountain Lion speech recognition and OSX speech to text features you must explicitly turn it on in System Preferences. You must also have an active internet connection since your spoken words are transmitted to Apple servers for translation and the resulting text is sent back to your OSX application.

Unlike other standalone speech recognition programs for Mac, dictation in OSX doesn't require any training sessions to recognize your unique vocal patterns, and supports native translation of over a half dozen spoken languages, not just English. Once activated, simply press the FN Function key twice to begin recording your voice pattern, tap the FN key again to transmit it to Apple's servers. After a few seconds of processing, the interpreted text is sent back to your Mac application.

OSX speech recognition isn't perfect, and really supports just a very basic set of punctuation commands. But it can save you a ton of typing once you get the hang of dictation Apple style. It's important to speak with diction and clarity - and have a good quality sound recording mic or USB headset for Mac to insure the highest recognition accuracy possible. I've found dictating just a few sentences at a time works best. Don’t expect Apple's speech to text translator servers to interpret long, long paragraphs. Just give it small, digestible sentences and sequences to process.

Macbook dictation presents a few challenges. Unless you own a very recent MacBook like the Retina display model that has a directional beam-forming microphone array built-in, the built-in microphone under they keyboard on most Mac laptops aren't ideal for speech to text recording. The MacBook's internal mic also has a tendency to pick up keypress sounds and hand movements as you use Mountain Lion text to speech, which isn't desirable. Use of Mac compatible OSX dictation headset or external Mac compatible microphone can improve Macbook speech recognition and minimize any errors. The more accurate the speech pattern recording is, the less editing that will be needed to correct any misinterpretations.

Top 10 Currently Shipping ThunderBolt Hard Drives

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-09-14T21:29:04-07:00

Wanting to take advantage of Apple and Intel's ultra high-speed ThunderBolt interface on your Mac desktop or MacBook? Here's 10 currently shipping ThunderBolt external hard drives that range from surprisingly affordable to insanely fast - and expensive.

Presented somewhat in order of price, starting with the very affordable Buffalo miniStation combo drive under $200 and ranging up to the performance leading Pegasus Rx RAID series. In between, you'll find reasonably affordable consumer drive options under $500 and higher capacity ThunderBolt drive offerings for professional and business markets.

1. Buffalo MiniStation Combo Drive - USB 3.0 + ThunderBolt

2. Seagate Portable External Hard Drive, Dock and Cable

3. Elgato ThunderBolt 120 GB Solid State Drive

4. Seagate GoFlex Desk External Hard Drive, Dock and Cable

5. LaCie 1TB Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Dual Drive

6. Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo

7. G-Tech G-RAID with Thunderbolt 4TB

8. LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt SSD 240GB

9. LaCie 2big Thunderbolt Series 6TB Drive

10. Promise Pegasus R4 ThunderBolt Drive Array

* Most of the drive models linked above come in various capacities from each manufacturer. ThunderBolt SSD's are typically 120GB or 240GB. Spinning platter drive options range from a modest 500GB to 3TB in the consumer market, and 4TB to 12TB and beyond in ThunderBolt RAID multi-drive systems.

** Check product details carefully. Many external ThunderBolt storage offerings do NOT include a ThunderBolt cable in the box and must be purchased separately. Currently, Buffalo ships both USB 3.0 and ThunderBollt cables in the box, as does Seagate's GoFlex drives when ordered as a bundle. Otherwise all higher-end drives are still selling the cable separately.

Slow Road To Mac USB 3.0 Accessories and Peripherals

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-09-06T13:45:09-07:00

The debut of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports on Apple’s Mid-2012 MacBook models has been a long time in coming. It seems likely that before year’s end, we’ll see USB 3.0 iMac and Mac mini updates before the Holiday shopping season. The somewhat neglected Macintosh Pro is slated to get both ThunderBolt and USB 3.0 ports in early 2013. That’s the good news. USB 3.0 for Mac is well on it’s way to replace the decade-old USB 2.0 standard, while still maintaining backward compatibility with slower, legacy USB 2.0 gadgets.

USB 3.0 MacBook Air

$999 11.6" Display

USB 3.0 MacBook Pro 13"

Dual USB3-USB2 Ports

USB 3.0 Retina Display MacBook

New Ultra-Thin NoteBook

The bad news is the transition to a Mac SuperSpeed future is going to have a slow ramp-up phase, with some nasty glitches and got-cha’s along the way. For example, the Digital Music creation market is finding some of their legacy USB 2.0 audio hardware is not playing nice on either PC or Mac USB 3.0 ports even though they’re supposed to be fully backward compatible.

At least the external hard drive market embraced USB 3.0 whole-heartedly last year. As a result, most new backup drives now incorporate USB 3.0 as the defacto standard interface - usable on older and current systems - and ready to plug into the SuperSpeed future. That’s a good thing and anyone pondering a Mac backup drive solution ought to make sure it has USB 3.0 to ‘future-proof’ their purchase. The downside - as the Windows market already learned - is that in spite of USB 3.0’s Ten-Fold theoretical bandwidth increase over USB2, the real-world performance doesn’t come anywhere close to the specs on paper. Part of that is simply the limitations of mechanical hard drives which can’t fully leverage USB 3.0’s bandwidth potential. So realistically expect backing up your Mac to cut your data transfers and backup times in half, but no where near ‘a 10th of the time’ we were all hoping for. Solid-State SSD backup drives do leverage USB 3.0 bandwidth a lot better - but unless you can fit your Mac data onto a 120GB or 240GB SSD, you might find the more impressive performance of flash memory drives over USB 3.0 to be a bit too pricey.

There are USB 3.0 card readers that work well on a new Mac, however you’ll find most SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards don’t have data Read/Write speeds that can keep up with a USB3 port anyways. Other devices like USB keyboards, mice and graphics tablets simply don’t have the ability - nor the need - to max out USB 2.0 speeds, let alone USB 3.0.

Things get more interesting in the Audio-Video market, where USB 3.0 accessories for A/V enviroments can and will take advantage of USB 3.0 for high-bandwidth, low-latency needs like multi-channel audio and high-definition HD video streams.

Best Speakers For iMac or ThunderBolt Cinema Display

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-08-17T07:51:04-07:00

Of all the Macintosh computer models, iMac desktop owners are probably the least likely to buy external computer speakers for their Mac. Among all of Apple’s computers the iMac has, well, the ‘best’ computer speakers built in of any Mac. For many, the audio quality, volume and frequency response is ‘Good Enough.” But for those who want more deep bass rumble and room filling presence, there’s no shortage of 2.0, 2.1 and Surround computer speakers to fit the bill. But which speakers are best for iMac and it’s design and aesthetic? Here’s my top pick:

Self-Powered USB iMac Speaker

Aux Input + Subwoofer Output

The xTremeMac TangoBar USB Speaker for iMac is a gorgeous and outright elegant addition to unobtrusively tuck under your iMac’s front bezel and compliment it with sleek aluminum styling and add zero additional footprint to your desk space. It’s also a great match for an Apple ThunderBolt or Cinema Display which lack built-in speakers. This self-powered sound-bar speaker features a right mounted volume/mute control, and 1/8” headphone and audio inputs, plus a sub-woofer output jack at the rear. The loudspeakers contain dual midrange and dual tweeter drivers as well as passive radiator woofers. With digital amplification from a USB port’s power, they claim up to 10 watts of room-filling audio - without needing an external power supply.

Some other good options styled right for an iMac might be a sleek, silver pair of affordable Bose Companion 2 speakers or possibly a Twelve South BassJump 2 to balance out an iMac’s low-frequencies somewhat.

OSX Speech Recognition For Mac Internet Marketing

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-08-05T00:49:39-07:00

The article you're reading here has been dictated into OSX Mountain Lion’s new Apple Dictation software without having to type a single sentence. An intriguing new feature in OSX system 10.8 is Apple’s Speech To Text Dictation Services. It has some interesting potential for those who create websites or promote and market content on their Mac.

You enable Speech To Text capabilities in System Preferences > Dictation & Speech preference pane. You can then begin speaking into any available text entry field in nearly any Mac application enviroment. Once Apple's Dictation services have been enabled, you simply tap the FN - Function key twice in any edible text field to begin recording. A pop-up microphone icon appears, ready to listen. When you're done speaking simply press the Function key again. Your voice recording is transmitted to Apple, processed, and the written version shows up on your Mac in mere seconds. (Note: you MUST have an active internet connection for translation to occur since it’s processed on Apple’s servers, not on your Mac.)

Speech To Text recognition can be a real timesaver when you want to add web page content, compose an article or write a post for your blog. As long as you are able to clearly structure your thoughts, speak distinctly, and create logical sentences on the fly - Apple's speech recognition performs admirably. Unlike other speech recognition products on the Mac, Apple dictation does not require any training sessions. It can recognize nearly anyone's voice without having to teach the system first. For example, IBM ViaVoice, Dragon Dictate for Mac and MacSpeech require a bit of training time so that it learns the patterns of your voice before you can begin using the program for dictation.

Punctuation commands can also be spoken in your stream of conversation. For example, I can say ‘comma’, or ‘exclamation point’ to add punctuation correctly as I'm speaking the sentence. Talking out your punctuation commands can be a bit confusing at first, but with a bit of practice you’ll be able to handle as-you-go sentence punctuation while you're speaking. Capitalization is automatic and surprisingly accurate as well.

The possibilities for using Apple dictation services in your website promotion and Internet Marketing plan are limitless. Any Apple OS X application that has a text input field can handle speech to text. That includes text fields on web pages within your Safari web browser, programs like Apple TextEdit, Microsoft Word for Mac, Stickies notes or any other text editing app on your Mac.

Social Media Marketing tasks can be performed with Apple's dictation by simply speaking a tweet that you’d like to send to Twitter or to compose a Facebook status update. The possibilities are endless. You could use your voice to create social bookmark titles and descriptions, tags and keywords by merely speaking into each of the appropriate text entry fields as you create your bookmark submission.

For those into article marketing or blogging, Apple dictation services can be a godsend helping you rapidly create fresh new content for your blog or to distribute out on article or blog networks. Once you've spoken the article you want to publish, you’ll need to do a bit of editing and fine tuning to ensure all the capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure and voice interpretations are correct. After proof-reading a full version of your text, you could optionally use a Mac compatible article spinner such a SpinRewriter to create statistically and mathematically unique versions of your article prior to distribution.

In my testing, Apple's Dictation services works fairly well with my MacBook Air’s built-in microphone. However, you may wish to use an external microphone or headset to insure optimal recognition accuracy and avoid the possibility of background noise hampering your recording session. Please visit mac-microphones.com for some recommended external USB microphones and Mac compatible headsets to help with your speech recognition and dictation needs. Mac Dictation also seems to perform best when processing just one or two sentences at a time. You’ll get better results staying short and succinct, and not expecting it to recognize entire paragraphs or long streams of continuous speech.

Mac SSD Upgrades : Insanely Cheap Solid-State Drives

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-08-03T00:26:50-07:00

A lot has evolved in both the PC and Macintosh compatible SSD market during the past year. Lower flash memory material costs, vastly improved new generation SSD interface controller chips and firmware, faster data clock speeds, and increased data channels have permitted Mac SSD drives to deliver significant performance gains in Read/Write data rate at ever lower price points.

Image source: silveradosys.blogspot.com

For those who believed that Solid-State drive upgrades are way too costly - or too small to store your Mac's data, you may want to check again - SSD hard drive prices have come down significantly while performance has improved dramatically. Affordable SSD's in the 256GB, 400GB and 512GB range have plummeted recently. As such, the former high cost of SSD flash drive technology has gotten more affordable than ever, with many peak performing Flash drives now costing significantly under a dollar per Gig. Large volume of SSD drive demand by both computer manufacturing companies, external drive makers and consumers has caused a great degree of competition between all of the big name SSD manufacturers as of late. My top recommended SATA III SSD's for a Mac mini or MacBook Pro would be an OCZ Vertex4, Crucial M4, or SanDisk Extreme.

If huge storage capacity at more affordable pricing is important to you; check out the latest SSD Hybrid disk drive offerings from Seagate Technologies at www.ssd-for-mac.com. Solid-State Hybrids combine both SSD flash memory technology with 500GB to 750GB conventional spinning platters to give your Mac desktop or laptop computer the advantages of both worlds. These models in the Momentus XT drive series are the 1st of many that will likely evolve to dominate the data storage market by merging the qualities of both technologies.

Depending on whether you're hoping to replace a slow and dying hard drive in a desktop Macintosh, or perhaps pondering an upgrade for an older Apple MacBook Pro, Air or Classic - your best investment for the long term is an SSD based on the newest SandForce or Marvell controller chips. With both Read and Write speeds near or exceeding 500Mbps, these leading-edge SSD models make the most of the available bandwidth of the SATA III connection used in recent PC and Mac computers within the the past several quarters.

Best USB Speaker For MacBook? Edifier USB SoundBar

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-07-31T23:06:34-07:00

Look closely at what's under the front grille of this cleverly engineered USB powered portable laptop speaker from Edifier. In a sleek aluminum chassis that will compliment any Apple MacBook - they've manage to put multiple, very high-quality sound drivers into a slim 1.75" x 10" sound-bar that's easily transportable.

Mac Laptop Speaker

Sound-To-Go SoundBar

This all-in-one USB speaker is fully portable and features an elegantly brushed aluminum chassis and dark metal front grille. A USB cable provides both power and pure digital audio streaming from any Apple laptop or desktop Macintosh's USB port. On it's side is a 1/8" audio in jack - as well as a manual volume control button.The auxiliary device input also allows use of other devices like your iPhone, iPad or iPod. The Edifier Sound To Go features a 3 x 1¼ inch oblong passive radiator subwoofer, dual 1¼ inch mid-range drivers and a pair of 1¼ inch tweeters with a built in digital amplifier to provide exceptional audio volume and frequency response far better than a MacBook's built-in speakers.

For the past few year's I've used an IPEVO Tubular Wireless Speaker as my 13" MacBook Pro's sound system. That can be nice for the wider sound-separation the detachable speakers provide. And occasionally I did use it wirelessly across the room. But powering on and occasionally having to futz with Bluetooth Pairing and Apple's Sound Preference Pane could be intermittently frustrating. I've got a new MacBook Air with ThunderBolt and USB 3.0 ports on order - and to celebrate I've decided to try this USB computer speaker instead.

Adult Mac Video Chat Made Easy - ISPQ 9 For Mac

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-07-27T21:39:53-07:00

Nanocom announced the official release iSpQ 9 for Mac OSX. ISPQ is a great online chat community that's been around for years. It offers PC and Mac compatible messaging and online video conferencing privately 1:1 or multi-party. Whether you're naughty or nice, Gay or Straight, there's a wide range of both General and Adult chat rooms to explore, meet and optionally play with others online. ISPQ recognizes your Cinema display or MacBook's built-in iSight webcam - or can be used with any number of OSX compatible USB external webcams for Mac which offer more flexibility in webcam angles and placement for showing your stuff.

Mac Compatible HD Webcam

Logitech HD Camera For Mac

iSpQ is unique for Mac while also offering great features such as quick messages, profiles and video chat cross-platform. One notable and much welcomed addition is a Gallery View of the directory so it is easy to quickly see thumbnails pictures of who's online. ISPQ offers a free edition through premium level paid accounts. There's also dozens of minor fixes. iSpQ Mac 9 is compatible with Intel Macs running MacOS 10.5 or higher - including the latest OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion release. The Windows or Mac version can be downloaded from this page.

Best External Mac Webcam? - Logitech C910 vs C920

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-07-15T11:36:05-07:00

Shopping for the absolute best Mac compatible webcam for your videoconferencing, online chat, and Mac Skype video needs? On it's simplest level, there's a handful of very specific Logitech web cameras that are OPTIMAL for Mac users to consider. Of these, two high-end HD USB 2.0 external web cams are offered.

The newest model, the Logitech C920 - may not be your best option at this time. Although it offers a higher resolution sensor, standard tripod camera mount, H.264 hardware video compression and improved 20-step autofocus -- it's NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED on the Mac. (Note, it functions on the Mac, but is not 'Supported' by Logitech at this time.)

It's predecessor, the Logitech C910 is actually a better Mac webcam choice because of support for this specific model in Logitech's Webcam Software for Mac OSX. Although both external web cameras are UVC - USB Video Class compliant and recognized by most Mac video capture and chat programs, the Logitech software support for the C910 gives you the ability to do still captures and video recording at a wider variety of supported SD standard and particularly HD high-def resolutions. The latter allows you to better tap into higher 720p and 1080p HD capture modes and wide-screen aspect ratios that most other Mac video programs can't handle.

As of this writing, Logitech Mac Webcam Software simply doesn't recognize the C920 when you launch the program. It could be that Logitech just needs to update, test and release a new version to offer full Mac support for it's latest camera model. That's not unusual: Many USB device drivers and programs use 'Sense Codes' and 'Manufacturer Product ID codes' to ascertain and detect if a specific piece of USB hardware is connected before the program will operate. Official word onLogitech forum posts lean on 'not supported on the Mac at this time' - with no guarantee on the future.

The C920's support for H.264 hardware video compression on the Mac is still unknown. In theory, webcams with H.264 compress the data BEFORE it reaches your computer helping to drastically reduce disk space requirements and let you upload pristine quality video clips much quicker thanks to reduced file sizes.

It should be noted that the Logitech software for OSX doesn't offer ALOT of bells and whistles regardless: Mostly just enhanced still and video capture options at various HD resolutions. It does NOT support Special Webcam Effects or Image Control and Adjustment features for color, hue, white-balance, etc. as is common with their Windows webcam programs. But because both webcams handle imaging and autofocus completely in HARDWARE so Mac users will still achieve a balanced, razor-sharp and top-quality image with either camera without any software at all. Just plug it in and OSX's built-in UVC device drivers handle the basics.

As such - for the time being - the C910 remains the most versatile and best supported HD webcam for Mac OSX users. But its already becoming harder to find as it ceases to be manufactured and the C920 (and inevitably later models) take its place. You might have to scour Amazon's listings a bit to find New, Refurbished or Used models of the C910 at a good price.

Cheap ThunderBolt Hard Drive With USB 3.0 As Well

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-07-14T06:30:17-07:00

Combo interface hard drives are often a Mac users best shopping choice over the long haul. While many may only use a single interface - say USB or ThunderBolt or FireWire for their own use, sometimes when you need to transfer your data to a new Mac - or share files with someone else - the versatility of having more than one interface to choose from can come in very handy.

Just released - and on the bleeding edge of high-speed connectivity - Buffalo Technologies is now shipping a portable laptop drive with dual interfaces - the Buffalo miniStation USB3 + TBolt drive. This portable external hard drive is now the cheapest ThunderBolt backup drive option available - AND - it's first to market which also offers a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, So it's the first combo interface storage solution ideal for nearly any Apple user.

COMBO Interface Laptop Drive

USB 3.0 + ThunderBolt Interface

With a 500GB drive currently selling for $210, and 1TB for $250 it's now the cheapest ThunderBolt drive Per-Gigabyte out there - with the added benefit of USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 connectivity - AND IT INCLUDES BOTH A USB 3.0 AND THUNDERBOLT CABLE as well for a complete TimeMachine and data backup solution. It's pre-formatted for Mac OSX, ready to use out of the box.

Remember, USB 3.0 is BACKWARD COMPATIBLE with slower USB 2.0 (and even USB 1.1) though they'll operate at slower speeds. That's perfect for the MAJORITY of older Macintosh systems and MacBooks out in use today - while offering future ultra-fast drive connectivity as well. It's also perfect for the current crop of both ThunderBolt and USB 3.0 enabled Apple MacBook Pro systems now shipping. Other desktop Macintosh models that will have both ThunderBolt and USB3 - namely the iMac and Mac mini - are expected to get revisions later in the year.

Cheap ThunderBolt Drive For Mac?

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-07-10T19:54:53-07:00

As of mid-2012 Apple users now have a fair selection of, well, cheap-er ThunderBolt storage products to choose from: These range from the now more affordable, long-standing Promise Technologies multi-drive RAID array that started it all -- down to cheaper dual and single disk ThunderBolt SSD and HDD external drives priced somewhat more reasonably for the average Mac consumer.

The cheapest ThunderBolt drive currently available is from Seagate with it's innovative and versatile GoFlex interface and drive bundles. Interchangeable interfaces are available for USB2 / USB 3.0, FireWire, eSATA - and now ThunderBolt. The bundling of either a desktop or laptop size ThunderBolt drive dock, a 1TB or 3TB HDD, AND the inclusion of a ThunderBolt cable make either the Portable ThunderBolt Drive Bundle or the ThunderBolt Desktop Drive Bundle offerings the cheapest TBolt solutions to date.

The closest competition for an affordable, single drive, cheap ThunderBolt HDD is from LaCie - and it's 1TB desktop size offering is nearly $100 more than Seagate's portable solution. And ElGato's single SSD ThunderBolt offering comes in under $500 - if 120GB of much faster storage is big enough for your needs.

The gotcha? With a single drive - and using mechanical platter hard drive technology - the drive itself becomes a bottle-neck. The 10Gbps per channel bandwidth of ThunderBolt is starved for data and under-utilized unless 2 or more hard disk or even SSD drives are paired in a striped RAID configuration. So the cheapest ThunderBolt drives certainly aren't anywhere near the fastest.

For many, Seagate's cheap ThunderBolt laptop drive will still offer the fastest data backups and transfers they've ever experienced - for under $300. But that's still pricey compared to what $100 or so will buy you in a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed drive at half the cost. In other posts, I talk about the bright future of Mac USB 3.0 ports. Ultimately, 5Gbps USB3 will likely satisfy far more Apple users in the decade ahead than more expensive 10Gbps ThunderBolt products will. But for those that want TBolt storage NOW - the cost of living on the bleeding edge has gotten a bit more tolerable.

It's been a slow road to the fast lane of high-speed ThunderBolt storage and accessories - at least for the average consumer. In the year and a half since Apple ThunderBolt ports were available on it's MacBook laptops then other models, the only products that reached the market were very high-end storage solutions geared towards enterprise and professional video and audio editing needs and costing nearly or more than $1000.

That's rather normal for any technology: The first-to-market products tend to be high-end, high-margin to recoup R&D costs quickly. So too with the ThunderBolt HDD and SSD drive scene. As volume shipping occurs and competition in the market heats up, downward price pressure and more affordable computer peripherals will become available.

Combo Mac Drive Enclosure With USB 3.0 And FireWire

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-06-30T09:05:13-07:00

I recently came across one of the emerging, new FireWire + USB 3.0 hard drive enclosure options. This combo interface 2.5" laptop drive case is ideal for do-it-yourselfers. The tide is turning AWAY from USB 2.0 towards USB 3.0 and it's happening faster than you might think. USB 3's backward compatibility with slower USB 2.0 and even 1.1 ports makes embracing the future a no-brainer.

Combo USB3 + FireWire Enclosure

2.5" Laptop USB 3 + Dual FW800

Apple users will appreciate the SuperSpeed HDD enclosure's nicely styled aluminum heat-sink case to compliment your MacBook. It's bundled with USB 3.0 Y-Cable to assure enough power if needed. With fast 2.5" laptop drives now available in up to 1TB capacities, it can be a spacious OSX TimeMachine backup solution. It can be even better when you choose a 2.5" SATA Hybrid SSD drive mechanism or a top-performing SSD to put inside it.

There is also another version of this enclosure available in a FULL-SIZE 3.5" desktop SuperSpeed drive model featuring USB 3.0, FireWire and eSATA as well.

Akitio Triple-Interface Enclosure

3.5" USB3 + eSATA + FW800

Either are great for Mac users wanting to build their own versatile external backup drive with a SuperSpeed future.

The New USB 3.0 MacBook Lineup

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-06-25T21:29:59-07:00

SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports on the new MacBook Pro, Air and Retina Display models might be a bigger deal than you think. Although Apple only seemed to mention its inclusion in passing, the future numbers of USB 3.0 devices by the end of the decade is going to be staggering. The performance leap (and other technical benefits) over USB 2.0 will make you realize just how slow and outdated the USB 2.0 standard had become. But that all changes with the inclusion of USB 3.0 ports on the new MacBook lineup.

USB 3.0 MacBook Air

$999 11.6" Display

USB 3.0 MacBook Pro 13"

Dual USB3-USB2 Ports

USB 3.0 Retina Display MacBook

New Ultra-Thin NoteBook

Currently, the dominant USB 3.0 peripherals for Mac (besides cards and cables) are USB 3.0 backup drives. Most are spinning platter external drives. Some SSD solid-state flash memory and USB3 keychain drives and card-readers are available as well. There's also a fair number of shipping USB 3.0 hubs - but until other kinds of Mac accessories become USB 3.0 enabled, there isn't much need for multi-port device sharing - yet.

When the iPad, iPhone and iPod starts to take advantage of the benefits of USB 3.0 remains to be seen. (But it'll be soon I bet to capture the Holiday shopping season…)

Other Mac accessories - be it Printers and All-In-Ones, HD TV tuners, Scanners, Video Capture and other bandwidth hungry gadgets get full device and USB 3.0 driver support for OSX Lion and Leopard might take awhile. But as new models of all sorts of computer peripherals are introduced, using a back-ward compatible USB 3.0 chipset is going to be a no brainer. The cost differential of USB2 vs USB3 chips in a product are mere pennies. And there's not much point in computer device manufacturers to cripple their products with Last Decade's connectivity standard.

Mac USB 3.0 Enabled MacBooks Now Shipping

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-06-20T22:05:48-07:00

The recent announcement of revised MacBooks with USB 3.0 support opens up a whole new generation of computer peripherals and accessories for the Macintosh platform. Dubbed 'SuperSpeed' - the new Universal Serial Bus standard offers some compelling benefits to Apple users that really were not clearly conveyed in Apple's WWDC keynote speech.

The appeal of the updated Ivy-Bridge Intel architecture is its in-built support for USB 3 which we'll see explode across both Mac and Intel PC desktops and laptops in the year ahead. They're projecting BILLIONS of USB 3.0 enabled computers and gadgets by the end of the decade - and that's nothing to sniff at.

Beyond sheer data transfer speed improvements - approximately 10 TIMES the current USB 2.0 spec, there's also more 5 volt power (milliamps technically) available on the port to provide more current to recharge battery powered USB devices faster and reduce the likelihood of self-powered peripherals complaining with 'There's insufficient power available…' messages you occasionally see when connecting a USB device. Internally the USB3 spec also handles power-management better than USB2, offering more sleep and low-power idle modes to prolong battery life in laptops and gizmos.

Perhaps the biggest benefit is simply backward compatibility with slower legacy USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices - all will operate at their usable speeds on a USB 3 port, thus preserving your investment in legacy Apple accessories.

Right now, new MacBook owners can take advantage of USB 3.0 drives, hard disk enclosures, cables and hubs that are currently on the market. (Visit this USB 3.0 site for SuperSpeed external drive options.) Before year's end we're likely to see a much broader range of shipping SuperSpeed peripherals such as USB 3.0 TV tuners for Mac, Audio and Sound Recording gear, Video Capture devices, Flash Card Readers, Printers, Scanners and more. The era of USB 3 on a Mac is just beginning… Expect Apple to continue to roll out USB 3 iMac and Mac mini desktop systems before the Holiday shopping season starts...

Slow Road To The Fast Lane : Apple ThunderBolt Accessories

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-02-22T13:19:51-08:00

Computer market leaders Intel and Apple introduced a bleeding edge computer data interface named ThunderBolt about a year or so back. Capable of transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps on each of its dual channels, it promises twice the bandwidth of its nearest competitor - the 5Gbps emerging USB 3.0 SuperSpeed standard. Unfortunately, it's been a long, slow road to the fast lane their ThunderBolt computer interface technology. Only a handful of hard drives have reached consumers. Other ThunderBolt accessories and adapters have been announced, but few if any have shipped.

These ThunderBolt ports are an extension of either a Mac or PC computers internal PCI Express bus. Because of this, it provides a rather direct and multiple-lane freeway to a computer's memory and CPU. Think of it as an expansion card slot that's just a little external port on the side of your laptop or desktop system. Perhaps the days of having to open up a desktop computer to insert a card into a slot are behind us.

ThunderBolt technology originally debuted on Apple's MacBook laptop - and later - Macintosh desktop system as a ThunderBolt port where the DisplayPort used to be. That's an important thing to note: ThunderBolt can also drive ultra-hi-resolution external computer monitors. There's also promise of other ThunderBolt peripheral and drive adapters that can connect to other eSATA, USB 3.0, FireWire and Ethernet accessories. And ThunderBolt is not exclusive to the Mac platform. Intel and other PC makers will soon be shipping motherboards with ThunderBolt ports built-in.

The largest performance gains will be in the data storage area. A ThunderBolt backup drive using this interface promises insanely rapid data transfer and backup speeds, especially when paired with solid-state SSD flash drives. A full DVD of data can be copied in seconds, an entire Terabyte backup drive worth of videos, music and photos in just a few minutes. Expect other high-demand Thunderbolt peripherals for Mac and PC such as HD TV tuners, High-Def and other high demand devices to hit the market to take advantage of the speed ThunderBolt technology offers.

Shopping For A Mac Compatible Printer Solution

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-02-20T10:22:02-08:00

Typically one of the first and most important peripherals new Apple Macintosh computer buyers are most likely to want is a Mac compatible printer for their hard copy needs. With literally hundreds of print drivers now included with OSX Lion and Leopard, printing compatibility is largely automatic for all but the most recent latest printer models.

With Apple's rapidly exploding market-share - and proprietary Mac-specific printer interfaces a thing of the past, Apple's full embrace of industry standards have decidedly made choosing a printer for your Apple iMac, Mac Pro tower, MacBook laptop or Mac mini far, far easier than ever before. A few simple things should assist Apple users determine the optimal printing solution:

Type of Interface Connectivity - USB is the most common way to connect a printing peripheral. A network Ethernet printer port is ideal for shared and business office settings. But Apple users have a notable affinity for Wi-Fi wireless gadgets. There are now many affordable wireless printers for Mac that don't tie one to a desktop.

What Kind Of Output - Are you needing plain-paper or photo-quality prints for iPhoto and other Macintosh graphics applications? Pro and Amateur Photographers will most definitely want photo ink-jets with 6 or more tanks for top-quality photo reproduction on photo-grade archival papers.

Cost Of Printed Output - Nothing beats a simple Black and White Mac compatible laser printer for lowest per-page output. But recent price drops can let you find the best color laser for Mac for well under $200, less than many B&W models used to cost.

Printer Portability - A few vendors such as HP and Canon make battery-powered options for printing on the go. Review these portable MacBook printer vendors for laptop travel needs.

CES 2012 Preview : PC and Mac ThunderBolt Accessories

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-01-11T08:15:54-08:00

Intel and Apple's ThunderBolt interface had a rocky debut year in 2011. Although Apple managed to ship millions upon millions of ThunderBolt enabled MacBooks and desktop Macintosh systems through the year, products to plug into this new high-speed interface were in desperately short supply.

This year's Las Vega Consumer Electronics Show gave hope that A LOT more ThunderBolt accessories are on their way. CES 2012 had a diverse range of ThunderBolt product announcements from several high-profile companies that spell good things for the TBolt market in the year ahead.

Proof that ThunderBolt isn't just a market for Macintosh -- The Acer Aspire S5 Windows notebook was featured as one of the first PC laptops that will incorporate a built-in ThunderBolt port.

A surprising twist for a company known for their awesome Mac TV Tuner products, ElGato announced a ThunderBolt SSD drive in a compact, laptop size format for release later this year.

OCZ Technologies - the clear leader in the Solid-State PC and Mac SSD drive market also announced a laptop-sized SSD drive with ThunderBolt port, the LightFoot series.

Peripheral maker Belkin trotted out a multi-port ThunderBolt Hub and docking station that offers HDMI, USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Analog audio and Gigabit Ethernet ports in a sleek case - that's sadly slated to ship near the END of 2012.

Promised to ship MUCH sooner - Seagate showed off it's GoFlex ThunderBolt drive adapter to reach the market by the end of Q1 2012. The GoFlex desktop and portable drive series is already a great line of hard drive storage products with interchangeable USB2, USB 3.0, FireWire and eSATA adapters currently available. ThunderBolt adapters will help preserve and extend the value of GoFlex drive owners.

LaCie - one of the few companies besides Promise Technologies to actually ship ThunderBolt hard drive and SSD storage products in 2011- announced an interesting ThunderBolt eSATA hub/ converter that features dual ThunderBolt ports and twin eSATA ports to offer very direct drive transfers at maximum speeds.

Currently shipping, Sonnet Technology showed off it's Sonnet Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter - a great intermediary solution for those with eSATA, FireWire or USB 3.0 Express cards and drives to convert to ThunderBolt at a reasonably affordable price point.

While still proving to be a slow-road to the fast lane of truly high-speed Mac computer peripherals, ThunderBolt *IS* gaining momentum and traction - if you can wait it out and afford these products when they arrive. However, I still think the not-so dark horse in this race is USB 3.0 which is MUCH further ahead in the market and will deliver a far wider range of computer peripherals - more affordably and sooner - to the Mac (and PC) consumer marketplace.

CES 2012 And USB 3.0 For Mac - The Road Ahead

MacGizmoGuy — 2012-01-09T23:01:09-08:00

The 2012 CES Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas this week - And MacWorld Expo 2012 follows up at the end of the month. Many of the things announced and displayed at CES give a hint to where Apple technology will be leaning in the year ahead. I'm betting USB 3.0 will finally make it to the Mac - and take it's rightful place alongside the ThunderBolt ports Apple's been implementing across their computer line.

SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is a technological inevitability that will find its place on billions of computers and consumer electronic devices by the end of the decade. But it's mass adoption has largely been stalled-out by heel-dragging on the part of Intel and Apple. Although hundreds of USB3 hard drives and peripherals are already available, without direct logic-board support for built-in USB3 ports, the market has struggled for years to attain critical mass. But that's about to change with Intel's upcoming Ivy-Bridge chipset with direct onboard support for USB 3.0 in the chipset. We'll see both Macs and Windows PC with USB3 ports as standard equipment on nearly all new mid and high-end computers by year's end.

5GBps USB 3.0 offers up to 10 times the bandwidth of the aging USB 2.0 specification. But it's benefits go beyond that with battery-saving power modes for more efficiency in portable devices, more milliamps to self-power hungrier USB gadgets, and most importantly - it preserves backward compatibility with legacy USB 1.1 and 2.0 peripherals. Low-Speed, High-Speed, Super-Speed can all share a USB 3.0 port or hub, and co-exist with their bandwidth differences peacefully.

For more demanding needs we'll have 10GBps ThunderBolt accessories to handle truly data-intensive computing scenarios, especially in the enterprise and professional audio and video production environments. However technically superior ThunderBolt may be, it will still be dwarfed by what the average Mac computer user wants and needs: Cheap, familiar, faster and backward compatible gadget technology. And that's exactly what SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is going to deliver in the months ahead.

Biggest Apple FLOP of 2011 - Intel ThunderBolt Rollout

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-12-09T20:05:28-08:00

When first introduced on Apple MacBooks in February of 2011, that tiny ThunderBolt interface port sat poised to change the future of computer peripherals and expansion. Integrating both mind-blowingly fast direct access to the PCI-Express bus and rolling in DisplayPort monitor functionality, there's no doubt it's going to change the landscape of personal computers for the next decade and beyond. But what good are Apple-Intel ThunderBolt ports if there's not much of anything to actually plug into it?

With only PARTNERS and PROMISES - and ZERO SHIPPING PRODUCTS on the day of ThunderBolt's release, this has got to be one of the biggest Marketing and Product Rollout FLOPS Steve Jobs had to take to his grave. For months, the only Apple Inc product to cling to was a $49 ThunderBolt cable - limp and begging for something, anything to plug into it. Where was a ThunderBolt backup drive to go along with that new Mac?

Fast forward to the end of 2011. Promise Technologies was the only Pro level high-end game in town delivering ThunderBolt drives for many months. LaCie only recently moved from announced to shipping products as it utterly struggles to ramp up production and distribution of it's LittleBig Disk ThunderBolt SSD and platter drives. Seagate GoFlex ThunderBolt drive adapters have yet to ship. Sonnet Technologies line of drives and TBolt adapters are still temporarily stuck in 'Real Soon Now' mode. And the biggest player of all in storage - Western-Digital - is still only in the cheerleading section and not out on the playing field. Yet.

Yeah we got the ThunderBolt Cinema Display now: Ho-Hum. And perhaps most bizarre of all - The truly professional-grade Macintosh Pro tower workstations have YET to see an upgrade that includes ThunderBolt ports?!? That's got to be the biggest WTF I've ever seen foisted on Apple's high-end customer base.

In 2012, things can only - and WILL get better. ThunderBolt technology and it's benefits are an iceberg just breaking the surface. But what a disappointment it's been so far. Apple should be ashamed. We were sold a carriage with no horse, but I see some coming down the road towards us… "Better Late Than Never" isn't the way a world-class, leading-edge technology company like Apple ought to be addressing its customer's needs.

Mac Tax Preparation - TurboTax for Mac OSX 2011

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-11-15T21:28:55-08:00

If you're raring to go - to get a jump start preparing to file 2011 taxes on a Mac - There's a digital download of TurboTax for Mac Deluxe Federal + E-file + State 2011 available NOW. The retail, boxed versions of Mac TurboTax 2011 started shipping on November 25th.

Alternately, a somewhat more affordable way to do taxes on Mac OSX is with Mac Version H&R Block At Home 2011 Deluxe + State

Be prepared for A LOT of additional update prompts between now and filing your 2011 return. Bugs get fixed, last-minute Congressional tax law changes may occur, and you'll simply want to file the most accurate Mac tax return possible.

SEO For Mac Website Designers And Owners

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-11-12T22:45:34-08:00

With a record 4 million+ new Apple computers being sold each quarter, there's more folks creating and promoting their web sites on a Macintosh than ever before. While there's never been a shortage of great web design software for Mac, until recently it's been harder to find OSX compatible SEO for Mac software programs to help with the task of internet marketing and back-link building.

Two things are helping Apple website owners with Search Engine Optimization and Marketing tasks in particular. First, several of the most notable SEO programs for OSX now run cross-platform using the Adobe Air platform. Programs such as Article Submission Helper, or the best All-In-One Mac SEO program out there - Market Samurai For Mac - can be written once using Adobe AIR and run on any computing platform. Second, many 'Cloud' based SEO tools and SEM link building services now live up on the web. As such many web-based Apple SEO and back link building services exist that can help you with Mac internet marketing using Safari or FireFox for Mac - no OSX application program needs to live on your hard drive at all.

In the highly completive world of dominating search engine rankings and leveraging Social Media - 'Build it and they will come' - just doesn't drive web traffic like in the good old days. You need to make it happen with great content, spot-on keyword research, quality content, an appealing website, and developing relentless Mac backlink building tactics to get your website(s) onto page one of search results. Fortunately, more SEO tools than ever exist to help Apple using web masters with those tasks.

SEO Link Building Tip : Automate Social Bookmarking with this FREE web-based Safari friendly Mac backlink tool.

Best Mac Tax Software 2011 - Get An Early Jump

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-11-10T23:50:56-08:00

There's good reason to get an early start on your US income taxes. Some deductions need to be in place prior to year's end (such as setting up a HSA - Health Savings Account), while others (such as IRA contributions) can wait up until the April 17th, 2012 tax filing deadline. Slated to ship on November 25th, the Mac TurboTax 2011 Federal and State Deluxe edition is all most will need to file a full 1040, a Schedule C for self-employed, and more.

TurboTax Mac Deluxe

Federal + State Edition
Available for PRE-ORDER

For Do-It-Yourselfer's, nobody makes tax prep on a Mac so easy. Intuit now bundles both the Windows and Mac OSX version of Turbo Tax in the same retail box to simplify purchase - and Amazon also offers a direct downloadable Mac version as well.

H&R Block's AT HOME tax program for Mac taxes 2011 Deluxe Fed + State is also available:

H&R Block Mac Tax Software 2011

Fed + State + eFile

Portable MacBook Printers, Scanners and Mobile Peripherals

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-12-10T00:24:12-08:00

With Mac laptops comprising more than 2 out of every 3 Macintosh computers being sold, the demand for insanely great Mac mobile accessories is booming. Along with the general trends in computing towards consolidation of components and miniaturization - it's easier to build more compact and light-weight computers and peripherals these days. It isn't that long ago that a 'portable' computer was like lugging around a sewing machine. And computer peripherals - even ones designed for Mac toting mobile professionals were the sort of thing you had to 'lug around' and not just 'pop' into a laptop bag.

Case in point: The best mobile printer for Mac to date now incorporates both USB and Bluetooth wireless connectivity and an integrated battery in a reasonably compact form-factor. It's a battery powered Mac compatible portable printer you can actually travel with.

Likewise: For those who need to scan on the road, the mobile MacBook scanner market has some slim, USB-powered photo and receipt scanning and document management devices to help you chew through paperwork at the press of a scan button.

Not all Mac laptop users need these kind of self or battery-powered travel accessories to print and scan ANYWHERE. But for certain business users who 'just-gotta' get it done, get that signed contract scanned and sent to the corporate office, or those documents or invoices scanned and printed as proof, these portable computer accessories fit the bill.

Best Mac Accessories : 2011 Computer Add-On Trends

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-03-26T20:38:32-07:00

An interesting year is ahead for Mac gizmo freaks as some new tech trends are emerging in the Apple peripherals arena. Demand for wireless Bluetooth accessories has blown through the roof thanks to millions of iPads, iPhones and recent iPod Touch models. Of note: Hands-Free / Bluetooth speaker systems - and wireless BT keyboards for iPad in particular.

Apple recently upgraded the built-in iSight to HD on recent MacBooks. For others, 720p high-resolution HD webcams for Mac models like the mini and Macintosh Pro meet the needs of those who want better clarity and resolution in their online video-chat experience.

With so much downloadable online content - plus home DVR capable set-top boxes - There seems to be slightly less interest in computer TV Tuners for Mac as many simply nab or buy their content elsewhere these days rather than capture and export the content themselves.

The quest for better audio is driving more discerning ears to higher quality laptop audio and the best desktop computer speakers and headsets they can find - Especially for MacBook owners frustrated by the tiny built-in speakers.

TimeMachine has made backing up your Mac a no-brainer. But as our photo, music and video libraries explode - USB 2.0 and FireWire are both showing their age as woefully slow ways to copy or transfer a ton of data. Intel and Apple's new ThunderBolt port - and the inevitible arrival of USB 3.0 SuperSpeed promises to change our notion of truly High-Speed interfaces. External hard drive manufacturers are already switching to the backward compatible USB3 interface - so keep USB 3.0 on your tech radar. It is the future of USB - and will ship in numbers that will dwarf ThunderBolt adoption in comparison.

Solid-State flash memory SSD drives - Perhaps the single best upgrade or Build-To-Order option you'll ever experience - aren't just for MacBook Air's anymore. Once you SSD, you'll never go back to the truly pokey and horribly unreliable spinning patter mechanical hard drive.

Printers have evolved greatly in the past year: HP in particular with it's touchscreen E-PRINTERS and adding AirPrint compatibility for wireless iPad - iPhone printing. And auto-duplexing printers are more common and affordable than ever - making the most of BOTH sides of a sheet of paper. We've come a long way, baby.

All in all the best Mac accessories you'll want to own just keep getting better. And at ever more affordable prices.

ThunderBolt For Mac - Next Generation Device Interface

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-02-25T22:13:47-08:00

Apple and Intel released a new computer interface port - THUNDERBOLT and have been incorporating it across it's Mac laptopand desktop computer line. It promises up to 10GBps potential bandwidth throughput to deliver literally a 20-Fold increase in device speeds over USB 2.0.

We'll have to wait for ThunderBolt drives , SSD's, TV Tuners, Webcams, Printers, Keyboards, Mice and other accessories to take advantage of the 10GBps bandwidth. Once code-named LightPeak - Thunder-Bolt promises a huge leap in data transfer speeds for Mac gadgets and add-ons. This versatile computer port co-developed by Intel and Apple replaces Apple's min DisplayPort - yet will allow nearly any sort of device to connect with it. Other peripheral interfaces like USB2, 5GBps USB3, FireWire, SCSI, eSATA and beyond -- can work THROUGH ThunderBolt ports with the slew of ThunderBolt adapters that will become available later this year. Stay tuned, this is game changing computer technology for the next decade.

Skype For Mac - Download v5 Release

MacGizmoGuy — 2011-01-27T20:03:44-08:00

After a bit of a frustrating beta release, the offical version of Skype 5 For Mac is now available for download. WIth some much needed refinements and improvements, the much more "Mac-Like" interface has been improved, shrunk, and alot less of a screen-hog.

Office For Mac 2011 - New Version Due Late October

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-10-08T22:06:08-07:00

Microsoft Office 2011 For Mac OSX

Single User Student Edition:

Office 2011 For Mac - Student Edition

NOTE: The $119 MSRP Student Edition no longer includes licenses for up to 3 Macs. You'll want the 3-license version at $149. And, Microsoft's Mac email program - Entourage is NOT included as part of this bundle. If you're an Entourage user, you'll want the pricier Professional version:

Mac Office Home & Business 2011

In this version, Entourage transitions to OUTLOOK which is now fully compatible with the Windows version. Especially for cross-platform businesses - this is a full-featured Mac version of Outlook that finally handles calendars, scheduling and .PST files. A truly corporate version of Office for OSX is finally here. MSRP $199.

New iPod Lineup : Compelling Updates From Apple

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-09-04T13:53:23-07:00

Some VERY interesting twists on Apple's revamped iPod linueup unveiled this week. They surprised even me with every model and improvement. Excellent gifts for Back-To-School or for Holiday gift giving. Think the iPod is dying? Think Different. Again:

Hail the return of the iPod shuffle to its original clip-on form-factor. (It was the perfect consumer product in the first place, they foolishly changed it to headphone cord mounted controls, then changed it back.) Smart move Apple: The very first iPod ever revolutionized the world because of that circular control pad you can operate with a single finger. The Shuffle 1G was the simplest iPod ever to operate. So, welcome back Neo Retro Shuffle 3G! 30% leaner and meaner than ever before. Perfect. Again.

The iPod nano with Multi-Touch blows me away. Reducing over HALF its bulk to something that is literally just a color LCD display with a clip and a whole music library and FM radio razor-thinned in-between. Nothing short of brilliant design and world-class engineering the size of a cracker. I don't even need one, but I want one!

Oh, and can I now throw my half-pound Fuji digital camera away - Forever? Both front AND rear mounted cameras in the iPod Touch just rendered the need for casual photographers to ever own a stand-alone digital cam an utterly moot point. Music, Apps, Games and more - all in a package thinner than the thinnest digital camera you can buy any ways.

Portable Computer Speakers - For MacBook iPhone iPad

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-08-12T17:36:35-07:00

Ongoing trends in mobile and laptop computing has been consistent over the years; smaller, lighter, and cheaper. Unfortunately laptop and handheld audio has suffered as a result, with ever-smaller speaker drivers crammed into ever-tighter spaces.

For mobile presentation professionals or music lovers on the go, the best MacBook, iPhone or iPad external speakers embody great sound quality with compact portability. For many MacBook users, portable USB computer speakers fit the bill nicely, at their desktop - or on the road. Getting both power and pure digital stereo audio over a single cable, USB speakers can provide room-filling sound with the mere 5 volts of power from a laptop computer's USB port, no batteries required.

Quality matters: Well-engineered, sensitive driver cones in portable speakers can deliver surprising full-range frequency response in a small package if well designed. For maximum portability, look to 1-piece USB speakers for laptop computers with dual stereo drivers inside. For maximum sound quality and wide stereo separation, look to 2-piece systems. Either way, many are compact enough to be stored in your notebook's carry case. A thoughtfully chosen portable USB speaker system to let you hear what you've been missing.

As for iPad speakers? Unfortunately, the iPad table doesn't include a USB port. Even if used with the iPad Camera Connection Kit USB adapter, the iPad just doesn't have the voltage oomph on its dock port to drive USB speakers (or keyboards or hard drives for that matter) without a powered-USB hub in-between. The solution? Look to traditional battery-powered 1/8" Analog headphone jack speakers - or A2DP stereo portable Bluetooth speakers for iPad audio on the go.

Bluetooth TrackPad For Mac mini, iMac, Pro Towers Arrive

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-07-29T12:58:51-07:00

Nice to see Apple taking its highly advanced Multi-Touch pointing and guesture technology to desktop Macintosh users with it's recently released Apple Magic Trackpad input device. At around 5x5 inches it's notably larger than what's built into MacBook laptops - and designed to compliment Apple's wireless Bluetooth keyboard.

Somewhat like it's cousin, the revolutionary Magic Mouse (Which requires OSX 10.5.8 at a minimum) -- You have to be rather current with Mac OSX on an Intel Mac to use either of these sophisticated wireless Bluetooth input devices. No, unfortunately it is NOT pressure sensitive like Mac graphics tablets are, and no, it's not for use with iPad or iPhone input.

Redesigned 2010 Apple Mac Mini Gets More Things Right

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-06-15T20:11:57-07:00

Revisions to the new Mac mini line brings some welcome changes: A physical low-profile redesign that FINALLY HAS A BUILT-IN POWER SUPPLY to eliminate the kludgy brick we've all come to hate. It's shoulda been built-in from Day 1.

MP3 player and photo buffs will appreciated the addition of the Mac SD Card slow that's now standard on the Unibody MacBooks and Aluminum iMac. Its inclusion reduces the number of external USB 2.0 ports on the mini to 4. However, the slot's location at the rear of the mini is inconvenient at best.

Given the popularity of the mini as an HTPC media center, the addition of an HDMI video-TV port will certainly be welcomed. The new Mac mini design offers a far, far easier way to open up and upgrade the memory and hard drive - something which has long been an arduous task on previous models.

Along with incremental speed bump, hard drive capacity and CPU speed advancements - the NVidia graphics processor upgrade is most significant for the growing Mac gamer market.

All in all: The Mac mini is a fine product revision of it's desktop computer .

Top Mac Accessories : Combine and Consolidate

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-04-21T09:14:04-07:00

Our Mac Life demands more computer cables, wires, adapters and power transformers than most of us really want to deal with. But there's some interesting - and smartly designed - combo accessories for Apple users. These can help minimize and consolidate some of the tangle our desks have to cope with.

Everybody needs a Mac backup drive, and usuallly, a powered USB 2.0 high-speed hub. So why not combine the two into one?

3-Port USB Hub Drive Dock

For FreeAgent Model Drives
From Seagate

Matching FreeAgent Go Backup Drive

Choose 320Gb or 500Gb Drive

Mac mini owners in particular may find this 3-Port FireWire 400, 3-Port USB hub drive combo to compliment thier computer and expansion needs.

Iomega MiniMax Hub/Drive

1or 2 Terabyte Options

A top mac accessory pick that combines both a great set of 2.1 stereo speakers with a powered 3-Port USB hub continues to be Logitech's AudioHub thats a natural fit behind any MacBook (and sounds 10 times better!)

Hub + Speaker Combo

With Volume/Mute Control

Griffin Simplifi Hub - Dock - Reader
For iPod - iPhone

And for the millions of iPhone users - whether Mac or PC - Buffalo combines a Dock hard drive enabled with both FireWire 800 for backup - and USB to synch and recharge your iPhone or iPod Touch. 2 extra USB ports are avalable as well for other Mac gadgets.

Buffalo Dualie Dock

Backup, Sync and Charge

Enjoy TV On An iPad - Captured On Your Mac

MacGizmoGuy — 2010-04-17T20:33:39-07:00

With its large, high resolution display, watching TV on an iPad proves more enjoyable than on the smaller screen of an iPhone or iPod Touch. But regardless of which you own - it's all doable with free or low-cost apps from the iTunes App Store. Check out Equinux's Tube To Go or free Live TV app, or ElGato's $4.99 EyeTV app.

It all starts with a Mac compatible TV tuner to record and export your fave TV shows and movies on your Mac. Adding a USB HDTV tuner to your Apple computer opens up a world of television viewing enjoyment at your Mac desktop or laptop - or on the go!

Your best tuner choices are the Equinux Tubestick TV Tuner for Mac (or PC) - or any number of tuner capture devices from ElGato such as the latest model; the 2010 EyeTV Hybridfor OSX (as wel as Window Media Center PCs.) Both offer ways to either remotely stream TV over WiFi or 3G -- or sync your recorded television content to your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone for TV enjoyment when you're out of range.

Ipevo's P2V Webcam For Mac/PC Does Macro Close-Ups

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-11-02T13:54:15-08:00

This next generation Mac and Windows compatible 2MP web cam from iPevo is unique among cameras: The IPEVO P2V USB Camera can zoom in closer than any other webcam on the market with a 2" focal range. Like it's predecessor, the POV -- it features a unique design for handheld demonstrations of detail -- Hence it's name: The Ipevo Point 2 View Webcam. It also includes a laptop clip and destop stand for more conventional video chat uses - and snapshot software for not only PC - but also for Mac OSX 10.5+ Leopard.

The P2V webcam has built-in hardware Auto-Focus with switch-selectable override for manual zoom - and a snapshot button (but alas, no microphone.)

Low-Cost SuperDrive DVD Burner For Mac

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-09-13T16:39:38-07:00

It happens. Mac DVD burners laser 'eye-balls' burn out and start giving disc burning errors. Or, your MacBook Air needs a drive that costs half of what Apple's $99 USB SuperDrive for MacBook Air does. Or, your Macs factory-installed burner is just getting temperamental and unreliable. Slot-Load SuperDrives are notorious for problems ejecting, discs getting hopelessly stuck, and at worst - damaged. It happens.

$50 Mac Compatible USB SuperDrive Replacement

This Mac friendly Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive gets all it's power from its USB cable.. For some it's a viable and low-cost alternative to paying $200 or more to have a MacBook or iMac's Super-Drive replaced. It may be a good stopgap solution to still be able to read and burn DVD's and CD's on an aging Mac that you don't want to sink alot of repair money into, but still has some life left. T

Mac-2-School : The Changing Student Laptop Landscape

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-08-20T11:02:33-07:00

With Apple shipping nearly TEN MILLION Macs a year - I dare say College campuses are experiencing a huge shift in Mac use as the numbers just keep growing. It all just goes way beyond Student deals on MacBooks, iPods & iPhones - They're becoming utterly interwoven into the Higher-Ed landscape.

Mac adoption was always higher in education, but something is tipping on the scales and I think the 2010 school year is a year where Apple computers - and ever more student's exposure to them is part of a SNOWBALL that's really only begun rolling. Cuz these kids are gonna take their love for Mac into thier internships and careers to follow. Think Apple's stuck at oh, say 10% marketshare in the US? Think again. Apple's well on it's way to Fifteen -- and then Twenty Million Macs a year - Mark MacGizmo's words...

Best Price On OSX Snow Leopard : $25 At Amazon

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-08-02T03:23:14-07:00

Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard Upgrade Disc has shown up at Amazon available at $29 for Pre-order and they'll ship automatically when Apple offcially ships it in September.

Critical to note: Snow Leopard 10.6 Upgrade ONLY RUNS ON INTEL PROCESSOR MACS. Sorry G4 and G5 owners, it's the end of an era. But that spells great things for Intel Macs - Snow Leopard will strip out all the old PowerPC code for a faster, leaner OSX that will free up gigabytes of disk space during the upgrade process.

Mac VOIP = Vast Opportunity (for) Income Preservation

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-07-09T19:11:43-07:00

Voice Over Internet Protocol - VOIP for Mac - has been around a long time: Even since the days of dial-up modems, since speech doesn't require alot of bandwidth like music or video does. This Mac Gizmo Guy remembers his first 'Free Long Distance' voice phone call 5-some years back on a Slot-Load G3 iMac. I've saved A LOT of money using VOIP on my G5 iMac and MacBook since then.

Skype for Mac
has long been a great money saving option for long distance here in the USA and Canada using low-cost "Skype Out" minutes. The latest Yahoo Messenger v3 for Mac also offers cheap 1 cent/per minute across the nation calls to landlines and cell phones using Yahoo's "Call Out" options. Paired with a dedicated USB or Wireless IP phone - or with a decent headset you can have a great VOIP experience. But in a pinch, even a Mac with a built-in microphone and iSight webcam can get you started.

Other full-fleged OSX VO-IP options are out there with dedicated monthly VO-IP providers like Vonage and others who'll bundle a 'free' Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) configured for their service as part of your startup package. Just plug in a regular analog phone and you're good to go. Many also offer a SIP - Software Internet Phone application for OSX that lets you make and receive calls directly on your MacBook iMac, Mac Pro or mini.

For those of us who don't want to cough up $100 or more a month for Cable/DSL * 'Unlimited' IP phone bundle packages, or pay the outrageous rates your local phone company may charge - there's a decent range of pay as you go, pay very little by the minute VOIP options for Apple computers that can save you REAL MONEY month after month, call after call.

You Deserve BETTER - Dump Apples iPod Headphones

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-06-19T09:28:07-07:00

I HAVE HAD IT WITH APPLE'S CRAPPY iPOD HEADPHONES! They fell out of my ear canals for the last time - and I made sure they fell right into the garbage can! Ear-BUDS are the way to go for not just good fit and enhanced frequency response - but for superior sound isolation as well. You just don't know what you're missing till you've upgraded from Apple's dissappointing 'Oops they fell out again!' earphones. Best bang for the buck replacement? These Awesome Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds with that thoughtful right-angled plug really take your listening to the next level. I'd owned 2 sets of Skull-Candy's Smokin Buds and thought they were pretty decent. But these Seinheiser buds response is just noticeably better across the frequency response range. Love 'em!

A2DP iPhone and Mac Bluetooth Wireless Speaker Audio Options

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-06-17T18:55:42-07:00

Wireless STEREO sound via Bluetooh has taken awhile on the Mac platform. Until a year ago, most were limited to monophonic sound. OSX Leopard 10.5 finally delivered critical A2DP protocol stereo support in the operating system. Just this week, iPhone 3.0 OS has enabled Bluetooth stereo on 2nd Generation iPod Touch and iPhones. Other dock connector iPods can take advantage of dual-channel streaming audio with compact A2DP enabled Bluetooth dock transmitters. So we now have alot of ways to get sound from a Bluetooth device to...

Check out these Stereo Bluetooth wireless speaker systems and headsets! There's a wide range of A2DP stereo devices now available - whether you're interested in a portable battery powered Bluetooth speaker system to take on a picnic - or more audiophile grade Bluetooth speaker options for home stereo use.

Sony CMT-BX50BTI Bluetooth Micro Hi-Fi Shelf System

It's important to remember Bluetooth is a PAN - a PERSONAL Area Network scheme - not a Wide Area one like 802.11 WiFi. So Bluetooth is designed to operate at a personal CLOSE RANGE - generally in 30 feet or less between Bluetooth devices. So while great for in-room listening, A2DP isn't the solution to cover an entire house or office environment. Keep that in mind as you shop for Bluetooth speakers and headphones, you CAN enjoy wireless listening freedom - within reason.

Tritton Improves Sound Bite Portable USB Speaker

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-05-29T22:01:31-07:00

The original SoundBite USB travel speaker was already a world-class product that produced GREAT sound you could hold in the palm of your hand. Now with the next iteration: The xTreme takes mobile travel speakers to the next level. USB bus-powered convenience with both pure digital 2.1 stereo audio and power all from a single USB cable.
Tritton SoundBite Speaker
The Sound Bite Xtreme USB w/ MP3 Input & Headphone Jack: This best-selling mini speaker with 52mm sub-woofer is now even better: It features a sleek black redesign with side-mounted volume control and optional headphone-out jack -- AND -- MP3 stereo input jack. Note the tweeters are now protected from curious pokey-poke fingers with a metal grille. Nice! The original SoundByte model (which I owned myself for several years - and think very highly of) has long been a deserved best-seller at my Portable Computer Speakers website.

Kudo's to Tritton Technologies for improving an already great product with your smart, thoughtful engineering and high-quality speaker drivers! For those of you frustrated and disappointed with the abysmal speakers built-in to your MacBook-Pro, this is a fantastic upgrade. ((also available at NewEgg). Oh and did I mention the speaker's USB cable stores neatly in the base? This is exactly what happens when too many corporate brains really sit down and focus on what a customer might want, or need!

What Mac speaker system do YOU own? What do you love about it, what dissappoints you? Leave a comment...

10.6 Killer Snow Leopard Enhancements You'll LOVE

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-05-27T11:13:57-07:00

Apple made it quite clear: The next version of OS X 10.6 is ONLY for Intel-based Macintosh computers - and this 10.6 upcoming version of '"Snow" Leopard is about focusing on things 'under the hood' and not a skrillion of new features piled ontop of OS X. And that's a good thing. Here's why:

PRE-Order 10.6 $29

Snow Leopard Upgrade For INTEL Macs

1. It's optimized for Intel Core family processors only. It will eat far less disk of your shrinking disk space by eliminating a TON of code written to check for and load instructions for previous generation G4 and G5 Power PC processors.

2. It will run FASTER on your existing Mac by eliminating much of the above code and CPU cycles wasted checking for, conditionally branching to, and tripping-over older legacy CPU code. As popular programs get updated for Intel-only, they too will be smaller and faster.

3. It's "Grand Central" multi-core technology is going to make far more efficient use of Intel Core Duo processors. The Snow operating system itself will be far more saavy and efficient in handling multiple tasks -- And application developers will benefit with easier and faster implementation of their most CPU intensive code.

4. 64-Bit technology allows a Mac to address a HUGE amount of RAM memory: Up to 16TB - TERABYTES. Few of us need that, few applications need to exploit that, few of us could even AFFORD that much memory. But it's there for massive sets of data that Mac can chew on without having to resort to poky old virtual memory sitting on a hard disk drive.

5. QuickTime X and it's enhanced codecs are going to play back video smoother, at better quality. Decoding, encoding and transcoding video files will be faster and more efficient - something that's desperately needed for one of the most intensive processes we subject our computers to.

6. Perhaps most interesting: Open CL (Open Computing Language) will allow Snow Leopard to leverage the the enormous computational horsepower modern Graphics card chips are capable of. Your Mac's graphics chip can become a 'Co-Processor' to handle certain types of tasks more smoothly - relieving your CPU from having to do ALL the heavy lifting.

7. Snow Leopard's JavaScript will get a great performance boost for web applications - the fastest JS interpretation we've seen yet. This means good things for some very powerful and complex applications that can run right inside a Safari browser window.

8. Microsoft Exchange support built-in will matter a lot to Enterprise, Business and Education users who's mail system runs on Exchange Server - whether they're accessing it at their desktop - or on an iPhone.

9. Although Apple is (pre)marketing Snow Leopard as more of a technology enhancement upgrade rather than touting adding hundreds of new features as they have in the past: You'll be glad they spent the time reinforcing the foundation of OS X's truly state of the art operating system. Still, there are a handful of new features of note: a slick new QuickTime Player interface, improved implementation of Stack navigation - and some eye-candy to shine up the Finder and Desktop.

10. You'll love Snow Leopard 'cuz it's going to *FEEL* LIKE GETTING A NEW COMPUTER!

10.6 ??? Well, this may not deserve a full point. 'Cuz you may find you have to move up to an Intel MacBook, Pro, iMac or Mac Mini computer to even be able to run Snow Leopard and take full advantage of all it's benefits. BUMMER! But hey --10 out of 10.6 ain't bad.

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Normally, MacGizmoGuy prefers not to yap about Mac stuff you can't buy yet... But Snow Lepoard (even if you misspell it) is worth planning ahead for.

Do you look forward to OS X upgrades? Do you feel it's worth the $129? Leave a comment...

Green Energy Smart Solar iPod-Touch-iPhone Charger

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-05-26T18:19:13-07:00

I'd been researching solar-powered LED landscaping lights for a site I'm working on when an iPhone owning friend sent me a link to this very affordable $20 iPhone, iPod, Touch USB solar panel recharger

Hybrid USB + Solar
You can charge via Sun or USB cable and recharge a huge range of Apple gadgets, Blackberry, Nokia cell-phones, and others with it's included adapters, cables, and dock connector. It has it's own INTERNAL BATTERY making it a HYBRID unit that's sure to provide much needed power on the go - whether there's sun or not! SMART product.

Is keeping your iPod, iPhone or Bluetooth headset charged a problem? How do you manage rechargeable gadgets? Leave a comment...

A High-Speed SSD Disk For Your Mac

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-04-26T19:59:49-07:00

OCZ Mac Edition SSD

Solid-State Drive

Incredibly fast, Fast, FAST start-up. Insanely rapid application launch. No moving parts. Silent operation. Less heat. Better battery liife: These are some of the many benefits of a Solid-State hard disk drive for your MacBook, Pro tower, iMac or Mac mini. SSD drives are hitting the consumer market in full force in 2009 - and Apple is starting to offer SSD's in the Mac laptop lines as a Build To Order SSD option at the Apple Store.

Someday - and it's not far off, spinning platter drives will lose ground as solid-state disks become the preferred storage on Macs. Should your Mac's current hard drive croak and needs replacing - seriously consider an SSD instead. Or, as you ponder your next Apple computer, an SSD disk offers such a dramatic improvement in your computer's overall speed, you'll be glad you did!

Do it yourselfer? Check out these 'off the shelf' options for installing an affordable SSD upgrade for your Mac.

Are you familiar with SSD hard drive options for your Mac? Does your Mac's hard drive feel fast - or pokey? Leave a comment...

Using Skype For Mac - When iChat AV Don't Work

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-03-29T08:08:55-07:00

Got a Mac compatible webcam or built-in iSight? It takes only a few minutes to download Skype for Mac - set up a free Skype account and begin enjoying the most reliable cross-platform Voice, Video Chat and VOIP calling experience. Anyone who’s tried iChat AV with Windows users on AOL - AIM know just how flakey or impossible it is to connect. Skype wins hands-down for delivering the best cross-platform way to connect 1-On-1 with friends and family near and far.

Video chatting was added rather recently to Skype's features so be sure you're running Skype for Mac v2.7 or later

Download the latest version here

Do you use video chat? Or do you feel uncomfortable being seen on camera? Leave a comment...

The Day The Macintosh Computer Became A Computer Peripheral... For The iPhone

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-03-23T14:44:01-07:00

I didn't see this coming -- Not even with the iPod's amazing success as it's sales numbers began to outstrip sales of Mac computers. But something happened with the iPhone once it passed 10 Million... and it didn't take long... somehow the Apple Macintosh computing platform we've stood by for a quarter of a century has in many ways simply become a convenient add-on ACCESSORY that any iPhone user will enjoy to complete their iPhone purchase.

Apple's free iPhone 3.0 Software Update will make it clear: When you put THAT much computing power, THAT sophisticated of an OSX operating system, THAT huge selection of applications, on THAT large of a screen, with THAT easy to use input device known as your finger together -- You have a major computing platform that you can truly hold in the palm of your hand. I've had clients who actually used an iPhone for weeks on end before they actually got around to using it as something more than a loaded cell phone itself -- and finally got around to getting help syncing it up to 'the other stuff' that they eventually wanted to: from their computer.

Imagine that. The laptop or desktop computer simply became a really-cool add-on gizmo that unlocked even more value in the cellular phone they bought. I never thought I'd see the day when iPhone sales outstripped Mac's 10 to 1 - and now the Mac is just a passenger in the backseat of a bus rolling down a mountainside, down a landslide of iPhone sales. FYI: HandHelditems specializes in a staggering array of accessories for mobile 'pod and cellular folk.

What do you like - or hate most about the iPhone? Do tell, leave a comment...

New iMac, mini, Pro Tower Rumor Mongering

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-03-01T20:16:44-08:00

Mac Gizmo Guy tries not to engage in Mac rumors... rather just speculate on the INEVITABLE APPLE PRODUCT REFRESHES that lurk on the horizon. The Aluminum iMacs are just spectacular computers as-is, any updates will likely be frosting on the frosting, though a QUAD-CORE iMac will be an ideal Pro Graphics Designer, CAD workstation, Video Editing powerhouse dream come true. In many ways the Dual-Core iMac models have supplanted the Pro Tower series for many many users - delivering 90% of the computing and graphics power for a fraction of the cost.

But WHERE'S THE NEW MAC mini??? It's just soooooooo long-overdue and neglected and in this tough American economy, Apple's most affordable Mac desperately-desperately needs to be refreshed and deliver more for less. Soon...

Well, today Apple delivered in spades: all 3 Desktop lines got revamped. Of note and a first for Apple: the Mac mini getting FIVE USB PORTS - which will eliminate the need for the clutter of an A/C powered USB hub for many. And thank god they KEPT FIREWIRE, but upped the speed to Fire Wire 800. Fortunately Firewire Adapters are readily available for about $12 to keep using older 6-pin Firewire gizmos.

Do you own a Desktop - Or a Laptop Mac? Why did you choose one over the other. Leave a comment...

2nd Generation Kindle eBook Reader - Right 4 U???

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-02-08T09:44:19-08:00

There's two types of people in the world: Those who are literate, and those who ain't. People who don't spend hours reading, and those buy and INHALE books one right after the other. <-- It is this latter bunch that groks why Amazon's Kindle eBook reader gizmo is a truly tectonic shift in the world of media consumption - and know it will change their reading life forever.
2nd Generation Kindle 2 eBook Reader
For those who love to read, Amazon has added polish to an already brilliant, well conceived and designed product in the first place: Now with better display, battery-life and storage capacity.

It's an amazing electronic book gadget that avid readers have and will take to in droves. while many other's will continue to wonder what-the-fuss is all about. It's an IMPORTANT product for today and the future. But it will never be something as broadly adopted as the iPod has been. At this point the Kindle's Cellular data service keeps it largely an American US consumer product. Unlike the hundreds of CD's and music we already had that unleashed the value of an iPod immediately, a Kindle implies buying rather pricey fresh CONTENT for it from Day One - and all through its lifetime. So the Kindle will never take over the Earth like the iPod has, but it's still one of the most important technology introductions of the 21st Century.

Which do you read more from? A computer screen - or the printed page? Would you buy a Kindle? Leave a comment...

Why Apple's Apple MacBook STILL Rocks!

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-02-08T09:12:06-08:00

Apple revamped the MacBook recently, it's: Classic White MacBook
This 'Book delivers MORE VALUE in an Apple laptop than ever before - and delivers 85% of what you'd pay twice as much for getting a 'Pro' model. For about $975 shipped free from Amazon - This update delivers in spades: 2ghz Core 2 brain, LARGER 120gb drive, PLENTY OF MEMORY with 2gb RAM standard, a VASTLY BETTER GRAPHICS CHIP to please 3D gamers in particular, standard DVD-buring SuperDrive (finally!) - AND - retains the highly desirable FireWire 400 port for legacy drives, iSights and DV camcorders. In many ways it's a BETTER, MORE VERSATILE MAC than the sexier but pricier 2ghz Aluminum MacBook - for several hundred dollars less. Smart Money.

Is $999 too much to pay for a Classic 'White' Apple MacBook? Leave a comment...

I Love My EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner Improvements

MacGizmoGuy — 2009-01-31T09:11:48-08:00

ElGato Systems MacWorld 2009 Expo introduction of the revised 2009 Model 10020974 EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner Stick for Analog, HDTV and FM Radio Reception takes HDTV viewing on the Macintosh to the next level. Post Expo, these were initially ONLY available direct from ElGato's Online Store. But within a few weeks, Amazon now lists this TV tuner for Apple Mac OSX: t's available, in-stock, less than full retail, and eligible for free shipping. The best HD computer TV tuner for Mac just got better - and cheaper.

In all of MacGizmoGuy's years of Apple computer life, only a few really dramatically transformed my Mac experience. The introduction of the first iPod and iTunes was a huge shift that clearly impacted hundreds of millions of people world-wide. But it was the addition of a USB TV tuner - video capture gizmo right around the year 2000 that really changed the way I enjoy TV - Forever.

Do you own a computer TV tuner or a DVR/Tivo? Have you thought about TV on your Mac? Leave a comment...

All-In-One Printer-Fax-Scanners You Can Live With

MacGizmoGuy — 2008-12-31T22:02:35-08:00

Nearly every client of mine buys an All-In-One multifunction inkjet printer device. Which is unfortunate because some people really should just have a simple, straight-forward printer that doesn't overwhelm them. Did you know? Printing problems is the singularly most common computer problem my clients have! Printing. Multi-function devices compounds those problems exponentially.

But all-in-ones are great to have, space-saving and versatile. Unfortunately, many high-end models are over-kill and OVERWHELMING for most: With too many buttons, too many features, too complex of controls. Even those with the now-common LCD screen are a bear to navigate: "Over, over, down, right, enter, down, down, OK." All that just to get to a specific print, scan, or photo card transfer or whatnot. SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE - and the lower-cost All-In-Ones tend to be simpler, easier to use and more pleasant to live with on a day to day basis.

Tip: Do you REALLY need Fax functions? Cuz if you only send 1 or 2 faxes a YEAR -- a basic AIO without Fax functions will cost less, simplify the front panel and ease day to day operation considerably.

HP is my top-pick for any Mac user: The print quality, machine reliability, and very usable software add up to a smart buying decision. But there's a cutoff point. The easiest to use models are in the $69-129 range, and deliver the most bang for the buck without unecessary 'Buttonitis'. At the higher price tiers the complexity of Hewlett-Packard AIO's skyrockets, the number of front-panel buttons becomes easily overwhelming. So much so that video-tutorials are now built into the LCD panel.

Lexmark - is just substandard in print quality, though like HP, they use ink CARTRIDGES so you replace both the nozzles and tank at the same time. MacGizmo does like the fact that Lexmark is delivering the most affordable WIRELESS pritners and All-In-One devices that are Mac compatible; well under $100.

Brother Inkjets are tough to recommend - Their All-In-One Mac software is just VERY STRANGE and not very 'Mac-Like'. (Alothough I like Brother laser printers ALOT.)

Canon - I like Canon's product engineering. World class well-made hardware. But their Scan/Print software too is often not as Mac-Like as it should be. For years Canon used replaceable ink TANKS, but they too have switched to carts to improve consistency of output.

Epson - a tough call. I think well of Epson's scanning software. Still, I've advised so many Epson owners HOPELESSLY CLOGGED NOZZLE Epsons - to just cut your losses, throw them away after a year or two of service. Because you can easily spend another $40-60 in ink just to find out how hopelessly clogged your nozzels are. With Epson's print-head absolutely bolted to the railing, there's NO WAY to physically get at the gunked up nozzles. Give up! Surrender!

What's the BEST printer you've ever owned? Why? Leave a comment...

Why Buy Microsoft Office Mac Home Edition?

MacGizmoGuy — 2008-12-31T22:00:04-08:00

MacGizmoGuy just can't think of running his business or life without the best Productivity application suite for Mac: Microsoft's implementation of Apple's Sync Services in Entourage 2008 and 2004 enables many Macintosh folk to enjoy the benefits of iPod/iPhone synchronization, compatibility with .mac aka MobileMe services -- without having to juggle 3 separate programs that Apple Mail, AddressBook and iCal imply. With a LOW-COST so cheap it's a BARGAIN price on Microsoft Office 2008 HOME EDITION - it's a no brainer. Especially as Office's new DOCX, PPTX, and XLSX XML-based file formats take hold, Office Mac 2008 is a smart buy to stay compatible with the world's defacto-standard for business and personal correspondence.

Which Webcams Are Mac Compatible?

MacGizmoGuy — 2008-12-31T21:59:47-08:00

A rapidly emerging standard: UVC USB 2.0 Video Class Webcams which are Mac compatible - They're driverless plug and play for modern Apple computers running OS X 10.5 Leopard or 10.4 Tiger. But not all video chat webcams that are Mac friendly are identified as such, not all web cameras use UVC sensors. YET. But the standard is taking hold. So if you don't own a Mac with a built-in iSight (like a Mac Pro tower or Mac mini) -- check out the webcams for Mac link above.