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'Book Mystique Mailbag - Friday, January 18, 2008

Friday, January 18, 2008

by Charles W. Moore

'Book Mystique Mailbag

MacBook Air
Re: Hotrodded Pismo Or Newer Refurb. 'Book - Which Makes Better Economic Sense?
Overheating Pismo Powerbook
Re: iCab 4.0: The iCab Web Browser Is Back!

MacBook Air

From John Konopka

I think you were too harsh in the review. This is not intended to be a lightweight version of the MacBook Pro. It is a different category. It is for people with modest computing needs who don't want to carry around a heavier, larger laptop. There are a bunch of these machines sold in Japan. The MBA fits into this category rather well. It is a bit heavier than the standard small laptop but it has better specs and costs less. Take a look at dynamism.com for comparisons.

I used to see this kind of machine often in Japan. Executives would carry them around all day and use them as oversized PDAs that could also run a spreadsheet, check email and could be connected to a projector to deliver a presentation. For these purposes the MBA is probably overpowered. For a student this could be a great machine. Just enough to carry from class to class and take notes.

I think it will sell well outside of the geek community.

Best Regards,
John Konopka

Hi John;

Thanks for your comment.

My column wasn't a review, but some general early days impressions based on poring over the MacBook Air spec. sheets and reflecting a bit.

Those of us who were hoping for a subnotebook that was a real computer like the 12" PowerBook was feel really let down, but you're probably right, and there maybe is a market for a machine like this. My initial reaction to the iPod was something like "whaaaaaaat!?" and we all know how that turned out. It will be fascinating to see whether there are enough enterprise execs and other serious road warriors out there who are willing to buy an expensive, features and connectivity crippled, and likely short-lived computer for the convenience of a thin, light form factor.

My computing needs and tastes are not everyone's computing needs and tastes. I pretty much concur with The Apple Core's Jason O' Grady in his profile of likely MacBook Air buyer demographics
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1200

Rich executives
Early adopters
Showoffs, braggarts, "first on their block" types Trustafarians
Trendy people
People who need a second machine
People that travel at least 5 days per week, less than 4 hours away

Uhhh.... if the shoe fits....

Seriously, if someone fits into one of thise categories, more power to them and If substantial numbers of buyers determine that the MacBook Air meets their requirements in a lightweight computer, then good on Apple, and of course the MacBook and MacBook Pro are still excellent choices for users who want more power, connectivity, capacity and expandability in a notebook. However, that still leaves those of us who would prefer those qualities in a smaller form factor out in the cold, and my guess is that the likelihood of Apple coming out with a more conventional subnotebook are now very slim indeed, and that a substantial proportion of potential Apple subnotebook buyers will now resign themselves to getting a Windows or Linux laptop.

Another concern I have is whether the MacBook Air constitutes a bellwether as to the direction Apple will go in notebook design, even with the larger MacBooks and professional modes in the future. From my perspective, for reasons outlined above, Apple notebooks are already thinner than is desirable. Will the obsession with extreme thinness continue across the MacBook family with future form factor revisions. I profoundly hope not, but it's not a very lively hope, alas.

Charles

Re: Hotrodded Pismo Or Newer Refurb. 'Book - Which Makes Better Economic Sense?

From John Black

Hi, Charles,

It's hard to believe 2008 is upon us. December 13, 2007, was special to me because it marked one year since I had prostate surgery here in Nashville. My prostate was cancerous, so we decided to take the most direct approach and simply have it removed. By God's grace, I'm healthier now than I've been in a long time.

More on the subject at hand, I've found that there are less expensive ways to upgrade my Pismo. There's no way around the cost of G4 upgrades and some of the other options you listed, but hard drives, memory, and batteries can be had at better prices.

For example, I found several months ago at NewEgg.com a Seagate 40GB 2.5" ATA HD to replace my little 6GB model. The 40GB model was on sale at the time for $39.95 delivered. OWC has good prices on RAM. Right now 256MB DIMMs are $21.97, and 512MB units are $57.95. There might even be better prices than that at other online memory sources. Intelligentbatteries.com has new Pismo batteries for $80.00; again, shopping around might produce better prices.

So, while upgrading an old laptop has to be done carefully, if on a budget, it can be done for a good deal less than what Wegener might charge.

John Black

Hi John;

Thanks for the tips on budget Pismo upgrading. The RAM I have in one of my Pismos is from OWC, and I've found they consistently have among the lowest prices and I've never had any toruble with their RAM, which is more than I can say for some "name brand" examples.

And if a 40 GB drive is adequate for your needs, at $39.95 go for it! I'm finding the 40 GB unit in my older Pismo a bit cramped theese days, and even the 80 GB in my 17" PowerBook is filling up fast. I have a 100 GB Seagate in the "newer" Pismo and it still has plenty of free space.

Charles

Overheating Pismo Powerbook

From Keith Smith

I just read your article about notebook temperature problems, but was especially interested in the part where you describe how the cooling fan runs frequently on your upgraded Pismo. I too, have had that problem recently and in fact "Googled" the subject and so found your article.Ê

Not only my Pismo, but one in use by a grandson, a daughter, a son-in-law and my wife all have been afflicted by this same phenomenon, though only mine, and my grandson's Pismos have the G4 upgrade. The others, except for my wife's, are all running G3, 500 MHZ processors, using Tiger as the operating system. Hers runs Panther, but still has had issues with heat.Ê

Solution? Simple, for me. Allow the laptop to sit booted up, over night! I left mine booted up accidently, and suddenly the fan didn't come on anymore, and it didn't get too hot on its underside, as it had previously. Apparently OS X needs to do its "administration" activity periodically, to keep things sorted out, and avoid excessive processor load. That most often occurs, I'm told, at about 3:00 AM. Other times too, apparently, but that time for sure. I haven't had issues with our desktops, because they are never shut down, except for times when we leave for several days.Ê

It's a cheap solution if it works for you, and I suspect it will.

Regards,
Keith Smith

Hi Mr. Smith;

That must have been an old article of mine. I did have a problem with my Pismo fan running more frequently than I like back in '05 after I upgraded the system to OS 10.4. The cure proved to be installing Daystar's modified EMI shield cover plate with a copper contact pad soldered on instead of the OEM plastic contact pad. The fan has not spun up even once since I put the modified part in. I expect it would help with the stock G3 processor as well. Actually, my Pismo ran hotter with the 500 MHz G3 than it does with the G4.

You are correct that the BSD Unix cron system maintenance script routines are programmed to run in the wee hours of the AM, and don't get run on computers that get shut down for the night. However, any of the dozen or so system maintenance utilities available such as OnyX (my personal favorite, and it's freeware), Cocktail, Mac Pilot, and a bunch of others can be used to manually toggle these scripts at any time you find convenient, and do a lot of other useful things besides.

Charles

Re:Overheating Pismo Powerbook

From Keith Smith

Thanks, Charles, for the reply and the information. I have Cocktail on board, but haven't used it. I'll give that a shot. Thanks also for the info about the heat shield. I'll have to go to DayStar and see about that. However, since I let my Pismo run admin, the fan hasn't run even one time, despite heavy use. One thing is for sure, when it was running frequently, it sure gobbled up battery reserves.Ê

Very best regards,
Keith

Re: iCab 4.0: The iCab Web Browser Is Back!

From Andrew Main

Charles,

I too was sorry to hear of the abandonment of Netscape; I was happy to discover the new v.9 some months back, which somehow felt more polished than Firefox. And it was so neat to see the Netscape icon in the Dock. I was even tempted to move it up to take Camino's place as my #2. Oh well. I gather there are "themes" for Firefox which Netscape-ize it; haven't tried any.

As for iCab, it was my favorite browser the last couple years in OS 9, after Netscape 4.x fell too far behind (and later versions were disastrous -- though recently I figured out how to install the browser only of Netscape 7 in OS 9). I even bought a license for iCab.

Unfortunately, iCab wasn't quick enough with an OS X version when I moved to 10.2, so I switched to Chimera (now Camino) and then to Safari, which I'm used to now (and figure I should be familiar with, since it's what nearly all my clients use). I did use iCab to make Web archives, until Safari learned how. So I've downloaded new versions of iCab as they've appeared, and try it out now and then, keep it around also as a 3rd or 4th backup for troublesome sites.

But I'm afraid the new v.4 isn't likely to become my #1 browser. I don't have enough experience with v.3 or even v.2.9.9 in OS X to judge its speed; but one thing I really DON'T like is the new icon. The Taxicab was really cute, different, distinctive. The new one is -- what? What is it, anyway? It wouldn't be a bad icon, if what it replaced weren't so great. But I can't figure out what it's supposed to be. Nor do I particularly care.

Also, the new buttons for the toolbar are needlessly bulky, make it taller than necessary. I prefer to maximize viewing area, so generally minimize stuff at the top, keeping only basics like address blank, search blank, forward, back and refresh buttons; but for some reason the new buttons are extra big (especially the refresh), I dunno why.

And your article reminded me of something: The "little animated cartoon taxicab driving through the window blowing puffs of cartoon smoke". I looked, and it wasn't in v.3.0.5 either. So I downloaded v.2.9.9, and it isn't there either. So I downloaded the classic version of 2.9.9, and it isn't there either. When did it disappear? It was cute!

The rest of the interface improvements you discuss don't make much difference to me; but then I haven't been a regular user anyway.

Sure, I remember RAM Doubler, though I really have no use for it anymore on my 512MB 'Pismo' PowerBook. Still have it on my PowerBook 1400, though. I recently discovered that it doesn't work in the last version or two of OS 9: I tried using it, but (after a good deal of struggle) found it to be incompatible with the Startup Disk control panel; I could find no workaround.

As for the business model, you're probably right: Why pay for iCab when so many great browsers are free? But I dunno what else they could do; Opera supports itself on bundling fees with cell phones and the like, I think. I'm happy I paid for iCab back in the day, it was definitely worth it, and worth supporting. But now it's a niche, which will continue to shrink.

I'm happy iCab is still maintained (at least for now) for OS 9, as I do use it there now and then. But, despite its undoubted improvements, iCab 4 has actually lost its most charming feature for me: the taxicab, both icon and animated version in the windowframe. It was cute enough in the Dock to make me want to see it there now and then, just for fun. Maybe not any more.

Andrew

Hi Andrew;

In a postscript to Tommy Thomas's article about iCab 4 on Low End Mac yesterday, publisher Dan Knight noted:

"The last version of iCab for Mac OS 7.5 through 8.1 and 680x0-based Macs, 2.9.9b, was last updated in May 2006, as was vesion 2.9.9a for PowerPC Macs, which works all the way up through Mac OS 9.2.2 (including Classic mode). ...

iCab 2.x was the last version to display the taxicab, which goes for a drive while pages are loading. iCab 3 came with a new interface and good support for Cascading Style Sheets.

You can read the full article here:
http://lowendmac.com/thomas/08tt/icab-drops-classic-mac-os.html

Charles

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