Big PC Geek Tech Blog

When I first saw Macally’s G-S350SU, I had to have one! I am certainly not a Mac lover but I will admit, Apple is amazing when it comes to hardware design, it looks and feels like an Apple product. This little enclosure is the perfect addition for anyone’s computer but especially if you have a Mac Pro or MacBook Pro. The brushed aluminum case matches a Mac Pro perfectly and even has a cool blue led power button.

With that said, I still have good and bad to point out about the features of this drive enclosure! Not only does this drive plug in to your computer via USB, it also has an eSATA plug which will give you speeds as fast as having an internal hard drive. Seriously, if you have a computer with eSATA and transfer a lot of files, use it because the data transfer is much faster than USB. Ok now the bad… I would like a little internal fan. This drive enclosure gets a "+" because there are air holes for air flow, but a "-" because there is no fan to cool down the drive. Given the fact that most external hard drive enclosures are sealed with no air holes and no fan, this drive enclosure is still better than most. Heat is the number one reason for hard drive failure. By the way, if the eSATA part did not give it away, this drive enclosure is for SATA drives only. Overall, I feel this external hard drive enclosure is superior to most, in fact, I liked it so much I bought two. The base price for this guy is $50 but amazon.com lists it here under 3.5" Sata Case for $35 with free shipping.

MacRumors.com reported, then engadget.com followed… And now I! Yes you read it correct, it seems Apple accidentally let some future plans slip out the door. 06/10/08 is the day for iTunes 8 (which was pretty obvious), an aluminum MacBook (which I cant wait for), updates to the MacBook Pro, and a 32GB iPhone (which was only a matter of time). I really hope for the the 3G in an iPhone when the next update comes around but no mention of that. I really want higher speeds for when exchange comes out with iPhone version 2.0.

Of coarse you cannot really trust any of this but I would like to see all of this happen and Apple usually delivers what their customers want.

As far as I know, the original blog to report on this was MacRumors: http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/16/aluminum-multitouch-macbook-new-macbook-pro-and-more/ 

I take no credit for any of the info here… I am just repeating what I read.

If you own a MacBook or MacBook Pro with an Intel Processor, you know how hot it gets. Seriously, sometimes I think I could fry an egg on my MacBook Pro. I could hold my hand over the keyboard and feel the heat without even touching the laptop!

I really hate carrying around extra equipment but the other day I decided to get a dual fan notebook cooler from Coolmax. I have always known a notebook cooler would help but I literally keep checking and felt very little heat after using this device.

If you own a MacBook or MacBook Pro, I suggest you get one of these because unfortunately MacBooks get too hot. That thin form factor has it’s price. I hope the new 45nm processors found in the new notebooks are cooler. You can buy the Coolmax cooler I bought here.

Just goes to show, when I buy technology, the new model is on it’s way. Just over 30 days ago I purchased a MacBook Pro and now Apple is selling MacBooks with more Hard drive space, updated processors, and with the new touch interface. That is right! The new MacBook Pros come with the Touch interface that is the main selling part of the MacBook Air. Well, to me it is since I think the MacBook Air is pretty useless with no expandability.

Also updated: The MacBook with no touch but bigger hard drive and faster processors. There was a firmware update to the iPhone that so far from what I can tell is just for bugs and a 2GB Shuffle is available.

Most die hard Apple fanboys and girls out there already know this but for any newbs to Apple the feature that allows you to scroll in a MacBook or MacBook Pro is really cool and time saving.

All you need to do is use two fingers on the touchpad instead of one while moving them up or down. Using two fingers on the touchpad will scroll if necessary in any active window or while in safari. This is especially helpful when navigating blogs or web sites where you need to scroll up or down. As far as I know, this is a fairly new feature that works on MacBooks that are a few years old.

Disclaimer: I have not owned or seen the MacBook Air. I am basing this on the specs that have been published.

First of all, I should say that I hope I am wrong. I really want this product to succeed. I would consider the MacBook Air a "pusher." By "pusher" I mean it pushed technology. We have seen Apple push competitiveness in technology with the iPhone and I would really like to see laptops be smaller and do more. The Air is just too early before its time.

Why the MacBook Air will fail:

1. The price. I have been waiting about 3 months for MacWorld before I bought a notebook. I ended up buying a MacBook Pro because I received much more for only a little less money. I think this is too expensive for kids and just not enough stuff for business.

2. The hard drive. Did anyone notice Apple went to one of the slowest hard drives possible today. They did that for size but if I had my way, I would go 7200 rpm in my notebook. I settled for 5400 in my Pro but I would not go to 4200 in the Air. You might remember the Air is available with a solid state hard drive which would make me want the notebook but not for an extra $1,000. Yes, $1,000 extra for a 64GB solid state flash drive.

3. The Ram. The ram does not look like it is able to be upgraded. This is not good for a computer. I would argue that 2 GB of Ram is more than enough for this computer given you get a 4200 RPM hard drive but I would eventually want the ability to upgrade. Some software may eventually in the future require more than 2 GB of Ram to run smooth.

4. The Windows compatibility. This is only a suspicion because it has not been tried yet but how will Windows work on this computer. Obviously, this point is mute for most Mac Fanboys but I am a Windows user. How do I know that Windows will work at all with this new touch pad. Im sure and I hope I will be proven wrong in a few weeks after someone tries to install Windows.

5. The expandibility. I could not survive with one USB port. I suspect eventually USB will work wirelessly just as Bluetooth does now buy we are a long way off from that so I think people are going to need more than one. No express card slot. How are any businessmen going to put their wireless modems in these notebooks. Firewire. Hello! I thought Apple was big on Firewire. No Ethernet, they are really going far with this wireless thing.

So after badmouthing the Air, I would like to tell you why I hope people catch on because if people buy, it will force other manufacturers to focus on improving their technology.

1. The chip. I cant believe how small they got this thing. This may be too early but, this technology can be used to make really powerful mobile phones and smaller laptops.

2. The solid state hard drive. I can not spend $1,000 for only 64 GB. Even if it will take a beating and be faster, it is just too much money. I hope that the cost will come down as more and more companies and consumers look into solid state hard drives. These drives should help battery life too. They are just too high right now, I hope Apple succeeds and the price comes down.

3. Keyboard. Finally a ultra mobile computer with a keyboard I can type on. Screen is not too small either. Nice to see 13.3 rather than 11 or 12 inches.

4. CD Rom technology. I love the fact that you are able to borrow and Windows or Mac CD rom drive from a computer in the same network. What a smart idea but if you travel, plan ahead of time.

Conclusion: The MacBook Air is just ahead of its time. No kid want to rely on his parents computer to do anything so they are going to go with a regular MacBook over the Air because of the expansion ports and CD rom. This is most likely the same reason for business people. They are going to need a place to put their wireless modem, so they are going to opt for the MacBook Pro. To be honest, you can get a pretty good MacBook with a whole lot more features for the same price as the Air. Personally, I think if Apple could get the Air’s price point down to around $1,100, they might have another iPhone success and Im sure it costs less than that so what’s the problem? I dont know what they are thinking but I really think the price is too high for what you get. Hopefully I am wrong. I want the Air to be a success.

I just read on the blog www.appletell.com that they have a really reliable source that the Mac Book Pros will have solid state hard drives in them. I am glad I did not buy a MackBook Pro for Christmas. I have been waiting for Macworld to buy one and all the bloggers are making me think I was smart to wait.

What are solid state drives? Why is this good?

Well simple, if the hard drive in a notebook were flash memory, which has no moving parts, (the memory is stored on computer chips instead of a tradition hard drive with mechanical parts), they should be able to take a beating. Laptops have an issue of dying because if you drop one (and they are more susceptible to being dropped) you chance damaging the hard drive with all of your precious data. Your odds are much better that the drive wont break as easy with solid state. This idea suggests that the drives will last much longer but I am not sure about this since flash memory usually has a limit of read and writes, that is they might wear out sooner than the tradition hard drive.

Well either way, I cant wait to get a new laptop. I will be getting one soon and I hope to be able to try out one with solid state drives.