Stan's List

The ML-1630 is a laser printer and the SCX-4500 is a laser print, copy and scanner. While the features are not new, the form factor is. Samsung is advertising these as the smallest printers or 3-in-1 anywhere. Also they are very quiet, only 45 db. Soft melodic low toner and paper alert tones. If you are at Macworld I suggest you stop over at booth 1237, or visit them at their web page.

I really liked this style, unlike most printers, who look like the box they came out of, this style is a new approach. The web page above has not only a picture of this printer, but some of their other printers which look like every other printer.

The new standard promises to deliver up to 4.8Gb/s, as Techworld reports. USB 3.0 would be ten times faster than 480Mb/ per second USB 2.0. That would make USB 3.0  on paper, considerably faster than FireWire 400 and 800. FireWire 1600 and 3200 standards, that have been in the works for some time, are stalled. Even though USB 3.0 is to have a speed advantage, the present and next generations of FireWire would still have an advantage of peer to peer networking, as well as its ability to communicate to digital video camera. USB 3.0 has no such abilities. More …

As USB 2.0 stated 480 Mb/s is considerably slower than FireWire 400, it would not be a surprise that FireWire 3200 (assuming 3.2 Gb/s) is equal to or faster than USB 3.0. Any possibility of testing this idea is much in doubt.

Install this software to take advantage of your aluminum Apple Keyboard’s special features. Download page.

Apple has today released Keyboard Software Update 1.1.

Install this software to use your aluminum Apple Keyboard and take advantage of the special features.

The software is necessary to have access to special function keys for Mac features such as brightness, volume, eject, play/pause, Exposé.

With all the attention on the iPhone, and previously the iPod, there was thought Apple might consider getting out of the computer business. The truth is more likely the halo effect and Apple making the Mac an excellent bargain, comparatively. Just get the consumer to think about it. The Associated Press, carried by The Arizona Republic, reports on how impressed the market is about the Mac’s contribution to the bottom line. More …

MarketWatch reports DRAM makers ramped up to meet the huge expected demand for more memory needed by Vista. Sale of Vista has been lukewarm. This has resulted in very low RAM prices, as a result of vendors having to dump their over supply. More …

Check your favorite RAM supplier, you will find prices have fallen dramatically.

TrustedReviews tests whether the high price of original manufacture is justified by comparing the output from HP, Epson, Cannon and Lexmark, by comparing original manufacturer with third party ink and paper. Paper played an important part in the results. The article is in 12 parts, with multiple ways of going forward and back. More …

Patrick McFarland,goes into great detail on CD/DVD media over at the Ad Terras Per Aspera site.

From the article: Unlike pressed CDs/DVDs, burnt CDs/DVDs can eventually fade, due to five things that affect the quality of CD media: sealing method, reflective layer, organic dye makeup, where it was manufactured, and your storage practices (please keep all media out of direct sunlight, in a nice cool dry dark place, in acid-free plastic containers; this will triple the lifetime of any media). More …

And you thought Mac Minis were just desktop computers. TechEBlog has a run down of the top 5 other uses for Apple’s low end half-cube. While most people will know about using it at a DVR perhaps you a hankering to make a mac powered robot. Or maybe that Apple tablet you have been dreaming about.

CNET has run a comparison between the 1997 Apple Newton and a modern Windows ultra mobile PC, the Samsung Q1. Remarkably, the Newton comes off as the winner. From the article: ‘An operating system designed for a desktop computer will rarely shoehorn well into a portable device, yet that is exactly what Samsung has tried to do with the Q1. Very little consideration has been given to the differing priorities of desktop and small-form computer users. Windows is a one-size-fits-all solution, whereas the Newton OS is very specifically built for the efficient use of a small screen and stylus. More …