Stan's List

AVC and Antig Technology will demo a production-ready fuel cell for laptops next week on CeBIT trade show. According to PC Magazine, ‘the CD-ROM size fuel cell will fit within the media bay of a notebook PC, replacing the drive with additional battery power.’ The fuel cell battery will last 8 hours. More …

The recent cancellation of the PowerBook G4/15″ model in the wake of MacBook Pro shipments might give an indication of how PowerPC-based Macs have been selling during the Intel switch, as Macworld UK notes.

The article notes analyst Keith Bachman, who employs NPD data which suggests Apple’s January Mac sales grew – but not by much, year-over-year, in 2006. Instead of the 20-something per cent unit growth figures to which we’ve become accustomed each quarter, the NPD data indicates Apple’s Mac unit sales increased by only 6 per cent in January. Revenue is estimated to have swelled by a mere 1 per cent over the same period.

The Mac Observer reports that the 15-inch PowerBook G4 has quietly disappeared from Apple’s retail Web site, leaving only the 12-inch and 17-inch models. “The two remaining PowerPC-based PowerBooks still show a 24 hour ship time, just as the 15-inch model did on earlier this week. Apple previously phased out the 17-inch iMac G5 in a similar fashion.” More.

AppleInsider sources say inventory is limited. A usual sign of an announcement soon More…

Apple has posted information about the PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.67/1.5GHz) Memory Slot Repair Extension Program. Repair is indicated when a qualifying PowerBook exhibits one of the following symptoms:

*The computer does not start up; instead, there are three short beeps (typically) followed by the the sleep LED flashing periodically.

*When both SO-DIMM memory slots are filled (populated), only one slot’s memory is recognized.

*System performance may be degraded because the memory in only one slot is not recognized.

Important: These symptoms may only occur intermittently.

The affected PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.67/1.5GHz) computers have eleven-digit serial numbers in this range:

W8503xxxxxx through W8518xxxxxx

The proof is starting to come in.

MacBidouille reports that the MacBook Pro is a quick machine in real-world testing, and this is without optimization of OS X for Intel.

A poster on AppleInsider forums reported their results. Encoding an audio track to AAC (a processor-intensive task) using iTunes saw the MacBook compress at 20x, a G5 Dual 2.0GHz (the original highline PM G5) at 25x and an AlumBook at 15x.

The MacBook could also play 720p and 1080p video at full speed, without dropping frames, something an AlumBook, which played the clip at 8fps, could not do.

MacBook Pro is “Up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4. Eight times the graphics bandwidth. With built-in iSight for instant video conferencing on the move. And Front Row with Apple Remote to dazzle everyone in the room.”

Apple’s price is $1999 for a 1.67GHz MacBook, shipping in February, with 512MB of RAM, or $2499 for a 1.833GHz model with 1 GB of RAM. Apple is taking orders today, Apple states availability in February.

MacInTouch: “We asked an Apple representative about booting Windows on Apple’s new Intel Macs, and this was the reply: ‘Probably you could boot Windows, but we don’t support that.’”

Favorite feature is, with the magnetic power connector. You can not pull the laptop onto the floor when you trip over the power cord.

I want one.

MacInTouch has published an extensive survey (10,627) of Mac portable reliability and service patterns. Here’s a snapshot of the numbers they’re reporting:

• Overall average: 41% repaired (lifetime)

• Most-reliable—Original (colored) iBooks, PowerBook G3, 12-inch PowerBook (‘05), recent 12-inch iBooks

•Most-troublesome—iBook G3 (especially ‘03 models), 15-inch TiBook, 15-inch Al-Book G4 (first version)

Digitimes reports that Asustek Computer will have a 12 inch laptop that will join with Sony, Toshiba and Fujitsu LED notebooks as the fourth to do so. The LED displays have major advantages in weight and power usage with a slight increase in cost over the LCD displays

Frequently asked questions about viewing and syncing video with iTunes and iPod

How to set the screen contrast on iPod

iSync 2: How to set up a USB Palm OS device to sync with your computer

DVD: More memory recommended for encoding HDV

iDVD: Make sure you have enough drive space for OneStep DVD

Using Restore discs with computers that ship with Mac OS X 10.3.4 through 10.3.7

Mac OS X 10.4: Error -8058, unable to eject when trying to copy a disc in Finder. Use Disk Utiltity.

Mac OS X 10.4 – 10.4.2: Cannot adjust display brightness or resolution on PowerBook