Mel's Macintosh Universe

2011 MacBook Pro – 13 inch

macprohawaii — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:15:13 +0000

MacBook Pro 13 inch Laptop Complements Other Modern Macs

The MacBook Pro with the 2.3 ghz Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5 processor is a fast little notebook that greatly compliments my slightly older, 2009 MacBook Pro which I love using. Essentially the 15 inch MacBook Pro is my stay at home desktop model (I find it too cumbersome to take around all the time) – while my new 13 inch MacBook Pro is my travel nearly everywhere laptop.

The computer has all the ports and connections you’d expect from a MacBook Pro and runs all of the software I use on my 15 inch MacBook Pro with that familiar “ease of use” that goes with every Apple product.

The 13 inch MacBook Pro is a great compliment to my older MacBook Pro. Document exchange is seamless through my wired network, wifi or the cloud. Just like my 15 inch MacBook Pro, this one excels at all the tasks I throw at it including desktop publishing, photo editing, website building and maintenance, audio and video editing, word processing, research, entertainment and more. It currently runs Apple’s OSX Snow Leopard (10.6.8) operating system and is ready for Lion (Mac OSX 10.7.x).

This Mac is used for nearly everything that I use my 15 inch MacBook Pro for. Web content management, desktop publishing projects, word processing, music management, photo and movie editing plus more. Often this Mac is used at places other than my primary home based work location. It’s a great take anywhere computer with all the bells and whistles of bigger Macs.

This MacBook Pro 13 inch has the Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 2.3 ghz, 4GB of ram and a L2 / L3 cache. Ports include Thunderbolt, Ethernet 10/100/gigabit, Firewire 800 port, 2 USB ports, 1 SD card slot and an audio in/out port. It runs Mac OSX 10.6.6 and higher and has built-in Wireless WiFi and Bluetooth.

At the time of purchase I considered the current 11 inch MacBook Air and this 13 inch MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is larger and heavier than the MacBook Air. I chose this because of the ports, the processor, DVD R/W drive, the amount of RAM built in and the speed. The MacBook Air does not have an ethernet port or an optical drive. I still need those things.

The MacBook Pro has all the ports + a DVD R/W optical drive. You don’t get as much with the MacBook Air.

You can’t go wrong with the 13 inch MacBook Pro as either your primary computer or a compliment to any other modern Mac that you already own.

On the road with my MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard 10.6.7. It has been upgraded to 10.6.8. I may update to Lion 10.7.x at a later date.

Low End Mac: MacBook Pro (Early 2011)
Every Mac : MacBook Pro (2011)
Apple: MacBook Pro User Manual

Specs from EveryMac.com

EveryMac.com specs. Please note that EveryMac.com is not affiliated with this website.

Introduction Date:

February 24, 2011

Discontinued Date:

N/A

Details:

The “Introduction Date” refers to the date a model was introduced via press release. The “Discontinued Date” refers to the date a model either was replaced by a subsequent system or production otherwise ended.

Also see: All Macs introduced in
2011.

Processors:

1 (2 Cores)

Geekbench:

5917/6448*

Details:

*This number is an average of Geekbench 2 results as submitted to the Geekbench

website for the stock configuration. Individual user-submitted benchmarks can vary widely, but an average nevertheless can be useful to get a general idea of the relative performance of different Macs. You also might be interested in
combing through all Geekbench user-submissions for Macs with the MacBookPro8,1 Model Identifier, which may include

multiple models.

To dynamically compare Geekbench results from different Macs side-by-side, please see EveryMac.com’s

Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Processor Speed:

2.3 GHz

Processor Type:

Core i5 (I5-2415M)

Details:

This model is powered by a 32 nm, 64-bit Intel Mobile Core i5 “Sandy Bridge” (I5-2415M) processor which includes two independent processor “cores” on a single silicon chip. Each core has a dedicated 256k level 2 cache, shares 3 MB of level 3 cache, and has an integrated memory controller (dual channel).

This system also supports “Turbo Boost 2.0″ — which “automatically increases the speed of the active cores” to improve performance when needed — and “Hyper Threading” — which allows the system to recognize four “virtual cores” or “threads.”

Also see: How fast are the “Early 2011″ 13-Inch, 15-Inch, and 17-Inch MacBook Pro models compared to one another? How fast are they compared to the models each replaced?

Custom Speeds:

N/A

Processor Architecture:

64-Bit

Details:

N/A

Processor Upgrade:

Soldered

FPU:

Integrated

Details:

Also see: Can you upgrade the processor in the “Unibody” MacBook Pro?

System Bus Speed:

5 GT/s*

Cache Bus Speed:

2.3 GHz (Built-in)

Details:

*This system has a “Direct Media Interface” (DMI) that “connects between the processor and chipset” in lieu of a traditional system bus. Intel reports that it runs at 5 GT/s.

ROM/Firmware Type:

EFI

EFI Architecture:

64-Bit

Details:

N/A

L1 Cache:

32k/32k x2

L2/L3 Cache:

256k x 2, 3 MB

Details:

Each core has its own dedicated 256k level 2 cache and the system has 3 MB of shared level 3 cache.

RAM Type:

PC3-10600 DDR3

Min. RAM Speed:

1333 MHz

Details:

Supports 1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM.

Also see: How do you upgrade the RAM in the “Early 2011″ 13-Inch, 15-Inch, and 17-Inch MacBook Pro models? How much RAM of what type do they support?

Standard RAM:

4 GB

Maximum RAM:

16 GB*

Details:

4 GB of RAM is installed as two 2 GB modules, no slots free.

*Apple officially supports a maximum of 8 GB of RAM, but as first confirmed by site sponsor OWC, this model actually is capable of using up to 16 GB of RAM with two 8 GB memory modules.

Other World Computing sells MacBook Pro memory, as well as hard drives, batteries, carrying cases, and accessories.

Also see:

Actual Max RAM of All G3 & Later Macs.

Motherboard RAM:

None

RAM Slots:

Details:

N/A

Video Card:

Intel HD Graphics 3000

VRAM Type:

Integrated

Details:

This model has an Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor that shares memory with the system.

Also see: What type of video processor is provided by the “Unibody” MacBook Pro models? Is it upgradable? Which models have “dedicated” and “integrated” video memory?

Standard VRAM:

384 MB

Maximum VRAM:

384 MB

Details:

Apple reports that “memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 384 MB”.

Built in Display:

13.3″ Widescreen

Native Resolution:

1280×800

Details:

13.3″ color widescreen LED-backlit TFT active-matrix “glossy” display with a 1280 by 800 native resolution.

Apple reports that this system also supports “1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched”

Site sponsor Mission Repair offers free diagnosis of MacBook Pro hardware problems and a 24-hour repair service for this MacBook Pro. Display repacement, keyboard replacement, a hard drive upgrade service, and more are provided.

2nd Display Support:

Dual/Mirroring

2nd Max. Resolution:

2560×1600

Details:

The maximum resolution supported on an external display is 2560×1600.

Also see: Are there any adapters or “hacks” that make it possible to connect a second external display to a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air model?

Standard Hard Drive:

320 GB (5400 RPM)

Int. HD Interface:

Serial ATA (6 Gb/s)

Details:

By custom configuration, this model can be equipped with a 500 GB or 750 GB Serial ATA hard drive for an additional US$50 or US$150, respectively. It also can be configured with a 128 GB, 256 GB, or 512 GB SSD for an additional US$250, US$650, or US$1250, respectively.

Also see: How do you upgrade the hard drive in the “Early 2011″ 13-Inch, 15-Inch, and 17-Inch MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo models? What type of hard drive do these models support? Can one replace the hard drive with an SSD?

Standard Optical:

8X DL “SuperDrive”

Standard Disk:

None

Details:

Apple reports that this slot-loading “SuperDrive” (DVDR DL/DVDRW/CD-RW) has a maxium write speed of “8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW” and a maximum read speed of “8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, and DVD+RW; 24x CD”.

Standard Modem:

None

Standard Ethernet:

10/100/1000Base-T

Details:

N/A

Standard AirPort:

802.11a/b/g/n (450 Mbit*)

Standard Bluetooth:

2.1+EDR

Details:

AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR standard.

Also see: What is 802.11n? How is it different from 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a?

USB Ports:

2 (2.0)

Firewire Ports:

1 (800)

Details:

Two 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports, one 800-Mbps Firewire “800″ port.

Also see: Complete Ports.

Expansion Slots:

SDXC Card Slot

Expansion Bays:

None

Details:

This model has an SDXC card slot. No expansion bays are provided.

Incl. Keyboard:

Full-size

Incl. Input:

Trackpad (Inertial)

Details:

Apple reports that the backlit integrated keyboard has “78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted “T” arrangement).”

The glass multi-touch trackpad supports “inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities”.

Case Type:

Notebook

Form Factor:

MacBook (Unibody)

Details:

This MacBook Pro uses a black and silver “unibody” case design milled from a single piece of aluminum with a “catchless” magnetic latch.

Apple Order No:

MC700LL/A

Apple Subfamily:

Early 2011 13″

Details:

The Apple order number should be unique to this system.

Apple Model No:

A1278

Model ID:

MacBookPro8,1

Details:

*Please note that these identifiers commonly refer to more than one model. In this case, please also note that the EMC number is not externally listed on the notebook so it cannot be used readily for identification.

Also see: All Macs with the
A1278 Model Number, the
2351* EMC Number, and the
MacBookPro8,1 Model Identifier.

For more about these identifiers and how to locate them on each Mac, please refer to EveryMac.com’s Mac Identification section.

Battery Type:

63.5 W h Li-Poly

Battery Life:

7 Hours

Details:

Apple reports that this model has a “63.5-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery” that provides “up to 7 hours of wireless web” use.

Also see: What is the “real-world” battery life of the “Early 2011″ 13-Inch, 15-Inch, and 17-Inch MacBook Pro models? How does the battery life of each compare to the model each replaced?

Pre-Installed MacOS:

X 10.6.6 (10J3210)

Maximum MacOS:

Current

Details:

This system fully supports the current version of OS X 10.7 “Lion.” Please note that OS X Lion is not capable of running Mac OS X apps originally written for the PowerPC processor as it does not support the “Rosetta” environment.

Minimum Windows:

7 (32-Bit)*

Maximum Windows:

7 (64-Bit)*

Details:

*Apple’s Boot Camp provided with Mac OS X 10.6.6, which was pre-installed on this Mac, does not formally support versions of Windows earlier than Windows 7.

Also see: Which Intel Macs are capable of booting the 32-Bit and 64-Bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7? Which are supported by Apple’s Boot Camp?

MacOS 9 Support:

None

Windows Support:

Boot/Virtualization

Details:

Also see: Are there any third-party programs to run MacOS 9/Classic applications on Intel Macs?

Site sponsor OHS specializes in heavily upgraded Macs capable of running both MacOS X and MacOS 9 applications.

For more on running Windows on Intel Macs, please refer to the exhaustive Windows on Mac Q&A.

Dimensions:

0.95 x 12.78 x 8.94

Avg. Weight:

4.5 lbs (2.04 kg)

Details:

In inches while closed – height by width by depth, (2.41 cm, 32.5 cm, 22.7 cm).

Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011

macprohawaii — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:54:50 +0000

Forever Steve, Forever Apple. Thank You.

Apple Store Ala Moana. The light is off. Photo by Ryan Ozawa.

http://www.apple.com

My Life With Apple’s Products

1979: I recall using an Apple II computer to draw and do some work in college.
1982: Saw the LISA computer in Time Magazine. I wanted one.
1988: Borrowed a Mac Plus computer from my friend Ron. I wanted one.
1988: Bought Mac Plus computer for $2200 with external floppy drive and Imagewriter II printer.
1988: Learned Ready-Set-Go and Aldus Pagemaker 2.0. Bought 45 MB Ehman hard drive.
1988: First went online with 1200 baud modem: ZTerm. BBS services. GEnie
1989: Used Mac SE at the advertising agency I worked for. Pagemaker 3.0 Adobe Illustrator 88
1990: Upgraded Mac Plus from System 4.2 to System 6.08.
1992: Bought Mac IIsi for $3500. 4 megs ram, 80 MB hard drive. Pagemaker 4.2. System 7.1
1995: Got dial-up internet access. Created my first websites.
1997: Bought PowerCenter 150 Mac Clone. Steve Jobs returns to Apple, kills clones.
1997: Ran Mac OS 7.6.1, Mac OS 8.1, BeOS 2.5 on PowerCenter 150 clone.
2001: Bought Apple Power Mac G4 Tower. 733 mhz. 1.25 GB ram. 2 internal hard drives.
2001: Dual boot. Mac OS9 Mac OSX on G4 tower. Used mostly OS9.
2001: Bought my first digital camera – Sony Cybershot P50.
2002: Acquired friend’s older Power Mac 9500.
2003: Got used Powerbook 3400 laptop. Ran Mac OS 8.6 on it.
2003: Used mostly Mac OSX 10.3.9. by this time. Most work done with Mac OSX.
2003: Canon 300D Rebel DSLR camera.
2004: Finally got broadband internet access.
2004: Bought my first songs from Apple iTunes Store.
2004: Bought used Apple iBook 700 G3 laptop.
2005: Bought iPod Photo 40GB music player.
2006: Bought 3 1st generation iPod Shuffles. Gave one away for Christmas.
2007: Bought green iPod Nano at close-out sale.
2009: Bought 15 inch MacBook Pro laptop computer. 2.8 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo. 4GB ram.
2010: Pages, WordPress, Expression Engine, Blogger, Google Documents, Reader, Map, more.
2010: Ran Mac OSX 10.6.4 and Ubuntu Linux 10.4 in virtualization on MacBook Pro.
2010: Bought Apple iPod Touch 64 GB. Ran apps and more apps. Music, videos, pictures, more.
2011: Bought MacBook Pro 13 inch laptop. Intel Core I5, 2.3 GHz. 4GB ram.
2011: Decided to stay with Mac OSX 10.6.8 Snow Leopard on both MacBook Pros for now.
2011: Adobe InDesign 5.5., Pages, iPhoto, iMovie, Chrome, Angry Birds, Spotify, more.
2011: Canon 600D Rebel DSLR camera.
2012: MacBook Air? iPad 3? Lion?

Thanks for the great products Steve. They helped make work and life better even when those products that were not Apple’s still ran smoothly on an Apple platform.

Apple iPod Touch 4th Generation

macprohawaii — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:16:00 +0000

The 4th generation Apple iPod Touch is a wonderful computer, internet communications device, camera, music player and more. I bought the iPod Touch last October shortly after it came out.

This is the 4th in a series of iPod Touch devices that Apple has released. They are expected to release a new one sometime this month (September 2011).

The Apple iPod Touch was introduced in 2007. From its inception the iPod Touch always featured the multi-touch interface, where users tapped or made gestures directly on the display glass as it is done to this very day. The initial models came with 128MB of RAM in configurations of 8, 16 and 32 GB of storage memory. Wi-Fi internet access is a standard feature on every generation of iPod Touch.

The big news for the 4th generation iPod Touch were added features that includes both a front-facing and rear-facing camera. The front-facing camera supports FaceTime and other conferencing applications such as Skype that allow users to see each other when conducting voice communications through a wi-fi connection. The two cameras can also be used for still pictures and hi-res video (back facing camera only).

What I love about the 4th generation iPod Touch is that it can run nearly all of the applications that are available for Apple’s iPhone. The best thing about the iPod Touch is that it has no cell phone function which means no monthly bills, no contracts of any type, and no one calling you while you have the device in your pocket. And because it is not a cell phone, there is no GPS location feature to track you, though it has a location feature that is tied into WiFi (which can be turned off).

Some people would call those items negatives, but because I am one of the few people in this world who do not like cell phones, the iPod Touch comes in as a great alternative to a cell phone. It is not a cell phone. It is a little computer.

And what it lacks in cell phone capability more than makes up with the huge number of apps that are available for the iPod Touch. You can do everything on the iPod Touch from using it as a notepad, keeping your contact list organized, calendering, taking still photos with the built in cameras, making movies, viewing movies and other video content, reading books and magazines, and much more. Since this is an iPod it also does what every iPod can do… play music and other audio content. There are literally too many things to list of what the iPod Touch can do. The best thing for me to do on this blog, will be to highlight and review some of my favorite apps that is available for the iPod Touch.

About the only negative I can see for the iPod Touch is that many of the apps depend on internet connectivity. If you are in an area where there are no or very little available wi-fi hotspots, you may find yourself limited by what you can do with some of the apps. I will be covering this issue as I review apps for the iPod Touch.

Like the iPhone and iPad, apps, music and video are installed into the iPod Touch through Apple’s iTunes media player and online store application that runs on both the Mac and PC. This applies to all iPod Touches that run using versions of iOS up to 4.3. In iOS 5, all of Apple’s iDevices (iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone) will be free of the iTunes tether, though I suspect it could still remain as an option.

Ideally the iPod Touch is best suited if you have a home and work environment high speed wireless wi-fi network.

I will be writing more about the iPod Touch, its functions and apps.

Additional Links

Specs & Review iPod Touch 4th generation - EveryMac.com

Apple iPod Touch 4th Generation – KenRockwell.com (photographer)

Vintage iPods Still Rock

macprohawaii — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:28:18 +0000

My collection of vintage iPods stand currently at 5. From left to right is the 4th generation white 40GB iPod Photo model, the pink 4GB iPod Mini, the green 4GB iPod Nano (2nd generation) and first generation, gum stick sized iPod Shuffle(512 MB model). I have 2 of the same iPod Shuffles.

So far all of these iPods are still supported by Apple’s iTunes software that runs on my 2 Intel Macs as well as earlier versions (going back to iTunes 4.7) on my Power PC Macs. Both the iPod Photo and iPod Mini support Firewire and USB 2 file synchronization. The iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle can only be synched with USB 2.

Here is a quick breakdown of each vintage iPod.

iPod Photo 40 GB

I bought this iPod brand new on a close-out from a local retailer in early 2005. This was the first iPod that I added to my collection. This is known as the 4th generation in a long line of classic iPod devices that were first introduced in late 2001. Like the original iPod and its predecessors leading up to this model, the iPod Photo 40 GB utilizes a built in hard drive in which the user can store files, photographs and music.

According to EveryMac.com, this iPod was one of the first to feature a full color LCD screen. It allows the user to view photographs and artwork of albums that are being played from audio files. The 40GB iPod can hold up to about 7,500 audio files or songs. It supports several digital audio formats including Apple’s Purchased and Protected AAC file format, MP3, WAV, Apple Lossless, AIFF and Audible.

Complete specifications for this model can be found at EveryMac.com.

The iPod Photo is superb performer. More than 6 years after purchase it still runs like a champ and holds on to battery life for quite long. More so I use this iPod in a fashion that keeps it connected to its dock and my home stereo system. It like most other iPods is ideal to just leave on and let the music run all day. The device supports all playlists that you create through iTunes and can randomly shuffle songs and other audio content.

The dock allows the iPod to be connected back to a Mac (through either Firewire or USB2 interfaces) to allow for synchronization of audio and photographic content. You can also use this device as another storage medium, though I rarely use that option. The iPod can also be connected to a television set. This allows the user to look at photographic slideshows or individual pictures one at the time.

More information on the iPod Photo

2nd Generation iPod Nano

The second generation, 4GB iPod Nano is a flash memory based audio device that like the iPod Photo, can be used to listen to audio content and view photographs. This is my go anywhere iPod that I use at work, in my car and anywhere else where I want to listen to audio content.

The 4GB flash memory based iPod Nano still offers great battery life more than 4 years after I bought it brand new on discount. This iPod is used to play most of my most recently acquired music and can hold a selected portion of my iTunes library up to about 700 so so songs. It supports playlists, shuffling, album artwork display, photo library and the usual variety of audio file formats including MP3, AAC, Apple’s Purchased AAC, Apple’s old Protected AAC and audible among others. The device has been in use since my Power Macintosh’s G4 days with iTunes 4.7 all the way up my current MacBook Pro’s version of iTunes 10.3.x.

The use of this iPod and others in the car involves connecting it to an audio transmitter that runs the audio through an FM frequency on my car radio. You can see it in action below:

The audio transmitter can be used to play content from any iPod and other portable music device that features a standard 1/8 inch headphone jack.

4GB iPod Mini

I bought this pink iPod Mini from a thrift store in 2009 for about $30. It’s an old trooper much like the iPod Nano (see above). The major difference noting the fact that the iPod Nano did succeed the iPod Mini is that the mini features a monochrome LCD display and cannot show any color of photographic content. The main function of the old mini is to just play back audio content — music, speeches, audio books, that kind of stuff.

That said, the iPod Mini supports most of the popular audio file types including MP3, AAC and more. The Mini can still be synched with version 10.3.x of iTunes. It works when connected to either my Power Mac G4 tower or any of my 2 MacBook Pros.

Battery life is not very good with this old device. I am lucky to get about 2 hours of playing time before the battery needs to be recharged.

1st Generation iPod Shuffle

I have two of these. I love the gum stick size and design. Click wheel. On-off switch. Shuffle play all the time. The 2 512MB models I have can hold up to 7 hours worth of music and/or audio content. Usually about 74 contemporary songs or about 120 shorter songs which usually means “oldies”.

The iPod Shuffle like all shuffles and Nano’s made feature flash memory. This makes both great go anywhere iPods that I use when I go on walks, driving my car or just simply waiting at places such as airports. Great music player. Convenient portability. Affordable prices.

The downside for me on the iPod Shuffle is that the devices are easily misplaced. I misplaced one of these for 11 months. When I found it in a nook under my car seat, it still played fine without a recharge to the battery. Currently I am down to one of these devices as I have again misplaced the other now for about 6 weeks.

The Click Wheel Interface

Apple introduced the “click wheel” interface for the iPod upon the release of the 1st model in 2001. I think the click wheel is the best device for all of the iPods that are dedicated for playing audio, photographic and video content only. The big thing for me about the click wheel is that the controls are tactile and can be easily manipulated without actually looking at the device. This is great when you use the device while driving. Not that I recommend this, but when I am on the road behind the wheel of my vehicle, I can reach down on the seat beside me and skip or repeat songs, adjust the volume even while I drive and not look at the device. You can’t do that with the all glass touch interface of the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad or the new iPod Nano. Click wheel rules. I hope Apple keeps a click wheel iPod in its line-up for years to come.

2009 MacBook Pro 15 inch Laptop

macprohawaii — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:22:47 +0000

The mid 2009 MacBook Pro, 15 inch laptop is one of two MacBook Pro’s that I own. This one was bought in December 2009 and is currently running Mac OSX 10.6.7 (Snow Leopard). It’s a great computer that is used to run Adobe InDesign, Apple’s Pages and Numbers, the Apple iWork suite, a number of web browsers including Safari, Firefox, Camino, Google Chrome, Omni Web and Opera. This Mac runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.8 ghz. It has a 500 GB internal hard drive, 4 GB of memory, Firewire 800 port, 2 USB 2 ports, audio in and out ports, SD card slot, eithernet port, airport wifi wireless, bluetooth, built in iSight camera, and more. Complete specs can be found at this website:

EveryMac.com – MacBook Pro (mid 2009)

Mac OSX Snow Leopard version 10.6.3

I’ve also run this MacBook Pro off an external firewire hard drive with another copy of OSX “Snow Leopard” that also runs Ubundu Linux within the Sun Microsystems’ Virtual Box environment. Pretty neat stuff.

I plan to upgrade this Mac to OSX 10.7 “Lion”. There will be more on this when the time comes.

ADDITONAL PHOTOS

The built in keyboard has built in back lighting. Nice.

Most of the time this MacBook Pro is used on its riser with an old external, full size Power Mac keyboard and Magic Mouse connected to it.

Ethernet, USB and external speaker cable plugged in.

I reluctantly have to run MS Office 2008 (Mac version) on this to ensure compatibility with other users and clients.

The Apple Remote is nice to have when I use this Mac to watch movies and listen to music.

2 of my iPods next to my MacBook Pro.

15 inch MacBook Pro laptop computer runs Mac OSX.

Playing the Ubuntu Linux version of MahJong in full screen mode within Sun’s Virtual Box.

SCREENSHOTS

Mac OSX “Snow Leopard” with multiple volumes plus network to Power Mac G4.

Mac OSX “Snow Leopard” with Babylon 5 wallpaper.

Logged into Skype and SDF Unix using the Mac OSX terminal.

Mac OSX – Editing a sound file with Twisted Wave.

Mac OSX – Running 2 miniVMac emulators at the same time. Both running Apple Macintosh System 6 for the Mac Plus… both with the same 40 MB Mac Plus hard drive volume. Ridiculous but fun.

Running Ubuntu Linux in Sun Virtual Box on top of Mac OSX.

Ubuntu Linux on Mac OSX (via Sun Virtual Box).

Full screen of Ubuntu Linux 10.04 in Virtual Box on top of Mac OSX.

Running a live CD of the BeOS like “Haiku” operating system. Scary.

Power Macintosh G4 700 “Quicksilver”

macprohawaii — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:03:24 +0000

The Power Macintosh G4 700 “Quicksilver” tower is the last desktop Mac that I bought. This one was acquired brand new with an inkjet printer back in August 2001 for $1699. Today the computer is worth about $250 with its monitor, keyboard and internal components. I still do some work on this computer, usually when I want to go into the Mac OS9 environment through the Mac OSX emulator. It boots into Mac OS 9.2.1, Mac OSX 10.3.9 and Mac OSX 10.4.11.

Here are more details on this Mac as originally published on Mel’s Macintosh Universe at headgap.com:

Power Macintosh G4

I bought a Power Macintosh G4 733 Quicksilver in October 2001. After Apple killed off Power Computing in 1997, I had vowed not to buy a new Apple ever.

Times have changed, and I decided to buy this Mac in order to get the best of both worlds. This means owning a Mac that can dual boot into OSX as well as OS 9. This Power Mac definitely fit my requirements.

Apple has long ago replaced this Mac with generations of more powerful G4 models that were also succeeded by the Power Mac G5 and now the newer Intel based Macintoshes. While the race for bigger, faster and better continues, my Quicksilver is fast enough to adequately do all the work I throw at it on a daily basis.

The Power Macintosh G4 733 Quicksilver is a G4 based desktop mini tower computer. The first G4s were introduced in 1999. The Quicksilver models were the 3rd generation in a long line of G4 towers.

This G4 is compatible with most of the software that I ran on my Powercenter 150. Thankfully this is a Mac, and a lot of my older files can be opened and updated with my G4. Some old programs can run in OS 9.2, which came with the G4.

Mac OSX, Version 10.3.9 (Panther) is my current, primary OS that I work with on the G4. It is used about 95% of the time the G4 is running. The G4 wakes up to OSX and sleeps with OSX running.

OSX is great for all of the basic computing tasks, such as keeping track of my simple database files in AppleWorks, text editing with a myriad of tools that includes AppleWorks, BBEdit Lite (yes, I have one of the last versions of this that can run on OSX), TextEdit Plus, and more. All of my internet tasks are done using OS X. This includes everyting from website creation and maintenance to web browsing, email and running multimedia programs. OSX and its suite of iApps are great for creating Photo Slideshows (iPhoto, iMovie) and digital music jukeboxes (iTunes).

About the only area which I have not fully adapted to OSX is desktop publishing. I am a die hard Adobe Pagemaker 6.5 user and the only thing this program can run on is OS 9.2 or earlier. Because several of my clients still use older Macs and the same or older versions of Pagemaker, and the fact we often exchange files, the necessity of using OS 9x with Pagemaker makes this G4 an essential part to my computing needs.

The Power Mac G4 had to be upgraded a few times since it came to my home office in 2001. First I bought a 2nd IBM Deskbar 40 gig hard drive to run OSX with. The original hard drive that shipped with the G4 was erased shortly after and used for Mac OS 9.2 and related files. In March of 2002, that drive died and was replaced with a Western Digital 40GB drive. OS 9.2.2. was loaded with files and applications restored from CD back-ups that I maintain.

The current state (as of June 2006) of my Power Mac G4 733 is as follows:

MEL’S POWER MACINTOSH G4 733 “Quicksilver”

HARDWARE

Apple Power Macintosh G4 733 computer
Power PC G4 chip @ 733 mhz
Apple 15″ Color Display (flat screen monitor)
NVDA GeForce2MX Video Card
1.12 GB Ram (expandable to 1.5 GB)
Internal ATA Hard Drive #1: Western Digital 41 GB
Internal ATA Hard Drive #2: IBM 41 GB
Mac OSX Leopard Internal ATA CD RW Drive: Lite-On 12102C
Built in ethernet 10 mps
Power Mac G4 Internal 56K Modem v.90
Apple Extended USB Keyboard
Apple Optical USB Mouse
2 USB 1 Ports
2 USB 2 Ports (PCI add on card)
1 Firewire Port
4 PCI Slots
External Firewire LaCie 120GB Hard Drive
External Firewire LaCie 160GB Hard Drive (for photo storage)
Exernal Firewire LaCie 200GB hard Drive (for music/sound file storage)
Adaptec 2906 SCSI Card
Iomega 250MB Zip Drive (SCSI)

USB HUB ITEMS

Apple iPod Shuffle USB Dock
MacMice USB Microphone
SmartDisk 1.4MB Floppy Drive
Griffin iMic Analog to Digital Audio input/output device
Sandisk 4 in one Memory Card Reader
Lexmark Z53 Color Inkjet Printer
Power Sentry USB Hub

SELECTED SOFTWARE

Apple Macintosh System 9.2.2 (HD #1)
Apple Macintosh System OSX v.10.4.11 (HD #1)
Apple Macintosh System OSX v.10.3.9 (HD #2)
Safari 1.4 Web Browser
Firefox 1.5.4 Web Browser
Apple Terminal
Eudora 5.1 for OS9
iTunes 4.9
iLife Suite
AppleWorks 6.2
Adobe Pagemaker 6.5.2 (OS 9)
Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0 (OS 9)
Quicktime 6.3
Amadeus Sound Creation Software
Optima Pagespinner 4.5
Optima Pagespinner 4.0 (OS 9)
BBEdit Lite 6.1
Final Vinyl 1.0 for Griffin iMic
Mini vMac Macintosh Plus emulator (Running System 6)
and more

MORE SPECS From EveryMac.com

EveryMac.com specs on this Mac are provided below courtesy of the site’s Embed Specs feature. Please note that EveryMac.comis not affiliated with this website.

Introduction Date:

July 18, 2001

Discontinued Date:

January 28, 2002

Details:

Processor Speed:

733 MHz

Processor Type:

PowerPC 7450 (G4)

Details:

The PowerPC G4 includes the AltiVec “Velocity Engine” vector processor.

Processors:

Geekbench:

372

Details:

*This number is an average of Geekbench 2 results as submitted to the Geekbench

website for the stock configuration. Individual user-submitted benchmarks can vary widely, but an average nevertheless can be useful to get a general idea of the relative performance of different Macs. You also might be interested in
combing through all Geekbench user-submissions for Macs with the PowerMac3,5 Model Identifier, which may include

multiple models.To dynamically compare Geekbench results from different Macs side-by-side, please see EveryMac.com’s

Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Processor Upgrade:

AGP G4 Daughtercard

FPU:

Integrated

Details:

The Power Macintosh G4 (Quicksilver) models have the processor mounted on a custom 300-pin daughtercard.

System Bus Speed:

133 MHz

Cache Bus Speed:

733 MHz (Built-in)

Details:

This system has a 256k “on chip” level 2 cache running at processor speed. Unlike the other Power Macintosh G4 “Quicksilver” models, this model does not have a level 3 cache.

ROM/Firmware Type:

Open Firmware

‘ROM/Firmware Size’:

1 MB

Details:

Boot ROM and around 1 MB, other instructions are loaded into RAM (NewWorld).

L1 Cache:

64k

L2/L3 Cache:

256k (on chip)

Details:

This system has a 256k “on chip” level 2 cache running at processor speed. Unlike the other Power Macintosh G4 “Quicksilver” models, this model does not have a level 3 cache.

RAM Type:

PC133 SDRAM

Min. RAM Speed:

133 MHz

Details:

Supports 133 MHz PC133 SDRAM (3.3v, noninterleaved, 64-bit-wide, 168-pin). Apple also noted that this model has “full 128-bit internal memory data paths”.

Standard RAM:

128 MB

Maximum RAM:

1.5 GB

Details:

Site sponsor Other World Computingsells Power Macintosh G4 processors and memory, as well as hard drives, accessories, and other upgrades.Also see:

Actual Max RAM of All G3 & Later Macs.

Motherboard RAM:

None

RAM Slots:

Details:

N/A

Video Card:

GeForce2 MX*

VRAM Type:

SDRAM*

Details:

*By default, this model has a NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics card with 32 MB of SDRAM. It also could be configured at the time of purchase with a NVIDIA GeForce3 graphics card with 64 MB of DDR RAM. The video card occupies a 4X AGP slot.

Standard VRAM:

32 MB

Maximum VRAM:

32 MB*

Details:

32 MB SDRAM provided by default NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics card. It also could be configured at the time of purchase with a NVIDIA GeForce3 graphics card with 64 MB of DDR RAM.

Display Support:

Single Display

Resolution Support:

1920×1200

Details:

Apple advertised that this system can support “up to 1920 by 1200 pixel resolution at 32 bits per pixel (millions of colors)”.

2nd Display Support:

None

2nd Max. Resolution:

N/A

Details:

N/A

Standard Hard Drive:

40 GB (5400 RPM)

Int. HD Interface:

Ultra ATA/66 (ATA-5)

Details:

Can officially support two Ultra ATA/66 hard drives on the original bus (more drives can be supported with a third-party controller PCI card). Officially, drives larger than 128 GB are not supported. However, third-parties have discovered that this system will natively support hard drives larger than 128 GB, when running MacOS X 10.2 or higher.Ultra ATA/100 hard drives are backwards compatible with the Ultra ATA/66 standard.It also could be configured with up to three 10,000 RPM Ultra160 SCSI drives at the time of purchase, or one Ultra ATA/66 and two Ultra160 SCSI drives, as build-to-order options.

Standard Optical:

12X CD-RW

Standard Disk:

None*

Details:

Apple reported that the 12X CD-RW drive “writes CD-R at 12X, writes CD-RW at 10X, and reads CD at 32X”. It uses a EIDE (ATA-3) bus.*An internal Zip 250 drive was available build-to-order.

Standard Modem:

56k v.90

Standard Ethernet:

10/100/1000Base-T

Details:

Internal modem and 10/100/1000Base-T (Gigabit) Ethernet standard.

Standard AirPort:

802.11b (Optional)

Standard Bluetooth:

None

Details:

AirPort (802.11b) was available as a build-to-order addition.

USB Ports:

2 (1.1)

Firewire Ports:

2 (400)

Details:

USB 1.1 ports are dual channel.Also see: Complete Ports.

Expansion Slots:

4 PCI*, AP

Expansion Bays:

5 3.5″

Details:

*In the default configuration, this model has four open 33 MHz 64-bit PCI slots, and a 4X AGP slot occupied by the graphics card. It also has an open AirPort (802.11b) expansion slot.It has five 3.5″ drive bays (four are internal and intended for hard drives, and one is external and intended for a Zip 250 drive). With a single hard drive and no Zip drive installed, three internal 3.5″ bays and the external 3.5″ bay are free. The system also has an external 5.25″ drive bay occupied by the optical drive.

Incl. Keyboard:

Apple Pro Keyboard

Incl. Input:

Apple Pro Mouse

Details:

N/A

Case Type:

Tower

Form Factor:

Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver)

Details:

Apple Order No:

M8359LL/A

Apple Subfamily:

Quicksilver

Details:

The Apple order number should be unique to this system.

Apple Model No:

M8493

Model ID:

PowerMac3,5

Details:

Please note that these identifiers refer to more than one model.Also see: All Macs with the
M8493 Model Number, the
1896 EMC Number, and the
PowerMac3,5 Model Identifier.

For more about these identifiers and how to locate them on each Mac, please refer to EveryMac.com’s Mac Identification section.

Pre-Installed MacOS:

9.2, X 10.0.4

Maximum MacOS:

X 10.4.11

Details:

This system cannot run versions of MacOS X more recent than 10.4.11.

MacOS 9 Support:

Boot/Classic Mode

Windows Support:

Emulation Only

Details:

This Power Macintosh G4 model is capable of booting MacOS 9 and using MacOS 9 applications within the MacOS X “Classic” environment.Site sponsor OHS specializes in heavily upgraded Macs capable of running both MacOS X and MacOS 9 applications.

Dimensions:

17.0 x 8.9 x 18.4

Avg. Weight:

31.0 lbs. (14.1 kg)

Details:

In inches – height by width by depth, (43.2 cm, 22.6 cm, 46.7 cm).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Mac OSX 10.4.11 desktop with PowerComputing wallpaper.

Rear deck of the Power Mac G4 tower.

The Power Mac G4 “Quicksilver” case is one of the most beautiful produced by Apple.

Video input card, USB 2 adapter, SCSI adapter in rear of G4 tower.

AppleWorks 6.2 CD that I installed on the G4. Can run in OS 9 and OSX. (Power PC only)

Inside the Power Macintosh G4 – CD RW drive.

Inside the Power Mac G4 – motherboard, PCI slots, RAM, G4 CPU

Inside the Power Mac G4 – 2 internal hard drives to the right.

Power Macintosh iBook 700

macprohawaii — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:13:05 +0000

Apple Macintosh iBook 700 G3 laptop

Up until late this year, the Apple Power Macintosh iBook 700 G3 was and to a lesser degree still is my “road warrior” on-the-go laptop. It is being replaced later this year (2010) or early next year with a possible purchase of an 11 inch MacBook Air. I’ve been actively using this old iBook 700 since at least 2005… so that is about 5 years. If I am not mistaken this computer was introduced by Apple in mid 2002, making it 8 years old today.

The iBook is a capable G3 based, 700 mhz computer. It is good for doing all of the basic stuff I did with the Powerbook 3400 and more. The iBook is used to run word processing programs in Word and AppleWorks. It is dual booting, with both OSX 10.4.11 as well as OS 9.2.1.

Being a big Adobe Pagemaker fan, I occasionally use it to run Pagemaker on its 9.2 partition. Pagemaker is about the only time I use the iBook in OS 9.2 mode or through emulation within OSX’s “Classic Mode”.

All other programs I run in OSX. These include the following:

iTunes: Good for listening to my 500 or so songs that I keep on the iBook. I used to download the free Apple track of the week with iTunes until it was no longer supported on old versions of the program. While iTunes 7.6 is not supported by the Apple iTunes store, you can still use it on this computer to listen to music, slowly synch songs with an iPod (USB 1.0 or Firewire), listen to podcasts or streaming radio. You can do some video on this old G3 laptop, but I would not recommend it.

iPhoto and Image Capture: Use these 2 programs for image storage and editing whenever I am on the road (which is not too often). These came in very handy while I was recently on the Big Island of Hawaii. Synchs with the 3 digital cameras that I own. iPhoto is pretty good for making slideshows and photo album webpages.

I am not the biggest Microsoft Word fan around. However the iBook can handle Word which is part of the Office 2004 series. This comes in handy when I have to exchange files with the PCs I have to use at work. Word 2004 can only save and open with the staandard, old .doc format and not .docx.

One of the best things about this iBook is that it has a built in Airport wireless card. This means I can access the internet wherever there may be a wi-fi access point or “hotspot”. Comes in handy when I am on the road. The iBook is also connected to my ethernet network at home where I now have broadband access. I have used it in the past for dial-up access when neither broadband or wifi was available.

There is more I could write about the iBook, but this gives you a brief idea of what you can do with this elderly old Macintosh.

Current Use (as of October 2011)

The iBook is now being used as a radio streaming device – mainly streaming radio stations from iTunes. Works just fine with my broadband connection. The iBook is also used for faxing and logging into an old Telefinder BBS system (Headgap.com) with Mac OS9.2.1 in “classic mode”. I can also still do word processing with MS Word (in OSX) or Write-Now (in OS9.2.1). I also use this on occasion to login to my Unix account (SDF.org) with the terminal program.

Quick Specs:

Model: iBook
CPU Type: Power PC 750 (G3)
CPU Speed: 700 mhz
L2 Cache: 512 KB
Memory: 640 MB
Bus Speed: 100 mhz
Bus: ATA-4
Hard Drive: Toshiba MK4019
Hard Drive Size: 40 GB
Optical Drive: Sony CD RW / DVD
System Software: Mac OS X 10.4.11
System Software: Mac OS 9.2.1
Dual Booting System
Network: Built-in Ethernet, Airport, Internal Modem

More Photos

How About a Game of Stratego?

One of my favorite Macintosh System 6 (or lower) games of all time, it’s the old Stratego game that MB stopped the developer of this version from upgrading. The game is kind of lame since the human beats the computer about 99% of the time. I still find it fun though as I have saved at least 25 battlefield lineups. Good way to pass a few minutes of time on the old system.

This System 6 game is running on top of the mini vMac emulator program which is running System 6.08 and a full 40 MB Mac Plus virtual hard drive full of stuff.

The mini vMac emulator can also run System 7.01, which I should try if I can find my original System 7 diskettes.

Shown running on mini VMac in my iBook 700 which is running on top of Mac OSX 10.4.11.

Another shot of miniVmac running System 6.08.

My iBook 700 when it was running Mac OS X 10.3.9. I took the photo of the Thunderbirds jet.