01/03/98 - Today's News:
- -EXCLUSIVE HOT NEWS: - A seeded developer of the new Apple Power Express G3 reports that the
system is 9600-based, includes a 275/137/1Mb Apple G3 processor card, and
DVD. The system includes MacOS 8.1, and ran flawlessly with one
exception: the Adaptec 2940UW had problems with the Apple G3 processor,
with exactly the same symptoms as have been reported with third party G3
cards.
Reportedly Adaptec is working on a flash-ROM update fix for their
cards that will allow the Adaptec SCSI cards to be 100% compatible with
the forthcoming Apple Power Express G3 systems as well as existing third
party G3 cards. For now, ATTO looks like the best choice in Ultra Wide SCSI
cards for use with G3-upgraded systems, at least until Adaptec solves their
incompatibility problems. As a 3940UW owner with Raid and a PowerForce 250, I eagerly await that update!
- -I can't say more at this time - but if you've been waiting for really affordable G3 upgrade cards, hang on a little longer. Shocking news is coming soon!
- -Connectix announces Virtual PC 2.0, due to ship next month. They claim it's 25-40% faster than version 1.0!
- -This site is now the 10th most popular Mac site on the Net, according to SiteLink's popularity list! Thank You for visiting this site daily!
Site stats show 465,000+ total page views in December, not counting the forum pages. With the forum traffic, that number may have been close to 3/4 million for one month!
- -Mac OS 8.1 upgrade and Office 98 for the Mac will be shown at Macworld, according to this C/Net article.
- -Newer Tech and Sonnet due to show new Mac Upgrades at Macworld, according to this article.
Odd how arguably the best Mac CPU upgrade maker (IMHO) so far - PowerLogix,
is rarely mentioned.
Stay tuned for a slew of new affordable PowerLogix G3 Upgrade
cards and they will have adjustable CPU speeds, unlike the competition.
- -Ken Dunnington sends us his impressions and initial MacBench graphics scores (with comparisons to his old Rage II card) scores of the new
RagePro based ATI VR video card.
Not sure what color depth or resolution he used for the MacBench test, but the comparison scores and framerates from Quake are good to know regardless.
- I've gotten a lot of mail lately about using PC version PCI cards in PCI Mac machines. This only works for
cards without a bios, like the 3dfx Voodoo1 and Voodoo2 cards and video capture cards like the Bravado 1000
(discontinued) and Miro DC 30
as far as I know. No PC 2D video cards will work, and many PC versions of the 2940 are OEM versions with no flash bios, others/retail models I've seen have a flash bios chip too small for the mac rom.
The hack of trimming the Mac Bios file or replacing the flash rom chip is not something most people can do.
BTW - if you get a Mac 2940UW, check the bios version to make sure it's 2.5, the bios rev is shown next to the card in the PowerDomain control panel window.
The floppy disk includes the 2.5 bios image and updater in most cases, and it's also available at Adaptec's FTP site.
I've updated my 2940UW page to have a permanent link to the Adaptec FTP Site as it's not easy to find now on their site.
- -Mark Hennon wrote this tale of woe regarding a NECX lost monitor shipment. Beware, my sources
say theft and damage of PC and monitor shipments are on the rise.
I can attest to a damaged PC shipment from FedEx. A PII 300 saw enough shock in shipment to dislodge the CPU cartridge and even the front case
drive bay covers, although the box showed no damage. Insure what you ship and pack it well.
- -David Kinney gave me a heads-up that Techworks has a new utility available to switch back to the 2D screen mode from a full-screen 3D
Power3d game. It's available at their software page: Software drivers page.
This may be handy in case a game locks up as well. Switching away from the 3d application should restore the 2d video screen (as ALT+TAB does in Windows 95 to switch tasks).
They also have what appears to be the standard PCI Timing Update for catalyst based machines (7200/PowerCenter/Pro) to fix the audio stuttering problem).
- -David Cain writes that his PowerCenter Pro ordered from MacBase did not include the advertised
2930U PCI SCSI card. He says MacBase told him that PowerCC forgot to include the cards in some of their
last machines and to call PowerCC for details.
(Please don't send me mail about this - contact MacBase for details as I have no other information).
I was leery of their ad awhile back that stated the PowerTower Pro's came with "fastwide" SCSI, and a reader said they told him they came with
2940UW's and Wide SCSI drives, not a standard configuration for a PowerTower Pro machine.
- -Laurent LOUIS from Paris wrote of problems he's having with his Apple G3 and USR X2 Modem. I've used my USR X2 here fine
with the 8500 and G3 upgrade cards. In anyone else out there has run this combination, please contact me with details.
- -Edward Tannouse wrote to say that his new 3DFxCool fan's attachment method
is not suited to the Apple Mac models, where there is no screw that retains the PCI Card (using plastic spring tabs instead). He found a workaround,
although a bit complicated to explain. I've asked for a photo of the final installation.
I've gotten quite a few inquiries for advertising - thanks to all companies that responded.
01/02/98 - Yesterday's News:
- -Bill Fox of MacsOnly! has notified
me that we have been selected as their "Best New Mac Web Site of the Year". The recognition will appear on
today's MacsOnly! page and then archived in an
editorial on the sidebar.
They also have a list of favorites in other categories as well. They also picked
the PowerForce 250 as their best accelerator, as I did in my Top Ten List for 1997.
- -Will somebody tell C/Net that Newer Technology is not the only vendor of G3 Upgrades
for the Mac? I wonder if their Mac news reporter even knows what's going on in the Mac world based on the errors I see in this article. They act like the 275mhz
G3 CPU is brand new for instance. They seem much more in touch with the world of Gateway 2000 machines.
- -I was sad to see that POWERtools has stopped taking new orders and has
apparently been forced out of the Mac clone business. I fail to see what
Apple has
to gain from this, or how their policies are good for the platform, market share,
developer support or customer base. I wish Victor Wong and his employees the best of luck.
I was very impressed with their XForce 250 that I reviewed last year.
- -As an experiment I swapped my Power3D card from the Mac with my
Righteous 3D (both 3dfx Voodoo 3D cards) in the PC. They worked fine of
course, but the relay switcher in the Righteous 3D seemed to have less loss on the 2d pass through video. Not a huge difference,
and the R3D's cable is much shorter and seems more heavily shielded than the
Techworks cable too.
My main reason for the swap was to see how fast I could run the Power3d card in the PC, where
I can overclock it. Since the Power3d has 35ns Dram vs 50ns on the Orchid card, I had high hopes and was not disappointed. With a fan cooling the card,
for the first time I was able to run the maximum speed the voodoo chipset supports - 63mhz! (up from the 50mhz stock speeds). With no heatsink and
only a fan blowing down the length of the card, it never got very warm at all, and much cooler than it ran without
the fan even at the stock 50mhz setting. I may just leave the Power3d in the PC since it has the faster Ram. and due to
Since there is currently no way to adjust the Mac drivers, I may as well run the slower ram speed Orchid card in the PowerCenter Pro.
I've heard rumors that Techworks may be contracting to have a Mac version of the excellent Tweek overclocking utility developed,
but that's only a rumor.
- -Greg H., a Apple G3/266 owner wrote me that he his problems overclocking the machine (random crashes/lockups) to 300mhz
were solved by replacing the Apple supplied SDRAM with quality 3rd party SDRAM. Since then he says it's been rock solid.
(Wonder how long before this story will appear on other sites as a new discovery ;^)
- -Steve Payne wrote with news of his PowerCenter 150 upgrade:
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the great site, it has been a tremendous source of
information to help guide me through my efforts to squeeze the most from
my mac. Thought you might find it interesting;
I am running a Powerlogix
PowerBoost Pro 233 in my PowerCenter 150 with
original PowerComputing 512k L2 @ 62.5/250. The machine is rock solid
stable.
Best regards for a great '98
I've been a big fan of the PowerBoost Pro 233 also since I first reviewed it.
- -Still having problem sending mail to Dan at his "@home" address.
It gets refused every time Dan - no matter what email address is used. Here is my
last answer to your questions, Dan.
None of the thousands of other mail services has this problem.
Makes me wonder if anyone is "@home"?
- -James Allworth wrote me about a new PowerBook 3400/G3 PCI Expansion Box
from Magma. The over $1000 price gave me sticker shock however,
but I did send an email to them for a review loaner.
- -Paul Bode wrote of having problems with using a wide Cheetah
drive and Adaptec 2940UW in his PowerCenter Pro 210.
Even Adaptec and Seagate
Tech Support were unable to solve the problem, and he had to get a narrow Cheetah in the end.
I know that early PowerCenter Pros came with 2940UW's standard (but with narrow drives). I'm sure I've gotten mail from PowerCenter Pro owners running the card with wide drives
but would like any PowerCenter Pro owners running the 2940UW with a wide SCSI drive to Contact Me.
- -To answer some reader mail regarding the Parallel Port
Syquest Sparq drive, it is not a SCSI drive (as is the Syjet PP model),
but a true parallel-port drive according to my Syquest contact.
- -Due to all the expenses incurred since starting the site in April of 1997,
I've reluctantly opened the site to advertising to help in site improvements and to
allow me to continue to work the 40 to 60 hours a week that is needed to answer mail
for help, testing of products, writing reviews and site maintenance.
I can assure you that my objectivity will not change - I answer only to you,
my readers. I pull no punches and have ruffled a few feathers in the past - so be it.
This site will never have the kind of reviews seen in many magazines/"big name" sites,
which are often nothing more than a press release.
I answer approximately 100 mails every day for tech support, product recommendations and troubleshooting
- always responding within 24 hours. With most of the other sites (including many manufacturers),
you might get an auto-responder. I love doing this but I have to pay the bills, and would rather allow
advertising than reduce services or cancel planned additions to the site.
I appreciate your understanding and support.
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