 |
News Archive for Monday April 6, 2009 (later items first)
Goto Current News Page
Macs | CPU Upgrades | Video | Storage | Audio | Apps/OS/Networking | FAQ | Contact
|
| iTunes 8.1.1 released |
| Haven't run software update in awhile but spotted these download pages at Apple. Here's the info from the d/l page:
"About iTunes 8.1.1 for Mac
(includes list of features from v8.1, omitted here)
iTunes 8.1.1 adds support for renting HD movies and provides a number of bug fixes, including addressing issues with VoiceOver and syncing with iPhone or iPod touch."
Here's the download pages for Mac and Windows: (download button goes to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/)
I've not installed 8.1.1 yet but will later today or tomorrow from the D/L updater.
(FYI - although I and some other readers had no problems playing back very large MP3 files in iTunes 8.1, the reader that did wrote 8.1.1 fixed that problem on his mac. Also had a G5 tower owner say it solved problems he had burning audio CDs in iTunes 8.1)
|
| Return to Accelerate Your Mac! | Top |
|
| 2009 Mac Pro w/OCZ Vertex SATA II 120GB SSD Drive Benchmarks |
| (from a reader mail sunday/reply to 2009 Mac Pro/Intel X-25M SSD report in Friday's news)
(comments updated)
"I bought an OCZ Vertex SATA II 120GB SSD and installed it in my 2009 Mac Pro (Quad-core 2.66GHz) on Friday.
Here are my Xbench 1.3 disk test results with SSD Vertext HD:
(For the record I asked if this was his Boot HD and how much used/free space on it)
This is my bootdrive. I have about 60GB free on it. I had installed Bootcamp on it but I decided to remove that partition becuase I'd rather have the space free for my Mac. I believe I had written to most of the drive at one time or another before I made that video.
(FYI - not that Xbench is a great disk benchmark but as with some other SSDs, some XB rates shown exceed the mfr's ratings for the model (i.e. OCZ Vertex SATA II 120GB SSD page) although they used other platforms/other benchmarks and note YMMV.)
System Version 10.5.6 (9G3553)
Physical RAM 8192 MB
Model MacPro4,1
Drive Type OCZ-VERTEX 1275
Disk Test 276.06
Sequential 234.92
Uncached Write 434.07 - 266.51 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 354.39 - 200.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 105.31 - 30.82 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 415.71 - 208.93 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 334.66
Uncached Write 117.09 - 12.39 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 624.19 - 199.83 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 2897.42 - 20.53 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 682.86 - 126.71 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Here's a link to my full Xbench scores from the day I got the 2009 Mac Pro with the OEM HDD installed:
2009 Mac Pro Quad-core 2.66GHz vs (late 2004) G5 Dual 2GHz Tower.
Note I did not run the Xbench graphics tests because they crash my new Mac Pro even without an SSD. (w/Base GT120 graphics card? Regardless, XBench's graphics tests are not very stressful - the OpenGL test for instance is just a 'spinning squares' test.)
Also, here's a link to a youtube video of my Mac opening multiple programs with the SSD. (The launcher I use in the video is Dragthing.) It's amazingly fast.
-Tom H."
Update - On April 13th Tom sent a follow-up report with tests after more usage (and TRIM), notes on a firmware update from OCZ for the drive and a plans for an OS X TRIM tool. |
| Return to Accelerate Your Mac! | Top |
|
|
= From my Site Sponsor (April 6, 2009) =
Another round of Garage Sale / Clearance Deal listings added. With a new month now turned, new listings added. Currently over 100 new and updated deals for the taking. End of life, discontinued, damaged box, open box, one-of-a-kind, Apple trade ins, Refurb, etc. These deals are limited to the stock on hand and provided on a first come, first served basis. Items marked with a '(*)' at the front of their listings are definitely for online ordering/web ordering only. Get there sooner for the best choice of goods. (Items below available as of appx noon ET).
Video related - Media players/EyeTV tuners/Turbo.264. (ATI Radeon 3870 512MB PCIe for Mac Pro - $199)
40 different model 2.5" & 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosures from $25. USB2, FW400, FW800, and/or eSATA interface options!
3.5" IDE/ATA & SATA Hard Drives 250GB and up to 1.0TB from $45.00
WD 160GB 3.5" IDE/ATA HD, Preformatted for Mac (New w/3yr warranty) - $39.99
2.5" Hard Drives 80GB and up to 250GB from $29.25
G4 Processor upgrades up to 1.4GHz starting from $8.99 and up to G4/1.7GHz
SATA, IDE/ATA and SAS / RAID Controller Cards for Mac from $16.75 (w/some PCMCIA, Express/34 cards)
802.11n Wireless Adapters, Routers & Antennas from $39.75
1GB memory modules DDR2/DDR3 for MacBook/MacBook Pros, iMacs, Mac Minis as low as $9.50
Mac Pro & Xserve FBDimms - 2GB kit (2x1GB) 800MHz and 667MHz FBDIMMs - 1GB Kits from $20.00, 2GB kits from $48.25
These are just some of the deals you'll find in various categories - use the filters on the left of the clearance page to see if there's a deal in a category you may be looking for.
|
| Return to Accelerate Your Mac! | Top |
|
| VLC media player 0.9.9a |
| Yesterday www.videolan.org posted VLC Media Player 0.9.9a:
"VLC media player 0.9.9a for Mac OS X (2009-04-05)
This update is Mac OS X only. It fixes VLC's behaviour on PowerPC-based Macs and includes updated libraries for all Mac OS X platforms.
In order to take full advantage of VLC 0.9.9's features, including native Real Video playback, we recommend all Mac users to update to this new release.
Due to a lack of active Mac OS X developers, these issues remained unnoticed for the last release. We are sorry for the noise and are looking for enthusiastic Mac developers to help and support us."
|
| Return to Accelerate Your Mac! | Top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
OWC XYM SPECIALS!
(Ad/Sale Items)
= UPGRADES by Model =
Upgrades for YOUR Mac!
= Refurb Mac Pros =
(Click for Current List)
= SSDs up to 4TB =
SSDs for Most Macs!
= ThunderBolt =
Drives, Docks & More
= HARD DRIVES =
Up to 12 TB HDD
HGST, WD, Seagate, Toshiba
= 2.5" HDs & DIY Kits =
Notebook Hard Drives and DIY drive/case kit bundles
= MEMORY =
Lifetime warranty RAM Upgrades!
= OPTICAL DRIVES =
Internal and External Superdrives/Blu-Ray drives
= VIDEO / DISPLAY =
Graphics cards, Displays, Adapters, Cables & more
= AUDIO ITEMS =
Interfaces, Cables, Software, Speakers, Headphones & more
= SOFTWARE =
Apps, Utilities, OS, VM, Games and more
= WIRELESS =
WiFi and Bluetooth Devices/Adapters/More
= Repair Service =
for iPhone, iPad, Macs
= iPad/iPhone/iPod =
Accessories, Cases, Docks & More
|  |
