News Archive for: Wednesday February 28, 2007 (Light today)
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Unofficial DST Workaround for Mac Entourage X
Microsoft has stopped updating Mac Office X now but Matthew sent a link to a site with an Unofficial DST Workaround for Entourage X. (See notes there for details.)

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Service Bulletin regarding Mac Pro 802.11n card Kits in 'unsupported' Macs
Last night I was told that a service bulletin was sent to Apple dealers/service providers on Monday saying the Mac Pro Airport Extreme (N compatible) card kit was "not supported" in any other products than the Mac Pro and iMac late 2006 models (except 1.83GHz model) and "could cause damage" in other models. The bulletin said to avoid any warranty exceptions, they should not install the card in other than those "supported" models. Most Apple retail stores would not sell the Mac Pro kit to end users previously (although some did) so most readers bought the kit from dealers on the web. (One reader said the kit was available from some CompUSA retail stores, but they did not sell it online.)
There are probably thousands of Core Duo MacBook/MacBook Pro, Core Duo iMac and Mini owners that have installed the card in the last week or so - so far no "damage" reports. (The Core2 Duo MacBook/MacBook Pros reportedly use an Atheros chip based card with 3 antenna connections (vs 2 in Core Duos) and I have not had anyone say they were able to buy that card so the Mac Pro kit card became the popular choice for those wanting to upgrade their Core Duo Macs.)

Just posting as a FYI for those that already did the swap to keep your original AE card around in case you ever need your Mac serviced under warranty, as they may check that now. (I've added this note as a CYA to the Macbook pro card swap article here also.)

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Reminder on Seagate 7200.10/7200.9 power use and External Cases
This came up before but I'd almost forgot about it until a reader recently asked why Transintl noted not using Seagate drives in their miniG cases (at least the 4 drive model). They replied with a reminder about the power specs on the Seagate 7200.10 and 7200.9 series drives (not checked their other series)

" Hi Mike, we do not recommend Seagate drives in the miniG four drive enclosure only because as you know Seagate drives take 2.8amps to spin up (7200.10/7200.9 specs PDF shows max 12VDC @2.8A (+/-10%)) and the power supply of the miniG is not designed to support such power requirement. The MiniG one & two drive enclosures work fine with Seagate drives.
Regards, Mike
Transintl.com "

Since he said that one or two of those drives were ok with the MiniG enclosure kit, I asked him if their specs page needed updating/correcting as it currently lists: "External Power Supply: 29W, 12V 1.8A, 5V 1.5A". (The 7200.10/.9 drives note 12V/2.8A max (+/-10%) - so even one of them would exceed that rating. 33.6W, assuming 2.8A/12VDC).
It's a good idea to check the specs on any case you have also, as some of the older single drive Firewire cases I have came with an AC adapter that is spec'd at 2A max. (I'm sure some others are higher rated but just a FYI to check this if you're planning to use those drives.)

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Other News/Misc. Software Updates
(Updated 7:15PM eastern time)

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Recent Articles and Reviews
Listing/links to recent articles and reviews you may have missed.
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MacBook Upgrades


OWC SPECIALS!
(see full list)

= MEMORY =
4GB (2x2GB) Kit for Unibody MacBook/Pros $95

4GB (2x2GB) Mac Pro RAM (800MHz) $105

4GB (2x2GB) Mac Pro RAM (667MHz) $92.50

4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400 for 2008 iMacs $50

4GB (2x2GB) PC2-5300 SODIMMs $49

2GB PC2-5300 SODIMM $24.75

1GB DDR400 DIMMs $29.25

512MB PC-133 SDRAM $30.75

= WIRELESS =
802.11N/g/b PCI, PCMCIA or USB adapters under $50
802.11N/G/B Router $65

= TV TUNERS/DVR =
EyeTV 250+ w/clear QAM $130

= CPU UPGRADES =
7448 2.0GHz $375

OWC G4 1.4GHz w/2MB L3 $215

7447A 1.6GHz $215

G3 1GHz ZIF upgrade $99.75

= HARD DRIVES =
500GB 7200rpm/16MB cache $59.99

WD 640GB 7200rpm/16MB Cache $69.50

1TB SATA HDs from $107.75

1.5TB Seagate HD $162.50

EliteAL eSATA/FW800/400/USB 2.0 Case Kit w/SW $75

1TB EliteAL FW/USB 2.0 $179

1TB EliteAL SATA/FW800/400/USB2 $217.50

= NOTEBOOK HDs =
500GB WD Scorpio + USB 2.0 Case Kit $147.50

250GB 7200rpm Notebook HD + USB 2.0 Case kit $112.75

320GB/7200RPM/16MB cache $107.50

200GB/7200RPM/16MB cache $67.50

= GRAPHICS CARDS =
ATI HD 3870 PCIe $217.99

ATI 9800 Pro AGP $205

ATI 9600 Mac/PC AGP $189.99

= SOFTWARE =
Prosoft Data Rescue II $57.50

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