Computer
Connections
June’03

by Lloyd Prezant

• Apple’s Quicktime 
• Update
• Future Mac
• Graphics Card
• Extreme processor
• upgrade
• Photoshop no 9 support
• LCD at $990 (projector)
• CardBus comes to us
• iMovie plug-in play
• Bluetooth USB for
• you and me

May ’03 Edition

Lloyd Prezant is a NYC computer consultant who
buys and sells recent
used Mac computers and
their peripherals. Call him
at (718) 548-1623.

Apple’s QuickTime Update
Apple has an update online for QuickTime. If you are running OS X, download the current version 6.3. It's almost 20 MB large, so give it some time if you are still 56K modem equipped. The rest of us will probably blink by the time it downloads. This version has bug fixes to the MPEG-4 streaming, resident in QuickTime 6. Users of OS 9.2 or earlier should be at version 6.0.2, and Windows users at version 6.1 www.apple.com/quicktime/download

Future Mac Graphics Card
ATI Technologies Inc. has delivered their Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card for the PC. A Mac version is in the works. What we can expect for our Mac platform is: 256 MB of Double Data Rate-2 memory, 256-Bit memory interface and eight pipelines. This is a fast mutha! The graphics card industry is highly influenced by video game requirements, as well as graphics programs. Some of the game titles that this card is designed for are: Unreal 2, Doom 3 and Half Life 2. It's a power hungry card, so it taps into the hard drive power supply of a PC. No time frame or specs were released for the Macintosh version, but it will be made in the near future. For those who own a PC as well as a Mac (come on now, we all have to use a PC at some point in our lives), the price for blazing graphics is $499, list. For more info - www.ati.com.

Extreme processor upgrade
Other World Computing announces its first processor upgrade. Called the Mercury Extreme, it has: a PowerPC G4 1.33 GHZ chip, 256 KB of L2 cache and 2 MB of DDR L3 RAM running at 267 MHZ. This card replaces the factory Apple G4 daughter card so it doesn't steal a PCI slot. On the card is a large heat sink and a super-quiet cooling fan. Compatibility spans these Mac models: Sawtooth, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, Quicksilver and Quicksilver 2002 Power Mac G4 Macs. OS requirements are 9.2.1 or higher. Priced at $579.99 list, it's a quick speed boost for an older, slower Mac. I wouldn't recommend spending that money on a very recent Mac. But for a 400MHZ box, it would make quite a difference! Order it from www.macsales.com.

Photoshop no 9 support
Adobe's Photoshop will cease to support Mac OS 9 in their next major version expected to be available by the fall of 2003. Adobe maintains that OS X is the future of Mac computing. While the current Photoshop 7 will run on OS 9.1, users desirous of the latest version will have to be running OS 10.2 or higher. This comes on the heels of Apple announcing that their fall roll out of new Mac models won't boot up into OS 9 anymore. Get the picture? Slowly but surely we are being forced to embrace OS X, not only by developers but Apple itself. Adobe claims costs are too high to maintain two OS design groups for software development and support. Other software manufacturers are expected to follow suit. Get used to it! www.adobe.com

LCD at $990 (projector)
Epson has introduced the PowerLite S1 - their first under $1,000 digital projector. Its features are: 1,200 ANSI lumens, 400:1 contrast ratio, 800 x 600 (SVGA) resolution, weighs seven pounds and a lamp that goes 2,000 hours and costs only $199 to replace. It will project a 60 inch image from 50 inches away from the screen. A monitor-out connector allows users to view the projector output on a separate display device. Newly designed menus allow various adjustments including Keystone correction up to 15 degrees. There are component video input jacks and 16:9 wide format video can be displayed. All for $999. This is a must have for the small A/V department or company. Enthusiasts may also want to pick one up at this price. It beats watching your 27" TV. Project a beautiful image on your wall. Note - the 800 x 600 resolution is not the usual 1024 x 768 used in laptop presentations, nor is it close to Hi-Definition resolution. But for standard TV definition viewing or low-res presentations, it's bargain priced! (I use a $4,000 projector at work, and it costs $600 to replace the 1,000 hour lamp!) www.epson.com

CardBus comes to us
FireWireDirect.com offers its FireWire 800/1394b CardBus Adapter. This is a two-port PCMCIA card that works in the slots resident in PowerBook G4's and other laptop computers with that slot. This adapter has a nine-pin FireWire 800 port and a six-pin FireWire 400 port that allows connecting new double bandwidth drives and the older FireWire drives to the card. Each of the two ports can handle over 60 devices. Normally, attaching a FireWire 400 device slows the FireWire 800 device's speed. That's why there are two ports - separate bus, no slowdown! Price to you is $94.95. Order from - www.FireWireDirect.com.

iMovie plug-in play
Stupendous Software LLC presents their Big & Bold Plug-In Pack for iMovie. Inside this pack, you will find 40 titles, graphical elements and new motions you can add to your iMovie projects. To use this pack, have iMovie version 2.1.1 or later and OS 9 or later. Free to current registered owners of Stupendous Bundle (a $200 assortment of 347 effects and titles and 13 iMovie packs), or $25 for new users. Demo Big & Bold effects are also available for trial use. Download at www.stupendous-software.com.

Bluetooth USB for you and me
Asante Technologies Inc. is shipping their Friendly NET FBT 100 Bluetooth wireless USB adapter. This device allows users to hook-up Bluetooth-equipped devices (PDA's, cell phones, computers, printers, etc.) to their Mac computer's USB port. Bluetooth is a wireless protocol that lets users have short-range communications (300 feet maximum in the 2.4 GHZ band) with many devices. Use this adapter with a Mac running OS 10.2 or higher. Compatibility with Apple's iSync synchronizing software is included. Small in size and using little power, the adapter will cost you $45. www.asante.com