Apple Mac Mini

via Apple

The Apple Mac Mini features a new unibody aluminum enclosure, NVIDIA GeForce 320M, HDMI, SD card slot, up to 8GB RAM, up to 500GB HDD, and Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

Booq Mamba Saddle

When I’m out traveling for an extended period of time, I need a bag that will hold all the gear I use to create my office away from the office.  I’ve used Booq’s products for a number of my machines now and I’ve been really happy with every purchase I’ve made with them.  They’re always made very well in my opinion and each bag seemed to be well thought out.  Booq bags are slightly pricer than some of the competitors, but I think the quality justifies this difference.

Apple Macbook Air

I’ve been using the Macbook Air for a couple of months now.  I decided to convert my Macbook Pro into a Windows Vista machine.  I’ve been having wireless problems in Mac OS X, but for some reason I don’t have the same problems when running Vista on that machine.  I use that machine for testing websites and running Windows only applications.  For the most part the Macbook Air is plenty of machine for what I need to do and I figure in times where it can’t I can pack the Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air into my bag when I travel and still keep my bag under 10 pounds.

Elgato EyeTV Hybrid

I had been interested in the El Gato EyeTV Hybrid for a long time. I like that it had tuners for digital and analog. No one up to this point had a single solution for the Mac OS X platform and on top of that it comes as a relatively small USB dongle that can be used with a laptop when on the go. The El Gato EyeTV Hybrid has the ability to watch analog and digital television programming, record that programming, and later edit the video. The unit also has the ability to rewind, fast forward and pause live TV. Getting two tuners in one for about $150 to me is a bargain.

Apple Mac Mini Intel Core Solo

I was lucky enough to pick up one of the new Mac Mini Intel Core Solo machines to replace my G4 Mac Mini. It ships with a 1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo CPU, 512MB PC2-5300 SODIMMs, Seagate 60GB SATA drive, Combo Drive, Wireless, Bluetooth, Digital Audio and the Integrated Intel Graphics that everyone loves. The About This Mac dialog box displayed a 1.5 GHz Intel Core Duo. After looking into the Apple System Profiler, it does say Intel Core Solo. It comes with almost the same software the previous generation Mac Mini shipped with, but just more up-to-date versions: iLife ’06, Quicken 2006, Office Trial, and a few games. I have it connected to my Samsung DLP TV in my living room.

Apple iSight

When iChat AV was released with Mac OS X Tiger, I was assumed by the demos of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, but didn’t really see how this would become mainstream. Sure a few of my friends have web cams, but the majority of people in my opinion still use standard instant messaging over video messaging. Recently video messaging has become more popular with supporters such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AOL instant messenger, Apple, etc. I knew a few people that had Creative and Logitech cameras and a friend of mine purchased an iSight. She really liked it and encouraged me to purchase a camera of my own. I went to the Apple store and noticed it was a tad more expensive than some of the other branded cameras and I had debating using a standard MiniDV camera or purchase the iSight. Since my usual chat client of choice is iChat AV I went ahead and purchased the iSight.

Apple Mac Mini

It’s been a year since I purchased my Mac Mini. It was announced at the 2005 Macworld Expo and it was the first Mac targeted at entry-level consumers. At the time I was using a Powerbook G4 and I was looking for a machine to use as a desktop computer. The specs of the Mac Mini are pretty similar to those of my Powerbook so for the kind of work I do I figured this would be adequate. I used it as a desktop machine then it was transitioned to a web server, which hosts this site as well as a couple others and then was transitioned into my living room as a media PC. Overall after using the machine for a year I am very happy with it and it does a decent job on most of my tasks.

Apple Keyboard

I had ordered my Kensington Studio Mouse online and was search of a keyboard when I purchased my Mac Mini. I had picked up the Mac Mini from a local Apple retail store and the price had just dropped on the Apple Keyboard to $29 so I decided to pick one up. I was using a G5 with the same keyboard and I got used to using it on a daily basis. In fact I am writing this article on the G5 with the Apple Keyboard. For the most part it takes a little getting used to but I actually like how it feels.

Kensington Studio Mouse

I bought the original Mac Mini as I have mentioned in previous articles the first week it was released. At the time I was using it as a desktop machine and was looking for a keyboard and mouse to match up with the unit. I decided since it would be my budget machine I wanted reasonable peripherals that would work for me. I opted not to purchase a wireless keyboard and mouse set because I didn’t feel like I really needed them to be wireless and those units tend to cost more than traditional wired sets. I had been using the Apple Keyboard with a G5 for some time and to be honest I actually got used to it and like it quite well. As for the mouse I did not really care for the Apple single button mouse. At the time the Apple Mighty Mouse had not been released so I looked toward third party mice. There was a great deal at Best Buy for the Kensington Studio Mouse and I was able to pick one of them up for under $10 shipped. I figured that it was cheap and it had a scroll device and a couple of buttons with the low cost and features I thought I would give it a shot.

Sony MDR-EX71SL

I carry my iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle with me daily and I was looking for some ear buds to replace the standard white Apple ear buds. Since I carry them around with me daily and use them almost any chance I get, the ear buds take quite a beating and a little more than usual wear and tear. I was looking for some white ear buds to match the iPod. I don’t know I guess I’m one of those Apple people that need the matching accessory. In any case I didn’t want to spend too much money on something I tend to break within a few months. I decided to go with the Sony MDR-EX71SL ear buds in white. I had bought my original pair a few years ago from Japan since they did not sell the white ones here in the states. My second pair, I was able to pick them up online at Amazon for about $30.