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BRMUGMeeting Notes November 2006 - Mac Extras & GadgetsHere are just a few of the many things you may be interested in:
Web sites of interest:
Vendors of interest:
SystemsApple has quite a variety of systems. And do not forget about refurbished deals. They can be pretty good at times.
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iPodsThe Apple iPod line provides numerous choices. Purchasing refurbished models enhances the choices and can save real money. And the rumors predict a whole new iPod line in a few months...
Remember that accessories will cost you. Not counting FM transmitter, you can spend $20-$100 easily and the FM transmitters go from $7-$100 (and the cheap ones do not cut it). Return to Top of Page
PrintersYou have a lot of choices in printers today. I recommend that before you buy a printer, look at the price of ink/toner (and paper if youn eed special paper). On the ink jet side, I have found Epson to be reasonably durable and the cheapest on ink (generic ink -- check Deal Ink). On the laser side, I have been real happy with my Brother. You can get low end laser printers in the $125-$75 range. If you want network attached, they tend to be in the $150-$250 range. Color laser printers have dropped a lot lately. I do not have any real experience here -- comments? With the ability to burn CDs and DVDs, a printer that prints on printable media might be wise. If you plan to print pictures, make sure you check out the print time per page at maximum resolution (some printers really slow down on best quality). Return to Top of Page
Web HostingI hope to get my own web hosting account Real Soon Now (TM). I see this as a family present. I hope to provide picture upload for my wife and I and for her sisters and their families. This will mean a little work for me to configure some things up front. I am looking at DreamHost. Their current pricing is $7.95 a month for 200 GB of disk (if paid 2 years in advance). It also includes 1 domain and 2 TB of bandwidth. Look out for emac3.net somewhere down the road. Some might even be able to back up most of their music with 200 GBs. Return to Top of Page
Internal Hard DrivesInternal hard drives are relatively easy to swap out on desktop machines. You can really get a bargain buying your own drive and installing it yourself. Be aware of a couple of items. Older Macs do not support over 128GB drives. Some support drives larger, but the boot partition must be in the first 128 GB. Drives are now available in sizes from 40 GB to 750 GB. Older Macs use IDE drives and newer ones use SATA. Some use 2.5" but most use 3.5". You can find out about your particular Mac model several ways. Visiting Other World Computing maybe the least painful. Their upgrade page tells you what options you have. If you are planning to upgrade a drive, I now recommend Seagate drives. They come with a 5 year warranty where most others are at 1 year or 3 years. Newegg is a great resource for hard drives. Last time I checked, Newegg has 320 GB Seagate drives with 5 year warranties for $90 (IDE and SATA). Return to Top of Page
External Hard DrivesExternal hard drives are great ways to add extra storage. You can get USB and/or Firewire drives. I personally prefer Firewire for connecting to a Mac. getting a drive that does both is a great solution (providing both options). You can also buy an enclosure and add your own internal drive. Make sure you confirm the maximum size drive supported by the enclosure before buying (many have limits like 128 GB or 400 GB). Empty cases start at $7 and go to over a $100. A decent price for a non-fancy one is $20-$30. Whether you are buying this as a backup or as additional storage, an external drive is a nice idea. Return to Top of Page
USB Flash Drives
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Memory Cards
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