[8/31] Apple Launched Open Source Web Site Named Mac OS Forge

Mac OS Forge is a new community development site hosted by Apple. It was launched to support Web Kit and other open source projects focused on Mac OS X. In addition, developers can create and browse third-party open source projects that are closely related to the Macintosh operating system. Current projects on Mac OS Forge include source code to the new iCal Server in Leopard Server, and Apache-licensed versions of Bonjour service discovery and Launchd process management. While select projects in Mac OS X are featured on Mac OS Forge, a complete set of open source software within Mac OS X can be found by visiting this Apple Developer Connection Web page. [Bill Fox]

[8/31] Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.1 Alpha is Out for the Bleeding Edgers

The Mozilla Project released the next generation of SeaMonkey 1.1 Alpha, Mozilla's Web suite software. A few of the exciting new features include: page previews in tab tooltips, spell checking in text boxes, a new e-mail tagging system, a better startup script for Linux users, the ability to use drag and drop to open URLs in new tabs in between existing tabs and an updated version of Chatzilla. For developers, the "Storage" component is also included. The download link is above but beware, this is alpha software that probably has plenty of bugs at this stage. [Dana Baggett]

[8/31] Divine Fiat Released Workstation Theme for Keynote

Divine Fiat released Workstation, their latest theme for Apple's Keynote presentation software. Inspired by the industrial look and feel of the Mac Pro, Workstation will give an elegant power to your next presentation. From the "cheese-grater" ventilation to the aluminum encasement, Workstation is as sleek and strong as the computer that inspired it.

One of the more practical features included in Workstation are the scalable countdown timers in the form of progress bars. These QuickTime movies sport transparent backgrounds for a seamless look when used with Workstation or any Keynote theme. Countdown to the start of a presentation or to mark how much intermission time is left before your lecture resumes. Timers come in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minute lengths. Workstation also features creative photo cutouts with plenty of seamless transitions, buttons for kiosk style presentations and custom fill textures for shapes, charts and tables (including the "cheese-grater" texture). Workstation is an excellent addition to any Keynote theme collection.

Workstation can be purchased from Divine Fiat for $19.95 and is a part of the upcoming Compute theme set. [Bill Fox]

[8/31] Tonight on The Tech Night Owl Live--Dr. Mac, Windows Vista and Zune

Host Gene Steinberg presents the return of the inimitable Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus, who will tell you how mating his athletic shoes with his iPod have helped him lose weight, plus lots of other cool stuff. Industry analyst Joe Wilcox of JupiterResearch will deliver an update as to whether Windows Vista is yet ready for prime time, and digital music guru Eliot Van Buskirk will evaluate the prospects for Microsoft's Zune player, and whether it can really compete against Apple's iPod. Tune into the Web broadcast tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern. [Bill Fox]

[8/30] CEO of Microsoft's Arch Rival Joins Apple's Board of Directors

Dr. Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, was elected to Apple's board of directors at their meeting yesterday. Eric also sits on Google's board of directors and Princeton University's board of trustees. Google has been identified by Microsoft executives as Microsoft's chief competitor.

"Eric is obviously doing a terrific job as CEO of Google, and we look forward to his contributions as a member of Apple's board of directors," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Like Apple, Google is very focused on innovation and we think Eric's insights and experience will be very valuable in helping to guide Apple in the years ahead."

"Apple is one of the companies in the world that I most admire," said Eric Schmidt. "I'm really looking forward to working with Steve and Apple's board to help with all of the amazing things Apple is doing."

Eric Schmidt joined Google from Novell, where he was chairman and CEO. At Google, Eric shares responsibility for Google's day-to-day operations, and is focused on building the corporate infrastructure needed to maintain Google's rapid growth while ensuring that quality remains high and product development times are kept to a minimum. Eric's 20 years of experience as an Internet strategist, entrepreneur and technologist give him a well-seasoned perspective which perfectly complements Google's needs as a young and rapidly growing company with a unique corporate culture.

This move appears to be very good for Apple. [Bill Fox]

[8/30] Linkin Park's Music Now on iTunes Music Store

Multiple Grammy award-winning band Linkin Park and Apple yesterday announced the availability of the entire Linkin Park catalog on the iTunes Music Store. For the first time, fans of the band can download their favorite Linkin Park songs for just 99 cents per song, or the band's albums with new, exclusive digital booklets. The hit albums "Meteora," "Hybrid Theory" and "Reanimation" include two bonus tracks along with a track that is exclusive to the albums on iTunes. iTunes will also offer both audio and video downloads of the concerts that are currently available as the "Live in Texas" and "Collision Course" CD and DVD releases. [Bill Fox]

[8/30] Get Recalled PowerBook and iBook Replacement Batteries Overnight

In response to Apple Computer's voluntary recall of 1.8 million Lithium-Ion batteries for iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 laptops sold between October 2003 and August 2006, Newer Technology, Inc. (NewerTech) has replacement batteries that can be ordered with overnight delivery for safe and improved capacity performance. NewerTech NuPower high capacity replacement batteries for Apple iBook and PowerBook notebook computers are manufactured in the United States of America utilizing different Lithium Ion cells than Apple uses. NewerTech's cells are obtained exclusively from Sanyo, Panasonic, and E-One Moli.

Because NewerTech NuPower batteries utilize different cells and small batch manufacturing processes for stringent attention to detail not necessarily possible in mass production plants, NewerTech batteries achieve the higher capacity the company is known for, in some cases up to 62% higher capacity than factory batteries. More importantly, the engineering specifications of NewerTech NuPower batteries uniquely employ a Thermal Fuse wherein in the unlikely event an unsafe temperature is ever reached due to internal or external factors, the battery is permanently disabled ensuring optimum safety.

More details are available from this NewerTech Web page. NewerTech batteries are available from OWC. [Bill Fox]

[8/30] Apple Revised the Offerings from Three Hot Deals Retailers

J&R Computerworld has deals on a wide variety Mac compatible hardware and software products including: Adobe Photoshop CS 2 Classroom in a Book w/companion CD of the book's project files from Adobe Press for only $34.99!; Quicken 2007 from Intuit for only $49.95!; 200GB external hard drive w/FireWire/USB 2.0 from Seagate for only $159.99!; digital gaming/multimedia USB headset w/boom microphone from Plantronics for only $47.99!; Canoscan 8400F Color Flatbed Scanner from Canon for only $99.99!; MicroTrack 24/96 Digital Recorder w/USB 2.0 and Compact storage slot from M-Audio for only $379.99!; Samson Audio C01U USB condenser microphone for only $79.00; and much more.

MacMall has deals on a wide variety Mac compatible hardware and software products including: Sony HDR-HC3 HDV MiniDV high-definition camcorder for only $1149.99!; Lexmark E120N monochrome laser printer for only $119.99!; 8GB Monstor USB 2.0 drive from US Modular for only $69.00!; GM-171B 17" TFT LCD display from 3G Technology for only $89.99!; Check It system performance suite for Mac from Allume for only $59.99; RDS FM Transmitter/car charger for iPod from Kensington for only $103.00!; TransPod all-in-one car solution for iPod from DLO for only $124.99!; and much more.

MacZone has deals on a wide variety Mac compatible hardware and software products including: Hewlett Packard HP LaserJet 1320 b/w laser printer for only $298.97 w/free shipping!; Olympus Stylus 600 6-megapixel compact digital camera for only $279.99 w/free shipping!; HP Photosmart 3310 all-in-one color photo printer for only $348.97 w/free shipping; InFocus Work Big IN24 1700 Lumens SVGA DLP projector for only $599.98 after mail-in rebate- w/free shipping!; Podium CoolPad notebook cooling pad from Targus for only $24.99; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[8/30] Know Thy Cable Internet Modem--Hacking the Cable Modem

Hacking the Cable Modem by DerEngel (No Starch Press, September 2006, 312 pp., $29.95, ISBN 1-59327-101-8) goes inside the device that makes Internet via cable possible and, along the way, reveals secrets of many popular cable modems, including products from Motorola, RCA, WebSTAR, D-Link, and more. The book's author, DerEngel, is regarded in hacker circles as the foremost expert on cable modems. [Bill Fox]

[8/30] O'Reilly Published CSS: The Missing Manual

"You can't design a fantastic looking web site that works well and downloads quickly without understanding Cascading Style Sheets--the formatting language used to make boring HTML look fantastic." So says David Sawyer McFarland, the bestselling author of the latest release in O'Reilly's Missing Manuals series--CSS: The Missing Manual (O'Reilly, US $34.99). In the new book, McFarland, a master designer and power user, shows readers how to create stylishly enticing Web pages.

The new Missing Manual takes the frustration out of learning to navigate the ins-and-outs of CSS and gives designers precision control over their web pages' appearance. Created for serious hobbyists, aspiring designers, and pros, it features dozens of clearly presented, hands-on tutorials and real-world exercises. McFarland (author of Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual) shows readers how to format text and images, style web forms, build navigation bars, precisely control the layout of Web pages, overcome browser bugs, and, most important, create fast loading and easily maintained web sites. [Bill Fox]

[8/29] [Updated] Hands-On Report--eSATA vs FireWire 800 on a 15" MacBook Pro--How Fast Is It?

For external drives, FireWire 800 (or fast FireWire) has been the top data transfer protocol for large data transfers on PowerBooks using relatively inexpensive drives at a speed of up to 800Gb/sec. But Serial ATA (SATA-II) is a rapidly rising star for external drives, especially with the new connector called eSATA which promises speeds of up to 3Gb/sec, nearly four times the speed of FireWire 800. However, in the real world today's SATA-II drives can not work as fast as either protocol's theoretical limit so that raises the question, which is faster with a new SATA-II drive?

Last week, we reviewed the FirmTek SeriTek/2SM2-E, and eSATA ExpressCard 34 for the MacBook Pro's new slot and Monday we reviewed the NitroAV FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34. These two cards allow us to compare the eSATA and FireWire 800 protocols using the OWC Elite-AL Quad case and a brand new, empty 250GB 3.5" Seagate SATA-II hard drive spinning at 7200rpm and formatted with the GUID partition scheme required by Intel-based Macs.

[8/28] Hands-On Review--NitroAV FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34

Back in May we noted that NitroAV had announced one of the first ExpressCard 34 devices for the MacBook Pro's new ExpressCard 34 slot, a FireWire 800 adapter. When we favorably reviewed the Trans International miniXpress external FireWire 800/400/USB2 drive case last week, a reader reminded us about the NitroAV card so we ordered one.

The NitroAV FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34 has two FireWire800 ports (i.e. two 9-pin connectors) and an AC/DC port. At the fairly reasonable price of $89.95, it comes bare, i.e. with no cables, no AC/DC adapter and no instructions.

An AC/DC adapter is needed for either the NitroAV card or the external hard drive case because the ExpressCard 34 slot does not provide enough power for an external hard drive. When ordering the NitroAV FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34, an AC/DC adapter is an option.

Cables to match the particular FireWire peripherals, depending on what's needed, have to be purchased if they did not come with the external hard drive. With the FireWire 800 protocol one can get theoretical transfer rates of 100, 200, 400, and 800 Mbps.

The NitroAV FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34 easily inserts into our 15" MacBook Pro's ExpressCard 34 slot. It locks into place with a click when fully inserted. Removal first requires dismounting the attached drive and turning the card off in the menu item, then it is pressed in further and it unlocks with a click. As we've stated before, we aren't fond of this locking system because it is too easy to accidentally unlock and dislodge the card when plugging a cable into it.

How Fast Is It?

In our review of Trans International's miniXpress case with a 2.5" 160GB Seagate drive rotating at 5400rpm, we measured its data transfer speed using three tests and its FireWire 400 and USB2.0 ports. Using the NitroAV FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34 we ran the same three tests with the miniXpress' FireWire 800 ports. Here are the results in megabytes per second (MB/s),

[8/28] Last Call For The Great Mac Mod Challenge 2006

As "Modify Your Mac Month" enters its final week, Other World Computing and MacMod.com are issuing the last call for mod submissions to The Great Mac Mod Challenge 2006. OWC, along with Griffin Technology, RamDirect.com, and Ackoo.com are giving away over $3,500 in prizes. Entries will be accepted until Thursday, August 31 at 11:59PM. iPod mods, carputer mods, overclocking, liquid cooling, painting and more are eligible for submission. More information on how to enter and the prizes is available on this Macmod.com Web page. [Bill Fox]

[8/28] Keyspan's New Cordless VoIP Phone for Skype and the Mac

Keyspan's new Cordless VoIP Phone is Skype-compatible. Shipping this month, the Keyspan Cordless VoIP Phone will sell for an MSRP of just $79.

"Finally, there is no need to sit at your Mac when using Skype. The Keyspan Cordless VoIP Phone lets you use Skype anywhere in your home or office," noted Mike Ridenhour, president of Keyspan. "And, you can also take the Keyspan Cordless VoIP Phone on the road, to use in hotels, airports and cafes, as long as you have an internet connection and are within range of your laptop."

The Keyspan Cordless VoIP Phone:

• Supports both Mac-to-Mac and Mac-to-Phone calling
  
• Supports Caller ID and Speed Dial for both Skype and Skype Out numbers
  
• A single button on the phone opens and closes the Skype application on your Mac
  
• An LCD display shows who is online as well as status information for talk time and signal quality
  
• Rechargeable batteries provide standby time of up to 1200 hours and talk time of up to 15 hours

The Keyspan Cordless VoIP Phone is available to consumers from the Keyspan Store, as well as from PC Connection, Amazon.com and other leading resellers of computer accessories. It is available to resellers through Ingram Micro and D&H. [Bill Fox]

[8/25] Sony States Battery Problem Limited to Apple and Dell

Last week Dell issued a recall for 4.1 million batteries with Sony lithium ion cells and yesterday Apple recalled 1.8 million of the same batteries, 1.1 million in the U.S. market and an additional 700,000 sold outside of the U.S. with Apple PowerBook G4s and iBook G4s or alone. Dell laptops actually caught fire and burned in several documented events while Apple experience was, at worst, two hot batteries that caused minor injuries.

Sony originally stated that all of the potentially defective batteries were sold by Dell but it was widely reported that Apple was investigating the issue and ended up with a recall as well. Now, Sony is again claiming that only Dell and Apple batteries with Sony cells are potentially defective. We hope this is true and that all potentially defective batteries get reclaimed in the recalls.

It has also been reported that Qantas Airlines has prohibited the use of all Dell notebooks on its flights unless the battery is removed and the Dell is run on seat power that is limited to the Business and First Class sections of some aircraft. Given the seriousness of some of the Dell events, this may seem reasonable but the airline authorities could simply check the battery against the recall list for better customer service. We hope that this does not become a widespread hysteria affecting Apple notebooks as well. More and More... [Dana Baggett]

[8/25] Trans International Shipping Full-Spec Mac Pro Memory on Monday--2GB for $499

Today one can order DDR2 667Mhz, 72 Bit ECC Fully-Buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) for Apple's New MacPro from Trans International. The heat spreader (heat sink) has been specially engineered by Trans International for the memory to be installed in the Mac Pro Quad Xeon which exceed JADEC standards and conform to Apple's stringent thermal, mechanical and electrical design specifications and guidelines. The greater cooling surface on these heat spreaders allow better heat dissipation, providing efficient cooling for the components and enhancing memory performance.

Trans International's Mac Pro Memory Upgrade kits from 2GB to 16GB will ship on Monday, August 28. The 2GB Kit (2X1GB) is currently offered at $499.00. See this Trans International Web page for other configurations up to 16GB. [Bill Fox]

[8/25] NewerTech Released 74Wh Highest Capacity Battery for 14" iBook

Newer Technology Inc. introduced a new 74 watt-hour (wh) NuPower Lithium Ion replacement battery for the 14"/14.1" iBook G3 and G4 models for $129.99. OWC, the online store that carries the new batteries, stated that the new battery has tested to be the longest lasting, longest running unit on the market, and provides up to 34 percent more capacity than the original Apple battery. For more information, check this OWC Web page.

We use a NewerTech NuPower battery in our original 12" PowerBook G4 that has been upgraded with a 1.4GHz CPU and it lasts significantly longer than the original Apple-supplied battery. We are very happy with it. [Bill Fox]

[8/25] Apple Revised the Offerings from Three Hot Deals Retailers

audioMIDI has deals on a wide variety Mac compatible hardware and software products including: Audio-Technica ATH-T44 Headphones - buy one and get one free - for only $59.00!; control your digital audio workflow wirelessly with the Tranzport from Frontier Design Group for only $195.00!; UF5 49-note Controller with Cubase SE (while supplies last) from CME Controllers for only $189.42!; Traktor DJ Studio 3 - a comprehensive DJing solution - for only $99.00!; Behringer DFX69 Tweakalizer - a powerful desktop DJ effects processor for only $99.00!; get hypersampled production pianos w/Reason Piano Refill from Propellerhead for only $99.00!; and much more.

MacConnection has deals on a wide variety Mac compatible hardware and software products including: run Windows on your Mac with Parallels Desktop free w/purchase of any Intel-based Mac! (Microsoft Windows OS sold separately); Olympus Evolt E-500 8-megapixel SLR digital camera w/14-45mm lens and 1GB Compact Flash card for only $749.95!; LaCie 250GB Porsche Design external USB 2.0 hard drive for only $99.95!; Adobe Macromedia Studio 8 upgrade w/free 1GB USB 2.0 DataTraveler flash drive for only $409.95!; Samsung 205BW 20" widescreen LCD Monitor for only $289.95!; project your ideas with the IN24 DLP Projector from InFocus for only $599.00!; and much more.

Small Dog Electronics has Hot Deals exclusive prices on selected items including: the iSongBook iPod speaker system/clock radio from Tivoli for a Hot Deals exclusive $259.00!; the Edge I (black) laptop carrying case for the MacBook from Brenthaven for a Hot Deals exclusive $39!; the Edge II (light blue) laptop carrying case for the MacBook Pro from Brenthaven for a Hot Deals exclusive $39!; 2GB Kingston Data Traveler USB Flash Drive for a Hot Deal exclusive $49.00!; Microsoft Office 2004 Student/Teacher Edition for only $138.00 - and get $50 back w/mail-in rebate!; 300GB LaCie d2 FW/800/400/USB 2.0 external hard drive for only $169.00!; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[8/25] WAPi August General Meeting Tomorrow Features Making Family DVDs

At tomorrow's Washington Apple Pi AMUG (WAPi) August General Meeting, member Steve Lemon will show how to create a Family Story DVD. Steve will share techniques, tips and tricks in scanning and assembling family photos into memorable slide shows accompanied by music and personal narration. The meeting is open to the public and begins at 9am ET (8:30am for members only). For more details, check this WAPi Web page. WAPi is the metro Washington DC AMUG, one of the oldest in the nation. [Bill Fox]

[8/24] NewerTech PowerBook/iBook Replacement Batteries Not Made by Sony, Not in Apple/CPSC Recall

Today Apple and the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall of certain lithium ion batteries made for 12" and 15" PowerBook G4s and iBook G4s. Here is Apple's Web page on the recall (Very busy at publication time--ed.) and CPSC's notice. The recall covers batteries made from Sony lithium ion cells similar to those recalled by Dell. The total number of batteries in the U.S. is 1.1 million and there are some 700,000 more outside the U.S. for a total of about 1.8 million batteries.

Those with 12" and 15" PowerBook G4s and iBooks should check Apple's Web page or the CPSC notice to determine if their battery is involved in the recall and, if so, to stop using it until it can be replaced by Apple.

NewerTech replacement batteries for iBook G4s and PowerBook G4s are made in the U.S. and are not made from Sony cells. They are not involved in the recall.

[Bill Fox]

[8/24] Apple and Creative Settle iPod Suits and Countersuits--Creative to Get $100 Million from Apple

In order to move on in the MP3 player consumer space, Apple has admitted no wrongdoing but has agreed to give Creative Technology $100 million and drop its countersuits to settle suits filed by Creative against Apple over the iPod's interface. The settlement was announced late yesterday.

In essence, Apple has paid a large one-time license fee which is significant to Creative with a market capitalization in the hundreds of millions of dollars. However, such an amount does not present a difficulty for Apple's financial picture. The settlement allows both companies to escape from the prospect of accumulating huge legal bills. Apple may actually recoup some of its payment if Creative is successful in licensing their previously disputed patent to others.

Furthermore, the companies announced that Creative joined Apple's "Made for iPod" program and will be announcing their own iPod accessory products later this year.

"We're very pleased to have reached an amicable settlement with Apple and to have opened up significant new opportunities for Creative," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative. "Apple has built a huge ecosystem for its iPod and with our upcoming participation in the Made for iPod program we are very excited about this new market opportunity for our speaker systems, our just-introduced line of earphones and headphones, and our future family of X-Fi audio enhancement products."

Looks to us like good news all around. More... [Bill Fox]

[8/24] Apple Pro Tip of the Week--Under the Hood Info in the Dock

How many of you know about the utility Activity Monitor? It's located in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder. Activity Monitor displays things like CPU usage, memory usage, network usage and disk activity. To view this information in the dock, just drag and drop Activity Monitor on the Dock to create the icon there. Then, in Activity Monitor's preferences one can set which set of information, if any, to be displayed in the icon in the Dock. One can also select the other kinds of information by a click-and-hold on the icon. More... [Dana Baggett]

[8/24] Tonight on The Tech Night Owl Live--Backing Up and Leopard's Time Machine, Mac vs PC Cost and Mac Security

Tonight host Gene Steinberg will explore effective ways to backup your stuff and Apple's Time Machine with author Joe Kissell, author of "Take Control of Mac OS X Backups." Cutting-edge tech commentator Daniel Eran, of Roughly Drafted Magazine, will be on hand to talk about Mac versus PC cost comparisons and other hot topics. You'll also get a Mac update from author and security expert Kirk McElhearn.

You can tune in the Web broadcast tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern. In addition, The TNOL chat room will also be open for listener participation and an archive of the show will be available for downloading and listening at your convenience within four hours after the original broadcast. [Bill Fox]

[8/23] Meander 1.2 (Universal) is Out--Map Analysis Application for Mac

Acutus Trading announced Meander 1.2, a Mac application for route-plotting and distance-measuring with any map: software, web-based, or scanned maps are all compatible. Since version 1.0, Meander has undergone a major transformation with the addition of a "Snapshot" feature to capture background maps. Printing and JPEG exporting have also been included. Meander can be downloaded from this Web page. Activation Codes may be purchased for $19.99. [Bill Fox]

[8/23] FileSalvage 5.0 (Universal) is Out--Recover Files on Any Device

SubRosaSoft released FileSalvage version 5.0. This latest version incorporates a new and streamlined interface, support for Intel-based Macs, an auto file renaming feature, and a new bootable DVD.

FileSalvage 5.0 contains powerful data recovery tools designed to restore files that have been accidentally deleted, have become unreadable due to media faults, or were stored on a drive before it was re-initialized or formatted. It is device and file system independent, allowing the users to recover files from a normal Mac OS hard drive, USB key, Linux disk, Windows drive, FLASH card, scratched CD, and almost any other media or file system that can be recognized in Mac OS X.

FileSalvage 5.0 is available on a dual-boot bootable DVD that will start up from either Power PC or Intel-based Macs. The MSRP is $89.95 for MSRP plus shipping for the CD version or $79.95 for download only. Upgrades from v4.0 are $40 CD and $30 download. [Bill Fox]

[8/21] Hands-On Report--FirmTek eSATA ExpressCard 34 and OWC Elite-AL Quad Case--How Fast Are They?

Late last year, Apple introduced SATA (serial ATA) hard drives in the redesigned Power Mac G5 Quad. Now, the MacBook Pro, MacBook, Intel-based Mac mini, iMac Core Duo and the new Mac Pro all use SATA drives and they are becoming the most common hard drives. Why? Because the interface is fast, promising up to 3Gigabits per sec (Gb/s), i.e. 375 MB/sec, transfer speed.

Apple dropped the PCMCIA (PC-card) slot and the fast FireWire 800 port from the new 15.4" MacBook Pro. Instead, the new MacBook Pro came with a 34mm ExpressCard slot, the much faster next generation of PCMCIA. Apple's expectation is that third party vendors will make ExpressCard 34 adapters for the new slot to connect fast FireWire 800 or SATA devices or other devices that have commonly used the PCMCIA slot. Well, six months later there's still no FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34 but there is an eSATA ExpressCard 34 from FirmTek called the SeriTek/2SM2-E.

The SeriTek/2SM2-E sells for $119.95 and has two eSATA ports (image at right courtesy of FirmTek). It plugs into the ExpressCard 34 slot on the left side of the MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, there are no native Mac OS X drivers so FirmTek supplies them and they must be installed before using the SeriTek/2SM2-E. FirmTek also has $20 cables for connecting devices with SATA and eSATA connectors and a $309.95 bundle that includes the card, a 3.5" drive case with 2 bays and two cables.

But what good is an eSATA ExpressCard without a SATA external drive in a case with an eSATA port? Fortunately, we have a backup 3.5" SATA drive (250GB Seagate 7200.8 SATA) from our ex-Power Mac G5 Quad and there are a number of cases now on the market. The one that caught our eye is OWC's Elite-AL Pro Quad (image below courtesy of OWC) because for $109.99 the case has eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ports, comes with four cables for all four port types and looks great! The SeriTek/2SM2-E card and Elite-AL pro Quad case with cables arrived last week so we've had a chance to use them for awhile.

Setting Up

The Elite-AL Pro was easy to set up with our hard drive. OWC supplies an excellent set of installation instructions and a torx 10 screw driver for opening the case. We only had to supply a small philips head screwdriver with a magnetized tip. The latter is important because the screws that hold the drive in place have to be inserted through slots in the sides of the case and they are hard to fit and easy to drop without a magnetized tip on the screwdriver. Once the drive is in place, there are just two connectors to plug into the drive before closing the case. We stood the case up on edge with the included stand as shown in the OWC photo above left. The style of the Elite-AL Pro Quad is very much like the Mac Pro and Power Mac G5 and the blue access light is cool. OWC also supplies a small AC/DC power supply with the case, thankfully with a cord and plug instead of a wall wart.

The SeriTek/2SM2-E slides into the MacBook Pro's ExpressCard slot and clicks into place. To remove it, one just presses it in again and it clicks loose for extrication. Actually, as an aside, we don't particularly like this method of holding the card because once one inserts the card, it's too easy to click it loose again inadvertently when inserting cables into the card's slots. Of course, this is not FirmTek's fault since they didn't design the slot. Upon insertion of the SeriTek/2SM2-E with the eSATA cable attached, an ExpressCard icon pops up in the menu bar. Attach the cable to the drive case and the drive mounts on the desktop.

We plan to use the SATA drive as our "in-office" backup drive and the eSATA connection should let us completely backup our entire MacBook Pro internal drive, about 75GB, as a bootable copy using Drive Utility's "Restore" option in the least time possible. Transferring about 75GB takes over 2 hours by FireWire 400 to a 2.5" external drive. But first we have to transfer the data off our MacBook Pro's internal drive, reformat it and transfer it all back in order to install Boot Camp. By experience, that's a 4-5 hour job using FireWire 400 with a 2.5" drive. We hope to shorten it to under 2 hours with the eSATA connection and 3.5" drive.

How Fast?

So how fast is the eSATA connection? We used three tests to measure the speed of the eSATA, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connections between our MacBook Pro and the SATA drive in the Elite-AL Pro Quad case--QuickBench 2.1.2, Xbench 1.3 and duplicating our test 500MB folder. Here are the results: