Apple Mac mini (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive DVD±RW/CD-RW, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11g, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard) Review

This little Mac CPU is perfect for people who want a powerful but inexpensive CPU without the frills. Just 2.5" high and 6.5" square, it fits almost anywhere: on a desk, in a drawer, on a narrow shelf. The unit comes with a Mac SuperDrive for burning and playing DVD/CDs, a remote control, BlueTooth technology, the iLife Suite (iPhoto, iTunes, Garage Band, Photo Booth, iMovie, etc.), and the newest OS X. That's it. You have to buy your own keyboard, mouse, monitor, and anything else you'd like to add.

This little unit is also great for hooking up to a TV as a stand-alone HD video replay.Especially if you rent or buy iTunes movies and have different digital content you want to play, the Mac Mini works well.Apple TV, a special purpose machine, doesn't have the versatility that the Mini does.

Pros:

-- This little guy is fast and reliable. If you are not confident about installing extra memory yourself, this 2 GB version is for you.

-- Size. No more towers!

-- Leopard is utterly fantastic. Make sure you take the "tour" to fully appreciate its capabilities and features since many aren't immediately obvious. It allows easy sharing of files within a network, wireless or otherwise, automatics back-ups to an external hard drive (purchase separately) that can be accessed according to a specific date and time, and in-network video conferencing (again, you have to supply the web cam.) My favorite feature is setting my computer to turn on at the same time every day so it's ready to go when I walk into my home office.

-- The no-frills package allows users to buy their preferred size of monitor. Since monitors bought separately usually cost far less than what Apple charges, this ends up being a cost saver as well. The Apple keyboard works best with the Mac mini since there's a special key for ejecting CD/DVDs, but any keyboard will do.

Cons

-- The power button is on the back of the machine, while the Super Drive slot is in the front. This means that the unit must be accessible, both front and back, unless you set the system to turn on automatically. This is the main reason I cannot give this unit five stars.

-- The Super Drive is noisy when it starts up.

For people who want to keep their current monitor and other peripherals, the Mac Mini is an excellent and economical choice. If you need to buy all the accessories, the price can start to add up, and you might want to look at a different computer. Even so, the small size can be a huge bonus for those who are short on space.

I love my Mac Mini, and I've never regretted purchasing it.

-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann

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Product Description:
A great choice for home computing tasks and creating a digital media hub, Apple's Mac mini desktop PC combines design simplicity with powerful computing resources. Nicely compact at just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches high, the Mac mini offers an affordable avenue to dual-core processing power via the 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and Apple's latest suite of digital media applications--iLife '08. It also comes with the Apple Remote and Front Row media display software, which enables you to easily play your music, enjoy photo slideshows, and watch DVDs, iMovies, music videos and television shows from across the room. Every Mac mini includes iLife '08, the latest version of Apple's award-winning suite of digital media applications, with major upgrades to iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand and a completely reinvented iMovie. iPhoto '08 now automatically organizes photo libraries into Events that let you more easily manage your growing photo collections, and iMovie '08 can import video from the latest AVCHD, HDV and DV camcorders, as well as from digital cameras, and displays your entire video library whether it's stored on internal or external drives. Both iPhoto and iMovie integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple's new service for .Mac members to instantly create and host websites for their photos and videos.

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LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/FireWire 800 Desktop External Hard Drive 301199U Review

All my Lacie's have been running solid for a long time. In four years I've had one drive failure and another had a bad FW interface. So I swapped the good drive into the good chassis and I guess I'm only one down.
These are used at our editing facility moving large files day in and day out on Apple G4's and G5's. They get man-handled a lot but have stood up well. I recommend to anyone not to "hot plug" any devices even if they are "hot pluggable." And don't leave your FW cables hanging off your equipment, all it takes is a little static electricity and the interface can get zapped.

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/FireWire 800 Desktop External Hard Drive 301199U

Product Description:
The LaCieBig Disk Extreme+ 301199U 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire400/FireWire800 RAID System is a powerful drive that's optimized for media professionals working with high-definition audio, digital video editing, SD video and 2D/3D imaging. Designed by Neil Poulton, the Big Disk Extreme+ offers a compact, lightweight storage solution ready for some heavy-duty action.

The LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire400/FireWire800 RAID System offers:

USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800 interfaces.
Built-in RAID 0 performance with FireWire 800 speed with no configuration required.
Flexible design that can be stacked, rack-mounted or daisy chained.
Heat-dissipating body and advanced cooling system for cool performance.

The drive features USB, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800 connectivity. View larger.

The Shortcut Button can back up your data or launch any application with a single button push. View larger.

By purchasing multiple drives, it is easy to set up a RAID configuration. View larger. Big Disk Extreme+ Triple Interface
Featuring high-performance storage (1 TB of total disc space), high capacity and a user-friendly quick backup feature for data safety and recovery, the Big Disk Extreme+ packs a powerful 1-2-3 punch. Its capacity, combined with ultra-fast transfer rates, make it ideal for data-hungry applications or sharing and archiving large-scale video projects.
This versatile storage solution offers a terabyte of storage, along with FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces. This triple-interface solution gives professionals the versatility needed to work in almost any environment. Professional users working with very large, resource-intensive files can take advantage of the high throughput of the FireWire 800 (with burst transfer rates up to 90 MB/s,) as well as the universal compatibility of USB. This makes the Big Disk Extreme+ especially convenient for video editors working in SD/HD, or for quick individual workstation storage in a small business setting.
LaCie's trademark "Shortcut Button"--the blue button in front of the drive--can be used to launch any utility--such as music, slideshows, or video--with a single push, or back up your valuable data. The Big Disk Extreme+ also includes EMC's Retrospect Express software for automated backups that will give you even greater peace of mind.
Convenient and Easy to Use
The Big Disk Extreme+ is a hot plug and play solution that offers built-in RAID 0 performance (with FireWire 800 speed) that requires no software configuration or drivers. Expandable via FireWire with other FireWire hard drives, the Big Disk can also be daisy chained with peripherals such as CD-RW, AIT or DV cameras. In fact, several Big Disks can even be daisy chained to the same computer and combined together to further increase capacity, speed or security via FireWire.
For extra convenience, the drive also features a power-saving three-position switch that allows for customized "Triple Power Management" -- "auto" for energy efficiency; "on" for instant access; and "off" for complete data protection.
Heat-Dissipating d2 Design by Neil Poulton
Designed by world renown designer Neil Poulton, the Big Disk Extreme+ boasts a sleek, handsome metal body that's ideal for naturally dissipating the system's internal drive heat. Its unique design actually draws heat away from the internal drive toward the external casing. The casing absorbs heat and will take advantage of its large surface to further dissipate the heat away from the drive. The Big Disk Extreme+ also includes an advanced cooling system with a thermoregulated, progressive quiet fan that keeps the drive safe and prolongs its life and reliability.
Engineered with a compact 5.25-inch 1U form factor to fit seamlessly into most work environments, and more compact and lightweight than RAID towers, the Big Disk Extreme+ can be placed in a space-saving upright position with the included drive stand, or can be stacked, rack-mounted and even daisy-chained with other drives (via FireWire) to increase capacity. An optional LaCie Rackmount Kit can be used to incorporate the drive into a standard 19-inch computer equipment rack, and the drive can also be placed in the optional LaCie Desk Rack (also sold separately).
The LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ measures 6.8 x 1.7 x 10.6 inches (HxWxD), weighs 5.5 pounds, and is backed by LaCie's 3-year limited warranty.
About LaCie
Established in France in 1989, LaCie is a leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for Windows, Apple and Linux users. With offices and plants in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie develops and manufactures external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology.
What's in the Box
LaCie Big Disk Extreme+, FireWire 800 to FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 to FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, hi-speed USB 2.0 cable (USB 1.1 compatible), external power supply, LaCie Utilities CD-ROM with User Manual, Quick Install Guide, and drive stand for upright desktop use.

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Notebook Hard Drive to Desktop Adapter Kit (2.5" to 3.5") Review

The interface card supplied with this kit is incorrectly constructed and possibly dangerous to your 2.5-inch drive.

1. The 44-position female connector isn't polarized.While reversal of the connector on the drive shouldn't cause damage to the interface electronics, the kit vendor should have included a diagram illustrating the drive connector so that Pin 1 can be identified and matched up with the "PIN1" silkscreen legend on the adapter PCB.Also, hole #20 on the adapter's 2.5-inch drive receptacle should have been plugged, to match up with the missing pin at position #20 on the drive:In the absence of an included diagram or clear pin markings on the drive, that would be sufficient for the user to get the two connectors properly mated.Due to this design defect, one should not attempt to blind-mate the connector to the drive; only do it with the drive in clear sight and Pin #1 orientations positively identified.

2. The 40-position male header isn't polarized.Pin #20 should be missing, because most parallel ATA/IDE connectors have position #20 on the cable connector plugged.Thus, as-shipped, it is IMPOSSIBLE to plug a stock ATA interface cable onto the adapter.In order to use the adapter, one must first clip Pin #20 with a pair of miniature, flush-cutting diagonal pliers, but unless the user is an electronics engineer or technician, he/she is unlikely to possess such a tool.If you perform this surgery yourself, be sure you've properly identified Pin #20 before proceeding, or you'll end up with a missing Pin #19 and a useless adapter.Unfortunately, to make it work, you'll probably be rendering the product "non-returnable".(I ended up using a soldering iron and solder sucker to remove the excess solder from the solder pad, then pulled the pin through the header insulator with needle-nose pliers.The nylon insulator softened slightly due to the heat, making this easy to do.)

What do you expect, though?It's $6.99 and Made in China.The funny thing is, it bears a "QC Passed" sticker, but evidently no one bothered to perform a Quality Control check at the engineering design level, also known as an "Engineering Design Review".On the pro side, the adapter is 100% passive, just some copper traces feeding through from one connector to the other, and the PC board is decent FR-4 material coated with green solder mask, instead of the usual XXXP phenolic-paper cr*p with bare copper traces that we see from Asia.It carries the RoHS label, meaning the solder joints contain no lead and (Ahem!) will probably crystallize and fall apart about the time the warranty on the hard drive attached to it expires.

I didn't much care for the rails included in the kit, and don't plan to use them.The kit included eight (8) M2 washer-head, Phillips-drive mounting screws, and I can reuse those.2.5-inch drives are small and fragile; they shouldn't be mounted with rails in a 3.5-inch drive slot in one's computer.I plan to mount my drive on a 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch drive adapter tray, purchased separately, which will give the drive the support it needs.In fact, the vendor should consider deleting the rails from the kit, knocking 40% off the price and recommending a choice of separate tray mounts for 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch drive slots.

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Product Description:
This adapter allows you to convert a notebook hard drive for use into a desktop system. All required parts aresupplied by us in this nice little and complete kit.General Features:- Convert a notebook hard drive to fit 3.5-inch drive bay- Perfect for extra storage- Easy assembly--> Package Includes:- Two (2) metal rails- PCB adapter (Small IDE 44 to Large IDE 40)- Power cable- (8) screws metal rails PCB adapter (Small IDE 44 to Large IDE 40) Power cable (8) screws

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SMC SMCGS8 8-port 10/100/1000 Layer 2 Gigabit Desktop Switch, blue/silver plastic Review

I'm a big fan of SMC products and this one is no exception.For a little more money than their competitors they give you a more solid, more capable device.In this case, it is support for jumbo frames that sets them apart.You really need jumbo frames to take full advantage of Gigabit Ethernet and as far as I know, SMC is the only company including that feature in their consumer-grade switches.

I've used this for about 6 months now with not a single glitch or problem to report.The only drawbacks are cosmetic: the non-rectangular form makes stacking a bit of a problem, and it is so light that the ethernet cables connected to it tend to push it around.

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Product Description:
The EZ Switch 10/100/1000 SMCGS8, 8-port Gigabit Ethernet Switch, is the perfect solution for bottlenecks on your home or SOHO network. Bottlenecks are the inevitable result of data-intensive applications like home movies or digitial images and more computers being connected. The switch provides a seamless migration to higher-speed networking while solving bandwidth issues. It is designed to allow simultaneous transmission of multiple packets via high-speed data channels. This unmanaged, gigabit switch supports Plug-and-Play installation, with auto-MDIX on every port. This means that no more crossover cables are required, every port can either be connected to a PC or another switch for network expansion. The switch does not require fans making it ideal for home and SOHO networks. Meeting today´s diverse networking needs at an attractive price per port, the SMCGS8 is ideal for bringing speed and bandwidth to the desktop at home or in the office. Limited Life Time Warranty. 24/7 Technical Support 1-800-SMC-4YOU.

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Kingston DataTraveler 102 - 32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT102/32GB Review

Initially my 2 computers running windows 7 would see the drive about half the time but this eventually went to not at all or occasionally would see the drive and say it needed to format the drive first, then would say it can't communicate with the drive to format it. I tried everything on the support list at [...] to fix it. I tried multiple computers, XP, Windows 7 to no avail. I'm now trying to get [...], Kingston or Amazon to refund my money or give me a different drive. All my computers work fine with other flash drives and external hard drives. Of course, except my other Kingston 4GB drive, it works maybe 10% of the time and you have to repeatedly restart the computer to get the drive to work. I wont buy Kingston stuff (not the word I wanted to use) anymore.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Kingston DataTraveler 102 - 32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT102/32GB

Product Description:
Introducing Kingston's DataTraveler 102 for quick and convenient storage, sharing and transferring of data. In capacities up to 32GB, the new DataTraveler 102 can store your favorite photos, music, school assignments and reports. It lets you carry all of your data with you, making it ideal for the office, home, school and wherever you travel. Available in four fun colors by capacity, DataTraveler 102 is backed by a five-year warranty, 24/7 tech support and legendary Kingston reliability.

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Western Digital My Book Studio 320 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH1Q3200N Review

I purchased this drive to back up files on my 2.33GhZ 17" Apple laptop. It worked perfectly right out of the box. Plus it looks great. I'm using the SuperDuper freeware utility to back up my files.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital My Book Studio 320 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH1Q3200N

Product Description:
Speed is what you need when for video editing, big design projects, or managing photo shoots and that's what this drive delivers with FireWire 800 and eSATA connectivity. With an automatic backup capability your creative masterpieces will be backed up the minute you save them.Installation is a snap because you don't really install this drive, you just plug it in and it's ready to use. There is no CD to install; the included software loads from the drive the first time you plug it in.Back up important projects to multiple destinations including files servers, portable drives and My Book. Synchronize project files to keep them current and secure. Set it and forget it; every time you save a change it's automatically backed up.Powerful quad interface - USB 2.0 - for convenience and compatibility among multiple computers, FireWire 400 and 800 - high-performance interfaces that are perfect for Macintosh computers, eSATA 3 Gb/s - the ultra-fast eSATA interface gives you speed comparable to a state-of-the-art internal hard drive.Set up with HFS+ Journaled formatting for complete Macintosh compatibility.Takes no more space than a paperback book. Collect two or more and they nest neatly together like volumes on a shelf.See at a glance how much space is available on your drive. (Works with the USB and FireWire connection only.)This environmentally-friendly drive is designed to save power by going into standby mode after 10 minutes of inactivity. When you're ready to use it, My Book wakes up automatically.This drive turns itself on and off with your computer and Safe Shutdown prevents the drive from being powered down until all your data has been written. (Works with the USB and FireWire connections only.)The My Book enclosure's heat dissipating design with Morse Code prevents heat buildup... a notorious data killer. How cool is that?

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HP Pavilion Elite e9280f - Tower - 1 x Core i7 920 / 2.66 GHz - RAM 9 GB - HDD 1 x 1 TB - DVD?RW (?R DL) / DVD-RAM - Mobility Radeon HD 4850 - Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : 802.11 a/b/g/n (draft) - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none Review

I have a E9180F with Vista having multiple bluescreen / Freezing issues. I believe HP knows that this model has issues, but does not admit or do anything about it. I already spent more than 20 hours jumping through all their hoops to fix the problem. Some of theTech support guys are rude and all they did was defragment the disk/ clean up malware, uninstall Firewall, do a virus scan. They had me upgraded the Bios. They even had me reinstall the whole operating system. I felt the machine actually became slower after the bios upgrade. Pretty much every tech person in HP knows this model has a problem. But they will not admit it. Some one posted a video on Youtube about this problem. Check for the title "HP Knowingly Selling Extremely Defective Pavilion Elite PCs (9150, 9180 models)" on youtube. If you ever see a postive review, it is probably posted by someone with self interest or prematurely posted with out testing their machine to the full extent. There is even a class action investigation going on. Search for "Giskan solotaroff anderson & stewart HP Elite class action"from google. According to the Tech forms I checked, all machines with 9180 / 9280 / 9150 / 9250 series seem to use the same mother board and seem to have the problem.

You are better of going with some other manufacturer who cares about the customer.

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Product Description:
The stylish HP Pavilion Elite e9200 Desktop PC series offers high performance, flexibility and expandability.

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APEX DM-317 mATX Desktop 275W 1 1 (1) Bays USB 2*FAN P4 C2D System Cabinet - Black Review

Excellent appearance. This case is very stable small and quite .The fan on the side /topis nice feature if you are going to stand your case and the large vent being over the cpu was abig plus for me . I managed to fitMadDog 18X DVD burner ,black ide,Xigmatec Apache cpu cooler,AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane cpu,WD 500gb hard drive sata,Crucial ddr2 800 and Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2h AM2 AMD 780g HDMImicro-atx motherboard. This case is identical to Antec Minuet Case. The interior well designed and provide enough lenght and cabling for almost motherboard.The power supply is enough power to supply my system and has stable power. The case has good airflow. I used this case is perhapps one of the best case bang for your bucks, I've seen in a small form slim case.

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Product Description:
Key Features Enclosure Color Black Motherboard Supported up to Form Factor MATX Regular 5.25" Bays 1 Regular 3.5" Bays 1 Regular External 3.5" Bays 1 Chassis Type Medium Tower Power Supply 220 W Front Ports USB 2.0 + Audio + 1394Detail Specifications Dimension: 12.75" x 3.6" x 15.7" (H) x (W) x (D) Form Factor: Slim uATX Motherboard: Micro ATX/Flex ATXExpansion Bay: 4 Low-Profile Expansion PSU: ATX12V Flex 220W Additional Fan: 80mm Cooling Fan Front Access Port: USB2.0 Port x 2, Audio Port x 2, Firewire 1394 x 1

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