News Archive for: Wednesday April 4, 2007 (Later added items first)
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Univ. Binary patch for Lego Star Wars
Eddie sent a note that MU lists a LEGO Star Wars 1.0 rev A patch that's universal binary for Intel Macs. (I've updated the other news items below also.)
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Apple cuts prices on Cinema Displays
I missed it earlier today (focused on the Mac Pro change) but Rod sent a note that Apple today also cut prices on the Cinema Displays. The Apple store has "new prices" on the displays icon with the Cinema 20in model now at $599.00, the 23-in now $899.00 and the 30in now $1799. IIRC that's appx. $100 off the 20in/23in models and appx $200 off the 30in model's previous list prices.
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Apple intros 8-Core (Dual 3GHz Quad-core CPUs) Mac Pro model
Early this morning the Apple store was down for changes - for the new 8-Core (Dual Quad Core CPUs) Mac Pro option. The base system is still using dual-core CPUs, but now there's a 3GHz Quad-Core ('8-Core') option - Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5300 ("Clovertown") series CPUs with 8MB of L2 cache per processor. (Dual-Core Xeon had 4MB L2 per processor but as before, each 2 cores still share 4MB of cache.) The two 3GHz Quad-Core CPU option adds $1498 to the base (2.66GHz/Dual-Core) $2499 system price.
Apple has updated the Mac Pro Xeon page and performance page with some benchmarks using the new 3GHz/8-core model. (Modo, Maya, and Cinebench 9.5, and down the page Photoshop CS2 (rosetta, not CS3) tests, but FCP benchmarks not updated yet as of this morning.) The Specs page has also been updated.
Last fall some lucky Mac Pro owners were able to swap in Quad-Core ("Clovertown") Xeons in their Dual-Core systems (ref: Mac Pro tests w/Quad Core CPUs vs Dual Core), so many expected this announcement at MWFS in January, but the iPhone was the major focus there. For existing owners of Dual-Core Mac Pros, over time the price of the Clovertown CPUs should drop to where upgrades are more attractive. (BTW - A Photoshop user sent a reminder of this Adobe blog on Photoshop and Multi-Cores.)
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Price cuts on Mercury Elite-AL Pro Firewire/USB 2.0 Hard Drives
(from site sponsor OWC)

"OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro FW400+USB2 Solutions, up to $100 lower! The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro FW400/USB2 solution line offers up to 750GB of highly reliable, performance storage with connectivity via its two FireWire 400 ports or USB 2.0/1.1 port. Like all Elite-AL Pro single bay models, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 400+USB2 can stand vertically or be placed horizontally. With dimensions of only 9.0 x 2.1 x 5.8 Inches, it's sleek and compact too! High Performance, High Reliability - in an amazingly small physical space.
Key features of the OWC Mercury Elite-AL FireWire+USB2 Solutions include:
Oxford 911+ based performance bridge solution
Two 6 Pin FireWire 400 Ports
One standard USB Port
Large 8MB or 16MB Data Buffer
Audio/Video Certified
Compact, shock resistant Aluminum design
EMC/Dantz Retrospect Backup Certified
Industry Leading 2 Year Solution Warranty
Up to an additional 3 Years Factory Warranty on the hard drive inside.

ALL OWC Mercury Elite-AL Single Drive Solutions now include the award winning Prosoft DataBackup III (Latest Version, full retail) for OS X (a $59.95 retail value) and the award wining NovaStor NovaBACKUP for Windows (a $49.95 retail value). Further - these aren't just limited OEM versions, these are the full retail versions with full retail support including the same technical support and version update support provided to customers who purchase the retail stand alone version. Great software we're pleased to be bundling with our great solutions!
FireWire Cable, USB2 Cable included with each solution. 2 year OWC Solution Warranty + HD MFR.
80GB w/ 8MB Data Buffer remains $109.99
160GB w/ 8MB Data Buffer remains $124.99
250GB w/16MB Data Buffer was $139.99, now $129.00 $11 Drop
320GB w/16MB Data Buffer remains $169.99
400GB w/16MB Data Buffer was $219.99, now $179.99 $40 Drop
500GB w/16MB Data Buffer was $239.99, now $219.99 $20 Drop
750GB w/16MB Data Buffer was $449.99, now $349.99 $100 Drop
UPS Ground from $2.95 and/or 2nd Day Air $7.95 or LESS for delivery within the United States.
OWC's full firewire line can be found online here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/ "

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Freecom Data Tank (500GB) review
Erik of IT-Enquirer wrote he's posted a multi-page review of Freecom's Data Tank (500GB), an external drive with FW800/400/USB 2.0 ports, raid support and an encryption option.
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Other News/Misc Software Updates

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Recent Articles and Reviews
Listing/links to recent articles and reviews you may have missed.
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