Last weekend I'd decided to replace my photo printer (Epson Photo 870). A Walmart in Harrisionburg had a good price on the HP 7550 (w/LCD - now replaced by the 7960) at only $120 (new, but boxes showing some damage). But to be honest, after the track record of HP OS X printer drivers and especially after reading about 10.3 driver problems (as of a week ago at least), I returned it the next day unopened. I started searching for online reviews of photo printers and found very good reviews of the Canon i960 for instance, but as an owner of several digital cameras I really wanted a printer with an LCD + memory card slots to allow printing direct from memory cards (or the camera).
Although I had never given much attention to Canon printers in the past, after reading Steve's digicam site review of the i900D, it looked like a perfect fit for my needs. It has individual ink tanks, a 2in LCD, memory card slots, direct camera connection (for PictBridge compatible cameras), very good print quality, can hold both 8.5x11 and 4x6 photo paper at once (and easily switch between them) - plus it has good photo print speed (actual speed - none of the printers I've owned ever came near their 'rated' photo/color print speeds). The i960 is much faster as it has twice the number of nozzles in the print head as the i900D, but I wanted the extra features of the i900D, and its actual HQ print speed is still about twice (or better) that of any photo printer I've personally owned. The i900D also has a USB 2.0 interface. And again quality and features were my prime considerations.
Although several retail chain stores listed the i900D online (for $249 typically), none of their local stores (Ckt city, Staples, etc.) actually had one in stock. The best price I found online last week was at Samsclub.com for appx $198. (Their price as of tonight is $228.74. For once in my life something actually went UP in price after I bought.) In what may be the only lucky break I've gotten this year, a local camera chain store manager actually matched the Sam's club online store price and had the i900D in stock. (I've was floored they did this - I had never seen them match a 'club' store price in the past .)

I downloaded the latest drivers for the i900D at Canon's website and installed them in OS X 10.3. I wasn't sure the drivers were 10.3 compatible (despite the web page date of mid-Oct. 2003) but I've printed successfully in Photoshop and Preview. (But I've not spent a lot of time printing to it from Photoshop yet - if any readers with an i900D have more extensive experience with it in OS X, I welcome your comments.) Printing directly from my PowerShot camera to Canon 4x6 Photo Plus paper produced borderless, excellent quality prints. The quality of 8x10 photos (from a 6.3MP Canon camera) were also great. I've never cared much about photo printer speed, but to get better quality than my Photo 870 at better than twice the speed is a plus. And no more buying $25-30+ ink cartridges when only one color runs out either. (Individual Canon ink tanks list for under $12 - sam's online has them for under $10. Photo printing typically uses up the Photo Magenta and Photo Cyan carts first.)

Bottom line: I'm impressed with the i900D's features and value. For the price I paid (under $200), I don't know of another printer I would rather have. For more details (features, photos, specs, commentary, although a PC was used for the review), see Steve's review of the i900D. He also reviewed the faster Canon i960 model as well as many other photo printer reviews including the HP 7960 (which for Black and White photo printing the new Photo Gray cart. is a real plus) - but I have no regrets about buying the i900D instead. I also prefer its straight paper path vs. the HP's wrap-around paper feed system. Although the latter makes for a more compact printer overall, in the long run I think the straight paper path is less likely to jam and stresses the paper less.
(I later posted a page with reader reports on photo printers with OS X.)

" Micromat Inc., a leader in disk repair and maintenance technology, today announced a new version of TechTool Pro 4 to support Mac OS 10.2 and is fully compatible with Panther.

"...TechTool Pro 4 is fully compatible with Mac OS X, including Panther. In fact, we boot all current machines that are capable of running Mac OS X such as the new G5's, and I predict that TechTool Pro 4 will become the utility of choice for Mac users." said Rebecca Smith, vice president of Micromat, Inc.

The product introduces some new features that offer extra protection for users. One of the most amazing new features of TechTool Pro 4 (available nowhere else) is the eDrive. An eDrive is a bootable OS X emergency partition containing TechTool Pro 4. It is created on one of your hard drives without the need to reformat it.
You can boot your computer and then run TechTool Pro from the eDrive if your normal startup volume develops problems. This allows you to perform recovery or repairs without needing to startup from the TechTool Pro CD. This feature will be welcomed by users of Macintosh portables who may not have their TechTool Pro CD with them while on the road. If problems should develop, they can simply boot from the eDrive and go to work on their computer.
Other features include S.M.A.R.T. testing, email notification of problems, optimization, and many hardware tests that may help to pinpoint problems missed by other utilities. TechTool Pro 4 is the only utility that simultaneously repairs or optimizes multiple volumes.

TechTool Pro 4 includes the following features:

Installed on a Mac OS X bootable CD

Optimization/defragmentation

eDrive to create an emergency repair partition on your drive

Scheduled automatic Diagnostics and Protection

Email notification of Diagnostic failures

Volume Structure Rebuild

Computer hardware testing

Checks Finder Info and File Structures

Tests are multi-tasking for efficiency

S.M.A.R.T. test to help predict drive hardware failures

Surface Scan to check for physical bad blocks on a disk

Data recovery from damaged volumes

Secure data deletion

USB and FireWire tests

Price and Availability: TechTool Pro 4 can be ordered through select dealers and resellers worldwide or directly from Micromat. Current users of TechTool Pro 3, Applecare, or Drive 10 may upgrade directly from Micromat at www.micromat.com ($49.95 typically). The street price for new users is $99.99 (may vary). "

Here's the first reader mail on TT Pro 4 (but no info on using it to check/repair problems, etc.)

" Hi. Just wanted to report that I finally got my TechTool Pro 4 in the mail. I was surprised they released the product without news or email. (I just received a PR email tonight -Mike)
I got the update since I own Drive 10 and TTP3 already and it was supplied without any fanfare packaging. I only received the CD and an invoice. That's it. The manual can be read in PDF. Of course I'm a little disappointed since I want the printed manual and being a previous owner will give me the full package. (I'm not clear about that last comment - i.e. are any orders shipping with a printed manual.-Mike)

Anyway, the CD I received is version 4.0.1 and I installed it in my PBG4 running OS 10.2.8. I am not planning to update to Panther until the bugs are fixed next year. In the meantime, this version of TTP4 seems updated since the image of the computer they used is the G5. Upon installation and startup the software warned me that I have 30 days to report to Micromat if the CD is unable to be used as a startup disk. Again, since I'm using 10.2.8 it was able to start my computer without any problems... (It's usually the Mac model not the OS version on the drive that determines if a CD like this is bootable.-Mike)
Regards, Raymond O. "

If any readers have tested booting a G5, new iBook G4, etc. with the TechTool Pro 4 CD (or ran it on their hard drive to fix/check for errors, etc. in Panther (or 10.2/10.1), let me know what you think of it.

" Hi Mike,
120 GB IBM deskstar 180 GXP 7200 RPM 2 MB Cache buffer for $79 http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=850
FireWire External Version with Oxford 911 Chip [Combo Ports] FireWire 400 + USB 2/1.1 for $169 http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=405 Thanks
Ken
Transintl.com "

"XpostFacto 3.0a9, online at OWC is fine to boot and install panther on Beige G3 computers.
The remaining limitation is due to the onboard video card.
Everything well on my Beige-G3 since yesterday
ZIF Sonnet G4-1GHz
Acard 6280M (120/40/40/40GB)
OrangeLink+ USB Firewire
Ram 768MB
Lots of USB periph.
Marc LE BRET "

Another Beige G3 owner cc'd me on this mail to Ryan Rempel:

" I have just successfully installed X.3 on a Beige G3 using Alpha_9 of XPostfacto. It has a 450MHz (running 466MHz) PPC 750 pulled from a B&W. I also have a Rage 128 PCI installed and an Asante 100base-T card.
Terry O. "

The Tuesday's news had a report from an 8500 owner (w/Sonnet G4/800) also running 10.3 via XPF 3.0. See the XPostFacto 3 docs page for more information and FAQ.

" iDevGames is officially once again back online, and we now continue our annual Macintosh game development contest, uDevGame with 43 game entries.
The press release stating the new deadlines for voting and winners' announcement can be found here.

In addition, leading music developer Propellerhead Software has joined us as an official sponsor, bringing the total prize value to over $27,000!
Best Regards,
Carlos A. Camacho
Editor-in-Chief
http://www.idevgames.com "

" *DAMN Battle League on 23th november 2003:
we are proud to annouce that the *DAMN Battle League, http://www.planetrainbowsix.com/damnr6, season 6 starts today featuring a Rogue Spear ladder, 3 Ghost Recon ladders and now an America's Army ladder. All ladders are Mac Only and are offering a fair environment for playing clanbattles on GameRanger.
In season 5, lasting 50days, over 500 Mac cbs have been played and already 700Mac users are registered players.
If there are Mac clans that don't know where to play some fine and fun cbs - it is now time to join! "

• Apple Dual G4 DDR (867) OC report
• Giga Designs G4/1.25GHz (at 1.4GHz) in (quicksilver) G4/AGP (rated 9)
• Other World Computing G4/500 in B&W G3 (rated 8)
• Powerlogix G3/900 in B&W G3 (rated 9)
• PowerLogix G4/1.4GHz in (gigabit) G4/AGP (rated 7)
• Sonnet Crescendo/WS G4/500 in Powerbook G3 wallstreet2 (rated 10)
  (My reviews of G4 and G3 upgrades w/apps/game tests, install info, etc. are linked here. OC/CPU module articles are on the Systems page.)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

CDRW Drives:
• Firewire Lacie d2 52x24x52x used w/B&W G3 (OS X)
  (I suspect Liteon mechanism)
• Firewire (IDE drive in FW case) Liteon LTR-52327S (52x32x52) used w/ G4 AGP (OS X 10.3)
• IDE Liteon LTR-52327S (52x32x52x) in Dual G4 DDR (OS X 10.3)
  
  DVD-ROM Drives:
• IDE Plextor PX-116A in G4/AGP (OS X 10.3)
  
  DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
• Firewire TDK 440N used w/Powerbook G4 (OS X 10.3)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106D in B&W G3 (OS X 10.3)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106D in Dual G4 DDR (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106D in G4/AGP (OS X 10.3)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106D in G4 no AGP (OS X)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-106D in G4/AGP (OS X)
• IDE Plextor PX-708A in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (for 10.2.x, use patchburn for itunes/db burn support)
  (Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT and B&W G3 Macs)
  
  DVD-R + DVD RAM Drives:
• IDE Matshita LF-D521 in G4/AGP (OS X 10.3)
  
  Hard Drives:
• IDE Hitachi Deskstar 180GXP 120GB in iMac (OS X)
• IDE (Serial ATA IDE Card) Hitachi 120GB in Dual G4 DDR (OS X 10.3)
  (another reader report of wake from sleep issues with Firmtek serial ATA card)
• IDE Seagate ST380013A 80GB in B&W G3 (OS X)
• IDE Seagate 160GB in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD here in B&W G3 rev2 and G4 towers up to the QuickSilver models.
  IDE articles page RAID section has an illustrated guide for adding 2 more drives in the side bays.)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. (If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.)
(Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• 1 year ago today
• 2 years ago today
• 3 years ago today