Futurize Your Macbook By Replace Optical Drive With SSD

One of the things I expected from Apple's fresh of the Macbook Pro in March was the exclusion of the optical drive, the DVD reader/burner, with something else that is more aligned with Apple's mobile vision. That did not happen.

However, GIGAOM has a cool post for those good with tools and taking apart computers to mess around with. Replace the drive with an SSD.

Now, this isn't like the older Powerbooks that Apple used to make in the 90s when you can just swap out one expansion solution for another. It doesn't quite work that way. This solution presented, for someone like me, is like brain surgery.

But I am sure many of you can give this a go. The total cost is about $400. At the end of the day, you get extra storage space, speed, and, as the writer said, great for developers. Me, I just like having more room.

THE FUTURE. Repeating what I said at the top, I thought Apple would have and could have replaced the DVD drive and use the space for something else. A natural option would be another drive.

Me? I would have loved to see another battery in its place. Yeah, I'm a total battery life guy. Longer the better. You can never have enough battery power.

For this option, there is no DIY solution like the SSD solution presented here. For the battery option, well, we'll just have to wait and see if Apple thinks battery life is as important as I think it is.

I'm guess Apple's more likely to replace the optical drive, and they will one day (probably next year), with more storage than battery. Hey, I'll take that too.

Until then, this is a DIY SSD solution looks pretty good.

More at GIGAOM.

First Post From IPad 2 And Initial Impression - Awesome!

This is the very first post I've sent from from an iPad 2. Feels and looks the same as any old iPad. Well, except for the camera facing me from the right and the Smart Cover that is propping up the iPad 2 at an angle for easier typing.

It's overcast in Pasadena, city about 10 miles or so northeast of Los Angeles. You know, where those Rose Parade is held each and every single year.

While this isn't a review, I can say that the screen is very good despite sitting here in the outdoors where I am at at a coffee shop. The overall feel of the screen does seem to be brother than the original iPad with the setting at 50% brightness.

Since I've passed along my iPad to my nephew a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would need to get reacquainted with the layout of the virtual keyboard but it's all second nature to me at this point.

And I only was able to get my hands on the iPad 2 yesterday, I cannot say just how fast it really is. With the original iPad, it was loaded to the rim with apps, musics, and video. So it's possible that it might have had an influence on the performance a bit. I did notice that the iPad 2 felt more responsive than the original iPad. And I thought it had been plenty fast already. In fact, I think both models felt more responsive than the beta-ish Honeycomb on the Motorola Xoom that I played with over the weekend.

And, with the extra memory, I like the fact that Safari is able to load websites in the background, and fast. Unlike the iPad, there is no delays in waiting for some of the more complicated website to load.

All in all, the iPad 2 a worthy upgrade. The extra memory and speed is going to make a big diff once Apple and developers come out with more features and productivity apps in future iOS releases.

For original iPad owners, my short time with the iPad 2 is telling me that upgrading from the iPad might not make a lot of sense unless you want to do a lot of FaceTime chats. The extra speed is nice but I don't know much noticeable it'll be for day to day use.

If you can find someone to pass off the iPad, like a child or spouse, and have some extra money to burn, sure, why not.

And if you want to jump into the tablet market, this is the iPad to get. But aren't sure or is intimidated by the perpetual line at the Apple Stores that you keep hearing about, Go after 10am when most of the Apple Stores are opened and the lines will be gone by then. Check it out. Play with it and changes are, you'll either be joining the lines or going home to order and wait 3-4 weeks for yours.

I don't know what Apple is going to do to top this with iPad 3. Retina screen? You might have heard that Apple might release an updated iPad in the fall. Not a chance. The iPad 2 is just this good. There simply is no iPad competitor that will come onto the market and give users the same experience and dazzle you with the magic.

I am first a foremost mobile tech fan and I do like Android but 2011 is all iPad 2.

Sent from my iPad 2

iWeb For iPad: It Would Blow the Roof Of For Mobile Users And Open Up A New Front In Tablet Productivity

iWeb is the way to go for simple folks like myself who want to create our own sites and manage it ourselves.  Apple has made that such easy, albeit a bit more restrictive than I would like.  It's why I also use Rapidweaver.  Now, news come that Apple has patented iWeb for the iPad.  The question I'm sure many are asking is if such an app will ever see the light of day.  Heck, I'll settle for even a glimpse of it in the darkest of alley.  Okay, makes no sense but you know what I mean.

I'm hoping Apple will make this happen.  There are a few things Apple has to do to make sure it works on the iPad as well as on the Mac.

I've been using iWeb in conjunction with MobileMe to run my Greenjava website, a depository of relevant news on politics, economy, mobile, and coffee.  It works.  Not great but much better than anything that I've come across. But I cannot do that on the iPad.  The thing that is so robust about other web and blogging platforms are that they are so versatile.  You can update blogs from anywhere on just about any platform.  I hope Apple provides a means for iWeb to do just that.

I thought that would come with version 3 of iWeb but as many people who use it as their main tool for Web work, we were sorely disappointed.  Very disappointed.  

And Patently Apple's news about iWeb patent is a good sign.  These days, any news about the iWeb is good news.   I don't know how this is going to work for the iPad.  My hope is that all iWeb files will reside in the cloud and we will be able to work on the files and update it on the Mac, iPad, or any other iOS devices like the iPhone.  A lot of times, I just want to update and post blogs.  I think it would be a no-brainer function for Apple to add to the next version of iWeb, be it for the Mac or iPad.

iWeb would be a very important app for the iPad.  It would be an important productivity tool that so far does not exist anywhere in the app store, as far as I know.   One of the thing that Apple doesn't have to do that Google has to is to create a model device for others to follow.  Just as Google has created the Nexus One and Nexus, and probably a Nexus tablet, Apple should create model productivity tools for other developers to follow.  

The iWeb would be a very important step in that direction.  

I like to see Rapidweaver come to the iOS devices, particularly the iPad.  What other Mac OS tools would you like to see come to the iPad?  

More at Patently Apple.

iPad 2 Can Be Found In Stock But Selections Limited

I struck out again this morning at the Pasadena Apple Store. I take comfort in the fact that the iPad I ordered from AT&T is here. But given the demand among my family, I will probably relinquish it. I've got a favorite aunt who I want to surprise on Sunday.

Meanwhile, I checked around local area Apple stores in LA. Quite a few of them still have iPads in stock as of this writing. I don't want to give you hope because the quantities are limited and I encourage you to call around. For instance, the Glendale store has the 16GB White Verizon model but nothing else.

The Target on Colorado Blvd near Lake has the 64GB Black Verizon models.

None of them are the 16 GB white AT&T one that I want.

Still, if you're more open to other offerings, a little leg work and you should be able to get your hands on one. But you'll have to be quick.

Apple Employees Have A Certain Air About Them

Has anyone discussed this on the blog or anywhere else? Here I am at the Apple Store in Pasadena hope to even get a glimpse of the 16 GB ATT white iPad 2 that I have yet to be able to get for myself.

What is interesting about waiting in line today is that I have been seeing a stream of Apple employees walking by and into the store. And the sheer numbers is amazing.

I estimated about thirty people walking past us and into the store. I don't even pretend to know how many folks it takes to run a successful retail operation like an Apple storebut that is an awful lot of people.

Not only that, there is an air about them that is vastly different from the other employees just arriving at the other retail stores.

It's not arrogance. I've dealt with many of these Apple people in the past. And they are some of the nicest people who has not only a job to do but an strong desire to do their tasks well and provide the customers with the best help possible.

And it became pretty easy to tell who they were over time. They dressed differently even in their civilian clothes with the white earbuds as they walk by with the iced mocha or messenger bag.

I chalk this up to confidence that they were offering the line-up of products and for working with a very innovating company.

I cannot imagine such an atmosphere at other tech places like Frys or Best Buy. This is not a knock on the people working there but the smallness and more centralized set of products and services that Apple offers likely help foster this environment.

On another note, while we were waiting in line, we got some excitement when the a couple workers from a glass company were moving a glass display into H&M store next to Apple And shattered it.

Here's a pic of it. I'd show the line of people around me waiting foe the iPad 2 but that's probable getting old by now.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Powerbook 1Ghz: My Old Girl, But Still Sexy

I bought my aluminum 1Ghz Powerbook eons ago and it has not been on my lap for more than two years since I bought the late-2008 unibody Macbook back in December of 2008. And guess what? It still rocks.

See, one of the reason I went with the Macbook was that it had a great screen that the LCD on the Powerbook just could not keep up through over the years of being used and abused as a productivity device and media device.

Still, it has a lot of uses that cannot be matched in ways that an aging Windows machine cannot.

First, the keyboard on this particular line of the Powerbook is still second to none. The keys are responsive and is, depending on your opinion, a starkly different from the chicklet forms on the newer Macbooks. And that's say that the current keyboards on the Macbook are also excellent.

I imagine that many of you out there in Apple land has more than a few Powerbooks still up and running at home. So you know what I am talking about. Whether you've passed this along to your kids, parents, or just having it sit on the side of your workstation to play music through iTunes or as a file server, you know what I'm talking about here.

There's life yet in this awesome piece of Apple engineering for years to come. There will not being any more updates from Apple and have not been for a long time. However, what is there is quite stable and fast.

I've maxed out the PB to the 2 GB of RAM. There simply isn't more you can do beyond that. And for what you can continue doing on these PowerPC Macs, you don't need more than that.

Anyway, it's a good walk down memory lane and great knowing that road is still being traveled. And as if I needed a reminder, the Powerbook seems to be agreeing with me by warming my laptop on this cold night.

So, do you still have a pre-Intel Powerbook in your household, apartment, or dorm? If so, what are you using it for?


- This post was written and sent from My Powerbook

iPad Is Not A Viable Enterprise Tool: Guess Who Thinks This

iPad isn't for biz  Well, if Dell, HP, and Microsoft says it, it must be true...

I'm gonna take a guess and say that the PC market, san the Mac part of it, isn't doing too well.  The sudden chorus of chatter in the media against the iPad only solidifies Steve Jobs' claim that we are approaching the post-PC era.  

A comprehensive mobile experience for computing with a viable ecosystem is something that is difficult to create and these guys are late to the game.

More here.