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Holiday Sales on Great Tech Gear!

Happy Holiday's to all! Well, now that the holiday season in is full swing, I thought I would share with you all some discounts for tech gear that I have found.

I received in my email the other day a holiday coupon code for Clark & Mayfield that I thought I would share with you all. It's good for 20% off your purchase and free shipping to the lower 48 states within the U.S. Just use the code holiday09!

Speck is having a holiday sale as well, their hard shell covers for the Macbook line are buy one- get one 50% off! Just shop on their site!

My Gear Store has a Black Friday sale going on until 11/30/09. Use the code Black20 for 20% off their already reduced prices on any purchase!

Finally, Best Buy has begun their 2-day Cyber Monday sale today with free shipping on all orders over $25 and some great deals all around their site, so be sure to check them out as well!

I Won NaNoWriMo 2009!

So, I wrote a novel, now what? Oh right, blog! Yep, that's right girls and boys, I am an official winner of NaNoWriMo 2009! I hit the 50,ooo word mark today and just kept on typing. My novel is officially written, but not completely edited. I guess I can spend the rest of the month on that! For now, I am going to spend the rest of the night relaxing, but I just wanted to share the good news with all of my favorite readers. Thanks for sticking with me this month despite the lack of posting! I will be back full force with some great content very soon!

"And there you were, working on your Mac..."

So, my word count for NaNoWriMo is ahead of schedule and I've hit the 42,000 word mark this morning so I thought I would take a little break and show you guys one of my favorite quasi Mac related scenes in a movie. This clip is from Best in Show and, well, I can't really describe it to you, so you will have to watch it, but I think it's hysterical. Now that my boyfriend has a new 15" Macbook Pro, I feel like this is us, minus the geeky braces and law degrees. Enjoy!

Mulberry for Apple.

While I have been off writing my novel for NaNoWriMo, there have been a few things that I found online I wanted to shared with you. One of these is the new Mulberry line of accessories for Apple. Here are a few of the items in the new line:

Daria Sleeve, $550

Daria mini messenger for iPhone, $250

Bayswater tote for 13" Macbook, $1,195

As you can see, this is obviously yet another high end accessory line for Apple specific gear, and it reminds me a lot of Violet May's line of tech accessories with their bright girlish colors and textures, but especially (or, unfortunately) in their price points. Well, at least they are pretty to look at!

MacHeist nanoBundle!

I just wanted to remind everyone that the MacHeist nanoBundle is out for download and it is free! For those of you who are not familiar, MacHeist annually gives away bundles of Mac software for either (A) a ridiculously discounted bundle price or (B) for free. This time around they went with option B, so for FREE you get 6 great pieces of Mac OS X software. This year it looks like they are going with the NaNoWriMo theme and giving out 2 word processing tools, WriteRoom, and Mariner Write, so I just had to get my bundle asap! They are also giving away ShoveBox, Twitterific, TinyGrab, and Hordes of Orcs. I really think this is a great bundle and you can't beat the price so head on over to MacHeist.com to get yours now! By the way, Mariner Write doesn't unlock until they reach 500,000 participants so go sign up so I can try it out! Remember their are only 5 days left so get em while they last!

New White Macbook vs. Macbook Pro

Here it is! My video comparison of the new White Macbook side by side with the Macbook Pro. If you aren't able to watch the video, let me give you a quick written review of the specs and what makes these two models different.

New White Macbook Base Specs:

2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

250 GB Hard Drive

2 GB of DDR3 Memory

New Brighter Display

Full Unibody Construction

7 Hour Battery

Multi-Touch Glass Trackpad

Total $999

Aluminum Macbook Pro Base Specs:

2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

160 GB Hard Drive

2 GB of DDR3 Memory

LED Display

Full Unibody Construction

7 Hour Battery

Multi- Touch Glass Trackpad

SD Card Slot

FireWire 800

Back-lit keyboard

Battery Indicator Light

Total $1,199

Obviously, each model also includes a display port, ethernet port, two USBs, an audio in/out, Kensington Lock, and a Superdrive, so we can just ignore those specs, along with the processor, the memory, 7 hour battery and glass track pads which are the same between the two models. What we are really interested in are the components of the computer that differ. To begin with, the screen. Although they both have the same screen resolution and LED Backlit display, the Macbook Pro still has a superior quality of the screen. In the video you can see the difference between the colors on each screen and although I believe Apple has made vast improvements to the Macbook's screen, it is still not on par with the Macbook Pro.

Now, the Macbook has a greater hard drive capacity in the base model. There is no way around this, the numbers speak for themselves. You can of course upgrade the size of the Macbook Pro's hard drive, but this is one area where the new Macbook is superior to the Macbook Pro. However, this is really where the superiority ends, as the Macbook lacks many of the great features that make the Macbook Pro a more functional and fully equipped computer.

These Pro features include the SD card slot, FireWire 800, a back lit keyboard, and battery indicator lights. Now, for a difference of $200 you can get all these useful features, by giving up 90 GBs of hard drive space, and to me, that is worth it. When it comes to computers, space isn't a major issue because hard drives are one of the most easily replaceable components of any computer. Apple charges you a mere $50 to equip your Macbook Pro with a 250 GB hard drive, and for not too much more, you can bring your laptop to an Apple certified repair business to have the hard drive upgraded. You also have the option of many different forms of external hard drive space that any computer owner should use to back up their files -if for no other purpose. Remember, you can always get more hard drive space, but you can't just add an SD card slot, or a backlit display to a notebook computer.

When it comes down to it, the difference between the Macbook and the Macbook Pro base models is $200, and you certainly get your money's worth for the difference, especially if you are someone, who like me, values those added features and would prefer them to a $200 savings. Of course, another major factor in the decision between the two machines is the difference between white plastic and aluminum, and although I am not going to discuss that difference because to me it will always come down to personal taste, I just wanted to remind my readers that this is a machine that you will probably have for some time and you should like the way it looks just as much as you like the way it works. So, if you love the way the white Macbook looks and can't stand the Aluminum, I think you have already made your choice, because no amount of extra features will turn one unibody into another ;)

NaNoWriMo 2009

I just wanted to let everyone know I am an official participant in NaNoWriMo 2009. If your not familiar with the annual event, I will explain. For the past 11 years, November has been National Novel Writing Month, where people from around the globe attempt in write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. I have been interested in participating in the event for a few years now, but I have either forgotten about it or was too late/busy to join. This year, however, I am official! You can visit my "Author Page" here and follow my progress online. If you too are participating, feel free to add me as a writing buddy- so far I have none ;)

On the advice of the dedicated writer/bloggers over at Macworld who are also participating in NaNoWriMo, I have decided to download and use the writing program Scrivener, which is offering an extended trial of the software for those participating in the event. I downloaded it yesterday and started playing around with it, so I suppose after this month is up I will have a good review of the program for you guys. Best part is, Literature and Latte (the developers) are offering 20% discounts on the program for those who participate in NaNoWriMo and 50% discounts for those who win (winning means hitting the 50k word mark)! Hopefully, if things go well, I will have my own copy of Scrivener half off come December!

On a blog related note, I am expecting this to sorta take over my life for the next month, so chances are posts will be scarce, but I will try my best to get you guys some great content to hold you over until December! As always, thanks for your support- I really do appreciate all you each do to help me make this blog a success.

I'm not going to say "goodbye" because I do not intent to leave you for a month, but I do wish you a Happy Halloween, and while I'm at it a Happy Thanksgiving in advance!

New White Macbook Out of the Box!

For my Weekly Tech Roundup I decided to give a review of Apple's new White Macbook and discuss the rest of the updates that were announced on Tuesday. In the video I discuss some of the things I like about the new Macbook and some of the things it lacks.

To begin, I really love the new shape of the machine. I am a big fan of the unibody and I am very glad they were able to bring it to the polycarbonate Macbook with such style. If you have ever used one of Apple's unibody Macbooks/Pros before, you know that they are so solid and lightweight at the same time- a feeling one wouldn't normally get with any other notebook computer. The unibody gives the computer a sleek silhouette with very few visible screws and now with the non-removable 7-hour battery the notebook looks so flush with just a few breaks for ports and the superdrive. I also like the fact that the unibody allows the high gloss polycarbonate to cover the hand rest as well, so there should be no issues with yellow or oily hand rests from now on. In that same area, the Macbook now has a full glass trackpad with all the multi touch functionality of the Pros and a bright LED backlit display comparable to the Pros as well. One final touch I am obsessed with is the full rubber bottom of the Macbook, which to me is an amazing incorporation into the design, as we all know the polycarbonate is prone to scratches and nothing attracts them more then the bottom of the notebook.

Now, a few things missing from this machine that really draw it apart from the Macbook Pro line are the lack of an SD slot, lack of Firewire, and lack of a battery indicator light. Perhaps the first two are not big surprises as it looks as though Apple was trying to remove Firewire from their low end consumer driven Macbook, setting it apart from the high performance Macbook Pros. Again the SD slot missing from the design isn't a big surprise as it seems as though Apple is drawing a clear line in the sand between the Macbooks and the Pros. However, I am shocked that there is no battery indicator light on these new Macbooks, especially since they also use the new 7-hour built in battery. I am not sure if it was a conflict with the design or the materials, but there certainly is plenty of white space on the sides of the machine where Apple could have put an indicator. My guess is that the polycarbonate might be difficult to work with and a series of pin-sized holes may have been difficult to achieve without compromising the solidity of the unibody enclosure. Again, just a guess that has no real basis in any sort of knowledge of polycarbonate!

There was one final thing I wanted to touch on in regard to not just the new Macbooks, but the new updates as a whole. I was quite surprised that Apple did not hold an official press and media event around the announcement of the new products. I guess we can speculate the reason for the lack of an official announcement, like the health of Steve Jobs, but I think that this level of secrecy around announcements might become more of a trend for Apple. Usually, when they make small adjustments to specs or pricing, we don't hear anything big directly from Apple, but this recent update did bring some pretty new changes to their computer and accessory lineup that you would assume they would want to celebrate. So why not yell it from the rooftops? Well, I think for one, the ever spinning rumor mill of suspected and impending Apple products puts a dark cloud over the Apple events that usually leaves people feeling cheated or underwhelmed. Even with this update, we knew something was coming, and although many rumors of an updated Macbook, iMac and Mac Mini did come true, some fans are still waiting out that Apple Tablet that may never arrive. The pressure of an event also inevitably causes Apple stock to fall- I assume because of the build up leading to the event and the broken hearts that are left when every desire or rumor isn't fulfilled. It is most likely our fault as obsessive consumers that demand so much from Apple and their products, that we end up ruining it for ourselves. But then again, if it weren't for the obsessive consumers Apple would have no one to try to impress!

Wireless Deceiver.

One of the hot new tech items on the market right now is the PowerMat wireless charger, however, with all the buzz and press around this innovative new device, I find that many have been fooled into thinking more of this gadget than necessary. Undoubtedly, the item is unique and innovative as it is now possible to charge all your gadgets without having to plug them into the wall. A socked saver for sure, however, what actually differentiates the PowerMat from other charging stations out on the market? Well, really only one thing- the lack of a wire directly from the charging area to the device.

Let's break down the PowerMat into its working parts. First of all, we have a mat, powered by a single wire to an outlet. The mat functions as a base station where the devices must be left in order to charge. Then we have the wireless receiver called the Powercube (above). This little box has a wire that connects directly to the device you are looking to charge, and with a collection of interchangeable tips, one cube can act as a receiver for multiple different devices, but only one at a time.

Okay, so you still need to plug your device into the receiver, and keep it stored on the mat itself in order to charge it- unless you buy one of the optional battery door receivers (above) made for either a Blackberry or an iPhone- in which case you have to attach something directly to the device and then leave it to charge on the mat. I don't want to take away from the innovation of a consumer device with the ability to charge an array of devices without a direct connection from the power source to the device, but it really isn't that different from the traditional charging station. You still plug or attach something to the device that needs charging, and you still need to leave it at one location while it does so, and for the price tag of the power mat ($99.99) which can charge up to 3 devices at a time, plus the cost of 2 extra Powercubes ($29.99 each) and/or the optional device specific battery door chargers ($29.99- $39.99) you are looking at a cost of at least $159.97. Let's compare that to a more traditional but no less innovative wired charging station like Bluelounge's Refresh charging station (below) that costs $89.99, can charge at least 3 devices at once, and also has a variety of tip heads to choose from for different devices.

Let's be honest with ourselves right now, we were all temporarily deceived by the seemingly futuristic simplicity of the PowerMat, but unless we can innovate to the point of simply leaving a device on a mat to pick up a charge, I am not spending $50 per device to charge them when I can get a great charging station for under $100 or just get a surge protector for $20 and use the free wires that come with the device!

Use Your Fingers.

It might not actually be magic, but Apple's new Magic Mouse certainly has powers that far surpass the lot of ordinary muggles... err, I mean mice.

This tail-less wonder might look like a futuristic spaceship from it's photographs, but it's sleek design and smooth surface are the basis for it's multi-touch capabilities.

From the unmarked smooth shell you can left and right-click, scroll 360 degrees, and swipe, features designed to wonder and amaze! This one certainly leaves other mice in the blind.

{On my to-buy list at $69}

Perfection. Simplified.

Just when you thought the perfect form of white polycarbonate couldn't get any better, Apple had to go and redesign the Macbook, and the rest of us are left picking our jaws off the floor.

The new white Macbook, still at the $999 price-point seems even more ethereal than it's predecessor. A new shapely round unibody enclosure, a thinner screen, brighter display, glass multi-touch trackpad and an amazing 7 hour battery life gives this little brother of the Macbook Pro line even more of a family resemblance.

So, what will you get for the baseline model? A 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of memory and a 250 GB hard drive. I am certainly in love with the design and configuration offered, but sill disappointed that Apple couldn't manage to lower the price on their cheapest model.

You're still undoubtedly getting the best bang for your buck with Apple's latest laptop creation, but I know many will be disappointed with their seemingly immovable price tag.

Macbook Pro Display Issue.

So, I have been noticing this weird issue my Macbook Pro has been having- basically, every once in a while when I am on battery power and I leave my computer idle for a while, when I get back the colors on the screen are messed up. This doesn't happen every time I leave the computer unplugged and out of use, but it has happened a few times and so I wanted to make you guys aware of how to quickly fix it!

Away from Keyboard.

I realize I have yet again gone missing from the internet. Sorry about that. After the September marathon of posting I was a little worn out, I was busy in my personal life, then things became hectic at work, and before I knew it, days away from the blog turned into more than a week. I just wanted to take some time to come up for air and let you know I haven't died. I am actually trying to put together some new material that I hope you will enjoy later this month, but for now I have decided to take it at a slow and steady pace as I make it through October.

XoXo

The Pink Mac

Weekly Tech Roundup 10/04/09.

Almost forgot to post my Weekly Tech Roundup from last weekend. This week I talk about organizing your Mac for the hustle and bustle of Fall, the HP Envy 13 aka the Macbook Clone, and the newly released BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac!

Do you Unfriend your Exes on Facebook?

The other day I was browsing facebook and discovered that I was blocked from my exes profile. At first I didn't understand what had happened, but then I realized, he unfriended me. Now, I am not sure of the protocol with something like this, but he and I have been separated for almost a year now, so I guess it took him long enough to do it, but I wanted to get the opinion of my tech saavy readers. I for one do not believe you should really ever unfriend someone unless they have done something bad to you, but in the case of an ex that you mutually separated from, why deny you know each other when everyone of your shared friends know you were once together? So, what do you think? Do you unfriend your exes on facebook after you breakup? If so, what is the appropriate time frame? Right after you break up or months later? I guess it's something to ponder!

Organize your Mac with these 5 Tips!

Now that fall is in full swing, it is the perfect time to organize your digital life. So, I have put together a list of 5 easy to implement tips to help you clean out your computer and reorganize your files, a must on the To Do list of any student, working adult, parent or retiree this season!

{Note: Before you begin the process outlined within this post please make sure to back up your computer files using Time Machine or whichever method you prefer. The tips here are only suggestions and this blog is not responsible for any files you may mistakenly loose or delete in the process of implementing them!}

Let’s begin, shall we...

1. DELETE, DELETE, DELETE

If you want to clean out and reorganize your Mac, the first and best thing to do is delete all unnecessary files, folders, programs, ect, from your hard drive. This could take time depending on how much you have stored on your hard drive and how much you want to erase.

For applications, I recommend using a program like AppCleaner to get rid of the program and all associated systems files in one action. It is a free download, so you might want to hang on to it for future use.

It might also be a good idea for you to clear your Safari cache as well. To do this, open Safari and from the menu select, Safari > Empty Cache > Empty. If you use another web browser you should still be able to do this, but consult their help menu for proper instructions.

2. File Away

After you have deleted the files you no longer need, you must reorganize the ones you still want to keep. Although OS X does a great job of providing a built in organization system for different types of files like movies, photos or documents, it is still up to you to keep these files straight within their selected locations.

For instance, if you took a trip to France and you have a bunch of photo’s just sitting in your Pictures file, organize them by creating a new file called ‘Trip to France’ within Pictures to keep them together for easy location later. It is easier to store photos in a named file then to put names on each individual photo, as you can always add those later after you have them organized into a group.

3. Put it in Storage

There may be some files you want to keep as a backup, but don’t want taking up space on your hard drive, so to solve this problem I use an external hard drive. I do this for all my iMovie projects once I have uploaded them to the web, because I want to keep copies of them as a backup, but I don’t need hundreds of movie files crowding up my hard drive. By storing them on a separate hard drive, I know I can retrieve the files whenever or if ever I need them.

4. Become an Avid Reader

If you’re like me and like to read a wide variety of websites and blogs, you probably also have a mass of links bookmarked in Safari that you just sift through as you’re surfing. Well, to make this process easier and much quicker, you may want to download an RSS/Atom reader like NewsFire.

With this simple application, you can add a long list of RSS feeds and just click through each article you want to read. This saves you the time of having to load up each page and gives you the benefit of having the title of each article laid out so that you can pick and choose which you would want to read without having to scroll through multiple pages of a blog or site. Using a RSS reader like this also gives you the ability to read your favorite sites while you are offline as well, so long as you refresh your feed before you go offline!

5. Get Things Done

Many of us use our computers to organize not only our work but also our family and personal lives simultaneously. This may result, however, in a chaotic mess of information, to do’s, links, recipes and whatever else you need scattered throughout multiple places on your computer.

So, to get all your tasks done and all your information in one place, use a program like iGTD. With iGTD you can organize your tasks by context or projects, separating work tasks, home tasks, family tasks, etc, with a built in organization system of calendars, places for notes, web links, and whatever other information you will need to complete your tasks.

{Congratulations! If you have followed these 5 tips successfully, you now have an organized Mac fit and trim to see you through all the hard work of fall!}

Searching for a BlackBerry Purse: Knomo’s iPouch

A few days ago I mentioned that I was looking for a BlackBerry Purse that would act as a wallet and cell phone case. Although I haven’t found anything similar to the Violet May BlackBerry Purse I was swooning over, I have found another fashionable option in a slightly different style. This Knomo iPouch Wallet is a great double duty option for when you want to travel light. It is a fully functional wallet with slots for your ID, credit cards, money and change, and it also incorporates a case perfect for a BlackBerry, iPhone or other cell phone or MP3 player. It comes in 2 colors, Lambskin Black or Fusia and is substantially cheaper than the Violet May version, at only $68. I really love Knomo products, as I currently use a Knomo Toyah to tote my laptop, and I love the style and protection their products have to offer. I will have to think more about this BlackBerry Purse idea before I make a decision on which to buy, but I think this is a definite contender. Stay tuned for more options as I continue my search.

Attack of the Clones.

We all know the new aluminum Macbooks have a design that is enviable, but some I suppose are just taking it a little too far. I give you the HP Envy 13, or as I like to call it, the Macbook Clone! This 13" slim laptop has many of the features we all love out the the 13" Macbook Pro, namely a bright glass display, chicklet keyboard and a slim physique. Of course, it does leave much to be desired, like OS X! I am not sure which Macbook this 13" HP is envying, because with it's price tag of $1,800 it is even more costly then a 15" Macbook Pro, or even the Macbook Air! Aren't knock off's usually cheaper than the real thing? I'd love to see this in a PC Hunters Ad!

Release Date Set for BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac!

For all you BlackBerry using Mac people out there, this Friday will be the official release date of RIM's BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac. As you may remember, I already have the beta release that was leaked, but I will be happy to download the full version on Friday. I will keep you updated on how this goes.

You can download the update here after 1:00 pm on October 2nd. Enjoy!