MacIntosh Tipz » MTZ

View It A Different Way

rtaylor — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:19:59 +0000

For the past three weeks many customers have complained about the iPhone 4’s reception issues, and many Apple critics have jumped on Apple’s lack of urgency in dealing with the problem. The question I raise today is wether or not we’re making a mountain out of a mole hill; I’m no expert in business, but I feel like I understand why the public feels that Apple, a multi-billion dollar company, is shuffling their feet on the problem while Apple is right on schedule in their minds.

Let’s go back and reiterate that Apple is a multi-billion dollar company, and a company can only become that big by having a reputation for high quality products, which means that since Apple sold 1.7 million units in the first week and local Apple Stores can’t keep them in stock, the pros of the phone are out weighing the cons. Let’s be honest; the iPhone 4 is a fantastic upgrade to a phenomenal 3G S. It’s a simple equation:

pros > cons = happy people’s wallets > angry people’s criticsim

So Why make announcements, recall the phones, and give away free bumper cases for? They shouldn’t and they won’t. If they do that, then they are blemishing their reputation that we established in earlier. They want the attention; they want the bad press; therefore, people like yourself will research all about the iPhone 4 and learn all the pros and just say ‘I would get it, but it has one problem’, and then Apple will come out of no where and fixes the problem and sell a million more iPhone 4s. So instead of filing lawsuits let’s understand that you bought a high quality product that is top in the market.

Stalk us on Twitter so that we can Harass you about our YouTube Videos :p

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iPhone4 Reception Issues/White iPhone?

Eli — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:42:03 +0000

Ever since the release of the new iPhone 4, consumers have been encountering reception issues; such as dropped calls, and display issues. What will Apple decide to do?

There has been several videos, blogs, and concerned emails sent to Steve Jobs and Apple Inc., but is the consumer’s voice really heard? A few days after the iPhone4 was officially released, a concerned customer was asking Steve Jobs if there was any future plans for Apple to fix these reception problems. Jobs replied back with, “Just avoid holding it that way”. What way? How are you supposed to hold the phone? One dead giveaway that the iPhone 4 had reception problems during testing was the available “Bumper Case” that Apple was selling at the launch of the phone.

I truly believe that Apple knew about these previous issue and wanted to provide a quality case to avoid these issues from customers. The case is stylish, but is not the true reason behind it. There has been leaked Apple care documents explaining to the staff how to “deal” with customers when asking/confronting you about the iPhone4 reception problems. You can see this below:

As well as reception problems accruing at opening day, their were several ticked-off customers when Apple did not release the iPhone 4 in white, Black ONLY. Apple states that the new iPhone 4, in white, will be re-released in mid-July. No exact date. After researching several blogs, websites, videos, and emails, Apple has released a statement that the iPhone4 reception problems are not the antenna, but the software. Supposedly, Apple has slipped up on the reception “bars” ever since the 1st gen iPhone. Apple says they are in the process of fixing the bug and will re-realeas the latest iPhone software with the new, and improved, software to increase call quality and overall better reception. We will see…

I hope you have enjoyed this blog over the reception issues/White iPhone4. Feel free to comment below with your take on what Apple is doing or needs to do…Hopefully they will listen to thier customers…

MacintoshTipz

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The New Mac Mini

Eli — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:42:43 +0000

The New Mac Mini is here to make another outstanding appearance for your space-saving, portable, desktop Mac. The Mac Mini was released early Tuesday, June 15th, in a low-key fashion.

The much needed update has a new “mini” design, which is more consistent with the “aluminum”, Mac line-up. The Mini desktop has a 1.4″ thin aluminum inclosure, and according to apple, the same machines that create mission-critical space craft components, created the mac mini.

Equipped with: Power Button, Built-in Power Supply, Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, 4x USB 2.0 ports, SD card slot, Audio in, and Audio out. Also equipped with Blue Tooth and Wifi!

The Mac Mini is not only compatible with your HD television, with the new and improved HDMI slot, but also added a SD card slot. This will open the realm of importing digital stills and videos instantly. And of course, we continue to see “green” in the future of apple products. The redesign ensures lighter packaging, similar as the new MacBook Pros. This ensures more efficient shipping and cheaper rates.

This Mini Desktop packs a huge punch. the Nvidia Gefource, 320M graphics, allows a broader range of high-intensive graphic media; Call of Duty 4 plays up to 2x faster (graphic wise).

The prices stand at $699.

Check out more at Apple.com

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Week of Streams-2010

rtaylor — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:29:32 +0000

Click The Week of Streams to visit and below here are some of the many ways in which you can be involved:

-Donate: This will help us reach our goal of $2,000 dollars. Any where donation is greatly appreciated. You can donate as many times as you like and whenever. During a broadcast or hours after the broadcast for that day is over.

*Knowing that majority of our audience will be in the 13-17 year old age range, be sure to inform your parents that you would like to help make the difference in children’s lives. Remember any donation is accepted.

-Advertise: You can Advertise the Week of Streams by tweeting out info about it, uploading the Promotional Video to your channel and letting everyone you know (moms, dads, babysitters) to come out and watch the Broadcasts for that week. The More advertising means more awareness, more donations and more fun!

We will be directing our charitable efforts towards the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis, TN. Ronald McDonald House is a “home-away-from-home” for families who are in Memphis while their child is receiving treatment for cancer or another catastrophic illness at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. All families stay completely free of charge. Our goal this year is to raise $2,000; If this goal is met, MacintoshTipz will donate $500 dollars…which brings the total to somewhere around $2,500! So Re-Tweet, Email and Promote the Week of Streams to truly be a part of something great!

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Ram Mounts Review

Eli — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:07:21 +0000

Ram-Mounts.com is a great website to find any mounts for your “‘mounting” needs. They offer a vast variety of mounts ranging from marine boat to iphone and printer mounts. All are made of very sturdy high composite plastic and metal which provides a sturdy, well made product. All ram mounts are produced and manufactured in the USA. Ram-Mount also provide a large range of “housing units” for many devices, whether it be a laptop or just a simple ipod, they’ve got you covered. For this review blog, I am specifically reviewing the suction cup mount, and the cup holder mount, both compatible with the iPhone.

Suction Cup Mount:

This specific mount is made up of 3 levels of sturdy, high composite, plastic. Click here to view this product. These 3 levels consist of the durable suction cup, the adjustable swivel arm, and the housing for your device. The suction cup level, of this particular mount, is very durable and provides a nice sturdy suction connection to any glass or smooth surface. The top part of the suction cup implements a “ball/joint” connection with the arm of the mount, with silicone coating, which allows a sturdy position at different angles. The arm and housing of this mount will also provide a sleek look when posted on a windshield for use of GPS or iTunes music. Ram-Mount offers a large variety of “housings” for most devices that you might have. If you want to lear more about this product you can visit Ram-Mount.com

Cup Holder Mount:

The cup holder mount from ram-mounts can be vary useful for anyone who is “on the go”. This mount is a bit more simpler compared to what you get with the suction cut mount, above. This mount consist of the base, arm, and device interface, or so called “housing” for our devices. The base is surprisingly heavy and I can tell that it will make this mount sturdy when using it in a cup holder. There are 6 rubber flaps located around the base which is for more added protection and a more solid fit to the cup holder. The second part, being the arm, is very flexible but, at the same time, extremely sturdy when in position. The arm is a solid metal rod which allows consumers to “flex” it in different angles/positions for your desired location. The top part of this mount is the housing interface for any of your devices that you need to be used with this mount. The housing interfaces are interchangeable with 2 pieces of hardware, and takes seconds to change out. To check out this particular mount, click here.

Both of these devices and be found on Ram-Mounts.com and below is my hands on review over both mounts. Hope you enjoy.

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Otterbox Commuter Case-iPhone 3g/3GS

Eli — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:28:47 +0000

OtterBox.com was generous enough to send us another great case for the iPhone 3G/3GS. This is the Commuter case by otterbox. Last week we reviewed the Commuter TL case from OtterBox, which is their newest case available out today. If you would like to check out that blog, click here. The commuter case is make up of 3 layers of protection. First being the free screen guard that they throw in with the case. The screen guard is not anti-glare but does include instillation instructions, instillation card, and a small shammy cloth for amy finger prints. The second part of this case is the silicone sleeve that gives this case a nice look and feels great in your hand. The last layer of protection is the is the outer, hard plastic, spine. The outer spine gives this case security and make the case look complete. Not only does this case feel comfortable in your hand, but is well protected and is easy to access from your pocket. The commuter case only come is black, unlike the commuter TL case which come is a variety of 7 different colors.

Comparing to the Commuter TL:

The commuter case offers more protection, the case doesn’t look as impressing. The Commuter TL offers less protection, but does look much better when using the device. Overall, both cases are great for protecting your device. If you are looking for something that has good protection, but looks snazzy, the commuter case is not for you..you would need the commuter TL. If you don’t mind a chunkier case and you want the added protection, then the commuter case will fit your needs perfectly.

Find out more about these to cases at otterbox.com

Thanks for stopping in,

E.B. w/ MacintoshTipz

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OtterBox Commuter TL Case Review

Eli — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:05:18 +0000

OtterBox.com was able to send MacintoshTipz another great case for a hands on review for the iPhone 3G/3GS. The Commuter TL case in a 2 part case and comes in a wide range of different colors (black, blue, green, pink, red, white, yellow) See all of the colors by clicking here. The two part case includes an inner silicone sleeve and a translucent hard spine. The inner silicone cover add lots of scratch protection along with a nice grip when holding your device. This silicone cover is not going to add a lot of “drop protection” to the phone but does feel great in your hand. The outer spine of this case is where the protection comes into play. Once both devices are put on the iPhone, you will see that they line up perfectly together and really make this case as one. One of the specs that I was most impresses with this case was the port covers, for the earphone jack, and the power cord input, lined up perfectly and fitted flush on the device. These ports will keep out dust, dirt, moisture, and anything that might be in your pockets. The apple logo on the back of the iPhone is very clear to see and gives a great look the the whole case. The only cons that I have found about this case is the small piece of “rubber band like” silicone at the bottom of the rubber inlay in the case which make see worry the way that this case is going to hold up. Luckily, the outer spine covers up the small silicone lip very flush and shold’nt be a problem for case owners. Check out more at OtterBox.com

This is a great case for the iPhone 3G/3Gs and I highly recommend to any iPhone owner.

Thanks for stopping in,

E.B. w/ MacintoshTipz

~Enjoy the video below, which is a hands on review video over the OtterBox Commuter TL.

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Celebrating 1 year on YouTube!

Eli — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:35:02 +0000

On October 9th, 2008, a mission was started! A Mission that would reach out to thousands and help (hopefully) that many people! We didn’t know what to expect. E.B. and I started off with simple tutorials on the Mac Computer. We gained popularity and somewhat success fast with the help of countless YouTubers!!!!! We keep trying to generate great ideas to the community like we did with our Tech Charity Stream Week of Streams this past summer (raising over $2,000 for a Children’s Hospital).

We Truly Thank EVERYONE who has helped us throughout this one year. Our Mission is still the same, but we think with a tad twist. We still want to help everyone have a better expierence with their Apple Products, but we are trying to promote many other ‘Apple Reviewers’ in the process to make this community one big happy family!!

-Scooter and E.B.

MacintoshTipz Founders

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ScreenFlow Tutorials

Eli — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:23:28 +0000

The most common question that we get asked at MacintoshTipz is, “What do ya’ll use to film and edit your videos”. In this blog I will not only answer this, but I will also provide 5 great, step-by-step, tutorials below for you to follow along to become a “ScreenFlow Master”. In these tutorials, you will learn how to film, edit, and add professional looking effects. ScreenFlow is free for the trial version, which is great for practice, but when exporting the video will have a watermark, until serial number is properly purchased. In detail, the first tutorial will basicaly show you the user friendly interface, the tools, and some basic editing skills. In the 2nd-4th video, you will learn some further, advanched, editing skills in ScreenFlow. And in the 5th video, I show how to export your ScreenFlow project and how to get the HD setting on YouTube when exporting. I hope you enjoy these great tutorial below and to find out more about ScreenFlow click here.

~E.B. w/ MacintoshTipz

ScreenFlow Tutorial: Part 1

ScreenFlow Tutorial: Part 2

ScreenFlow Tutorial: Part 3

ScreenFlow Tutorial: Part 4

ScreenFlow Tutorial: Part 5

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Premium Leather Sleeve @ Mac-Case.com

Eli — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:33:49 +0000

Some of the nicest made cases can be found at Mac-Case.com. They were kind enough to send MacintoshTipz a few samples of there products, to review, and the Premium Leather MacBook Pro sleeve was one of them. Mac-Case provides top of the line cases for all MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and even the 12′ iBook. Sizes ranging from 12″-17″, these cases are flawless and stand out from the competition.The 15″ MacBook Pro, premium leather, sleeve is the case that I am reviewing in this blog, and in this video below. They offer a wide range of colors, such as, tan, vintage, chocolate, black, and red. This particular sleeve can be found under their premium leather section on their website, along with some other sleek products. The sleeve is light weight and still implements great cushion around all walls, and offers reinforced corners for added protection. This company really put a lot of thought into making this case, as they make sure that everything likes up perfectly and all of the leather, interior cloth, and velcro all are the same color. My first impression of this sleeve was that it looked a bit bulky, but as I slide my MacBook Pro into it, then I realized the added protection that this case offers, which results in a bit of a bulk look.

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