Macintosh Tipz » Unboxing

27 inch iMac – One Week Review

Bill Savage — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:39:04 +0000

The first thing that you are going to notice about the new iMac is the screen, and it is a beauty. I cannot compare it to the previous generation iMac’s screen, but from what I have read, the new iMac’s screen is similar to the Apple Cinema Display. So far the computer has been performing great. The 3.06 GHz processer is a welcomed improvement over my 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro. I did not order the Quad Core version because I was planning on getting the 2.8 GHz iMac before Apple announced their new product line, so this was a nice upgrade to my original choice. I just do not need the power that the Quad Core iMac provides, so after talking with an Apple associate, I decided the 3.06 GHz was just fine for my youtube editing needs.

I’m sure many of you have heard about the flash problems in the new iMac’s. The first day I received my iMac, I did not experience any lag with flash. The next day, however, was a different story. I woke up my iMac from sleep, went to play a youtube video, and the video was stuttering as well as the sound. I went to Apple’s support forums and found a possible fix. I uninstalled the flash player plug-in, and then downloaded and re-installed the plug-in. I am happy to report that I have not had the problem since, but I might be jinxing myself right now, as I have only had the iMac for a week. Unfortunately, this fix does not seem to work for everybody. Members of the forums are still reporting flash lag, after re-installing the plug-in. Hopefully Apple will address this issue soon.

The new iMac’s come standard with a wireless keyboard, and the new magic mouse. The wireless keyboard has been around for some time, but this was my first experience with it. The battery seems to last a long time, one week and two days later, I still have 89% battery left. The only thing I do not like about the wireless keyboard is the missing USB ports, which the wired keyboard provides. I will most likely be ordering a wired keyboard, because it can sometimes be difficult getting to the back of my iMac to plug in USB devices.

The magic mouse definitely takes some getting use to. At first I did not like the mouse. It felt uncomfortable in my hand and the speed of the mouse seemed a little sluggish. After a week of use, I do not even notice any of these problems. The touch sensitive part of the mouse works great, but do not expect it to feel like a MacBook track pad. The surfaces feel different; the magic mouse is a little more “sticky” than the smooth track pad on the MacBooks. I hope apple adds more functionality to the touch sensors on the mouse, I would love to activate expose using the mouse. Apple claims that the magic mouse gets four months of battery life. I am skeptical, as of this review I have 77% battery left. It is only natural for the mouse battery to drain quickly, because it is used all the time. The mouse does have a switch to turn it off, but it takes 35 seconds to be discovered by the iMac once it is turned back on. You can imagine how frustrating that can be, when you just want to get on and use your computer quickly.

The new iMac’s are great. The only problem I ran into was the flash lag, but thankfully it was easily fixed (knock on wood). I will have another update on the iMac in about a month. If you want to see my unboxing, you can check that out at the end of this post. I am also looking forward to reading some Quad Core iMac reviews, hopefully they will ship soon. Anyone order a quad core? Or planning on picking one up? Thanks for reading guys.

-Bill Savage

Unboxing:

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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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Magic Mouse Review!

mjohnson — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:29:30 +0000

On October 20th, 2009, Apple Inc. released some super awesome new products. Replacing the “Mighty Mouse” is the “Magic Mouse,” which is what I’ll be doing a review on today. Other products released were a 27 inch iMac and a smaller 21.5 inches, a new white unibody MacBook, and a new Mac Mini.

THE MAGIC MOUSE – INTRO

Apple has officially released the world’s first multi-touch mouse. Yes, multi-touch, just like you’re used to on the MacBook Pro and also the iPhone/iPod Touch.
Simply using one or two fingers, you can zoom in and out, scroll up and down, side-to-side, 360˚ scrolling, and of course, clicking.

THE PROS

The Magic Mouse is by far the sexiest looking mouse. Ever.
Apple never seems to disappoint when it comes to looks, but let’s see how it performs.

This mouse connects wirelessly to your Mac using Bluetooth technology, taking up less space than other wireless mice that force you to plug in a receiver.

Magic Mouse is powered by two AA batteries, lasting up to four months, according to Apple.

It has a nice design. My brother told me, “it looks like a bar of soap,” which it does. On the top is a nice whitish, clear plastic.

On the bottom there is a power switch, battery ports, and a lovely Apple logo.

Tracking on the mouse is very smooth. It has two little black bars on the bottom to make it “Glide” on whatever surface you may be using.

There is no indication of where the buttons are, and, well, that’s because the whole thing is a button. The mouse smart, a little too smart. Tap the left corner, you left click, tap the right, you right, or secondary, click.

Scrolling is super easy as well. Just use your fingers and swipe up, down, and side-to-side.
Flicking your fingers fast scrolls to the top or bottom faster.
Be carefully not to accidentally right or left click while scrolling to fast.

Swiping side-to-side is a bit uncomfortable. You have to the down the mouse with your other fingers, otherwise you just swipe the mouse out of place.

THE CONS

You can’t actually “touch” to click, like most trackpads.

The multi-touch cannot use more than three fingers, which limits what you can actually do with it.

My brother has had the mouse for two days, and it already has a couple scratches.
Clearly not scratch-proof.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I think this is a million times better than the Mighty Mouse, and I highly recommend it. Plus, at only $69, why not get such an amazing multi-touch mouse?

-Mitchell Johnson

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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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13″- UniBody MacBook Pro Unboxing

Eli — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:41:00 +0000

So here we have the 13″ MacBook Pro. Brand new out of the box. Taking a look at the box you, of course, have iLife, an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM, 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 2GB of RAM. It is also equipped with a 160GB hard drive spinning at 5400 rpm. This baby is fast! Featured in iLife 09′ is iMovie, iPhoto, Garage Band, and iWeb.

iMovie is a very simple and easy application with user-friendly interface designed to edit video projects. With the click of a button you can add titles, transitions, media, and more. This application is also equipped to handle more advanced editing, including Green Screening and Video Cropping. iPhoto is an extremely user compatible application that allows users to organize photos, add filters, and more. The advanced features are face detection, and, amazingly, place detection using a GPS-enabled camera. GarageBand, very simply, handles all audio. wether that audio be Drag-and-Drop Loop technology, or editing a simple ringtone can all be done with a few clicks in GarageBand. Last, but not least, iWeb. Beastly aplication! One of the easisest web-developing softwares available today! iWeb is equipped with dozens of themes and templates available for your editing pleasures. Posting photos, videos, and music; it can ALL be done with decent publishing time. Snow Leopard has already been pre-installed and runs BEAUTIFULLY right out of the box. As you know, Snow Leopard is the latest and greatest Mac OS, and it is fast! To find out more on the new Snow Leopard visit Apple.com WOW! That’s just Apple.

This has been Forest with GoMacForest and hope you all have enjoyed this overview of the new 13″ UniBody MacBook Pro. Check out my video below for a more in-depth, hands on unboxing. Enjoy! 

YouTube, Twitter

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Agent18 EcoShield Case Review

Eli — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:42:58 +0000

Agent18 has release there new case for the iPhone 3G/3GS called EcoShield and here’s my review over this great product. This case is available in black, blue, and in white, both looking very sleek. The black case is equipped with solid black silicone details, as the white is equipped with a light gray silicone details. The EcoShild is very unique from most cases because of the extra silicone protection that you will find on this case along with with case locking technology.What’s in the box?

Not only do you get the EcoShild 2 part case, but this case also comes with a transparent, Agent18 brand, screen guard, and a small metal table stand for your device. If you didn’t know, Agent18 puts detailed thought in making a great product but also put deep consideration in helping the environment. That’s why this this case was made from post-consumer plastic bottles, which makes them unique and “green”. My first impressions of this case would have to be all about the protection that this case offers your device. The case is equipped with several silicone strips located on the interior of the case, to prevent scratches on your devices, and silicone rails on the external sides of this case to insure good solid grip when holding this case. The screen guard, included with the case, is very clear with easy to install instructions, but not anti-glare. The metal table stand, found in this devices packaging, is very simple but does a great job displaying your iPhone with a great case.

The only con’s that I have about this device are these: Only 3 colors to chose from, and not a good variety. Screen guard is not anti-glare, nor do you have an option to upgrade. The table stand is small, and is not able charge device while on stand. Overall, I am in love with this case, and it offers great protection, looks sleek, feels good in the hand, and is made “green”. For more information on this case and more Agent18 products, check out Agent18.com.

This has been E.B. with MacintoshTipz, hope you enjoyed this review over the Agent18 EcoShield and below is a hands on unboxing/review that im sure you will all enjoy. Have a great day. 

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