Noah's Notes: MacBook Problems, CES and MWSF Collide, Logitech Wireless DJ, Google Software for OS X

by Noah Kravitz, Reviews Editor	12 October 2006

MacBook Problems

Everyone knows not to buy Rev. A Apple Hardware, right? Thing is, Apple attracts early adopters like moths to a flame. And then problems ensue and people complain.

MacBook problems with overheating and thermal paste nastiness have been well documented on the Web. Just yesterday I talked to two MacBook-owning friends of mine who are less than happy with their computers right now. Friend number one has a MacBook Pro that "gets glitchy" and "needs reinstalling pretty often." Reinstalling? Seems that more or less the whole system just starts freaking out on her on a regular basis. I witnessed this yesterday in the form of Photoshop CS not recognizing a newly mounted DVD full of images, the Finder crashing three times in fifteen minutes with nary a dialogue box alert, and an iPod that displayed the "Do Not Disconnect" warning but refused to show up either in iTunes or the Finder.

Friend Number Two bought a refurbished Black MacBook from Apple in late July. About a month ago it starting shutting itself down randomly, without warning, and often. He sent it back to Apple. They fixed it and sent it back to him. A week later, it's back at Apple for the same problem.

Is it that Dell and Sony laptop problems aren't so prevalent, aren't so widely publicized, or just don't make it into the amazingly thick-skinned Mac bubble that I've come to live in? Of course there are many satisfied MacBook owners out there. I see them every time I visit the local WiFi cafe. But it's kind of nice to have another reason to feel good about my decision to stick with my still-chugging along iBook for a little longer.

CES and MWSF Collide

Usually the giant Interational CES (Consumer Electronics Show) usually follows MWSF (Mac World San Francisco) by a week each year, giving the Apple faithful their time in the San Francisco fog just before the rest of the consumer electronics world gets done with their business out in the desert of Las Vegas. Not so this time around.

Logitech Wireless DJ

Disclaimer: It doesn't work on OS X (yet). I was recently sent a review sample of Logitech's new Wireless DJ Music System. It's the iTunes remote that Apple should have made years ago. Basically it's a multi-part gadget that hooks up to your (Windows) computer and stereo system to stream music from the former to the latter. Seen it before, right? The trick here is that the system comes with an LCD remote so you can browse and select content without having to be at your computer. And it works pretty well, with iTunes (for XP) integration built right in.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't stand having to go to my computer or even turn on the television to browse my music library. For now I'll continue to use another Logitech solution - the Wireless Music System for iPod - to stream music from my iPod to my stereo(s), since all of the music I really care about fits on my 60gb iPod. But it would be nice if Logitech ported the Wireless DJ system to OS X. It's the slickest streaming system I've seen this side of Sonos, and for a fraction of Sonos' price.

UPDATE:

Google Software for OS X

Google recently made a PDA for Mac and backed it up with a Web page chock full of software downloads for OS X. Okay, it's not chock full - there are only six right now. But still, it's good stuff. Heck, there's even a Google on the Mac blog that's, um, chock full of one post right now. Remember, there's all that talk of Apple + Google Video equalling iTV content ...

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