Inspired by our August 2004 result , we desire to give you a whole step - by - measure template for meet your own Feedback section . Step 1 : bring out an issue pack with do - it - yourself confidential information , a challenge to build the idealistic Mac - ground home office , and an in - depth review of Microsoft Office 2004 . Step 2 : Put that issue in the workforce of referee who are never at a loss when it come to offer how - to tip of their own . It ’s not as thought-provoking as put in a SuperDrive in a PowerBook G4 , but it ’s every flake as rewarding .
How-to Help
Vincent GreenI’m a little inconvenience by the instructions you ease up , in “ The Next Do - It - Yourself Mac ” ( August 2004 ) , for removing the original drive from a PowerBook G4 and install a SuperDrive . I ’m an Apple - certified technician ; I make my living performing these kinds of repair , and there are sure measures that I must stick with . The methods you list do not provide any selective information concerning the protective cover of sensible parts while working on the machine . I reverence that some mass may inadvertently damage their machines by following those instructions . Whenever you require to absent the bottom case to work on something , you should put a voiced material between the display and the top vitrine . Regarding the actual remotion of the drive , there is a little metallic element clip that hook onto the internal frame right between the two orangish flex cables . That clip could mayhap fleece the flex cable system when you pull it out ; it ’s a estimable idea to transfer that clip first .
Andrew SkinnerInspired by the “ reverse Your Mac into a Picture Frame ” how - to , I have lead off making my own Mac digital picture frame . MyWeb sitedetails my project position and lean resources for people who want to start a similar undertaking .
Steve MillsRegarding the “ Accessorize Your iSight ” project , that charge card tube is become to overheat the iSight . Even when it ’s not in use , the iSight isveryhot . All that passion will make the tape ’s adhesive all mushy and the lens could perhaps fall off and snap . And the heat will also make the India rubber band mushy , forget guck all over the back of the iSight if it ’s left on for a few weeks .
The lens holder could be problematical if you always left it on your iSight . The easy solution is to bug out your homemade add-on on only when you need to utilise it.—Ed .
John D. BarnesContrary to the reporting in your “ Blur the Lines between Mac and video ” item , Elgato ’s EyeTV connected to my cable system supplier does act as as a channel selector . There is also functionality for searching a program guide through TitanTV , which makes for easy hunting , point , and click programing . While the resolution of the image is n’t superb , it ’s good enough to permit me to learn the enigma on the Food Channel .
We intend to say that the EyeTV ca n’t change the channels on a digital cable or artificial satellite box ; we apologize for any mix-up . As for TitanTV , we mentioned that programing guide in our July 2004 review of EyeTV 200.—Ed .
A Six-Grand Old Time
Larry BarrowsI thought that “ Macworld ’s $ 6,000 Challenge ” ( August 2004 ) was very useful and enlightening . I liked the counterpoint of the two types of systems and the two author ’ approach to spend the same amount of money . I ’d also like to know what they could do with about $ 15,000 for a video - redaction and culture medium - center system , or with the same amount for a home recording studio apartment . Please make this a go back feature film .
Tony WardHow did your Bargain Hunter cope to spend more on Microsoft Office 2004 than your Hassle - Free User ? OK , so $ 9 is n’t a big softwood . But if your Bargain Hunter had just shopped around , he could have picked up Office 2004 for $ 330 at Amazon.com or even less elsewhere . He also could have saved money on the .Mac subscription , which has been $ 75 at Amazon.com since as far back as May . look back Desktop 6.0 is at least $ 10 cheaper at various on-line outlets including MacMall . I could have save a couple hundred dollars just by shopping around online for a few mo .
The economy from ordering Office , Retrospect , and other merchandise from multiple marketer would probably have been eaten up by tax and merchant vessels charges . cluster an order of multiple product from one vendor often saves more money in the long rivulet because you devote for transportation only once . Subscribing to .Mac through Amazon.com is a cool suggestion.—Adam C. Engst
Drew BooneI was a moment confused by Christopher Breen ’s hassle - free shopping listing . Specifically , I look at the leverage of a Windows PC , with Microsoft Office as the only productivity app , a waste — and a less than dogfight - devoid one at that . I confess that compatibility problem can arise between Windows and Mac versions of Office . But would purchasing a personal computer really thin hassles in these special example ? You must maintain two computing machine , one of which is a Windows machine . In the destruction , it would be more economical and hassle - loose to purchase a conversion program such as MacLinkPlus Deluxe to deal compatibility issues .
It ’s true that documents that do n’t translate correctly can be a nuisance — one that you would n’t want to inflict on a client — but have a Windows microcomputer when you ’re working in a multiplatform scene is about more than whether a PowerPoint playground slide works on a unlike political program . There are also the issues of take screenshots or exploring software or WWW site that may not work on a Mac . When you need the tangible matter , emulation just ca n’t cut it.—Christopher Breen
Office Space
Steven R. SchmidI obtained my copy of Microsoft Office 2004 after reading about the decent improvements in PowerPoint and Word ( Reviews , August 2004 ) . alas , there ’s still a major feature miss from these programs : integration with PDF files . A PDF single file pasted into Keynote , for lesson , is handled perfectly , but in Word or PowerPoint , the image clarity is lose .
KDE OK?
Lisa FahrmeyerI was unrestrained about “ Hasta La Vista , Aqua ” ( Geek Factor , August 2004 ) . With a bit of fiddling , I bring forth my newbie head around it and got KDE set up without a hitch . Well , except mayhap one : Everything runs swimmingly with the screen background icons off except the KOffice programs , which plainly will not dilute . They show up in the Kicker , but the little hourglass spin for about 30 second gear and then the program fails to launch . Every other syllabus , with the elision of AMOR , works fine .
Martin DoyleMany thanks to Cyrus Farivar for the article on how to put KDE on my o hug drug box . It was very helpful , as I ’ve been looking for a step - by - whole step process . But either more details or some troubleshooting information might also have been helpful . I followed the program line and was bet around with a successfully establish KDE when I positioned the Dock on the left - paw side of the filmdom — and X11 crashed . And it extend to crash on startup until I was immediate enough to move the Dock to a dissimilar position on the boundary of the cover . I understand that subject - source programs are continually acquire , but now that I ’ve got it install , I have n’t the faintest idea how to go about troubleshooting it , or even what to delete so that I can reinstall it .
Some reader report that the KDE induction appeared to take more than 50 GB of space . Benjamin Reed , one of the chief developers of the Fink undertaking , tell that this deliberation is a microbe . If you run into instalment difficulties , the best office to find helper is the Fink developers and users heel ( go to find .macworld.com/0048).—Cyrus Farivar
Blocked Off
Jeff Griffin“Web Mail Supersizes ” ( Mac Beat , August 2004 ) lists barren e - ring armor providers . But Mailblocks.com does n’t seem to be free after all . On its Web site , Mailblocks.com advertises only for - earnings service .
Mailblocks.com stopped accepting registration for fresh free account on July 19 , in expectancy of its acquisition by America Online . Free account are on hold indefinitely as Mailblocks.com is integrated into AOL ’s offerings.—Glenn Fleishman
Nothing Lasts Forever
John M. LucasI read “ Offer of a Lifetime ” ( Mac Beat , August 2004 ) and ca n’t serve but marvel how tenacious Mariner Software ’s crack of gratuitous upgrade for the rest of a curriculum ’s lifespan will exist . Or how long a “ lifetime ” is . I once had lifetime virus updates promise to me for Norton ’s Symantec Antivirus for Macintosh ( SAM ) , up until version 4.5.1 . Then , in 1999 , national accounting system rule that companies had to follow were deepen — they had to set out postulate charges for the approximate future cost of fulfilling those lifetime upgrade . Norton ’s response was to release SAM 5 , which offered only one class of complimentary updates ; extra updates were useable only by subscription . Norton claimed that SAM 5 was a young product and that the “ life ” of version 4 was over .
iPhoto Fan
Randy A. MaynardI’m not sure what features reader Jedediah Leachman expects from a “ serious pic managing director ” ( Feedback , August 2004 ) , but Iamsure that iPhoto 4 have me easy and effectively organise my 2,457 family photo . Maybe professional graphics people need more . But with Smart Albums , keywords , canonic picture - redaction feature article , flock appointment and modifying , awesome sloping trough shows , seamless integration with other i - apps , al-Qur’an creation , unproblematic entanglement - page building through .Mac , muscular printing process selection , and easy photo - sharing on my dwelling meshwork , I think that iPhoto 4 is awesome .
Pocket Full of Troubles?
Joram SawadyI was surprised by Andy Ihnatko’srating of PocketMac Pro 3.3 ( Reviews , August 2004 ) . Since set up the programme more than a calendar month ago , I ’ve never get it to synchronize my Hewlett - Packard iPAQ 5555 and Microsoft Entourage on my G4 PowerBook . When trying to do so , the curriculum simply crash and closes .
Do-It-Yourself 3-D
Chris SyriaI noticed that “ Illustration in Three Dimensions ” ( Create , August 2004 ) did n’t cite that you’re able to do what Rob Magiera does yourself . you’re able to download the Personal Learning Version of Maya Complete for free fromAlias . It works just like the real affair , except for the fact that it watermarks your interpretation . But for some the great unwashed , this is a perfect fashion to act with the software . System prerequisite are not a problem ; I ’m running it on my 500MHz iMac , and it works fine .
