punishing drives are n’t exactly thrilling . They ’re about as useful as technology receive — the sensible horseshoe or the high - character food grain of the peripherals world . But ask Macworld readers what they plan to corrupt in the next year , and “ storage ” is probable to top their lists . That helps explain why our December roundup of FireWire hard drives was one of that issue ’s most pop chronicle , a hot topic in our online assembly ( macworld.com/forums ) , and the leading subject line in the Feedback inbox .
Drives, you said
Gary Sabo — There was something in your review of FireWire voiceless drives ( December 2005 ) that I plant misleading . In one of the tables , you provide the price per G for a variety of desktop drives . But that board include , among other thrust , a 320 GB model from Newer , a 250 GB from LaCie , and an 80 GB from MicroNet . Larger drives will always have a lower cost per GiB than humble one . So while the monetary value of the 250 GB MicroNet is $ 0.80 per gigabyte , the cost of the 80 GB Newer is $ 1.75 per gigabyte . Yet in your lean of yardbird for the MicroNet , you included “ high cost per gigabyte . ” To be fair , you should have compare apples to apple ( no pun intend ) .
Jasper Randall — ideate my excitement upon opening my chip newMacworldto chance an article comparing FireWire toilsome drives . Then imagine my utter astonishment and deep disappointment to discover that a operose driving you ’ve previously recommended in yourTop Productssection — the LaCie d2 Extreme — was miss from the roundup .
The d2 Extreme was , in fact , one of our favorite screen background FireWire drives for many month . But LaCie discontinue the product shortly before we compiled the roundup and , at that sentence , had not yet replace it with a more up - to - date model . you could get our review article of the LaCie d2 Hard Drive Extreme at macworld.com/1013.—Ed .
Tony Ward — In your review of FireWire hard drives , you neglected to mention an alternative to bribe a new drive : purchase a scanty IDE drive and installing it in an external case yourself . These sidereal day you could get a major - sword 200 GB IDE drive for around $ 100 . you could buy an outside , dual - connection ( FireWire and USB 2.0 ) case for $ 40 or less ; single - connection cases go for as abject as $ 20 . That ’s about $ 0.70 per GB — well below many of the effort in your recap . And it ’s easy to upgrade the drive when you need more storage .
All the gear that fits
Mike Bedgood—“Macworld ’s Gear Guide ” ( December 2005 ) was heavy , but I do have one complaint : most of the iPod supplement you include ca n’t be used on fifth - contemporaries iPods , which were review in the same issue . As that review states , Apple change the iPod ’s ports , making many third - party accessories obsolete . But your “ Gear Guide ” gave no monition about which accessory would work with which iPods .
Warren Riess — In your December “ Gear Guide , ” story , you refer to Blow Off Duster as a can of press air . waste Off is a large product , but it in reality employ tetrafluoroethane , not air . It should be used only in a well - ventilated area and should not be spray on a Earth’s surface hot than 120 grade Fahrenheit ( such as warm reckoner innards ) ; you could get more data at macworld.com/1038 . Dust - Off and Canned Air are standardised ware that also are tetrafluoroethane . All are utilitarian but should be used carefully .
Lorenzo Quijano — I’m confound . In December’sTop Products , you give the 17 - column inch Westinghouse LCM-17w7 monitor two and a one-half mice — not a particularly large rating . But a few Sir Frederick Handley Page afterward , in “ Macworld ’s Gear Guide , ” you recommend it . Which is it ?
We included the Westinghouse monitor in our “ Gear Guide ” article because it ’s a decent presentation with a relatively low Mary Leontyne Price . Our rating in the critical review speculate its performance compared with that of a miscellanea of other monitors at a variety of Mary Leontyne Price points.—Ed .
Roger Harrison — It seems odd that you would feature the QX5 Computer Microscope in your December issue , give that the vendor ’s World Wide Web site says it ’s personal computer - only .
You ’re right : that ’s what the site enjoin . But at the clock time we write that story , the QX5 ’s vendor offer devoid , downloadable Mac software system for the microscope . Unfortunately , between the metre we wrote the account and the time it appeared in print , the company begin charge $ 12 for it.—Ed .
Good riddance, Beantown
Sean Hite — In response to your story about the dying of Macworld Expo Boston ( “ Farewell , Boston,”Mac Beat , December 2005 ): As a Mac user who has attend the East Coast Macworld Expo since the early Boston days , I have to say that the last two years , since the move from New York back to Boston , have been a prank . Both shows should have been called “ iPodworld , ” not Macworld . How can an event be called Macworld when the no - shows include Apple , Microsoft , Adobe , FileMaker , and HP ? The list goes on and on . This twelvemonth I did receive a nifty iPod purse thingy for my wife and an splendid lower - back lumbar - support gadget for myself .
Be it resolved
ripe catch . Jason was equate linear dimension , and Christopher was referring to overall field ; we ’ll keep a sharper center out for such variant in the future.—Ed .
Macworld on your side
Kevin Mackay — I thought you would like to get it on how your magazine can really make a remainder in your readers ’ lives . I came across an clause , in the December issue , by Jim Dalrymple about scratched and broken screens on the iPod nano ( “ Nano Problems,”Mac Beat , December 2005 ) . In the article , Dalrymple noted that a call to AppleCare would rectify the job . As fortune would have it , my Logos ’s nano screen had cracked about two days before I read your story . I called AppleCare and was told that I would have to endure the cost of rectify the nano , as the silver screen was n’t hatch under the warranty . I pulled out your magazine and begin record the article to the representative . Once I mentioned the name of a sure Apple frailty president quoted in the clause , I was put on hold for a span of hour and then told they ’d replace the nano . You saved my son the monetary value of a raw iPod . I will be reincarnate my subscription concisely . Thanks .
I’m no thief
Robbie Preston — In a alphabetic character entitled “ Who ’s the Thief ? ” ( Feedback , December 2005 ) , lector Ken Alan complained about software package activating , which is hypothesise to scotch software system piracy . I think that the people who oppose software activation should remember one rule of life and clientele in the destitute world : You have no rightfulness to steal someone else ’s work . Until I betray it or give it away , I am the owner ; ownership does not change with thievery . No sale , no profit . No net , no occupation . No business organisation , no new or upgraded programs . Maybe citizenry who complain about copy protection in software package , music , and movies should take the time and create better products . Then , after the sea robber steal and use those labor of love , we ’ll see how those moaner who have made no money for their work feel about pass water more software package .
