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waffffffle · Mar 30, 2002, 05:31 AM

I have a Pismo 400/640MB/30GB but I also have an iBook 500/256/10 combo drive. I find myself bringing the iBook EVERYWHERE and leaving the Pismo on my desk. Since my Pismo is effectively becoming a desktop machine, I was thinking of things that I could add to it to improve it's usefulness as a desktop. Right now it serves as my mp3 machine since it has my entire library and harman kardon soundsticks (which cause kernel panics when uploading via airport).

I was thinking off adding a fancy keyboard and mouse (keep in mind that I have never bought a 3rd party keyboard and mouse, so I could use help in this department) and I was thinking of a way to move the computer off my desk and mount it somewhere. I've seen a girl with a thinkpad that had some contraption that lifted it about 5 inches off the desk. Underneath she had a real keyboard and mouse.

I saw a really nice looking Microsoft keyboard and mouse package at Costco. The MS keyboard had a lot of useful buttons on top. I imagine that I would have to wait for April for those OS X drivers. I also like the idea of an optical mouse with a scroll wheel, and a second button. The second button thing to me seems somewhat sacreligious, but OS X really uses control-clicks way too much.

Also I was wondering how I could lift my pismo off the desk. I remember reading about a contraption a while back that was like $200. I really wouldn't feel comfortable spending $200 on a platform. Any ideas?

OR, should I sell the pismo and start saving up for a desktop? How much could I get for the machine? I made it silver like this wallstreet. I also made the apple logo colored like this pismo (I actually did it first but never made a page about it, so this guy got credit

).

What kind of desktop could I get with the cash that I would ge for my Pismo? I would really like something with a G4, at least 640 MB of RAM, and a 40 GB HD for my mp3s. I also would like an LCD since my desk space is limited. How far off of a new iMac would i be? Or a G4 tower w/ Apple LCD? I am an educational customer so it's a bit cheaper for me. Thanks in advance for the advice.

kndonlee · Mar 30, 2002, 02:05 PM

I'd really recommend getting a desktop. It's faster, has the ability to do just a tad bit more than a regular laptop would. I have a pismo and Ti... wish I would've gotten a desktop, however since I use my laptops as i would use desktops here are some good things to get.

Macally iKey. -Great keyboard. =) Btw... Mom has a MS Keyboard w/ all the buttons.. I've used her KB and she has, we've never used those extra buttons...

MS optical Mouse -Great Mouse =)

100+ Gig Drive w/ Firewire Enclosure. Make sure it's the Oxford 911 Chip.

Sound Sticks are very mice.... however to get away from KPs... I have an old pair of altec lansing Powercube 60s.. something like that. I've had these speakers for about 6 years, and they are flawless.... Bose, Monsoon, also have very very nice speakers. =)

Podium Coolpad -would be nice to elevate the powerbook a little bit for better neck ergonomics...

The iMac would be really really nice. =) it's a g4. hehe..

Time to max the credit card out... ;-)

siegzdad · Mar 30, 2002, 04:41 PM

I would agree with kndonlee that a desktop is faster, but if you are on a limited budget (unlike some people on these boards) that is not always an option, expecially with Apples prices. I have a Pismo that I OC'ed to 500MHz that is effectively a desktop now. Here is what I would recommend:

1) HD- get a firewire encloser and a fast Ultra/ATA 100 7200 RPM drive -- biggest you can afford. The xfer rates of the 2.5' drive are abismal.

2) Keyboard- I love my MS Natural Keyboard Pro

3) Mouse- I use the MS Intellimouse Explorer, and it fits my hand perfectly.

4) Monitor- I use a generic 17" monitor I got at CC for $80

5) If you adventerous, OC it to 500, The added performance is nice, especially in X. And I can definately tell a difference from before. It's not that difficult to do, it just takes patience and a good magnifying glass.

With the KB, Mouse, and Monitor, you can run the Pismo with the lid closed (just have to start it up open, then close the lid). Two small rubber pucks can be used to lift the back edge of the Pismo for added airflow, if needed.

Matsu · Mar 30, 2002, 06:02 PM

Why the heck did you buy the iBook? Especially the 500? Granted it's smaller, but it's virtually the same computer sans a few pounds and monitor spanning. You shoulda just waited on a real upgrade to the machine you have. I could understand if you didn't have any 'Book at all, but you had a perfectly good machine and opted for something of a side-grade ???

Unless there's something wrong with the Pismo, or you have the arm strengh of a Japanese girl, your purchase seems kinda redundant, no?

Here's a kooky idea, if the pismo is in good shape, and you don't have any warrantee left on the iBook, why not sell the iBook and put the money towards a new machine? (But only if you can get more for the iBook than you can for the Pismo.) You'd give up the combo drive, but you can get one of those for your Pismo, and the Pismo has a lot more storage and RAM.

waffffffle · Mar 30, 2002, 07:45 PM

I actually didn't buy the iBook. It's my work machine. It's basically my machine but I don't own it. In about a year from now I will be allowed to buy the computer at "market value." The last company machine was the old clamshell iBook and after 2 years I was allowed to buy it for $300. My mom paid for it and we gave it to my grandma. I assume the same will be for this iBook. We might give it to my sister, or maybe my Dad. I didn't have a choice between the 600 and the 500. They told me I was getting an iBook, then the 600s are announced. A month later they give me an iBook 500. It was pretty frustrating.

I like the idea of overclocking the PowerBook but it is something that I can't do. I would actually like to OC both the iBook and the PowerBook, but I need to find someone who knows how to do it, and won't charge me a fortune to do it.

I really feel like I would use those extra buttons on the MS keyboard. I use the volume keys on my PowerBook all the time and I have all sorts of hot keys programmed (F12-AIM, F11-IE, F10-AOL, F9-Mail, F7-iTunes). I feel that having a nice keyboard with all those great buttons would be really useful.

waffffffle · Mar 30, 2002, 07:56 PM

Also I recall that keyboard in Costco being black, even though all the pictures of it that I see online (I think it's the Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro) show it in white. I think I would only get it if it's black, to look good with the Pismo. However I would definitely need to wait for the drivers for OS X to be released. Supposedly they are coming next month.

Right now I use keyboard maestro and have all sorts of hotkeys assigned. I use ctrl-right arrow, ctrl-left arrow, and ctrl-space bar to control iTunes from ANY application. I wrote applescripts for all that stuff. It would be really nice to have a more ergonomic keyboard, along with a mouse w/ a scroll wheel. I've been using this Pismo for almost 2 years now and even though I've gotten used to the flat keyboard and the trackpad (and I actually sometimes have accuracy problems using mice) I think that a real keyboard might be better for me.

Also as far as a stand goes, that coolpad thing isn't what I'm looking for. I'm looking for something that would elevate the PowerBook above the desk and give me room to slide the keyboard underneath. I don't think I would get a CRT for this thing because I need desk space. Do you think it's possible to mount the Pismo on the wall in some way? that would be really cool.

waffffffle · Mar 30, 2002, 08:21 PM

(I should probably add this as an edit instead all these new posts, but i have tons to say.)

Also I do have a FW hard drive. In the fall of 2000 i bought the Pyro enclosure and a 20GB 7200 RPM drive. The hard drive was on sale for $99 and teh enclosure cost about $140. First off, the enclosure is terrible. I should have bought a different one. The fan in the enclosure was so annoyingly loud that I had to disconnect it. I got the whole thing because my mp3 collection was getting too big for the stock 6 GB HD. However it was frustrating that I couldn't take my mp3s with me anywhere. I often packed the HD and took with me places, which was very frustrating since it was so big and heavy. It got very banged up and it is now being held shut by a lot of scotch tape.

Also by the summer I was realizing that OS X and 9 weren't fitting nicely on such a small drive (w/ 2 partitions) so I bought a toshiba 30 GB drive this past fall in anticipation for 10.1. The drive was supposed to cost $250 but i had a friend that owed me a favor and he had gotten a $225 Toshiba Free Card, which was good for purchasing any Toshiba product from certain retailers. I think he got it because his Toshiba laptop was a peice of crap and never worked, and it was part of a class action law suit settlement. He also got a $400 check in the mail, but he kept that. I bought the HD and put it in my Pismo when I got 10.1 I also upped the RAM by adding a 512 MB module that I got from OWC for less than $80 (Pismo RAM is cheaper since it can fit the double-sized modules). I found that the hard drive was annoyingly slow, however the RAM made a huge difference. Also at that time my CD drive had died so installing 10.1 was tricky. Since then I was able to pick up a DVD drive off a dead lombard. Also in 10.1, whenever my FW drive is mounted it seems to slow down the finder tremendously because it is constantly turning off and then whenever I try to browse my internal HD I have to wait for the FW HD to spin up. I try to avoid the use of the HD because of that and I never keep it mounted on the desktop for that reason.

Matsu · Mar 30, 2002, 11:07 PM

Waffffffle, yee be a luckier man than I! Can't argue with the prices your getting on a steady stream of Mac laptops.

You didn't give the whole story. If you're certain that your work will regularly update your machine, and give you the option to buy the older model, you might as well wait to see what they give you. A new machine every two years sounds pretty good to me, be it laptop or desktop. You're in the ideal situation! You use the machine for two years, if it turns out to be a lemon, you let work deal with it. If it runs well, after two years of you basically already 'owning' it, you snap it up cheap. I'd say don't spend a dime. What for? Work is treating you pretty good. Buy some accessories, sure, but there's no need for you to spring for your own machine.

[ 03-30-2002: Message edited by: Matsu ]

waffffffle · Mar 31, 2002, 09:19 AM

Yes I do agree that work treats me very well. They give me computers every 2 years, which is great. If only my salary was better...

I bought the PowerBook in the sumer of 2000, before I came to school. I had originally planned to save up some cash for a G4 machine of some kind since I knew that a G4 PowerBook was likely to come in January. I didn't get this job until the spring of 2001. I then got the old company iBook from my predecessor, which was phased out this past fall. I can definitely pull out the cash to buy a new computer. I have money in the bank that I can use but it would be really bad for me to blow over a grand on a computer that I don't really need.

However you must understand my frustration with such slow G3 machines in OS X. I really want something with speed just so that I can get my work done without being frustrated. I've also grown a bit attached to my Pismo. As you can see I've done a lot of work to it. That's why I think that just buying myself a keyboard, mouse, and stand would be best for me, however I really would like to speed this puppy up in whatever way possible. OCing to 500MHz would be nice. Can anyone out there help me with that?

Matsu · Mar 31, 2002, 10:37 AM

I think we'll finally see a selection of G4 upgrades for the Pismo over the course of 2002 (if you really want to spend some of your own cash.)

When's your next work computer due?

waffffffle · Mar 31, 2002, 11:01 AM

They don't tell us ahead of time when the new computers are coming. I think with the last iBook it was supposed to last 18 months but ended up going for over 2 years. This iBook has no time period attached to it. I have a feeling that I won't be getting a new machine for almost 2 years. The next machine will almost definitely be a notebook, probably the latest and greatest version of the iBook (the last iBook was a 366 graphite SE). However I will most likely be getting that computer when I'm a senior, and when I graduate I'll have to pass the machine on to my successor. The last guy who had this job had to give me the iBook so I'll probably have to do the same. However I expect to have the current iBook as my own before I move on.

I like the idea of a G4 upgrade to this machine, especially if I am retiring it to a desk. That way I wouldn't care or worry about the heat on the keyboard or my lap.

I've been having trouble finding a good stand for the PowerBook. I found this monitor arm from Belkin that's meant for a CRT, but I kinda like it. Otherwise I've found nothing.

Wasn't there a MacNN review of some sort of PowerBook stand that's what I'm looking for? However I recall it being grossly overpriced.

Also I've resolved my kernel panic issues with my soundsticks since I no longer use airport on the PowerBook. All the more reason to permanently retire this thing to the desk, since I can't take it anywhere anymore.

seanyepez · Mar 31, 2002, 11:13 AM

I think this is a Peripherals topic.

I wouldn't recommend those Microsoft keyboards with buttons. The buttons don't work with the Mac, and the touch isn't excellent, either.

The new, white Apple Pro Keyboard is one of the nicest keyboards on the market. Get a Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical or a Logitech Wheel Mouse Optical to compliment your keyboard nicely. Then again, Microsoft's IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 is very responsive. If you're not a gamer, the two-eyed Logitech is your best bet.

waffffffle · Mar 31, 2002, 02:16 PM

Those buttons really don't work with a Mac? You sure? Isn't the driver based on USB overdrive? Shouldn't that make all of the buttons capable of doing something?