Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server

What is Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server?

Exactly what you’d expect — a Mac mini specifically designed to be a server, complete with Snow Leopard Server preinstalled. Instead of a SuperDrive, there are two 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives that give you all the storage you need to help your group work more efficiently than ever.

Mac mini means business. Small business.

Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server is designed to help you communicate, collaborate, and share information. It’s perfect for any small business or group — retail shops, medical and law offices, classrooms, design studios — you name it. Now you can have your own server that supports email on Mac computers, PCs, iPhone, and iPad. Sync and share calendars and contact information. Access and swap files securely — and at lightning speed — between Mac computers and PCs. Easily create full-featured wikis and high-quality podcasts. And automatically back up all your important data.

Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server lets you add an unlimited number of Mac and PC users without per-user licensing fees. So you can grow your business without growing your costs. And you get amazing hardware and software that are ready to go, right out of the box, for less than the cost of most server software alone.

The Mac is famously easy to use, and so is Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server. That makes it perfect for people who’ve never run a server before, or for overtaxed IT departments. Server Assistant will walk you through the setup process step by step. And if you want help at any stage, just click the ? icon for more information.

Tools like Server Preferences let you quickly set up all your key services and manage users and groups. And a Server Status Dashboard widget makes it easy to keep an eye on the status of services such as email, ... READMORE

Wednesday, 14 July 2010

Apple is Right, iPhone 4 Signal Woes Overblown

Apple on Friday issued a carefully worded statement admitting that, yes, there's something wrong with the iPhone 4; but, no, it's not the alleged problem you've heard about.

While Apple fessed up to using a flawed formula to calculate the number of bars of signal strength displayed on the iPhone, it also defended the iPhone 4's much-maligned antenna design, calling the handset's wireless performance "the best we have ever shipped."

Corporate denial at its worst? Not so, says Spencer Webb, president of AntennaSys, an antenna design, integration, and consulting firm. Webb on Friday ran preliminary tests on the iPhone 4's antenna and reached the same conclusion as Apple: Everything's (mostly) okay.

"My conclusion is that all the hype has been just hype," Webb says. "It's not any more sensitive to hand position that was the first-generation iPhone--and probably many other phones on the market."

Some users report that when they hold the iPhone 4 tightly and cover the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band, signal strength can drop 4 or even 5 bars. That, they claim, is evidence of the phone's flawed antenna design. Webb and a colleague decided to run their own tests, which he admits were brief and subjective. "This was a non-scientific test, but it was done by two engineers who deal with RF devices for a living," he says.

First, they placed a call on an iPhone 4 while holding the handset from the top. They then switched to the infamous "grip of death"--holding the bottom of the phone tightly with two hands. "We succeeded in taking a five-bar display and reducing it to one bar by doing that," Webb says. "But the call remained solid and never dropped."

Next, they took Webb's first-generation iPhone (from 2007) and repeated the experiment: "We got the exact same results." Their findings, he says, support Apple's contention tha... READMORE

Saturday, 10 July 2010

Apricorn Aegis NetDock: An Affordable, Convenient Laptop Companion

The packaging for the Apricorn Aegis NetDock docking station ($89, as of 7/6/2010) only implies that there's an optical drive on board. But don't be fooled: Not only is there one--an 8X TEAC DV-W28S-V DVD burner in this case--but four USB 2.0 ports as well. Two of these ports remain powered even when the unit isn't attached to a computer, so you can charge cell phones and other mobile devices with them. It's this versatility that helps make the NetDock a useful add-on for laptop and netbook users who may find themselves without such amenities.

Our test unit also came with a 500GB hard drive inside (a $189 option, as of 7/6/2010). Save a few dollars--or choose your own capacity--by buying the optical-only unit and adding a 2.5-inch drive yourself later. Installing such a drive is fairly simple: The NetDock comes apart with the removal of single screw. Slide the drive into the SATA connector, secure it there with two screws, reassemble, and you're good to go.

I took the NetDock for a test spin with several laptops, including an Asus Aspire One netbook, and its presence indeed made life quite a bit easier. A hard drive inside makes backing up a laptop simple, the optical drive is great for installing software, and the USB ports allow you to quickly add a printer, a scanner (I used both), or more storage to the mix. Every computer I tried it on, which included Windows XP SP2, Vista, and Windows 7 units, recognized the NetDock immediately, and drivers all installed automatically.

What I also realized after about five minutes of use is that the NetDock can be an exceedingly handy IT tool. Instead of dragging around separate optical and hard drives, I can carry around the NetDock; plus, I can recharge my cell phone without having to hunt for a free AC outlet in a power-cable maze. Sweet.

The NetDock ships with, and requires an AC adapter. You simply can't run a hard dr... READMORE

Saturday, 10 July 2010

HP TouchSmart 600 Quad: Mediacentric All-in-One

Competition is stiff in the category of big-screen all-in-one PCs. TV tuners and large hard drives are becoming standard features, as manufacturers attempt to displace televisions in dorm rooms and cramped bedrooms with high-definition-capable, multitouch displays. HP's TouchSmart line is an industry mainstay, using itsTouchSmart overlay to produce an array of touch-friendly widgets.

The TouchSmart 600 Quad series ($1800 as of July 1, 2010) sits at the upper end of the TouchSmart spectrum. A 1.6-GHz Core i7-720QM and 6GB of RAM power this 23-inch all-in-one. The i7-720QM--a mobile processor more commonly used in notebooks--supports Intel's hyperthreading and Turbo Boost technologies, while keeping power consumption and heat levels lower than a full-fledged desktop processor would.

The TouchSmart 600 earned a score of 104 on our WorldBench 6 test suite--not a bad score for the all-in-one category, though competing models have posted higher general-performance numbers. The Gateway ZX6900-01e, for example, earned a mark of 113, due in large measure, probably, to its Core i3-530 desktop processor. Apple's 27-inch Core i7 iMac and Core i5 iMac offer superior performance as well, with scores of 128 and 123, respectively, but they lack touchscreens, Blu-ray drives, and some of the advanced interface connections we've come to expect, such as eSATA, HDMI, and composite inputs).

Gaming performance on the TouchSmart 600 is less than stellar: The machine comes equipped with a discrete nVidia GeForce GT230 graphics card, and eked out a frame rate of 39 frames per second on our Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark (at 1680 by 1050 resolution, and high settings). In contrast, the ZX6900-01e failed to produce playable frame rates, while both iMacs delivered 72 fps at a higher resolution.

Of course, when you're considering an all-in-one, more things factor into the puzzle than just raw performance. Li... READMORE

Saturday, 10 July 2010

Microsoft's E3 Surprises: ESPN, New Xbox 360, and a Shameless Bribe?

Microsoft livens up its press conference by giving everyone in attendance a brand-new, redesigned Xbox 360 for free.

Short on shocking moments and big reveals, Microsoft pulled the trump card at the end of its E3 press conference on Monday: Everyone in attendance would get a brand new, redesigned Xbox 360 for free. For all the journalists in the audience, it was time to make an ethical decision. For the rest of us, it was suddenly clear why Microsoft chose a small venue for the event, forcing many reporters, myself included, to watch via live video feed.

Microsoft's new Xbox 360 model ships immediately. It's not officially dubbed the Xbox 360 Slim, but it's smaller than its predecessors and includes a 250 GB hard drive and built-in wireless n. Previous models had only wired Ethernet jacks and maxed out at 120 GB hard drives. The new Xbox 360, which comes only in black, sells for the same $300 as the current Xbox 360 Elite.

The new Xbox 360, and its subsequent gifting to the to the press, were among a few surprises dotting an otherwise lackluster press conference. Most of the games Microsoft showed off were obvious Xbox 360 exclusives, and looked just as predictable in action. Halo: Reach was more Halo. Gears of War 3 was more Gears of War. Call of Duty: Black Ops was more Call of Duty. And almost every Kinect game on display had already debuted the night before (the exception being Metal Gear Solid: Rising, which may support motion-controlled sword combat). The conference's only new blood was a game codenamed Kingdoms, and its short teaser video had so little concrete information that the game is hard to get excited about.

But for existing Xbox 360 owners, at least there was ESPN. Rumored by the New York Times in January, ESPN for Xbox 360 will offer more than 3,500 live and on demand sporting events, including Major Leag... READMORE

Saturday, 10 July 2010