Macenstein

Selling a MacBook Pro to buy a DELL??!

This story pulled at my heartstrings the way an abused kitten story never could. Check out this craigslist listing: 17in. MacBook Pro – $1 (Minneapolis) Paid over $3000 for this laptop less than a year ago and now feel that Macs aren’t my thing. Looking to sell it so I can get a Dell. Make your best offer. Laptop is new condition. Ok, someone needs to start a Minneapolis Mac Rescue League to rescue unloved and neglected Macs from maniacs like this. I know NYC has... Read More

When product placement attacks!

There’s an Apple in the House! Or two, or three… hard to tell. I’ve heard nothing but good things about FOX’s House, yet for some reason I’ve never felt compelled to put forth the effort of adding it to my DVR’s schedule. However, according to faithful Macenstein reader Phil, apparently I should, as it is pretty much a commercial for Apple’s computers and gear, with episode 10 of season 4 being particularly Apple-whoreish. WHATS UP... Read More

This guy has more problems than his num lock key…

Faithful Macenstein reader TheCos came across this Apple discussion support post made by BenjiJosef that must be read to be believed (and even then….) Hey guys, I had a slight mishap last night. I urinated onto my MacBook Pro while sleeping Walking after having a few too many. The computer works fine; however, I can not get my num lock to turn off so that I can login. Every other key seems to work fine, except that one. Is there anyway to bypass this? Thanks guys. Sincerely, Your... Read More

Review: Waterfield Designs’ Laptop Sleeve

MacBook owners jealous of the MacBook Air’s slim form factor may not be able to ditch their MacBook’s excess weight, but they can do the next best thing by ditching their bulky laptop bag. San Francisco-based Waterfield Designs has a range of lightweight laptop sleeves that will have you wondering why you put up with back strain all those years. We tried out their SleeveCase with Flap and Strap, a good compromise between a regular laptop bag and one of their strapless... Read More

New MacBook Pros are the first ever laptop to offer a “Douple”-layer SuperDrive

While the new MacBook Pro updates seemingly offered no real surprises this morning, faithful Macenstein reader Kerry Brys noted that the 17-inch model is offering a “Douple”-layer SuperDrive. Apple has not yet commented on the benefits, if any, of a douple-layer drive, but odds are this is some new hybrid between the current double-layer drives, and a new triple-layer drive format that has not yet been approved by the industry. This is not the first time Apple... Read More

New MacBook Pros tomorrow (no, this is not a duplicate post)

Well, here we are at the start of another week, which means the rumor community is once again ready to predict new MacBook Pros will be released tomorrow (that makes the 7th time in as many weeks, for those of you counting). Actually, this week there is a slightly better than average chance it might actually happen, as MacRumors is reporting that shipments of TimeCapsules AND “other” Apple products are on their way to stores for midweek delivery. Those of you who... Read More

New MacBooks/Pros on the 19th?

Pretty much every Tuesday since Macworld, the rumor community has wondered if this would be “THE” Tuesday, the one where we’ll finally see new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Well, while it is a far cry from a smoking gun, there is now at least a little more evidence than usual that next Tuesday might be THE Tuesday. Switch To A Mac notes that Amazon, long-time Apple partner/ruiner of Apple’s surprises, has a series of new MacBook Pro rebates out this week that... Read More

Poll: How many charge cycles does your battery have?

My “new” Macbook is my first laptop in about 10 years, so I’m not overly familiar with how long these new-fangled rechargeable jobbers can potentially last. So out of curiosity, I thought I would take a poll of our readership to see how many charge cycles their current Mac Laptop battery is running on. To test this, I am using the excellent (free) iStat Pro widget by iSlayer. I bought my MacBook on November 3rd, and as you can see, it currently has 76 charges,... Read More

Multi-touch trackpads a simple software update for current Mac laptops?

[UPDATE: T3 seems to have removed their post, for whatever reason (see below in the comments)] T3 is reporting that the multi-touch trackpad featured in the MacBook Air, and presumably one of the new features in the soon-to-be-released MacBook Pros, is not hardware-based, but rather a simple software hack that could in theory be made available to current MacBook and MacBook Pro owners. That is, if Apple allows it. Read More  Read More

Video: SSD vs HDD speed tests

With all this talk about SDD drives, 50leaves found a pretty cool piece of propaganda video Samsung put together showing the benefits of using the rather pricey SSD drives (like the optional one in the new MacBook Air) over conventional hard drives. In many tests the SSD drive is nearly twice as fast at performing certain functions. It will be interesting to see real-world Macbook Air benchmarks from users who sprung the extra $1000 for the SSD option in the coming weeks. Until... Read More