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How to Create a Bootable OSX Lion Install Disk

In iBlog, by npetrik

OSX Lion is the first operating system to be offered as a full digital download. Initially Apple stated that the only way to get Lion was to download it from the Mac App store, but later decided to offer it on a bootable USB stick that you could purchase.

Although the digital download is a major step forward on how we will be getting our OSs in the future, most people (including myself) wanted an actual physical copy. Lion does create a bootable repair partition in case you need to do a re-install, but this does not solve the problem of a complete hard drive failure. Creating a bootable OSX Lion install disk also will allow you to perform a clean install in case you just want to clean out the cobwebs that may be lurking in the far reaches of your Mac. Just an important reminder that the Lion installer is tied to your Apple ID so you may want to think twice if you plan on sharing your disk with others via torrents, file sharing services, or simply friends.

Re-Downloading OSX Lion

If your like me you couldn't wait to instal Lion. After the download was complete most of us quickly clicked on the app to perform the install. Unfortunately after the OS is upgraded Lion deletes the original install app. Now when you try to re-download it from the Mac App store it is greyed out and it would seem you are not allowed to have access to it again. Fear not, because there is a way. Simply open the Mac App store, and while holding down the "option" key on your keyboard click on the purchases tab on the upper part of the screen. Now when you click on the OSX Lion app you will be able to re-download it with no problems (Don't worry you will not be charged for it again.)

Create the Bootable OSX Lion Disk

I have included some easy to follow instructions with pictures for creating your bootable Lion installer disk:

1. The first thing that you want to do is to copy the "Install Mac OSX Lion" app from your application folder to your desktop.

2. Next you want to command click or right click the "Install Mac OSX Lion" app and choose "show Contents".

3. Inside this package you want to locate the "Shared Support" folder.

4. Copy the “InstallESD.dmg” file to your Desktop.

5. Next open Disk Utility.

6. Click on the Burn Tap in the upper part of Disk Utility and select the “InstallESD.dmg” file that you previously copied to your desktop.

7. Insert a blank DVD and Disk Utility will burn Lion to a bootable DVD.

8. When Disk Utility is done you should have a bootable OSX Lion DVD ready to go. This is what the contents of your DVD should look like.

So there is! See, there is not much to it when it comes to creating a bootable OSX Lion disk. Hopefully these easy to follow steps will help you save a few dollars.

What about the Fujitsu iPad?

In iBlog, by npetrik

On December 15, 2003 Staples signed a wireless deal with Fujitsu Transactions Solutions Inc to supply their 1491 Staples retail stores with the Fujitsu iPAD. The iPAD includes some of the latest technology to bring the cash register to associates on the sales floor. Staples analyzed the bottlenecks that could occur at the checkout lines and instead of following the lead of other retail chains who implemented self service check out, Staples decided to utilize associates on the sales floor who could assist customer from anywhere in the store. To accomplish this task Staples would need to provide a solution that was portable, wireless and easy to use.

Whose going to win the rights to the iPad name?

The Fujitsu iPAD solved these obstacles by including built in 802.11 B/G wireless with speeds up to 54 Mpbs that allows associates access to inventory, corporate data as well as access to the Staples.com website. The wireless capabilities also help with customer service by providing associates with tip on how to answer typical questions or problems that may occur on the sales floor. Bluetooth v1.2 is also built into the iPAD to communicate with other Bluetooth enables devices such as printers. This allows associates to print out documents or receipts to the customer without having to enter it into a computer station.

The iPad can also be used as a barcode scanner to input the purchase price and complete the transaction or just provide customers with the current price or sale price if it is not clearly marked. It also had a credit card reader built into the top that can be used to swipe a credit card and perform an on the spot check out.

Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP is built into the iPAD to allow associates to make low cost phone calls or page other associates or managers within the store. VOIP is a technology that allows voice communications over the internet and typically is less expensive than traditional land lines or cellular plans.

Other technologies that have become popular in the past few years in personal devices such as the iPhone is touch screen. Although the iPAD does have a physical keyboard like a cell phone would have it also has a touch screen interface that an associate can use to interact with menus with the touch of a finger

The last thing to mention needs to be that because the iPAD is a portable device it needs to have long lasting battery life. The iPAD comes with an 1800mAh Lithium-ion battery. Lithium- ion batteries unlike older battery types can be charged at anytime without being affected by memory. They are also popular for low loss of charge when not in use.

Tagged with: apple • apple netbook • apple touchscreen • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • fujitsu • ipad • online games for mac • OS X • steve jobs • switch to mac • touchscreen netbok

Apple reveals it’s Newest Creation-The iPad

In iBlog, by npetrik

Apple's Newest Creation-The iPad

On January 27th Steve Jobs took the stage to unveil Apple's newest creation, the iPad. Weighing in at a mere 1.5 pounds it is lighter than any netbook on the market today. The iPad has a 9.7 inch display and sports a 1 GHz Apple built ARM A4 processor.

When showing the iPad to the crowd Jobs was quoted as saying "It looks like our leak!". The iPad can run all iPhone applications in full screen with a tap of the finger. Movies will be a dream to watch on it as the battery has a 10 hour battery life for watching video and an amazing one month standby time. The iPad's internal storage will come with a 16GB or 64GB flash storage.

Here are the full specifications:

9.7 inch IPS display
0.5 inches thin
1.5 pounds
Full capacitive multi-touch interface
16-64GB of Flash memory storage
1 GHz Apple-branded A4 chip (developed in-house)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
802.11n WiFi
Built-in Speaker
Built-in Microphone
Accelerometer & Compass
30-pin Dock connector (same as iPod and iPhone)
10-hours of battery life (Over one month standby time)
Runs all iPhone apps
App Store application included

Tagged with: apple • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • discount macbook • ipad • ipod touch • islate • itablet • Macbook • macbook sale • switch to mac • touchscreen netbok

iSlate January 27, 2010

In iBlog, by npetrik

the rumored "iSlate"

On a report from Reuters there are rumors that Apple's highly anticipated tablet computer is already in the manufacturing stage and the production of the touchscreen device's casing will be in aluminum.

With the upcoming Apple event scheduled for January 27, 2010 the Apple Tablet rumor mill is in high gear. Many think the device will be named the "iSlate" but with the announcement of the hp Slate recently it is hard to tell if Apple would still use any name that involved "slate" in the title. Other rumored names are the iTablet, iPad, and macbook touch.

Tagged with: apple • apple touchscreen • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • discount macbook • download mac games • islate • itablet • snow leopard • switch to mac

The Cheap Macbook gets an update

In iBlog, by npetrik

mb09.003

Last Fall Apple released the Aluminum Unibody Macbook and left the low end white cheap Macbook wanting. This year Apple decided to revamp the entry level laptop by redesigning the shell using the same technology that made the Aluminum Unibody Macbooks a success.

Included with the new unibody construction is the following:

the thinner, lighter, more rigid construction
a new built-in battery that lasts much longer
the removal of all flaps and levers and covers (it now takes a screwdriver to open the back panel)
a new multitouch glass trackpad
new Mini DisplayPort video output (rather than mini-DVI)
combined audio input and output ports (rather than separate audio in and out jacks)

Although we had hoped for a lower price point it seems Apple is content with the $999 price-tag.

Macmall has a lower starting price and sometimes includes a MacMall Preferred Account: No Payments for 6 Months on purchases over $500. BillMeLater: No Payments for 90 Days on purchases
of $250.

Tagged with: apple • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • discount macbook • Macbook • macbook sale • snow leopard • switch to mac

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is hereS

In iBlog, by npetrik

OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

While searching for a cheap macbook keep in mind that you can speed up your new macbook simply by installing Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Tagged with: apple • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • discount macbook • macbook sale • snow leopard • switch to mac

Snow leopard available August 28th

In iBlog, by npetrik

snow leopard

Apple has announced that it's long awaited operating system "Snow Leopard" will be available on August 28th 2009. This is just a few days before it's expected September release but we will take it.

You can pre-order Snow Leopard online.

Tagged with: apple • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • discount macbook • macbook sale • snow leopard • switch to mac

Apple silently offers the Matte Display on the 15″ Macbook Pro

In iBlog, by npetrik

On tuesday, Apple began offering the anti-glare matte display on the new 15" Macbook pro. Last month it was reported that Apple was considering offering the Matte finish on additional Macbooks other than the 17" Macbook Pro.

092803-15_inch_matte

Apple apparently was following consumer complaints about color matching issues and distracting glare under bright conditions. Love it or hate it, you now have a choice between the glossy finish or the matte finish.

To get a real feel for the difference you should go to your local Apple store and compare the two side by side. It seems that Apple once again thought they knew exactly what consumers needed only to have to change the design of the Macbook to accommodate the consumer backlash for missing options.

Is it only a matter of time before the 13" macbook pro has this option? How about the 13" white cheap macbooks?

Time will only tell. Thanks again Apple for listening.

Tagged with: 15" macbook pro • apple • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • Macbook Pro • switch to mac

Returning to Windows

In iBlog, by npetrik

This post came from an email I received the other day from Brian M. who wanted to share his experience as someone who switched from a PC to Mac and what it was like to return to the Windows environment:

windows-vista-vs-mac-os-x-video-demonstration-2

A few months ago I got my new 13" Aluminum Macbook in the mail for my 40th birthday gift. As a life long Windows user you may ask why I made the switch. That is easy, I was bored with Windows!

A friend of mine has the cheap white Macbook and I played around with it one night. I must say I was a bit lost on how to use Leopard. Although I was interested in learning about OS X, I wasn't that impressed with the white plastic Macbook. When Apple released the Unibody Macbooks I had to check it out myself. After a lot of research I decided to plunge in to the all but foreign world of the Mac user.

I wasn't as lost this time on Leopard because while I was waiting for my birthday to arrive (my wife was getting it for me as a gift so I had to wait) I did some research about the differences between a PC and a Mac.

Fast forward to the present. The other day my son came over sporting his new Dell netbook. He called it a "lollipop" which I found out later wasn't actually the brand name but comes from the Dell commercial that goes to the tune of lollipop or something like that. At first look I thought it was a portable Dvd player. It had a 10" screen and was tiny. I included a stock picture for you to see.

I fired this baby up to see what was going on. Windows XP came preinstalled and when it finally booted up with what seemed like an eternity I was shocked to see all the junk on the desktop and what was running in the taskbar. I asked my son what all this was and he said "I don't know it came with the computer". I preceded to browse around and realized I was already missing my Macbook. Finally I asked him if he minded if I removed all the junk and try to speed things up. The first thing I did was removed all of the trialware.

bloated Norton trialware

The first thing to go on the Dell Mini was the bloated Norton Anti-virus trialware which I had replaced with the free AVG Antivirus. After that it was just a matter of the rest of the junk and also turn off all the unnecessary programs running in the background at start-up.

I rebooted the system and when Windows finally started I was pleased to see that things where running much smoother and faster. I gave the netbook back to my son and he exclaimed "What did you do? It's so much faster now". I simply told him Windows unlike OS X needs a little tweaking when you first pull it out of the box.

A Mac is ready to go right out of the box

After he left I realized how much I didn't miss Windows. When I first booted up my new Macbook it was ready to go like they say "right out of the box". The only thing it did was run software update to make sure OS X was up to date. There was no trialware to uninstall and no bloatware to deal with. With that being said I will say that Windows (with a little tweaking) can be a good operating system, but why settle for good when OS X is great with no work on your part at all.

Thank you Brian for the email. If anyone else recently switched from a PC to a Mac and would like to share their experience be sure to send them our way.

Tagged with: apple • apple netbook • cheap macbook • cheap macbooks • dell lollipop • dell mini • switch to mac • windows

New Cheap Apple Macbook Laptops

In iBlog, by npetrik

When Apple introduced the new 13" Aluminum Unibody Macbook Pro many people decided that their 13" aluminum Macbook just wasn't good enough anymore.

Fortunately for the budget conscience this left a flood of cheap Macbooks on the market.

Whenever Apple introduces a new line up it is the perfect opportunity for those looking to purchase a computer without paying full retail to capitalize. Sometimes you can even find a brand new previous version Macbook at your local electronics store at a discounted price but you have to act quick as they go quickly.

A good play to find previous version cheap Macbooks is on eBay. Those people selling their previous versions Macbook are anxious and willing to sell quickly and at a much discounted price.