appleJAC Users Group

President's Place: September 2015

by Joe Mertzlufft

Can you believe it’s mid-August and the high temperature one day this week was only 60°?  I was able to cut down a dead Dogwood Tree, but not get overcome by heat. Back in June, I remember suggesting we will be looking for rain in mid-August, then my rain gauge received 4” this weekend. Hopefully, all the moisture is out of here by the time we get to winter, or we will have way too much snow.

 

Mac OS X 10.10.5 was released last week. I expect that will be the last update before Fall when we will see the full version of El Capitan (Mac OS X 10.11). I installed Beta OS X El Capitan last month (now up to beta 5) with some nice new features. I know some have played with the Beta version of iOS 9 as well (some very nice new features there too).  

 

The following people won door prizes at the August meeting:

Jim Springs           iTunes card

Todd McCluskey    Able2Extract PDF Solution

Ken Zindle            Book

Bonnie Culley       Book

Ann Lane              Book

Rosalind Moulton   Book

John Doyle            Cord

Sharon Hanson       Stylus

Jane Szabados       Ear Buds

George Kopp          Quick Drive

August Member Spotlight was on Jim Springs:

Jim and his wife Diane started with the first iPad, she now has a MacBook Air, and he has a MacBook Pro (they also have a couple iPhones). Jim credits Mark Snell for hooking Diane on Apple Computers.  Mark and Jim have worked on Habitat for Humanity homes together for years.

 

Diane uses her computer for doing email, Facebook, searching with Google, making cards, Pintrest,  calendars, making photo albums, and paying bills. Jim does similar things along with bookkeeping for rental property. He has a hobby of taking pictures of old barns and sees there are a lot of others who show their barn photos on Pintrest. Spending lots of time out of state in an RV, they keep in communication with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with info and pictures. 

 

Our upcoming September  1st, 2015, meeting, (see agenda below)  will be "Home Connections" and held at “Callaway Rural Electric" in Fulton (thank you Charle Bland for setting us up). I really enjoyed the Home connections meeting we had a couple years ago. There are now more products are on the market, and we will give you a taste, or at least a tease, this month. 

 

Presentations will include Demo’s and Discussion’s lead by Tom, George and myself. I will give you my thoughts about using Wire’s vs WiFi and answer the question, "Should you use Hub’s"? Tom will go over the Pro’s and Con’s of SkyBell and Explain CarPlay and RamCam. Then, after the Break, George will explain Home Kit, and also demo some of the features installed in his home. As always, there will be time for everyone to ask questions, and share your tips and tricks to the group. Continue to visit our website for more updates and fresh information.

 

 

IN1: Tool Case Extraordinaire

a review by Tom Piper

Over the years that I’ve owned iPhones, I’ve had many cases including protective, decorative, functional, plastic, metal, magnetic, and more. Almost two years ago, I review the first multi-tool utility case (applejac.com/multi-tool-case) which has now been improved on the latest bigger iPhones.

The IN1 Multi-Tool Utility Case for the iPhone 6 Plus combines a sleek design with functional multi-tools into a single enclosure. This polycarbonate case (with rear kickstand) not only protects my iPhone, it also offers a useful tool-set including a short blue pen, a strong bottle opener, two small screwdrivers (phillips and flat-head), a handy nail file, a dandy tweezers, a small scissors, and a great toothpick. It has scratch protection inside using felt backing, and, when I fly, this case is TSA compliant.

These tools are aimed to be helpful for everyday tasks. The IN1 case will help with day-to-day small tasks such as writing notes, adjusting glasses, opening bottles, extracting slivers, and cutting open packages. It is available in white, black and clear. I was also able to pick the color of the tool handles (grey, black, yellow, green, blue, purple, violet) which made it very customizable. 

After using a iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus case (separately) for a week, I have found that they add good extra protection for the sides and back of the iPhone, while also adding more bulk requiring a larger holster (which I expected), yet very light in weight. The tools are easy to extract, handy to use, and quite durable in construction (I do wish the case back either had the tool name or symbol imprinted for easy identification). Since there is extra space, a red pen and sharp blade (removable before TSA inspection) would be great additions, along with a rubberized shell to improve the overall grip. The case installs easily and maintains a tight fit, which is secure but also makes removal a little challenging.

The company IN1 is an innovative phone case manufacturer with industry-changing design concepts. Their unique, patent-pending designs, delivers style with functionality seldom before found in a cell phone case. As they say, form and function has never looked this good, so "demand more from your case".

Available for only $39.99 at in1case.com, the IN1 is available for the iPhone 5/5S/6/6+ and Galaxy S5 (color of case and tools must also be specified here). If you are a handyman (or woman) and want to have a nice small gadgetcase with your iPhone, this is the package to get.

 

Samsung M3 4TB Hard Drive: Big Performance in Small Package

a review by Tom Piper

Hard disk drives (HDD) have been around for almost 60 years with 2.5” versions introduced for laptop computers 27 years ago. Yet, it was only 7 years ago that their capacity reached one terabyte, which has just now been quadrupled by an innovative company.

Samsung HDD, a division of Seagate Technology, recently announced their 4TB M3 Portable (and the P3 Portable) external hard drives, which are the first 4TB USB-powered single-drive solutions to come in 2.5” cases in the world.

According to Dave Klenske, director of product line management at Samsung HDD:  “Previously only attainable in desktop or bulky multi-drive internal designs, we can now achieve a 4TB capacity in a compact drive thanks to the latest Samsung HDD technology. By going to a single drive solution, we can power the drive through just a USB connection while fitting it into a case that is only a 1/10 of an inch thicker than our 2TB drive. They are the perfect lightweight drives for notebook computer owners who need to access media collections too large to fit on traditional internal storage options.”

The 4TB Samsung M3 Portable Portable drive measures 0.8” x 3.3” x 4.7”, weighs only 8.3 ounces, and operates at USB 3.0 speeds without requiring any external power supplies. This Spinpoint M10P 4TB hard drive (the mechanism inside the case) enables this innovation with the highest aerial density (800GB for each of its internal disks on one spindle) in the world. According to another Samsung HDD source, with consumer demand for external storage capacity continuing to grow, the M3 (and P3) 4TB answers the increasing appetite for storage and are positioned to lead future capacity needs from the mobile market.”

Spinning at 5400rpm, and equipped with 128MB of cache, this is the first HDD to use SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) technology by Seagate. This means that tracks overlap one another, like shingles on a roof, allowing more data to be written to the same space. As new data is written, the drive tracks are trimmed, or shingled. Because the reader element on the drive head is smaller than the writer, all data can still be read off the trimmed track without compromise to data integrity or reliability.

Upon receipt of the unit, I found that it was boxed with the drive, USB 3.0 cable and Quick Start Guide . . . it was immediately ready with plug-and-play. It came fully partitioned and NTFS-formatted for Windows using the included Samsung Drive Manager which supports auto backup, file/folder security, drive lock, drive diagnostic, partition setup, and power settings. Also included for Macintosh use, “NTFS for Mac Driver” software (once installed on the user’s Mac) allows for full and speedy read and write functions to all data.

For my purposes, I wanted this to be a bootable backup for both my MacBook Pro 15” retina  500GB SSD with external 1TB Thunderbolt drive plus my iMac 27” retina with internal 3TB hybrid drive. I reformatted the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and partitioned it into three parts (0.5TB, 1TB, 2.5TB) to reflect the volume sizes to be archived. Using Carbon Copy Cloner, I then created three separate backups of my boot drives and data drive, which could then be updated weekly on a scheduled increment basis. At a transfer rate of 4.8Gb/s using SuperSpeed USB 3.0, it took several hours to create this package of bootable clones, but the result is a wonderful duplicate of all my MacOS and iOS digital files (remember, my iPads and iPhones are backup to my computers). What a great resource!

To learn more about the Samsung HDD 4TB M3 and P3 Portables with their 3-year limited warranty, go to seagate.com/samsung-hdd. To purchase the M3 (durable black diamond design) for $189.99, go to play-asia.com/samsung-m3 (initially available as a global product sold in Latin America, Asia, Europe). To purchase the P3 (thin compact grey smooth design) for $179.99, go to newegg.com/samsung-p3 (US market).

Seagate creates space for the human experience by innovating how data is stored, shared and used (learn more at seagate.com). I have a variety of Seagate hard disk drives, and have been very pleased with their quality, dependability and value. This is a wonderful new addition to the Seagate HDD family.

 

OWC ThunderBay 4 mini: RAID 5 Stunning Performance

a review by Tom Piper

The use of hard disk drives (HDD) has come a long way since their introduction by Reynold Johnson in 1956 (IBM 350 Disk File with 50 platters [each 24” diameter], 1200 rpm, 3.75MB capacity, 29” x 60” x 68” cabinet, over 1 ton weight, 1970 patent). By 1980, the size was down to 3.5”, by 1988 reduced to 2.5”, and by 2004 0.85” (from Toshiba, used in the iPod Classic). The first 1TB drive came out in 2007 (Hitachi), and today they are up to 10TB (Western Digital). The RAID (redundant array of independent disks) concept using multiple hard drives to improve capacity, performance and reliability dates back to patents in 1977 and 1986, laying the foundation for today’s powerhouse units.

The OWC ThunderBay 4 mini is a RAID 5 Edition with 4.0TB of storage in a 4-bay (using 1TB HDD in each bay) external drive connected with dual Thunderbolt 2 ports. This configuration results in performance and data redundancy using the first and only software RAID 5 technology developed for the Mac. It is optimized for 2.5" drives and perfect for SSDs which delivers outstanding performance and reliability for the most demanding applications, such as workflows involving 4K/2K/uncompressed HD, and multi-stream SD video.

The OWC ThunderBay 4 mini is preconfigured in RAID 5 for optimal data redundancy which features sustained performance of up to 1010MBs read and 908MBs write speeds. This mode has 75% faster rebuild times than hardware RAID. Such blazing speed and rock-solid reliability is designed for the power user.

With RAID 5, the four drives inside the ThunderBay 4 mini are merged for increased capacity and tremendous performance gains over a single drive. Special redundancy data, called "parity information," is also stored across the drives, allowing my data to remain completely safe so I can maintain my mission critical workflows worry-free.

This unit will expand production capabilities for industry-leading creative platforms like Final Cut X, Avid Pro Tools, and Adobe Lightroom with this incredibly fast and portable storage solution. ThunderBay 4 mini RAID 5 Edition is preconfigured in RAID 5 and supports RAID 0, 1, 4, and 1+0 arrays to achieve the optimal balance of storage, performance, and data-redundancy any workflow demands.

OWC unlocks the incredible performance and flexibility of ThunderBay by pairing the drives with a robust software RAID solution. Powered by the SoftRAID engine, ThunderBay 4 mini RAID 5 Edition delivers advanced RAID modes, real-time health monitoring with email notifications, and best-in-class rebuild speeds. Unlike traditional software RAID solutions, SoftRAID's revolutionary volume optimization allows me to quickly configure my drive for specific workflows. Now, you can experience the absolute best performance whether recording audio, editing 4K video, or creating a multimedia server.

I can take full advantage of this flexibility to easily build and reconfigure complex RAID arrays, or connect multiple ThunderBays to create even larger RAIDs with up to 16 drives for optimal performance and redundancy. Now, users can enjoy robust RAID options with near enterprise-grade storage and performance for a fraction of the cost. Each ThunderBay undergoes OWC's regimented multi-hour drive "burn-in" to ensure that the end user experiences the amazing performance right out the box.

This durable, heat-dissipating, aluminum unibody shell features a "flow-thru" vented design coupled with a 60mm whisper-quiet fan. ThunderBay's drive isolating design reduces sonic resonance, and is aided by rugged, vibration-absorbing, non-skid feet. The dual Thunderbolt 2 ports let me connect any display that my computer can support, including 4K displays.

ThunderBay comes with an OWC one-meter certified Thunderbolt cable (other lengths from 0.5 to 30 meters are available separately). I’m primarily using this unit through my OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock for Time Machine backups from my MacBook Pro 15” retina. This computer is vital to my daily operations, and its important to me to have an up-to-date, fast and reliable archiving of my internal SSD (for applications) and external Thunderbolt hard drive (for data). Performance is flawless while its operations are essentially invisible.

The OWC ThunderBay 4 mini is available for $2,299 at macsales.com/thunderbay. OWC provides award-winning US-based support for both the ThunderBay 4 drive and SoftRAID software which included with the purchase. Also included is a 3-Year OWC Solution Limited Warranty, quick 48-Hour Warranty Service, and 1-Year Level-1 Data Recovery Service.

This is yet another of OWC’s wonderful array of technology products which feature quality, reliability and value. They now also have special Apple user group deals and discounts available for us at macsales.com/AUGdiscounts.

Mercury On-The-Go 480GB SSD: Portable Powerhouse Drive

a review by Tom Piper

In my earlier review of the Envoy Pro mini, I marveled at the advancements in electronic storage. As if that wasn’t enough, here is an even more amazing combination product with more capacity, opportunities and features.

First in this two-part review is the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Portable 2.5" FW800/USB3.0 Enclosure Kit for Serial ATA (SATA) NoteBook Drives which is a great case to house a laptop’s internal drive if you decide to install an SSD replacement drive (described below). This bus-powered case features an Oxford 944 chipset with FireWire 800/400 and USB 3.0/2.0 ports (backwards compatible) which measures only 1” x 3″ x 5.5″ (weight of 11oz). 

The OWC Mercury On-The-Go's fanless design offers near silent operation while still keeping my drive cool. The built-in aluminum heatsink underneath the drive, and passthrough cooling vents on the top of the case work in tandem to provide optimum results. This versatility and size make it a great accessory for laptop or desktop computers.

This On-The-Go "Add your own Drive" Kit enclosure is ready to accept any 2.5" SATA Hard Drive or SSD. Just as I replaced my son-in-law’s old MacBook internal drive with a sweet SSD unit, I repurposed its old drive as a new external drive for even more backup and storage capacity (he still thinks the difference after the upgrade was incredible). This solution will give anyone an improved laptop, plus an excellent transportable storage device, or a backup option that everyone should have.

Second in this review is the 480GB Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD 2.5" Serial-ATA 7mm 6Gb/s Solid State Drive with 5-Year Warranty with Tier 1 2X-nm Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND Flash Storage w/ 7% Over-Provisioned Redundancy (Mac & PC compatible). All of this tech jargon simply means this advanced chip-based storage will fit in most laptops to provide fast, reliable and durable data storage, resulting in long-term speed and capacity advantages. This is the fastest and most reliable Solid State Drive on the market today.

Special features provide maximum notebook performance and battery life, extended endurance with DuraWrite, even automatic data distribution with Intelligent Block Management and Wear Leveling, active read/write that spreads data across the flash components Intelligent Read Disturb Management eliminating data corruption caused by constant use, and advanced free-space management which gradually re-writes data across the SSD over time using Intelligent "Recycling" to ensure data never gets corrupted. It also includes RAISE (Redundant Array of Independent Silicon Elements) to protect the data on the SSD (similar to having a RAID setup), and Best-in-Class ECC Protection for longest data retention and drive life. OWC even provides a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee to ensure satisfaction.

Performance wise, this unit will read at sustained rates up to 559MB/s and writes up to 527MB/s, which is up to a hundred times greater data protection than enterprise-class Hard Disk Drives. The OWC Mercury EXTREME SSD line delivers unbeatable performance because, unlike traditional hard disk drives, OWC solid state drives have no moving parts, resulting in a quiet, cool, and highly rugged storage solution that also offers faster system responsiveness.

For the technically-oriented installer, its important to know that you can attach a spacer/adapter to the top of any 7mm, 2.5-inch drive for installations that require a 9.5mm drive height for proper use. This adapter is not needed for 2.5-inch drive installations that use the standard side or bottom mounting positions to secure the drive in place, and is not needed for any installation of a 7mm drive in Apple Macintosh computers.

For this review, and to achieve the fastest performance and versatility, I have installed the 480GB SSD described above in to the enclosure for a really amazing package. It can be used for a variety of purposes on my MacBook Pro, or iMac 27” retina, or take it on the road when needed. It is a durable and sturdy design that has been a featured OWC product for a long time (with SSD advancements, of course).

The OWC Mercury On-The-Go Enclosure Kit (including case, nice carrying case, 15” FireWire 800 cable, 18” USB 3.0 cable) sells for $72.99 at macsales.com/kit. The 480GB Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD is available for $297.50 at macsales.com/ssd, or 240GB for $117.99 - $194.75, or 120GB for $69.99 - $129.75. Units with re-installed SSD in this case are also available for as little as $104.00 for 120GB, or up to $359.00 for the combo described in this review.

These are only a few of many fine products available from OWC. They now also have special Apple user group deals and discounts available for us at macsales.com/AUGdiscounts.

 

Envoy Pro mini: SSD Performance King

a review by Tom Piper

Electronic storage of applications, documents, photos, music and other files has been a marvel of advancements since my first cassette tape recordings in 1979 on my 48K Apple ][. From tape to floppies to hard drives to optical drives to flash drives to memory cards to digital clouds, capacity and speed have increased exponentially. Recently I acquired the latest amazing development in portable storage.

The Envoy Pro mini from Other World Computing (OWC) has 240GB of storage, is lightning fast, has delightfully portable style (easy pocket fit), and features Desktop Class SSD technology. As a USB 3.0 device, it works equally well in both Mac and PC environments, uses ultra-efficient Block Management and Wear Leveling for highest reliability, and it backed by a 3-Year OWC Solution Limited Warranty.

With a sustained speed up to 427MB/s (maximum of 500MB/s), this equals over 3.2 gigabytes per minute, which is equivalent to 1,600 iPhone 6 plus photos (or over 500 Sony NEX-5N DSLR photos) that could be copied in a minute . . . that is, if my source (like computer hard drive) could keep up with that speed. Whether pictures, movies, presentations, or any other files, that is awesome speed. And, with 240GB of capacity, this SSD unit can hold up to 120,000 of my iPhone photos (or about 40,000 of my camera photos). That is more than the almost 27,000 mixed photos and movies I have stored on my computer.

This is obviously not your average thumb drive because it is elegant, light, and strong which is incredibly fast and perfectly portable for my life. Because it's a desktop-class SSD, the Envoy Pro mini is nearly twice as fast as the average thumb drive. Available in 120GB and 240GB capacities, it's a powerful little workhorse with the time-tested pedigree of the OWC SSD family. Unprecedented speed in such a small form-factor sets me free from progress bars and data bottlenecks. 

I also plan to use the Envoy Pro mini to host my virtual machine (Parallels 10) which will allow me to uses Windows 7 & 10 on one hand, and Snow Leopard & Mountain Lion on the other. Since I also do some beta testing, I can boot to the latest beta software, like El Capitan. The possibilities are endless. My only caveats are that it runs hot (during a long sustained copy), and its a tight fit next to a Thunderbolt cable on my MacBook Pro 15” retina (but then, that’s what the 6” USB extension cable is for).

There's a lot hiding inside Envoy Pro Mini's sleek aluminum body (less than 0.5”x1.0”x3.7”, 1.5oz), including the same suite of industry-leading controller technologies as OWC's high-performance desktop-class SSDs. It comes pre-installed with backup and utility software including Intech SpeedTools Utilities OEM (For Mac OS 8.6, OS X 10.3.9 or later only), ProSoft Engineering Data Backup for Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later, and NovaStor NovaBACKUP for Windows 2000 or later. The package ships with the SSD unit, USB extension cable, and a handy lanyard.

All of this for only $119.00 for the 120GB unit, or $199.00 for 240GB at macsales.com/envoy. This is only one of many fine products available from OWC. They now also have special Apple user group deals and discounts available for us at macsales.com/AUGdiscounts.

 

NuGuard Snap-On Laptop Cover: Custom Portable Protection

a review by Tom Piper

If you’re like me, you’ve invested a lot of money on a quality Mac laptop, and want to make sure it is well-shielded from the elements. At the same time, it would be nice to have a case that makes a positive statement about your values and principles. I’ve found a great company who provides me lots of options on quality protection.

The NuGuard Snap-On Laptop Cover for the MacBook Pro Retina display protects my beautiful machine with style. The soft-touch exterior and vivid finish not only keeps my laptop safe, but lets its inner beauty shine through. 

The custom fit, two-piece hard shell construction made it a breeze to install (and to remove), and provides reliable defense against damages. The rubberized feet keep my laptop stable and the vent slots help prevent overheating. It's also an ideal complement to the NuGuard Keyboard Cover for a fully-protected, custom-color MacBook Pro. 

There are many great features about these NuGuard Snap-On Laptop Covers which protecs against scuffs, scratches, wear and tear. They come in 11 vibrant colors including Black, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Gray, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Yellow, White, & Clear. My personal selection was the American Flag. These covers are available for all MacBook models since 2011, of all screen sizes.

I like the look and feel of this cover with its vintage patriotic style. I frequently use all of my ports, all of which are still easy to access. The added weight is minimal and the fit is good. This should also add value to my treasured laptop when I’m ready to sell it.

This is a real good buy at only $19.00 at macsales.com/cover. Other covers are available for as little as $7.74. Colorful keyboard covers can be purchased for $4.74. There are many great values available at NewerTech and Other World Computing, and they now have special Apple user group deals and discounts available for us at macsales.com/AUGdiscounts.

iPhone and iPad Maintenance

by George Kopp

President's Place: August 2015

by Joe Mertzlufft

 

Business has been so good that I haven’t had time to do my duty as an appleJAC officer. I’ve been really wrapped up fixing and upgrading computers, which has taken a lot of time.

Several people told me at our last meeting that  “Essential Apps” really hit the spot for them. That’s when we covered lots of new Apple announcements and talked about several of the applications preinstalled on all new Macintosh computers. 

The following people won door prizes in July:

Bonnie Culley          iTunes card

Jan Watson             Photo Keychain

Todd McCluskey       Apple Coaster

Judy Mayor             Apple Coaster

Shubha Miller          Flashlight

Rita Kallal               Stylus

Our upcoming August 4, 2015, meeting (see agenda below) will be our "Diagnostic Questions" meeting. We will start with Apple announcements and Tips & Tricks, then George will cover some basic usage and specialized apps for the Apple Watch and iOS devices. 

 

After the Great Break, we will conduct our members' Prize Drawing plus a new segment: “Member Spot Light”. We will have the winner of the iTunes card share with us how they use their Apple equipment. This will be followed by my presentation about MacOS utilities, specialized apps, types of passwords, and common issues. 

 

As always, there will be time for everyone to ask questions and share your tips and tricks to the group. Continue to visit our website for more updates, product reviews and fresh information. Special Note: due to pre-school wax preparations in Kennedy Hall, our meeting have been moved to Kertz Hall, which is off the same parking lot we usually use, but closer to Clark Avenue -- see aerial view at bottom.

        

Lightning-to-USB Cable: Durable High-Quality Connectio

a review by Tom Piper

Cables, cords, wires, plugs . . . a proverbial tangled nest of white and black connections for power, syncing and data conveyance. The one thing they all have in common is a rather fragile plastic sheathing that is susceptible to catastrophic wear and tear.

Other World Computing (OWC) has a better solution with its 1.0 Meter (39") NewerTech Lightning to USB 2.0 Cable. Mine is a delightful Blue (also available in White, Red, Yellow, Green and Black) constructed for premium quality and durability. This one is built tough to last for life's challenging travels. This NewerTech Lighting cable is perfect to charge and sync any Lightning port equipped iPad, iPhone, or iPod.

With its heavy-gauge conductors, high-quality connectors, and a nylon-braided jacket, this design ensures top performance, durability, and a long life. It's "right size" connector design provides case-friendly ease-of-use so I don't have to fuss with removing my device's case when charging. A cable of this quality deserves to come backed with a great warranty, and it gets precisely that with a whopping Five-Year NewerTech Product Limited Warranty.

My blue cable matches my 18000 mAh portable power supply, so it gets knocked around quite a bit. I plan to get another for my car, and another for my desktop (probably in different colors). This truly is one great cable that will last a long time.

With it's affordable price of only $16.79, you can pick up a few cables for use when you're at work, at play, or on the road. With various sizes available (20” to 118”), you can get a Lightning cable that's the right length for you at macsales.com/cable. This is one of many fine products from OWC.

 

Parallels 10: Windows Best View on the Mac

a review by Tom Piper

I’ve been an Apple computer user since 1979 (Apple ][ 48K), and have enjoyed the MacOS and iOS ever since. But, from time to time, I need to see or use something in the Windows world, so a virtual machine (VM) on my Mac is a very good solution.

I believe Parallels 10 is the easiest, fastest, and most powerful solution for running Windows on Mac without rebooting. According to the company, this has been the number ONE choice of Mac users for over 8 years, with over 5 million copies sold. It is fully optimized and enhanced for OS X Yosemite. With the latest version, we now use cool features like “click to call” with iPhone, send with iMessage, and more from Windows apps.

For “switchers” from PC to Mac, Parallels makes it easy to get all of their files, applications, browser bookmarks and more from the PC to the Mac just by following the Wizards. with support for 16vCPUs and 64 GB of RAM, this VM will run even the most demanding applications with ease. It can use Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Access and 100s of other applications not available on the Mac, including the new Windows 10.

I like how Parallels will adapt itself while setting up my Windows virtual machine, automatically tuning for what I’ll use it for the most such as productivity applications, design, development or games. For me, even more importantly, its not just for Windows because it will run a wide array of operating systems including OS X Snow Leopard (allowing access to AppleWorks and other legacy software), Windows 8.1 & 7, Linux and Google Chrome. 

This versatility means I have many computers in my one powerful Mac. I can stay in the Mac environment while launching Windows apps from the Dock, and using OS X gestures in Windows apps, plus copy & paste and drag & drop between Mac and Windows (and other operating systems). 

There have been numerous improvements in Parallels 10 (I’m currently using 10.2.2) including iCloud Drive Support allowing me to “Save As” to iCloud Drive in Microsoft Office to DropBox, Google Drive and more. I can “right click” on a phone number in Outlook or Internet Explorer to place a call with my iPhone, or “right click” on selected text and select “Share with iMessage” which will send it with iMessage (if the recipient isn’t using iMessage, it will send via SMS using my iPhone).

Remarkably, with all of its features, the battery on my MacBook Pro 15” retina is still extended by up to 30%. Windows documents now open 48% faster, while VM use 10% less Mac memory. One amazing click and Parallels will automatically set my virtual machine settings for optimal performance based on what I do most. My virtual disk is even automatically compacted while I work, so it takes only as much space on my hard disk as it really needs.

There are many other “cross over” techniques, such as when I install Windows apps, Parallels automatically adds them to the Mac Launchpad. I don’t have to remain exclusively in the PC environment in order to be productive, but also take advantage of Mac controls. Moving files and information between operating systems has never been easier. There is much more that I could review, but suffice to say that I am very pleased with the power, versatility, ease-of-use and efficiency of this VM.

For more information, go to parallels.com where Parallels 10 be purchased for $79.99 ($49.99 to upgrade from earlier version). You can even try free for 14 days before you buy, to see why this is the leading Virtual Machine on the market today. There are others that are free, but none measure up to this power and Mac interconnection.

 

iPin & BTtogo: iDevice Laser Pointer & Wireless Presenter

a review by Tom Piper

When I give a digital projection presentation, it is often convenient to have a laser pointer and screen controller so I can roam around, yet move the display as needed. This used to require separate dedicated devices, but at CES 2015, I found a really nifty combo unit that works with my iPhone.

The new iPin (from Hyper or FOME) is the world's smallest laser presenter for the iPhone 5 & 5S (also works with iPad and iPod touch). It is so small, it fits almost completely inside the headphone minijack. Together with the free iPin app, I have been able to wirelessly control presentation slides on my computer right from my iPhone 6 plus (on which it works just fine). No more fumbling for the misplaced laser pointer, wireless presenter and batteries.

My iPhone is everything needed to perform the tasks a professional presenter must do, but it is missing just that one little thing: a laser beam. iPin delivers the full package with a laser made so small that it fits perfectly inside the 3.5mm headphone minijack of any recent iPhone. Just plug it in, and the iPhone is immediately equipped with a high brightness 635nm laser beam.

Even nicer, it can stay inside the headphone minijack without affecting phone functions (except the earbuds). With its innovative ON/OFF design just turn the iPin 90 degrees, and I can answer incoming calls or view the screen without removing your iPin. 

With this iPin and iPin app, I’m no longer tied to my computer or extra devices to flip slides or blacken the screen. iPin gives you the luxury and freedom to walk and talk. Using iPin laser, its power consumption is as low as playing a song while delivering a superior quality laser beam, despite its tiny size. 

Made with delicate engineering and leading-edge design, stabilizing laser light in a dynamic working environment is a challenge, especially when stored in a tiny space lacking heat dissipater. The mini laser smartly stabilizes light power by itself and is more compact than those used in an ultra slim DVD drive.

Simply connect your iPhone to a Mac or PC using WiFi, or the innovative BTtogo Bluetooth Receiver, then take full control of a presentation in just seconds. Requiring zero setup, there is no need Host program, just plug and play. Applying Bluetooth 4.0 Smart technology, BTtogo overcomes instability in a noisy WiFi environment, providing better presentation quality.

As an added bonus, this USB dongle even contains a micro SD card reader which can allow users to store the presentation files (which means you can immediately share a presentation from any computer). This setup can work well on a public computer, classroom desktop, auditorium laptop or other shared environment.

The iPin app reads my intuitive finger movements to flip pages and shine the laser beam. The app includes a countdown alarm that helps to keep my presentation on time while the auto-dimming backlight helps to save power consumption under presentation mode. When needed, I can even drag up the trackpad to remotely control mouse curser during my presentation. It slides and clicks just like a normal mouse. It's very effective, easy to use, and a convenient resource in almost any location.

Go to ipinlaser.com/iPin to learn more about the iPin, and ipinlaser.com/BTtogo for more about the Bluetooth Receiver. The iPin is compatible with the iPhone 3GS/4/4S/5/5c/5s/6, the iPod Touch 4G/5G, and all iPads (although reported to not be compatible with the iPhone 6 plus, it works fine with mine).

The basic iPin (or extended version for iPhone with a case) can be purchased for $49.95 from hypershop.com/iPin. The FOME iPin Mobile-Powered Laser Pointer Presenter can be purchased for $103.99 from amazon.com/ipin. The iPin BTtogo is available for $34.97 from amazon.com/BTtogo. The complete setup of iPin Laser Presenter Dustproof For iPhone 5/5S is available for $131.74 from amazon.com/iPin-Laser-Presenter. If you do frequent presentations, these devices are a valuable and convenient asset.

 

Able2Extract PDF Converter 9: A Useful Addition

by Greg Breuer

Able2Extract is a utility I found very useful and a good one to have in your toolbox. Its purpose is to convert a PDF(.pdf) to Excel(xls), Word(.docx, Powerpoint(.ppt), OpenOffice(.odt), HTML(.html), AutoCAD(.dwg or .dxf) or an image file(.bmp, .jpg, .png, .gif or .tif). To test the software I created a .PDF and did all conversions that were available to me.

The interface was easy to use and intuitive to operate. All you do is select what you want converted and select the format you wish to convert the PDF to. For testing purposes, I used the default settings anytime I converted.

Another format that Able2Extract uses as input is a text file and it converts to all file formats that PDFs convert to. The conversion seems seamless and complete.

Able2Extract also creates PDF files. I chose a JPG file of a puppy. It automatically created the JPG file. I then printed to Able2Extract’s printer which created the PDF file also.

Software that does what it says and does it well to me is valuable and Able2Extract is just that. I would recommend it to anyone needing a robust conversion tool.

If you visit http://www.investintech.com, you will be greeted by a very professional web site. It will introduce you to Able2Extract, a professional PDF tool that converts as well as creates PDF files. The software has been written to run on Macintosh, Windows and Red Hat Linux. There is a $99.95 full license as well as a $34.95 30-day subscription.

 

DSI Steering Wheel GPS Holder: Cool Mobile Convenience

a review by Tom Piper

There are so many places to mount your phone in the car, most of which are located either on the dash or in front of an air vent. But, when you want to use the phone’s mapping function, I need it as close as possible while still watching the road. At CES2015 I found a great solution. 

The DSI Car Steering Wheel Holder is just the ticket for use as a smartphone holder for GPS device up to 6″ and handsfree use. In my experience, it was quick and easy to install on several of my vehicles.

Out of the box, this unit has two unique Velcro straps and two specially-designed posts which anchor to almost any steering wheel. This provides a better view angle for me as the driver and safer for most driving conditions. The unique adjustable clamp design that holds my iPhone 6 plus in place with EVA foam, which protects my device from scratching. The latch mechanism is easy to unlatch the phone from the holder.

No tools were required (even though I mounted it on top of the steering wheel at first). The holder is molded with durable nylon material which is designed in America and Patent Pending. Once the velcro strips are stretched and wrapped into place, the mount is very secure, and my iPhone can be mounted and unmounted without any hassle.

My unit is installed on the steering wheel of my 2005 Subaru Baja Turbo, and has been in use every day. Initial reactions are that it is easy to install (requires occasional retightening, and black velcro strips would be a nice option instead of red), easy to mount my iPhone 6 plus, very durable, easy to remove (the release is a little hard to reach), and convenient to use. 

Since its mounted inside the wheel, it does not interfere with turning (just don’t attach the power cable to the phone). The downside is that it blocks the view of my instrument panel. It has probably been the best view of my GPS system of anywhere in the vehicle. It even fits well with the custom steering wheel cover that I use.

The DSI Steering Wheel holder is a bargain at only $24.00. For more information, and to purchase, go to http://www.dsi-keyboards.com/shop/brands/steering-wheel-smart-phone-holder/. DSI also offers a variety of other products including cool keyboards and keypads, resourceful adaptors, assistive technology, Mac & iPad accessories, and other interesting items.

 

TechTool Pro 8: Mac’s Best Diagnostic Utility

a review by Tom Piper

Maintaining the good health of our computer investments is very important. Considering the substantial monetary initial investment, plus the hundreds of hours of time to create documents and files that are usually irreplaceable, we need to also invest in “tech insurance” to protect these assets. A great utility will usually fit this need.

The new Techtool Pro 8 is the most robust hardware diagnostic tool available for the Macintosh. It is easy to use for both home users and professionals using full 64-bit compatibility to keep my Mac running at its best. This utility brings with it some of the deepest hardware testing yet by testing components on my motherboard that no other utility can access. I can now test the sensors and fans on my iMac 27” retina, along with the battery when I’m using my MacBook Pro 15” retina. In addition, they have now integrated Protogo, so that I can create my own custom test drives for out in the field.

TechTool Pro already tests the major components on my motherboard such as RAM, processor, cache, and more. In TechTool Pro 8, they have taken it a step further, testing a wider variety of components on my Mac's motherboard. On some machines there are more than 100 electrical and temperature sensors that TechTool Pro will check. If any of those sensors report values outside of their acceptable operating range, the new Sensors test will let me know so that I can take the necessary steps to prevent a minor problem from becoming a major one.

The portability of TechTool Protogo is now included with every copy of TechTool Pro. TechTool Protogo allows me to create a bootable diagnostic device that contains TechTool Pro and all of its most powerful tools as well as any of my own utilities that I may wish to install. I can then use this device to boot, check, maintain, and repair Macintosh computers as needed. I can simply launch Protogo, choose Protogo from the Mode menu, and use it to set up a diagnostic disk.

 TechTool Pro 8 works with all the latest models of Macintosh computers and works on the latest version of OS X, "Yosemite." It is an extremely valuable addition to my Macintosh toolbox. My Mac's hard drive (which is actually a Solid State Drive) is more likely to experience problems than any other component on my Mac. Because data changes so frequently, it can sometimes get scrambled which is why it's important to be able to test drives for problems and then repair them. Unfortunately, if something is physically wrong with the drive, it will need to be backed up and replaced, so the sooner this type of damage is detected, the fewer files will be lost. Most drive problems, however, result from data being in the wrong place, and can be repaired using Techtool Pro’s Volume Rebuild tool.

If my startup disk stops working, and I need another startup disk, TechTool Pro’s eDrive steps in to help. The eDrive is what I’ll use to test, rebuild or defragment my main hard drive, but it is really helpful if my main startup disk goes missing. Instead of fumbling for my original install DVD, or relying on the Recovery HD’s limited functionality, the eDrive gives me quick access to Techtool Pro along with several handy Apple utilities. I can even add other programs if I like.

The best way to prevent data loss is to be prepared. In addition to a backup, TechTool Pro includes TechTool Protection, which keeps an eye on my trash, allowing me to undelete that file I didn’t mean to delete. I can also back up my directory structures, the ‘map’ of where my data lives, so that if I need to recover data from a corrupt drive, TechTool Pro’s Data Recovery tool will know exactly where to look. Better yet, I also use TechTool Pro’s Volume Cloning tool to create an additional backup.

The best way is to start with Check Computer to perform a complete diagnostic check of my Mac and hard drives. With a single click of my mouse, it begins a SMART Check of my hard drive to detect impending drive failure, a RAM test, analysis of disk directories and more. If problems are found, advice is provided on how to proceed to repair the problem. Its a good idea to use Check Computer regularly as a part of my preventive maintenance program.

RAM problems are quite prevalent and can cause a variety of crashes, program errors and even data loss. I've seen many cases where a user will be chasing down a disk or extension problem when their issue was simply a faulty and inexpensively replaced memory module. As part of the RAM test, TechTool Pro also added an SPD report that shows me an enormous amount of technical and other interesting information about my computer's memory.

TechTool Pro performs both file and volume optimization. File optimization defragments individual files on the hard drive. Volume optimization consolidates the free space on a hard drive. For full optimization, perform Volume Optimization after File Optimization. The resulting optimization simplifies the file storage layout and may enhance the overall performance of my drive. 

This utility will monitor the configuration of my local area network (LAN) by revealing the active services and ports on each selected machine or Bonjour supported device on my LAN. This information is important for strengthening security on a specific machine, Bonjour-supported device or my overall LAN, and is also helpful in tracking what devices have been in use in the past that are no longer available since the last time monitoring was performed.

Techtool Pro 8 is definitely feature-packed with benefits that all Mac users need for comprehensive diagnostics, repair, and maintenance. To ensure that my Mac stays optimized and trouble-free, I use Techtool Pro 8 regularly to keep my Mac running at peak performance. This is a truly powerful all-around utility to maintain my computer’s health.

There are even more features, so for more information, go to micromat.com/techtool-pro where TechTool Pro 8 Full Version is available for $99.99, TechTool Pro 8 Upgrade for $39.99, TechTool Pro 8 Business Pack for $299.99, and TechTool Pro DVD for $12.99 (will require current TechTool serial number). If the health of your Mac is important to you, I recommend this utility as one of the best all-purpose solutions available.