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Category Archives: Product Reviews

The Great Vista/Mac Showdown

Posted on February 7, 2007 by Ben Stevens Posted in Hardware, Product Reviews, Switching to Macs Leave a comment
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Zd_net
Mitch Ratcliffe at ZDNet is running a series comparing the MacBook Pro and ThinkPad X60, which consists of the following articles:

  • The Great Vista/Mac Showdown: Before the starting gun
  • The Great Vista/Mac Showdown: Unboxing the ThinkPad X60 and MacBook Pro
  • The Great Vista/Mac showdown: Hardware is where customization begins and ends
  • The Great Vista/Mac Showdown: Minimum requirements; Vista isn’t bloatware
  • The Great Vista/Mac Showdown: Mac migration a breeze, Vista’s migration is a headache

If you’re interested in a thorough side-by-side comparison of the Mac vs. PC debate, you should definitely check out these articles.

One Way to Use Your iPod for Dictation

Posted on December 19, 2006 by Ben Stevens Posted in Hardware, Product Reviews Leave a comment
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Italk_pro With Griffin‘s new iTalk Pro, you may be able to find another legitimate business justification for an iPod. This product allows you to create voice memos into the iPod, which are automatically time/date stamped. You can read a full review of this product HERE.

Source: “Review: iTalk Pro from Griffin Technology” by Brian Burnham, published at MacMerc.com.

MacBook Pro Earns Award From PC Magazine

Posted on November 21, 2006 by Ben Stevens Posted in Hardware, Product Reviews Leave a comment
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Macbook_pro_editors_choice_award Earlier this month, PC Magazine gave the 15-inch Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro a 4.5 out of 5 rating, earning it an Editor’s Choice award. You can click HERE to read the in depth review by Cisco Cheng. It is nice to see Macs receiving accolades from a publication primarily devoted to PCs. The best quote from this review is “The Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core 2 Duo) offers the performance and features of the best laptops on the market.” High praise from an unlikely source.

Thanks to the Switch to a Mac blog for its post about this article.

Guest Post :: SC Bar Technology Director’s View of Macs

Posted on October 19, 2006 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Product Reviews 3 Comments
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Picture_1_10 For many years, I have been a user of PCs – from DOS 3.0 on up to Windows 2003 Server.  This was not because I dislike Macs, but because my job has been taking care of Windows environments.  You see, I am the Director of Media & Technology for the South Carolina Bar, a position I have held for over 12 years.

Last November, a friend of mine told me of the many great things he was doing with a Mac PowerBook G4. I talked the Bar’s Executive Director into purchasing one for me to “test drive.”  Now, we already had five Macs in our Communications Division, so I have had some experience with them, but not as my main computer or main laptop. At any rate, I got a 15″ PowerBook G4 with 2GB of RAM and 100GB HD with a determination to learn something new and form my own opinion.

The G4 is now the only laptop I use, and I’m having a great time learning all the stuff it can do.  I only wish it was a MacBook Pro, so I could experiment with running XP on it.  I now only carry a Windows laptop for our speakers using PowerPoint who are not comfortable with the Mac.  I have had little issue in learning the machine, and it only took about a week for me to get comfortable with it.

Last month, I purchased a Mac Pro for home (I do some video projects on the side) loaded with dual 3.0ghz Xeons, 5GB of RAM, a 250GB system drive, a 500GB secondary drive, and a 23″ Cinema Display. I have Final Cut Studio loaded on it.  It is way cool.

I still have a PC at home, but I use Remote Desktop Connector (available on Microsoft’s website) on the Mac to connect to it. In fact, I have Remote Desktop loaded on my PowerBook, and I can administer any Windows server here at the Bar building from almost anywhere. I still have Quicken and a couple of other windows things on the PC at home that I’m not quite ready to move to Mac yet.

My two Media staff members have until recently been editing all the Distance Learning and other video programming for the Bar on Windows machines with Adobe Premiere and the video suite.  However, I anticipate switching them over to Mac Pros next July. We bought one just like the one I have at home for them to use to learn Final Cut. 

I am convinced that Final Cut is a better tool than Premiere, even though we have used Premiere for the past six years. Apple seems to stay one step ahead of Adobe. Also, at some point, I plan to install an XSan for video warehousing and sharing, and I am anxious to get my hands on OS X Server.

The only thing I haven’t found just yet for the Mac is a comparable program to MS Access. My friends tell me MySQL is the route for the Mac, and I have downloaded it and am just cracking it.  By the way, we just loaded LINUX on an old computer here at the Bar, and we are trying OpenOffice on it.

I read with interest Larry Bodine’s article about the issues he claimed to have had with a PowerMac G5.  Even as a novice Mac user, I can’t see why Mr. Bodine is having that much trouble, unless it is all on purpose.  It could have been a marketing ploy as you suggested, but in my opinion it was not a very good one.

If Mr. Bodine wants to trash his G5, I will be glad to roll my trash can to the end of his driveway to collect it.  I believe that you have to try new things with an open mind, and it sounds to me like he got the Mac with a predisposition.  Keep up the great work with your blog!

Joey Heape
Director of Media & Technology
South Carolina Bar

Ten Reasons Your Next PC Will Be From Apple

Posted on October 6, 2006 by Ben Stevens Posted in Product Reviews Leave a comment
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From Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome.com:

Your next computer may very well come from Apple, largely based on my first reason you’ll be compelled to “think different.”

  1. Duality. Windows Vista won’t be blocked on Intel-based Apple hardware. This means you will (in theory) be able to purchase a Mac computer and run Windows on it, just as you would a regular ol’ PC. At least, Apple won’t stop folks from doing so. However, current AND future “Windows” machines will not be able to run OS X. That’s a big win for Apple. It’s upon this first point that the rest of my list is built.
  2. Style. Yes, you can trick out your PC with all sorts of neon cables and fancy case accoutrements – but there’s something to be said about Apple’s simplicity. No other PC manufacturer has come close to mass producing an elegant design that was equally as functional. It’s the hardware, man.
  3. Fun. When was the last time you downloaded something new. And I don’t mean a new registry cleaner. I mean something completely and utterly new – out of the box new. Something that you just hadn’t seen before (either freeware or shareware). The old “there’s no software for the Mac” argument hasn’t held water for a couple of years now, overturning itself with the advent of OS X. You’ll now have a safety net underneath you.
  4. Knowledge. Don’t let platform bigotry get in the way of understanding and appreciating good technology. We all are better for knowing more, and that’s something you should look forward to doing – not avoiding at all costs. Bury the hatchet if you think that this still is the Mac you first saw in 1984.
  5. Equality. Pretty much anything and everything you can do in Windows, you can now do on OS X. Not everything, mind you – but in knowing that a new Apple machine (with proper software, I’d assume) will allow you to boot into Windows, any kind of OS driver issues will be further minimized. There’s always Microsoft’s Virtual PC, too.
  6. Support. Think about it for a second: just how many millions (if not billions) of Windows PC hardware configurations are out there? Now, how many Apple hardware configurations are there? Believe me, thousands of Windows problems are rooted in the very hardware the OS itself is running atop. When there are a limited amount of possibilities that exist, you should find a solution quicker – or possibly know that no solution exists.
  7. Malaise. This market is full of it – PC manufacturers who knowingly make crappy systems, larger-than-life brands who can’t deliver on their “help desk” promises, etc. To put it to you another way, I’m still struggling to find a computer builder who isn’t gonna give me a raw deal for a system. I know what kind of hardware I want, but I also appreciate having a single warranty (four years, minimum). Forget about all the names you think are great – because they’re not. They *ALL* suck, and it may be time that we consumers start telling ’em to get their act together and give us an amazing experience. Not to say that Apple would be any better, but it’s no worse than any existing PC alternative!
  8. iPod. Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, the ala carte pricing stinks compared to existing (and future) subscription models like Napster. However, it’s also holding over 80% of the portable media player market! Car manufacturers, accessory crafters, and countless other services are springing up around a single device – and there’s no such thing as an iPod killer, so get over it. If something isn’t iPod compatible, it likely doesn’t have longevity or enough market share to be worthwhile. You can use your iPod on Windows, but… it’s sincerely not the same.
  9. Malware. Viruses, Spyware, et al – they’re bad, and they’re all over Windows. Even when Vista ships, it will still be vulnerable to the same software that has plagued previous and existing versions of the OS. If you don’t want your parents to accidentally send a trojan out to everybody in their address book, don’t buy ’em software that might or might NOT work – have them run on OS X. It really sucks to say that, but Windows is still the tallest nail (and it will continue to get pounded as such). When you absolutely NEED your Windows software, it should only be a click away on the same machine.
  10. Change. When was the last time you were excited about using your computer? Something different is something good – and a new Microsoft operating system (the first one in half a decade) is not likely to do the trick. Are you bored with the way things work? Do you want your computing lifestyle to be interesting again? Consider something new, something completely new … and now for something completely different.

Source: “Ten Reasons Your Next PC Will Be From Apple” by Chris Pirillo, published at Lockergnome.com on January 11, 2006.

Why a Mac?

Posted on September 29, 2006 by Ben Stevens Posted in Product Reviews 1 Comment
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Reprinted with permission from my blogging friend, Grant Griffiths:

I have been promoting the use of Mac’s in the law office since I switched to the Mac platform August, 2004. As I have stated many times about my switch, why did I wait so long to visit the Apple store? Why did I wait so long to switch.

The Mac OS just works and works great. Since August of last year, my 14″ iBook has never crashed. Nor have I experienced the dreaded blue screen of death. Virus worries are non-existent. I don’t even have a virus program on my Mac.

When I started to consider the Mac for my office, I researched the switch for roughly 6 months. I looked at word processing programs first. My choice is Microsoft Word for Mac. I am able to do anything with my Mac that you can do with your Windows (windoze) machine. Best of all, I can swap documents with clients and other attorneys who use windoze machines. So, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t work in a windoze office with your Mac. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t swap documents with another attorney or client with your Mac.

Next, in my consideration of the Mac, I explored the case management software out there for the Mac. Now I must admit, you don’t get the choice of Time Matters. Except perhaps the World Edition that can be used over the internet. But, for me that was not the answer. I am a solo, who has my office in my home. My Paralegal works out of her home. She does nothing with my calendar and I answer my own phone. So, I did not need a program that would support multiple people and staff. But, I needed a program that would do what I needed. Manage my case load. The result of my research brought me to Lawstream. I also must admit that I am just in the process of implementing Lawstream into my office. But, from what I have seen so far, it will do anything and everything you need in case management.

I also use some other great programs with my Mac in my law office. The last one I am going to mention is Circusponies Notebook. I set the notebook up just like one of those trial notebooks you can buy. I set this up for any major case I have and it is wonderful. I put PDF’s of all the case documents in the notebook and also use it to organize the case in that fashion. To get my PDF’s on my computer I use the ScanSnap scanner.

Besides all that I have explained above. One of the best things about the Mac in the law office is the savings I have experienced. While some may claim the Mac cost more, I would have to argue it actually cost less. Think about it, I don’t have a virus program on my Mac. I have experienced no down time due to a virus. How many windoze users can say that. Before I made the switch, I would pay at a minimum of $1,500 per year on IT support. I now spend zero. When it came time to establish a network, I just plugged them in. None of that “stuff” you have to do with a windoze machine. So, in my humble opinion, Mac actually cost less than windoze.

For you 3L’s out there, if you have a Mac already, keep it. You will be able to use it in the office you may end up in. I will warn you however, if your future firm is using Timematters or some other windoze based case management program, you may have problems. But, as far as drafting documents, reading PDF’s and organizing your cases, you can do anything with your Mac.

Finally, I leave you with the best source for information out there on using Mac’s in the law office. Go to MacLaw.org. This is a great group of Mac using attorneys. I actually spent the entire 6 months I was researching Mac for my own law office on the email list for MacLaw.org. Best of all, the members are eager to answer any question you might have. And, this is a great source for information on software and applications for your Mac.

Mac’s in the law office, you bet. What are you waiting for?

Source: “Why A Mac?” by Grant Griffiths, published at The Practice blog on October 22, 2005.

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