Ask Jacob

The battery on your iBook should constantly be recharging when you have it connected to the power adapter. The ring on the outside of the adapter turns amber or orange when it charges. If your computer turns off when you pull the power plug from the wall, then something is wrong with your iBook’s power management system. You should start troubleshooting your system with a PMU reset. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431 Then after you reset the PMU, restart your iBook and see if the battery will charge. Let it charge overnight and then remove the power cord and see how long the iBook will run. If it only runs for a very short time, you will probably need a new 14″ iBook battery or 12″ iBook battery.

There is also a potential for the iBook to have more serious problems with the internal components that handle the power management of your iBook. Consider bringing in the laptop to an Authorized Apple Service center for a full checkup.

Hope that helps,

Jacob

The Sonic Impact i-Fusion V55 is designed to work with any standard definition video source, but only specific iPods can be placed in its center dock. If you want to use it as pictured, you will want to get or own an iPod 5th generation with video - or better yet, an iPod touch. For all current generation iPods you will need to buy an AV cable and operate the iPod externally connected to the Sonic Impact i-Fusion V55. You will want to use the same Apple adapter cable that you use to connect an iPod to your TV.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Changing your Apple computers name will not affect your Time Machine history or cause additional, redundant, backups. When you make the system name change your Time Machine folder is changed to the new name and updates continue uninterrupted. When the TM backup drive is full, it starts deleting old files. These files are considered old if they were changed since the original copy and it is the oldest version of the file. If you had a Word file that you edited on November 1st, 3rd, and 20th you would have three copies of that file. If you ran out of space, Time Machine would delete the one that was saved on November 1st.

Manually deleting Time Machine files would be a bad idea. They are not only copied to a folder, but also linked and indexed. If you delete them from Finder it has the potential to damage the integrity of your backups. It is better to just let Time Machine manage itself. Like the Infomercial guy says, “Set it and Forget it.”

Hope that helps,

Jacob

There are a few things you can try that should get your iPod classic working on both systems. The first thing to check is that both systems have the current service pack installed. Windows XP is on Service Pack 3 now, and the difference between XP with certain service packs makes functional differences.

After you get Windows XP in order you may also have to uninstall and then reinstall both iTunes and Quicktime.

Also, here are some additional troubleshooting ideas for XP.

Hope this helps
Jacob

I love Text Edit because it is basically what the word processor once was. You can achieve larger type in a few ways, but probably the best method is to highlight the text and use the [command] and [+] keys on your Apple computer to increase the font size. It is also helpful to see what the page will look like when printed without having to do a print preview. To achieve this view change, you will need to go to Text Edit’ preferences. Under the New Document tab, in the format section, select “Rich text” and “Wrap to page.” Optionally, in the options section you can choose to “Show ruler,” for that true word processor feel. Open a new window and copy your text into that new window. Then just start adjusting your text size with the key combination above or the Font pop-out menu found in the Format menu.

Hope this helps,
Jacob

The iMac is a good solution for a kid’s desktop system. Because of the requirements of Spore, I would suggest that you focus on used Intel-based iMacs.

I would also recommend that you at least look at the new iMacs as they have many of the features that your son would need for the game, without having to buy those features later. Also, because of the child’s age, you should have this computer in a public space with a separate “Parental Controlled” account setup. Here is a link to an older article I wrote about kids and computers.

It is a little outdated but the methodology in the article is applicable and the Parental Controls are similar in Leopard as they were in Tiger. Keeping the computer in a public space will also allow you to double task this system as a general family computer, that will help soften the initial expense of the computer.

Hope this helps
Jacob

The third Generation iPods could not handle video or pictures. Those features were added several generations of iPods later. I still own my 30GB 3rd Generation iPod but its primary duty is to play music in my car. Your iPod is certainly a good MP3 player but it was only designed with music in mind.

Hope that is not too disappointing for you.
Jacob

Last year I reviewed just such a negative/slide scanner and I still consider the PrimeFilm Scanner a great product.

Take a look at it and see is it will work for you.

Jacob

It will be hard to bump up the iCab speed because modern websites are resource hungry. You may get some better performance by making sure that your application is reserving as much RAM as you can afford to give it. Here is a link to the Apple’s instructions on assigning application RAM in OS 9.

1. Quit the application if it is open.

2. Locate and click once on the desired application icon on your Macintosh hard disk (not the icon in the Launcher or an alias to the application).

3. Choose Get Info from the File menu.

4. Make sure the Kind: is application program and not folder, alias, or document. If it does not say application program, there is no Memory Requirements area.

5. Select Memory from the Show pop-up menu.

6. Increase the amount of memory allocated to the application in the Preferred Size box by 25 to 50 percent. (Example: change 1000 K to 1500 K)

7. Close the Get Info window.

As for a future upgrade, you will probably want to consider two key elements. Are you willing to buy new applications and do you own any FireWire devices? If you have OS 9-based applications that you must bring over because you do not want to upgrade the software, then you should focus on a used computer with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger installed. This does not include general applications like email clients, web browsers, and basic iLife applications. Those kind of applications will come on a new system, but if you have software that was never written for OS X, then you need to have the Classic application support that is in Mac OS 10.4 but missing from Mac OS 10.5 Tiger.

If you are willing to leap fully into the modern Mac OS and applications, then definitely the new Unibody Macbooks will be right for you and should last you for many years. Unless you need an ultra light computer, PowerMax.com steer clear of the MacBook Air and look at the mid-range MacBooks. They are heavier but will have more processor power and storage. The MacBook and MacBook Air both don’t have FireWire, so if you have a FireWire-based device you will need to look at a MacBook Pro.

Hope this helps
Jacob

The iPod touch does come with a built-in Google Map application that can show you your relative position and the driving directions to a location. Unlike the iPhone, the iPod Touch does not have a GPS or a 3G/Edge data connection. That means that you have to be connected to a Wi-Fi internet connection to get updated Map info and you will have to manually plot your course. Both the iPhone and iPod Touch are different than a car navigation system. Navigation systems will have maps stored in memory and will use GPS to navigate those internal maps with turn-by-turn instructions. The iPhone can use GPS to update your location on the map while showing you the street layout, but currently there is not a turn-by-turn application on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Hope that helps,
Jacob

Your current configuration is probably fairly stable, but you would certainly achieve better performance by upgrading to Tiger and upgrading the RAM. Tiger will run on 256MB of RAM but it will perform much better with another 512MB of iMac RAM installed. Adding RAM to a G4 iMac is easy and the best upgrade for that system.

Tracking down a used copy of OS X 10.4 Tiger will be a little more difficult than buying RAM. Tiger is no longer produced, so used versions of that OS sell fast. You may want to call a PowerMax sales person and have them try to track down a copy for you. If you have other Mac friends, then it may be possible that they would give you their unused copies, provided they moved onto Leopard.

Hope that helps,
Jacob