Mac Pro SATA Blu-Ray HOWTO

Apple's decision to not offer a Blu-Ray drive as an option on the Mac Pro has been frustrating many users for quite some time. PC users have long enjoyed the expanded storage and high-definition content available on the new format.

This has not stopped enterprising third parties from adding Blu-Ray drives to their systems. The good news is that Apple decided to make the Mac Pro easy to upgrade in the field. The bad news is that Apple chose to use the more traditional (and less expensive) IDE (PATA) interface for it's optical drives. PC motherboard OEMs are cramming more and more SATA ports on their boards, so optical drive makers are switching to SATA as well. This makes it hard to find IDE based Blu-Ray drives.

Enter the gang at Cooldrives.com with their SATA-PATA adaptor board. This little gem plugs into the back of the SATA Blu-Ray drive and allows you to easily install it in the Mac Pro. Apple provides a complete and thorough set of instructions on how to swap out optical drives on the Mac Pro, so I won't cover those here.

SATA and PATA sides of the Cooldrives adaptor board

Here are the steps to prepare any SATA optical drive for installation in the Mac Pro using Apple's instructions.

Tools needed:

• Large paperclip
• Small Phillips screwdriver (or large jeweler's screwdriver)
• Tweezers (optional)

Instructions

1. Take the large paperclip and unfold one side of it.
2. Insert the unfolded end of the paperclip in the front of the optical drive to manually pop out the drive tray. (Please refer to the drive manual to see the exact location of the ejection port.)
3. Turn the drive over and (using your fingers only) pry the front plate off of the drive tray. The plate is usually snapped on the front of the tray, so carefully pry the tabs away from the tray and push down. The front plate should slide off intact.
4. Take the Cooldrives adaptor and peel the cover off of the double-sided tape.
5. Line up the SATA connector with the SATA port on the optical drive.
6. Press the Cooldrives adaptor gently but firmly onto the optical drive.
7. If you are installing the drive as the Mac Pro's primary optical drive (as I did), you have to pull the jumper off of the back of the adaptor board. Use your fingers or the tweezers to pull the jumper. If the drive is going into the secondary slot, you won't have to mess with the jumper. (Apple usually expects optical drives to be set to "Cable Select" but that is not an option on the Cooldrives adaptor.)

Your drive should now look like this:

Front and back views of prepared optical drive

Follow the Apple installation guide and you will be able to mount the drive easily in your Mac Pro. I used an LG GGW-H20L which supports BD writing, HD-DVD reading, multi-layer discs, DVD's, CD's and includes BURN-Proof and Lightscribe. You can purchase this drive from Performance PC's. Tell Hank that I sent you.

Please keep in mind that Blu-Ray/HD-DVD playback is not supported in any Mac OS yet (the jury is still out on Snow Leopard) so you won't be able to play commercial discs. You will be able to burn BD discs for playback on set top players and for data storage. Roxio Toast Titanium 9 offers BD support via an optional plugin.

HP DreamColor LP2480zx followup

As a followup, I have contacted HP and they are sending me a pair of DreamColor HP LP2480zx monitors for testing. Dave Farkas of Dale Photo & Digital will be allowing me to do a side-by-side comparison to Eizo's high end LCD displays. Should prove to be very interesting.

HP Ipaq 310 Review

HP's Ipaq line of products (acquired when they bought Compaq) have always been of the PIM (Personal Information Manager) variety, always sporting some version of Windows Mobile, aimed squarely at the business user. The Ipaq 310 Travel Companion is a departure from this mold, venturing into territories and markets held by Garmin, Magellan and TomTom - portable GPS (Global Positioning System) devices.

From Wikipedia:

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed, direction, and time. Other similar systems are the Russian GLONASS (incomplete as of 2008), the upcoming European Galileo positioning system, the proposed COMPASS navigation system of China, and IRNSS of India.

Developed by the United States Department of Defense, GPS is officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Contrary to popular belief, NAVSTAR is not an acronym, but simply a name given by John Walsh, a key decision maker when it came to the budget for the GPS program).[1] The satellite constellation is managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$750 million per year,[2] including the replacement of aging satellites, and research and development.

Following the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued a directive making the system available for free for civilian use as a common good.[3] Since then, GPS has become a widely used aid to navigation worldwide, and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, scientific uses, and hobbies such as geocaching. GPS also provides a precise time reference used in many applications including scientific study of earthquakes, and synchronization of telecommunications networks.

The Ipaq 310 Travel Companion is a stylish device sporting a 4.5" LCD touchscreen display. This keeps the number of individual controls to a minimum (just the Power button on the top and a couple on the side) and allows for UI flexibility via online upgrades. I'm not too keen on the color of the unit, but in the larger scheme of things, that is a very tiny nit to pick.

In this photo you can see the volume control wheel, reset button and (under the rubber cover) the USB, headphone and external antenna connectors.

The UI is a pretty standard bill of fare for GPS devices: touch screen orientation requires large easy-to-hit buttons and clear legible text (although the disclaimer you are forced to agree to every single time you turn the silly thing on is written in one of the tiniest fonts I have ever seen).

The 310 offers a 3D perspective view while driving which makes for easy viewing. However, if you are approaching a complex sequence of rapid turns, you may want to switch to top-down view to get a better idea of what you have to do.

Initially, the 310 comes with 4 different voices of varying gender, pitch and quality. The volume on the system wasn't the greatest and in a noisy vehicle the audible instructions can be missed. After connecting it to the Internet via my wife's PC, the 310 received some major updates and fixes. Several more voices were added including British, Austrailian, and Irish accented voices as well as foreign language voices. Also, the volume controls were reworked and a speed-sensitive volume control was added. Now, the faster you go, the louder it gets. Oddly, the female Austrailian voice is easier to understand than the default US female voice (which cannot translate the standard abbreviation "TPK" into "turnpike" and says "teepeekay").

The maps are reasonably accurate, given GPS's government enforced level of ambiguity. Out-of-the-box, the unit required that you enter the ZIP Code of the destination, which makes things difficult once you leave familiar territory. Heck, I didn't have to go too far as Miami-Dade county has twice the area of Rhode Island. After updating, the entry of destinations became more user-friendly. Remember to connect your unit to your PC to get regular updates to all of the maps and new features.

In practical operation, the unit performed as expected. It was not perfect, however. On two occasions the GPS reported that destinations we had entered were not where they actually were. Still, a batting average like that will earn you an MVP. The mapping software uses a "shortest-route" method by default. "Shortest route" does not necessarily equal "straightest route". Be prepared to take some interesting tours of where you live.

Other features include MP3 player, Bluetooth connectivity (allowing hands-free cell phone operation), an SD card slot, and a stylus for all you fat-fingered types. A set of games are included, in case your vehicle doesn't have an onboard entertainment system for the kiddies.

Specs

Wireless	Integrated Bluetooth® v2.0 with EDR
Operating system	Windows® CE 5.0 with custom HP user interface
Processor	Centrality Titan 600MHz
Display	4.3-inch transmissive TFT 16-bit RGB depth 65,000 color WVGA 800 x 480 pixel touch screen display, antiglare, landscape orientation
Memory	128MB SDRAM main memory for running applications (may vary by country) Up to 2 GB Flash ROM (depending on model/may vary by country) User available persistent storage varies by model
Dimensions	86.8mm x 110.2mm x 18.2mm (3.4 x 4.3 x 0.7 in)
Weight (with battery)	187 g (6.6 oz)
Power	1700 mAh Lithium Ion rechargeable, user changeable battery
Interfaces	Mini-USB connector for sync/data/charge
Storage	High-capacity SD card slot
Audio	Large speaker for navigation volume, integrated microphone with echo cancellation, 3.5mm 3 pin headphone jack
Hardware buttons	Power, scroll wheel, reset
HP exclusive applications	HP designed user interface, Bluetooth hands-free phone application, Bluetooth device pairing (phone, stereo headphones)
GPS software	Navigation engine, text to speech, and maps RDS/TMC traffic data support (EMEA)
Entertainment software	Digital music player (with Windows Media DRM), digital video player, photo viewer, and games
In the box	iPAQ Travel Companion 310 Series, windshield mount with device holder, dashboard mount disc, car charger, standard battery, AC charger, mini-USB cable, carrying case, documentation, HP iPAQ Companion CD.
Warranty	One-year parts and labor in most regions; 90 days technical support for software in most regions. Additional offers may vary by region.
HP Total Care Services	HP services for individual product owners and businesses include service, support and financing options. Visit www.hp.com/services.

In conclusion, the Ipaq 310 offers a competent package with a decent set of added-on features. The unit performs as advertised. HP offers CarePack service for an additional charge. That alone makes this unit worth buying. The Ipaq 310 retails for $449.99 but can be gotten for as low as $227.00 (new). Competetively priced models include the Garmin nuvi 260W, the Magellan Maestro 4040 and the TomTom ONE XL-S.