POWERWATCH NEWS POWERWATCH VIEWS POWERWATCH SYSTEMS POWER TECH POWERWATCH FILES ABOUT POWERWATCH POWERWATCH LINKS JEFF'S LOSTWORLD		June 1997 Power News Archive (Up to July Archive)   Monday, June 30 Well, here we are. The new PowerWatch. It's taken many, many hours of work to update every single page on this site. Not only with a new a new graphical look, but with all new, rewritten and updated content. Here's a rundown of what's new and what's still to come. Please, tell Jeff what you think after you've looked around! The new front page: The first thing that jumps out at you is the new, navy blue color scheme. I got the idea for this scheme after seeing how much I liked the new logo by Lukas Hauser, I went from there. The second thing you'll notice is the Java applet on the left side. This takes the place of the blue box (pun not intended) on the old page, for the lastest news that tends to fall off the front page. It's a nice applet that should be nice to you, without crashes. If you have trouble, notify me. This new look, minus the applet, spreads across ALL the pages. Updated Systems pages: All the PW Systems pages have been updated with the latest prices and statistics, and have a new, consistent interface. There are places for reviews and benchmarks, and I need users to help fill in those blanks. A new Upgrades page: I've written up a page featuring the different makers of upgrades for your machine; Reviews and information are there, and I also need user input here too. I also made a chart of upgrade card compatibility, so check it out. A new PowerFiles page, with easier downloading of popular files. A new PowerLinks page, with links to resellers, RAM sellers, and more. PowerWatch Chat will be biweekly, on Friday nights at 7pm PST. A news archives page makes it easier to see old news. I may put in a Search function in the not so distant future. Updated PowerTech: While more info still needs to be put in, it's updated a bit, with a spot for upgrading to MacOS 8, as well as a Quieting your Power Machine strategy. BIG NEWS! Power has some truly great promotions this summer! Called "Summer of Power," they have lots of RAM and bigger hard drives, at lower prices! PowerTower Pro 250 32/2000AV/16x/IMS 128M8 price drops $500 to $4495. PowerTower Pro 225 32/2000AV/16x/IMS 128M8 price drops $200 to $3495. PowerTower Pro 225 core 16/2000/16x/2mb VRAM price drops $200 to $2995. Now, the deals (if those weren't enough). Now through Macworld in August, if you buy a PowerTower Pro 225 or 250 you'll get upgraded to 128mb of RAM free! If that wasn't enough, if you buy a PTPro starter system (like the top two above), you get your choice of hard drives! Take the 7200rpm 2gb AV drive.. or, take a 4gb 5400rpm drive! Prefer a PowerCenter Pro? If you order any PCPro, you get upgraded to 64 mb of RAM, for free! Whoa! This offer ends August 8th! ixMicro has a new version of the Twin Turbo software (v. 4.0.2b) available for download. Here are the results from the most recent PowerWatch Poll (What do you think about Power Computing's new web site?). Don't forget to take the latest Poll, or view all the past results. 49% of people really liked it 37% thought it was just so-so 14% didn't like it at all   Saturday, June 28 Despite troubles with people logging in, our first Chat was quite a blast. We had a turnout of probably 20 users, two Power employees, and many more lurkers (my fault on that one). Next time, we'll make sure everyone gets a seat! I will post a transcript by Sunday night, as part of the New PowerWatch! Now, for the better news! I need benchmarks on all systems! No Speed Doubler or MathLibMoto, please. MacOS 7.6.1 preferred.   Friday, June 27 Chris Heatherly reports that any 256 Level-2 cache for the Performa 6400 will work in a Powerbase. This is good news for those who bought one without a cache (from MacWarehouse, etc.) On Monday, those in the U.K. get to have the same fun that we were having with the free RAM deals! Computer Warehouse will be selling PowerTower Pro 250 256/2gb/16x/IMS 128M8 systems for 3295.00 pounds (wow, that's heavy!). All jokes aside, it starts Monday and goes until they run out. Their phone number is 0171 724 4104, or you can e-mail them. Here's a great deal on a brand new, very cool digital video editing card. Bottom Line (where I got my DC20 card) has the MiroMotion DC30, with CD audio support, for only $699. Wow. Remodeling is going full speed. I have picked a look (some of you have already seen it) and I am updating and adding pages. I think you will be pleased with the results. Speaking of results, I will be posting the results to our last PowerWatch Poll on Monday, when the new PowerWatch debuts! In the meantime... Take our new poll! This time: Would you pay $25 extra for quieter fans (I'm told that's what it would cost, roughly, to use quieter fans.. perhaps it's even less)? Power has an interesting program called PowerUp -- for "serious professionals and entreprenuers" only. You get to play (after you pay) with their expensive machines for 30 days and let them know what you think. You need to qualify though. There will be a special advertising deal starting Monday as well.. if you want your product on the front page which gets 60,000+ hits per month!   Thursday, June 26 While sold out of the $849 Powerbase 180 is sold out, MacWarehouse has some great prices on PowerTower Pro core systems (200 or 225MHz) with 128mb of RAM. Prices start at $2699 for a 200 128/2gb/8x/2mb VRAM up to $3699 for a 225 128/2gb/8x/IMS 128M8. As far as I can tell they are not refurbished: their site isn't too clear. Power will begin offering the (awesome) Miro DC30 card in about three weeks, a reader reports. Speaking of Miro cards, I'm getting some horizontal green lines in my Premiere capture window from my DC20.. any ideas? If you purchase a Power machine now, and it doesn't come with MacOS 8 (shipping late July), then MacOS 8 will only cost you $10 from Apple. I'm still looking into details on this. Rumor has it that Power will not be shipping any machines out until July 1st due to inventory. Unconfirmed. VirtualPC kind of lags in playing games, on my 220MHz 604e. What have your experiences been? One exception, not surprising to some, is Tomb Raider. I am able to run the demo at full screen, high res, at close to 20fps- well, there's ONE playable game...   Wednesday, June 25 I got VirtualPC finally-- and wanted to see just how playable games were on it. And I'm a bit disappointed, especially with DirectX (not really Connectix's fault). I wanted to run Diablo. Nope, it crashed. How about Curse of Monkey Island (demo), the sequel of two of my favorite gmes of all time. Choppy animation, only displays on half the screen. Unplayable. Even crashed. Sigh. You can post your own views, or read other people's reviews (they're already there!) in PowerWatch Views' PC Compatibility forum. With the help of some of our readers, I have set up a new forum in PowerWatch Views entitled "Quieting your Power system" for those who want to put in those quieter fans. I will repeat what has already been told: Changing fans will void your warranty. I think we should start a campaign to get Power to spend the extra $5 for quieter fans.. readers have told me how much better things are with thoe fans mentioned last week. As part of the remodeling of PW, I will be adding a section about Where to Buy Power stuff (machines, RAM, etc.) as well as good links to other web pages. I'd appreciate any suggestions or additions-- go to the PW Remodeling forum in Views. Don't forget we're having our first PW Chat Friday at 7pm Pacific time!   Monday, June 23 A reader at Boeing sent along this positive message: "Boeing just released to all of it's employees a discount book created by the Recreation Department. In it is a full page advertisement for the PowerCenter Pro with the heading "The Last Time Boeing Had Technology This Advanced The Public Didn't Know About It For Years". Not bad for a company which I constantly have to fight to keep my Mac!" MacWarehouse is selling refurbished Powerbase 180's for $799 and $849 (low profile and minitower, respectively) with the L-2 cache installed. PW remodeling is in progress. I'm trying to find a good look, then I'll begin updating the content pages. One day, it'll all be new! I've got another review of the PowerCenter Pro, this time with Mathematica benchmarks. Two other notes... I'm working on possibly getting PW reader Mark's email address so those interested in putting in those quieter fans can get some help. Also, not only does MkLinux not work with the Adaptec card.. the BeOS doesn't either. You need to install on a disk not on the Adaptec card.   Saturday, June 21 Ugh. I leave for two whole days, and not only does WebCrossing crash, but lots of news happens. Swell. For those who asked: I lost about $30 playing slots (no table games).. I was up $50 at one time.. but then you know what happens next.... Rumor has it that Power will bundle VirtualPC with all CPU's. Don't know when, but perhaps an announcement will come soon. Another, more persisten rumor is Power making Wintel boxes this year. Yikes. Power is having yet another free RAM deal: apparently the last one for a while: The MacUser/Macworld Product of the Year, the PowerTower Pro 225 Core, featuring 1MB L2 cache, 16x CD-ROM, 6 PCI slots and 9 Drive Bays. For this one time offer you can upgrade to 128MB RAM for FREE (two 64MB DIMMs) for just $3195 and will add a Pair of Labtec Speakers (retail value $99). Just imagine your productivity using Photoshop, Quark, Illustrator and yes, even Microsoft Word, with that amount of RAM power. Be a master, not a slave to your computer The award-winning PowerCenter Pro 180 featuring the exclusive 60MHz bus, 1MB L2 Cache, UltraSCSI Hard Drive, 3D Acceleration and a 16X CD-ROM. For one time only upgrade to a whopping 64MB of RAM for Free (one 64MB DIMMs) for just $1,995. Call the Power Computing PowerHour Hotline at 800-952-9246 or order online at www.powercc.com between 12-1pm CST. Canadian buyers should call 800-669-2524. First PowerWatch Chat! We're gonna try a little informal chat this friday night, at 7pm pacific time, to put WebX Chat through its paces. We won't be having any scheduled guests (though I hope to do this one day) but we can talk through the latest issues, as well as ideas for a new PowerWatch. Be there! I got another positive message concerning quieter fans from PowerOn, Inc. The installation is somewhat difficult, about 40 minutes from start to finish; The results are worth it. PowerLogix Powerboost 604e processor cards are now $399-$939 (166-233MHz) and the 225 and 233 models come with VirtualPC for free. An update regarding the Dayna/Powerbase problem previously mentioned on Tuesday: Dayna has reproduced this issue on a Apple Performa 6400 and has developed an update extension which appears to resolve the issue in lab tests. The issue has not been reproduced on any other system to date. Today, I sent this extension to Power customers who had reported the issue to TechTalk. Customers have been instructed to contact Dayna and myself with feedback on the effectiveness of this update. If field tests are positive, Dayna will make a general release of the extension. (And I'll let you know when this happens). People have mentioned that there is a delay in PowerCenterPro production, possibly due to logic board shortages. No official confirmation on this though. Installing MkLinux on a PowerCenter Pro is basically impossible, unless you have a drive on the standard SCSI bus (not the Adaptec card). If anyone finds a workaround so the Adaptec card works, be sure to let me know. From MacInTouch, regarding the defunct Power developer program: "The Power Computing Developer Program that was unveiled at WWDC proved to be an overwhelming success. That said, I'd like to clarify the current status of the PCC Developer Program. The program was rolled out during Apple's World-Wide Developers' Conference this past May. During the Developer Conference, we enrolled more than 200 developers who applied. Although Power Computing has temporarily closed the program to new developer applicants, we are putting interested developers on a waiting list for the moment the program is re-opened for enrollment. Announcements will be posted on popular MacOS websites and internet mailing lists, including MacInTouch and Guy Kawasaki's Evangelist." Frames are still unpopular with readers, so they will not be included in the promised remodeling of these pages. Stay tuned for more.   Wednesday, June 18 Well, I'm off to Vegas until Friday evening. Some food for thought while I'm gone, concerning the remodeling of this site. Do you want frames? I like Sierra's implementation a lot. Note that PW Views will NOT use frames, only the content pages. Also, do you think a search engine is necessary? It would take a lot of work to get it going, so demand is important. Any other suggestions or comments? Send them to Jeff or post to our new remodeling message board! Wish me luck!   Tuesday, June 17 IMS has a beta version of software for their TurboTV card. Apparently user interface enhancements are included, which were a gripe of some PW readers. There seems to be an interesting problem involving the Dayna Ethernet PCI Card and Powerbase systems. Apparently, during FTP transfers of more than 40k, it hard freezes the machine. Power is looking into the problem. We'll keep you posted. Man, our phone lines are terrible here.. I'm going to call Pacbell and have them get over here and see what's up... in the news today: As reported on MacInTouch yesterday, Power has discontinued their Developer Program due to popular demand. Strange as that seems, it's true. Also, as a followup to what Ric mentioned there yesterday, concerning Power replacing a faulty Power 120 with a new machine.. they did the same to me when my P120 died.. I received a Powerwave 120 as a replacement.. quite a step up for back then. Mac the Knife reports that Power will ship a "Power"book in January with a 300MHz Arthur (G3) PowerPC, 12.1" screen, and more goodies for around $3600. I was planning on picking up a notebook this fall.. it looks like it may have a little multicolored Apple on it, if the Knife's date is correct. I've gotta give it up to the folks at MetaTools for a really cool product: Kai's Power Soap. Great for retouching my digital camera photos, too!   Monday, June 16 I'm back home in the Bay Area after a tough weekend moving back home. I'm still trying to get settled, so bear with me. I hope you all got a chance to see President Clinton on television Saturday, speaking at our commencement. While I don't graduate until next year, it was a great day for UCSD. Another reminder is that I'll be in Las Vegas for the latter half of the week.. so no updates Weds-Fri. As many of you already know: Call Power Computing's Blue Light Special Hot Line at 800-952-9246 or order online at www.powercc.com on Tuesday, June 17th between 3:02PM and 4:06PM Central Time, and purchase a PowerTower Pro 225 machine FOR $3195. You will be UPGRADED TO 128MB (two 64MB dimms) OF RAM AND CRAZY JUDY WILL ALSO THROW IN A PAIR OF LABTEC SPEAKERS (RETAIL VALUE $99). LOTS OF RAM, GREAT SPEAKERS--in other words, $1100 IN EXTRAS FREE WITH A PURCHASE OF A POWERTOWER PRO 225. This offer is not valid with any other PTP225 special or bundle. But, as always, you can custom configure your special system. This phenomenal offer is good for only 1 hour and 4 minutes and ends promptly at 4:06PM Central Time. Call or Order Online!!! Canadian customers call 800-669-2524. We're going to have our first PowerWatch chat in the next week or two. Also, remodeling starts soon as well. Start making those logos!   Friday, June 13 (great day for two finals, eh?) Two afternoon updates: That $100 rebate on Powerbases works on purchases direct from Power, and from catalog resellers as well. Sorry for the mixup. Finals are over! This won't be the best quarter for grades.... but it's summer! Planning on getting VirtualPC and don't have a machine to run it on yet? Jorg Brown, one of Connectix's lead programmers on the project, had this to say on today's MacInTouch. (Jeff's note: I wonder, since Power bundles SpeedDoubler, if VirtualPC will one day be bundled too?) "For what it's worth, the best currently shipping system for running Virtual PC is a Power Center Pro 210 with lots of RAM using internal video. The 1-Meg L2 Cache and the 60MHz bus are the key. Of course, I'm sure this will change, especially in the next few months as the first Arthur and Mach V machines appear." An update on International sales from some friends at Power HQ: "Last week Power Computing launched the PowerTower Pro 250 *WORLDWIDE* (not US only). Resellers and Distributors have these machines in stock and ready to go to Power-hungry Mac fanatics in the UK, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and Israel. In addition, Power's award winning PowerCenter Pro series is now setting sales records worldwide, especially in key markets such as Sweden, France, Australia and Israel. Some distributors have special bundle configurations not shipped in the US, with aggressive pricing." A rumor from a PowerWatch reader concerning upgrades: "They told me that within the next1-3 months PC will come out with a line of upgrade cards. They won't take old ones back for trade, resale or anything else (one could probably dump them via some reseller businesses on the web). They also said that the one will be able to upgrade their clock speed up to 5 times the current bus, i.e. PC 132 with a 50Mhz bus can be upgrade up to a 250Mhz 604e. Sounds cool. They didn't talk about price however and also weren't exactly sure when they would be released." PowerWatch reader Mark has found an effective, though slightly difficult, way to quiet down his machine (this may go into PowerTech if it works well for others): I just want to let you in on a cheap but effective modification I just made to my PowerBase 200/MT. These machines (like most personal computers) come equiped with cheap, and consequently rather noisy, cooling fans. I found the noise annoying, especially in a home setting. So I obtained two high-quality 3 1/8" "silencer" fans from Power-On products (http://www.power-on.com/sales-2.htm) and replaced the case and power-supply fans in my PowerBase, which now runs virtually silent. To me, this is a pretty substantial ergonomic improvement for $31.75 (including 2nd day shipping). This is not, however, a modification for the non-electrically inclined, as I had to solder the new fans to the stock connectors (which aren't standard). Still, if fan noise bothers you, this is really a worthwhile fix.   Wednesday, June 11 I put in an order for Virtual PC w/ Windows95 from Cyberian Outpost today. $147.95, plus a $25 rebate for Softwindows users. It should hopefully be here in a week or two. Some users have sent in some more Power-logo desktop patterns. Rich Dellinger has some fantastic ones (very cool) on his home page, and PW reader George sent up some Powerballs as well. MacWeek reviews the PowerTower Pro 250 -- in a nutshell it was liked but it isn't a leader in price-performance, since the PowerCenter Pro costs half as much and is almost as fast, if not faster in some areas (disk speed namely). It got 3.5 diamonds (the PCPro got 5). Two more finals to go, both friday. Then, President Clinton will be speaking at UCSD's Commencement on Saturday, so I'll be there to see that. Then I have to move out!   Tuesday, June 10 Update on the built in video on Powercenter Pro and Powerbase models: There is a new version of the ATI XClaimVR software (v. 2.1) which solves the ATM 4.0 conflict. I'm not sure exactly what parts of the package you need to install, but I'd just replace your extensions with the newer versions. Let me know what works. I don't know how I missed these... but so did everybody else... Power cut the price of the PowerCenter Pro 180 to $1995 for the base configuration (16/2000/CD/LP). In addition, the 32/2000/15"/33.6/MT bundle is now down to $2495. Power is also giving $100 rebates on all purchases (read: from Power only, not Maczone, etc) on Powerbase200/240 models, now through July 31. A note about those programs that tell you how fast your computer is: Things like Apple's System Profiler and TechTool do not correctly report the speed of your machine. You should grab Clockometer from here, which correctly calculates this information. One final down, three to go.....   Monday, June 9 PowerLogix has joined the ranks of the few, the proud, the PowerWatch advertisers! (Apologies to the USMC for my abuse of that..) A great tip from a reader, which will certainly be added to PowerTech this summer: After some searching on your site and Power Computings, I learned that the ATI Video Memory Manager that came installed on the computer caused ATM to crash. You have to go to ATI's site and downloaded their XClaim package. From there, you'll have to custom install the ATI Video Memory Manager which brings it from v.2.4 to v.2.8 and fixes the ATM conflict. Jeff's note: This only concerns owners of PowerCenter Pro and Powerbase models with the built-in ATI chipset. Another great review (full of quotes for Power, too) has been posted to the PowerCenter Pro page. PowerWatch reader Bryan Haggerty has some nice PowerCC desktop patterns available here. A few reminders... As mentioned last week, updates will be sparse in the next two weeks.. Today from 1-2pm CDT is the free RAM (see yesterday) PowerTowerPro purchases until Tuesday get free speakers Outdated content (systems, shipwatch) will be updated this summer. Patience, friends.   Friday, June 6 Amazing deal from Power.. but only for one hour next week! Callers to Power Computing's Blue Light Special Hot Line at (800-952-9246) on Monday, June 9, between 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Central Time, and who purchase a PowerTower Pro 250, will also get 256MB of RAM ABSOLUTELY FREE! (*Actually, users will get 224MB of RAM along with the initial 32MB that totals 256 MB :-). The special is good for one hour ONLY and ends PROMPTLY at 2 p.m. Central Time.   Thursday, June 5 Power is bundling Labtec LCS3210 speakers FREE with any ONLINE purchase of a PowerTower Pro, until June 10th (when President Joel Kocher gets back to the office, apparently.) Speaking of Kocher, many of you (and me as well) have received a direct mailed letter from Kocher, thanking us for supporting them, as well as speaking about how they're making things better. Very positive and nice to see! Yet more news: Power now has all their advertised bundles on their online store. They cannot be customized though, but they seem to be good deals. I've received confirmation, from a few users as well as Power Computing (this is new info) that there is now a Power developer program. Apparently price lists and signup forms were being distributed at WWDC a few weeks ago. The only price I know if is a base, low-profile PowerCenter Pro 210 for an amazing $1800 which is quite a deal. So if you are an Apple developer, you may want to give Power a call. If I find out any more, I'll post it here. We've got a great reader report, that potential buyers will be sure to like. It pits the PowerCenter Pro 210 vs. Supermac S900/225 vs. PowerMac 7500/100 and 9600/233. The results are interesting. I'm planning to have a PowerWatch logo contest this summer.. I will use the winners design.. I don't think there will be any prizes other than a link to your web page or e-mail address.. but it's for a good cause, right?   Wednesday, June 4 According to MacOS Rumors, Power is looking to buy DayStar in the next month. Also, they mention that Power seems to have a developer program: According to Rumors, if you are an Apple developer, you can get a PCPro 210 for only $1800, which is a fantastic deal. While Power would probably not comment on the first item, perhaps a confirmation of a developer program is forthcoming. I must warn everyone ahead of time: Finals week is next week, then I have to move, then I'm going to Las Vegas. In other words, things may be slow aound here.   Tuesday, June 3 For those who were tempted by MacInTouch's mention of MacWorks selling Apple 180MP daughtercards today, as I was, forget about it. Power strongly says "Don't use other company's daughtercards," so I guess this one is for Apple users only. Update: I also need to clarify this one. If a company says that they support your machine, then use the card. However, Apple doesn't support PowerCC machines with this card. So if you install it, and it destroys your motherboard, you're out of luck. It looks like Umax is going to surpass the PowerCenter Pro's bus speed. Later this month, using a proprietary memory controller for inline caches, Umax machines will reach a bus speed of 80Mhz. MacWeek has more. Update: Okay, maybe not. This is just the speed between the processor and the cache. The system bus speed is still a pokey 40MHz, as opposed to 60MHz on the PCPro. However, a 240MHz 603e with this faster 80MHz bus is as fast as a 300MHz 603e (which nobody is shipping anyway). Sorry for the mix-up. Hey, and speaking of MacWeek, PowerWatch is mentioned on page 3 of the 06.02.97 issue! And I quote: "Student Jeff Keller is the Webmaster behind this site that covers news and rumors of Power Computing clones. Surfers can see if Keller puts the page on back burner until fall -- he just got a summer job." Jeff's response: Heck, no! This summer these pages will expand like never before! And thanks for your support! We just passed 400,000 visitors! And besides, this summer I'll only have two jobs (work, PW) instead of three (school, PW, work).   (Down to May News Archive)