POWERWATCH NEWS POWERWATCH VIEWS POWERWATCH SYSTEMS POWER TECH POWERWATCH FILES ABOUT POWERWATCH POWERWATCH LINKS JEFF'S LOSTWORLD		May Power News Archive (Up to June News Archive) Saturday, May 31 Power's Chris Heatherly details the workaround for digital audio editing difficulties on the PowerCenter Pro, as reported here earlier this week. If you've had this problem, be sure to let Chris know if this works. According to sources at Adaptec, a newer version of the PowerDomain control panel can be used to accommodate digital audio recording while leaving Ultra SCSI active. Adaptec has added some customization options to provide greater reliability in video and audio recording environments to its newer driver software. By invoking this options, users may be able to resolve the reported digital audio recording issues without compromising performance. Users who wish to try this workaround should download the PowerDomain control panel version 2.5 from Adaptec at ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/pub/BBS/PowerMac/2940uw25.hqx. Once the driver is downloaded, users should replace the PowerDomain control panel already on their system in the Control Panels folder with this newer version. Once this has been done: 1. Open the PowerDomain Control Panel. 2. Select Video Settings from the Board menu 3. Set PCI Bus Mode to "Cache Line" and select Secondary Interrupts. 4. Press okay and close the PowerDomain control panel. While Power has not certified the PowerDomain 2.5 control panel for full reliability on Power systems, every indication suggests that the new control panel should be reliable. While testing regarding this workaround is ongoing, initial tests support Adaptec's recommendations. Friday, May 30 According to an anonymous source, several PowerTower Pro 250's really did leave the Power HQ yesterday, including one to Rush Limbaugh. (Gotta wonder if he'll be joining us here on PW soon?), so it looks like they are shipping! Our friends at PowerLogix have announced several new and cool things: A redesigned web site, a contest and three new products! Powerboost 604e - a traditional processor card that works in PowerWave and certain PowerCenter systems. It's available from 166MHz, 180Mhz, 200MHz, 225MHz, and 233MHz, and prices start under $500. Update: These are apparently shipping now, at least in the slower configurations. The 233MHz will run around $999. Powerboost Pro - for PowerCenter, PowerCurve, PowerTower, PowerTowerPro, PowerCenter Pro, and PowerWave -- you can variably set the bus speed to your liking. Same speeds as the other card. Update: These are apparently shipping next month. RapidCache - 512k and 1Mb - for PowerCurve, PowerCenter, PowerTower, and PowerWave. Also, you can get a bundle with one of the above cards. PowerLogix claims a Powercurve user with such a bundle can meet or exceed the current speeds of the PowerCenter Pro!     Thursday, May 29 Apparently Power Computing isn't even shipping the Powerbase 180's to MacMall/MacWarehouse with the L-2 cache installed. Still looking for a straight answer on this one... After a tip from a reader, I headed over to the Power Online Store, where I can confirm that Powerbases now seem to come with 2gb EIDE hard drives instead of 1.2gb hard drives. I also noticed you can upgrade to a 16x CD-ROM drive if you wish. Update from Chris Heatherly on the digital audio issue: "Yesterday, Power Computing technicians visited a customer installation to review reports of issues related to recording digital audio using the PowerCenter Pro and the Cubase software. Power has confirmed issues regarding this configuration. Power has also confirmed that disabling UltraSCSI in Adaptec's PowerDomain control panel and resetting the transfer rate to 10 MB/sec does appear to correct this behavior. Our investigation into the cause of this behavior and the possibilities for a final resolution are ongoing. Power has contacted Adaptec and leading audio digitization software providers regarding this issue. Power has only confirmed this issue when using Steinberg's Cubase on a PowerCenter Pro at this time. Customers experiencing this issue can contact me via e-mail at chris_heatherly@powercc.com or call customer support toll-free at (800) 708-6227. We are looking for specific hardware configurations and software packages being used.   Wednesday, May 28 Hats off to the folks at Netscape for their work on Communicator 4.0b5. It has successfully lured me away from MSIE 3.0.1. Sure, there are a few bugs, but it works very well. Thanks to all two thousand of you who sent email telling me the date was wrong yesterday ;-) No digital audio editing on PowerCenter Pro? PowerWatch reader John-Paul tells me that through careful research, the Adaptec cards included on PowerCenter Pro's "will not process continuous digital audio," and Steinberg, makes of Cubase, concurred with this. So if you're into audio editing, you may want to consider something else perhaps. Or, if you have a workaround (don't use the Adaptec card?) then fill me in. I'm not sure if this effects digital video editing as well. From the "what are they trying to pull on us" file: You saw the story about MacWarehouse's $999 Powerbase 180's. It turns out that they are removing the level-2 cache and selling it for $99 extra. Grrrrrr...... Eric Ling adds this to the CD-R tale mentioned last week. "People who have problems reading green and gold CD's are pretty much sunk, as these are the only two widely available kinds out there (Verbatim makes blue, but I've never seen them). I've been told that the culprit, 99% of the time, is cheap CD rom drives." CD-R FAQ Page I've added two more great reviews to the PowerCenter Pro page. Also, reader Wayne Townsand has the lucky opportunity to compare a PCPro 210 and a PTPro 225 side by side, identical configurations. Check out his report.   Tuesday, May 27 According to MacInTouch, the PowerTower Pro 250 is now shipping (32/2gb/16x/IMSTT 8mb) for $4495. Being the cynic that I have become from being a Power customer and the maintainer of this site, I won't believe that until someone has one on their desk. People seem to be having trouble reading gold and green backed CD-ROM's. While I don't have any solutions yet, if you know of one, do tell. Everybody who got a great deal on the PowerCenter Pro's last week owes me a review, which may be posted on our PowerCenter Pro page. Friday, May 23 Special thanks to all who sent birthday wishes and/or thank you messages (in regards to that great PCPro 210 deal you saw here this week!). Now, I can answer the question that's been on mind of all of you. Where is Jeff working this summer? Well, I'm pleased to say, now that I finally have the paperwork, that I will be working at Oracle Corporation this summer, as a "Web Associate." I will fill you in more as the job nears and begins. Oh yeah, I'll try to keep Larry in check ;-) USA Today had an very interesting story about Power Computing yesterday. Apparently the PowerCenter Pro's are now coming with Adaptec Fast/narrow cards as opposed to Fast/Wide. Eventually this will be incorporated onto the motherboard. Does your CD-ROM drive have difficulty reading gold-backed CD-R disks? If so, I'd like to hear about it.   Wednesday, May 21 Happy Birthday to me! Today I hit the ripe age of 21 years old. There will be no partying tonight, though, as I have a midterm tomorrow morning. Update: New Powerwatch Poll Question: Do you like the new PowerCC web site? Be sure to see what happened in the last poll about Power making Intel clones. A funny thing happened... that new Digital Consultant on Power's newly redesigned home page (groan) is a little funny.. all I wanted was a computer that can play games a lot, do digital photography and audio/video sometimes, and author web pages a lot, and it recommended a PowerTower Pro 225 with 256megs of RAM, a 9gb RAID, and lots more. A bit over my budget, don't you think? I found out where the now discontinued Powerbase 180 has gone-- Check MacWarehouse and MacMall who have them for under $999! Update: Okay, maybe not MacMall. Anyone know anyone else selling for this price?   Tuesday, May 20 A quick follow-up and brief news. People are able to order that special MacFair LA bundle. Just go ahead and call.. if you currently have one on order (higher priced) you can probably cancel your order and get a new one. It all depends on who you talk to. Also, Power has redesigned their web site though I get javascript errors using Netscape 3.0 on a HP Envizex terminal, so I can't even see it. Finally, it seems like the Powerbase 180 is indeed discontinued. No official confirmation yet, but it sure looks like it.     Monday, May 19 Price cuts on Powerbase? After a user reported the disappearance of the Powerbase 180 from Power's Online Store, I did a little further investigation. Here's what I came up with: Powerbase 200LP 16/1.2/12x down from $1495 to $1399. Powerbase 200MT 16/1.2/12x down from $1595 to $1499 Powerbase 240LP 16/1.2/12x down from $1895 to $1599 (!!) Powerbase 240MT 16/1.2/12x down from $1995 to $1699 Great deal on PowerCenter Pro 210! PowerWatch reader John writes to say that Power had a special at MacFair L.A. this past weekend which runs until May 23 (that's Friday). You get a PowerCenter Pro 210 MT (with the usual goodies) AND the Power 17" monitor for only $2499. Basicially, you only pay shipping on the monitor! Now Power may or may not honor this price if you just call in randomly, but it's worth a try: 800-380-7693. As usual, let me know if you get away with it. UPDATE: THIS OFFER ENDED FRIDAY 5/23. Mac the Knife has a tidbit on Power's contemplating the PC clone market. One quote, which I completely agree with: Getting into the market could do nothing but add to the challenges facing the company's already beleaguered support staff; Sorry, this link is just too funny to pass up. Make sure you have Netscape with the Quicktime plug-in and a fast connection. Then follow this link to a friend of a friend's page.   Friday, May 16 From the "oh well, it was a nice idea while it lasted" file. Exponential Technologies Inc. has folded, taking the famed x704 processor with them (410-533MHz!). Apparently the G3 and Mach 5 processors from IBM/Motorola were very competitive. Rumor of the week: Apparently the free Adaptec cards found in PowerCenter Pro models were only for the first thousand customers, of course, I can't confirm this.. at least not yet. Speaking of which, I've got another review of that very machine on the PCPro page.   Thursday, May 15 I have put info on the old Powerbase 7.6.1 Level 2 cache issues onto PowerTech. Ack.. the webserver went down twice in the last 24 hours.. they are playing with the IP's of the virtual domains.. and of course, WebCrossing went down... for a fun diversion, check out the Mac Gamer Ledge's preview of MacDukeNukem! MGL is one of my favorite pages, and I check it daily-- I highly recommend it! Since a couple of people have asked lately, I have update my cable modem info page, with a few new things. Personal note: I spent tuesday night at Disneyland, at the "premiere" of Light Magic. Anyone west of the Mississippi has probably already seen an advertisement for it. Let me just say that, as big a DL fan as I am, I was mighty disappointed with it. Read my trip report to see more digital camera pictures from my Olympus D-300L.   Tuesday, May 13 Integrated Micro Solutions, now known as IXMicro, hasn't yet posted the IMS Twin Turbo 4.0.1 software on their page, but I have it available for download, courtesy of MacGurus. I received my MiroMotion DC20 card yesterday, from Bottom Line Distribution. It arrived much faster than I expected, and I was very pleased! I don't feel that I can review this card yet- I honestly have no knowledge of non-linear digital video editing.. but if you do, I want to hear from you! I did try to capture some video at 640x480 and it came across a little choppy.. but then again, I don't know what I'm doing and I don't have the fastest HD in the world... Monday, May 12 We've got another great review of the PowerCenter Pro 210, courtesy of Matt Rhodes. A thought, put out by many readers, and now Henry Norr as well (see yesterday's news): Power claims that the PowerCenter Pro has an 'exclusive 60MHz bus,' when in fact both the PowerCenter 180 (correct me if I'mwrong) and PowerTower 180e had it too! Hmmm..... Just an early note: This summer, with full-time work instead of school, I will be able to do some serious work on my web pages, so things will certainly grow a great deal then! For those who are curious, summer starts in mid-June for me, and I will tell you where I'm working later this week! ;-)   Saturday, May 10 Henry Norr of MacWeek has also given a very favorable review to the PowerCenter Pro. Though I prefer my rating system (Sorcerors Apprentice hats), it did earn 5 diamonds. "The PowerCenter Pro line is a breakthrough for the Mac market," he writes. For those who care: My Miro card isn't here yet. But I will tell you when I get it. Also, for those interested in my digital camera, read my latest DL Trip Report with pictures! Thursday, May 8 A special thank you to all PowerWatch readers-- we had over 63,000 visits to this home page in the last 30 days!   Wednesday, May 7 Late updates: I have updated Scott Palamar's excellent review of his new PCPro 210, on the PowerCenter Pro page. BottomLine Online has a killer price of $499 on the MiroMotion DC20 card, so I bought one. Seriously folks, this is at least $130 cheaper than I've seen elsewhere. Hopefully it works... Important note to owners of Minitower PowerCenter Pro models: "Zapping" the PRAM of these machines can cause the hard drive to be unreadable temporarily. here are two solutions: Move the Adaptec UltraSCSI card to the outside slow, the furthest from the motherboard. If it does happen, and the disk won't boot: Insert the PowerCD. Boot up. Restart. That should fix it. Power is investigated the issue now-- it only affects PowerCenter Pro MT models! The best option right off the bat: Move the card, as a preventative measure. Expect this to be summarized in PowerTech very soon. ShipWatch has been updated to reflect the shipping PCPro models. However, I have heard from several people that there is a hold up in production right now due to a lack of parts, but this isn't confirmed.   Tuesday, May 6 One more reason why the PowerCenter Pro rocks! While I'm still waiting for mine (groan), I have had a few reports that they are coming with an Adaptec 2940W Fast/Wide Ultra SCSI PCI card installed. PowerWatch reader John Pane explains more: This has a 20 MB/sec (fast and wide) connector for external and another one for internal devices, and a 10 MB/sec (fast and narrow) connector for internal devices (which my hard drive is connected to). These are in addition to the motherboard's 5 MB/sec SCSI bus. Awesome!! I've got my first PCPro user review-- courtesy of fellow UCSD (alum) Scott Palamar! He's enjoying his new PowerCenter Pro, which also had the Adaptec UltraSCSI card in it. Head on over to the PowerCenter Pro page, and check out his benchmarks and thoughts! Thanks Scott! It's the PowerWatch Poll question we've all been waiting for! Should Power Computing start selling Windoze clones? If I seem especially giddy today, it's probably because of the wonderful help I've received on Perl scripting! My script works so far at the command line, now I've got to port it to the Web!   Sunday, May 4 Any Perl wizards out there? I need your help. Head over to my alumni list -- I need a function in Perl that can correctly insert a new entry into the correct place in the list. If you can help or have any questions, e-mail me!   Saturday, May 3 Many of have written saying that you've received your PowerCenter Pro -- write up a a review and send them in to me! I will be posting them! Last week truly lived up to its name -- it was a hellish week. But its over and good news is on the horizon--stay tuned! I can't say enough good things about a game I just completed-- it's called The Last Express and is published by Broderbund. It had everything I love in graphic adventures-- cool graphics, gripping story, and the way time flows is great! I highly recommend it! Let's give a warm welcome to our newest advertiser, Farallon Communcations!   Thursday, May 1 Yes, indeed, PowerCenter Pro's are shipping. PowerWatch reader Jeff (not me) received a highly customized model and reports that its "very quiet." This is good news for all! I recently sold my Jaz drive (and good timing, too, with all these reports of problems with them) and replaced it with a HyperQIC drive from APS Technologies. After FedEx lost the package, and later found it, I was disappointed that Retrospect was corrupted. But APS is FedEx'ing me (hope it makes it) a new copy right away. Anyways, it is a Travan-4 drive, 4gb per tape. A bit noisy, but 30mb/min is nice.   (Down to April News Archive)