BEST GRAPHICS CARD UPGRADES
Apple Store USA has the GeForce 8800 GT in kit form. (Search on "MB137Z/A") Currently it's only compatible with the "early 2008" Mac Pro but we hope that changes soon with some kind of firmware patch.
If you have a dual-core or quad-core G5 Power Mac with PCIe slots, the Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition is being sold on ATI's Online Store with a $50 "trade up" allowance, dropping its price to $299. You can also order it from the Apple Store for $349 (search on "Radeon X1900 GT").
If you have a G5 with 8X AGP slot, the best card is the Radeon X800 XT. It's no longer available from Apple or ATI/AMD. However Other World Computing has the Radeon X1800 XT in stock for $380. They also have other ATI graphics cards at aggressive prices.
LCD DISPLAYS
An update of the Apple 23" Cinema LCD display is long overdue. They need to make it a 25" or 27" screeen and/or add an iSight camera and/or increase the brightness and contrast. Maybe Apple will introduce an update at the MacWorld Expo 2008 at San Francisco. After all, the main page link has been removed from the main Apple Store page. (You can find the Cinema Displays by entering "Cinema Display" in the search box.) There are some good deals on Apple-certified refurbished Cinema Displays.
The only non-Apple display we have in the lab is a Dell UltraSharp 2707WFP 27" Widescreen LCD Flat Panel. We chose it for it's versatility (DVI, VGA, Component Video, S-Video inputs). At 1920x1200, it is also is closer to WYSIWYG than any Apple Cinema display. The screen height adjusts. If you like your screen lower because you wear blended or bi-focal lenses, this "puppy" will lower right down to the top of your desk . Currently there is a $250 instant savings that brings the price down to $949.
Save $100 on Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Flat Panel. Only $599 after discount.
MEMORY
OWC is offering new discounts and trade-in allowances on Mac Pro memory.
They have used 1GB SO-DIMMs for $47 each that fit MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac.
STORAGE PRODUCTS
Wiebetech has cool way to destroy all data your drives before selling or giving them away. Simply erasing or reformatting your drive does not destroy data. Private information can be recovered by even novice geeks. Read our review of the eRazer then order one.
Our current favorite SATA boot drive is the Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB 7200rpm SATA 3G drive (WD7500AAKS). It recorded the fastested small random reads and writes of any SATA drive we have tested. Our favorite One Terabyte drive is the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1000GB 7200rpm SATA 3G drive (model ST31000340AS, 32MB cache). Check with Other World Computing or Trans International or Newegg for pricing on both drives.
MISCELLANEOUS
We have tested four models of laptop cooling stands and found the Targus Notebook ChillHub to be the most effective. It dropped our 17" MacBook Pro's CPU dual core temp by 36 deg F and the GPU temp by 24 deg F. The Targus ChillHub costs more than some stands but features dual fans and includes a 4 port USB 2.0 hub. We've seen it as low as $25 after discounts.
