Category: hardware
Does my mac need more memory?
When your computer is running a bit slowly, how can you tell if getting more memory will help?  The short answer is that if you have little or no ‘free memory’ or if your ‘page-out’ count is high, then you need more RAM. Here’s how to check those two things on any Macintosh running OS X.
Seagate Expansion and Backup Plus pull apart – what’s the difference?
Seagate make two external USB drives. The Seagate Backup Plus and the Seagate Expansion. They are both USB 3 compatible. They both come with a three-year warranty in Australia, although in the USA the expansion only has a 1 year warranty. The Backup Plus model costs $20 more. A lot of reviewers say that…
How to stop flickering on an Apple LED Cinema Display
The Apple 24 inch LED Cinema display and the Apple thunderbolt display have been a source of frustration for many people. They flickers, go black, the screens gets garbage on them, the fans turn on and off. After reading lots of forums and trying various things I have practically completely eliminated all the flickering on…
How to turn on expert mode in Display Settings in El Capitan
One of the features I use regularly in the display settings of OS X is the adjustment of the gamma setting of my monitor. This is useful because it can lighten up dark movies when you are watching them on your Mac. The gamma setting is only available in the “expert” mode of display settings…
If your data and time REALLY matters to you…
Last week I had a hard disk crash. If you’ve had a hard disk crash you may know it can take a day or two to get things up and running again, a day or two that I didn’t have. I was flat our trying to get away on holidays before Christmas. Thankfully, I have a Promise…
How to format a thumb drive, hard disk or SSD drive.
You may not know that USB Thumbdrives come in different formats. This article explains why this matters and how to format a USB drive into the format that you want.
What is TRIM and do I need to turn it on in OS X?
Some SSD drives are crashing in Yosemite do to an issue with something called ‘TRIM’. Thankfully if you followed the method in my article entitled “How to speed up your mac with a Solid State SSD Drive” you will not have this problem. But if you have used an SSD that needs TRIM, read on to…
Connecting a Microscope to your Mac
We recently moved to a small farm and we have been looking at our soil biology under a microscope. It was hard to see clearly so we bought a ‘Celestron’ Microscope camera (model #44421) from Amazon for about $40. The packet doesn’t specify that it works with Apple computers, but it does and is very simple to use. It plugs into…
Apple Watch – what do you think?
After much speculation the Apple Watch was released today and… it’s a watch!
EMF levels of Apple devices
Over the past few weeks I’ve measured the EMF levels of various Apple devices using a hand-held RF field strength meter. (It measures frequencies from 50MHz to 3.5GHz). I measured EMF levels of an Apple iPhone, iPad, Mac Mini, iMac, Apple Airport Base station, Apple LCD display, and Apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
Good wireless remote for Keynote or Powerpoint to use on your Macbook
I’ve just found a new wireless remote to use with presentations in Keynote or Powerpoint. Recently I have purchased a Kensington wireless remote and I’m very happy with it. It appeared in our local Office works store recently for just $29, and it’s on par with the old Logitec remote.
How to disable the exit presentation button on a Logitec R400 wireless presenter
The new Logitech R400 – a bit of a dud!
How to choose which macintosh to buy.
When you are researching buying a mac there are a few things to consider, one of them is speed.
How to save toner when printing black on a colour printer.
Black is not the blackest black, there are different blacks, and you need to understand them if you want to get the best out of your printer.
How to match the colours on your monitor to your printer.
If you have ever designed a colour document on your computer and then printed it out on your inkjet or laser printer you may have noticed that the colours come out slightly different.
How to imod a 4th Gen iPod photo
Here is how to do a good audio mod on a 4th gen color iPod photo – Apple model number A1099.
Why I love Apple
Apples fantastic return policy.
Is my mac still under warranty?
You can extend this to a 3 year applecare warranty anytime in the first year – before your original warranty runs out.
How to fix a loose hinge on an Aluminium Powerbook
If you’ve got an Aluminium Powerbook, (either the last of the G4 models or the new intel mac pro models) they are a great machine (the 15 inch is my favourite) but after a few years the hinge can get loose.
How to turn your old mac classic into an ipad stand!
It’s slightly off topic but this is so well done I simply could not resist posting a link to it…
How to fix the scroll wheel on your Apple mighty mouse
How to fix your Apple mighty mouse.