Sounds gimicky, right? A cleaner just for your iBook
?
Well, it's true...iKlear makes
these pouches designed just for the LCD screen and the other
surfaces of the iBook
.
They are non-toxic, and make you feel like you are taking care
of something you love. Every couple months, you open up the
wet pack and dry pack and clean off everything from
keyboard to display, to outer white shell. It's not
a necessity, but for the price, is a great way to tell your iBook how you feel.
If you have an
iBook
without
an audio in port, which I do, the iMic is
a MUST. If you have old cassette tapes that you want transferred,
or if you go to concerts or to go see bands and want to record them live,
the iMic will
do the trick. With its mic input, you can plug directly into a soundboard
at a concert to get high quality audio. Or you can go out of your stereo
into the iMic to
archive that Men Without Hats cassette tape you love so much and take that
live version of Safety Dance and convert your analog audio to digital.
Griffin even makes a Turntable
Connection Cable with Grounding so you can hook up your record player
to your
iBook
to
turn vinyl to digital. [prices]
Also from Griffin Technology, is the stylist PowerMate.
This thing will get people asking questions. What does it do?
Why does it glow?
What it does is not so simple...It can do tons of stuff. Everything from scrolling
through documents and websites to controlling the volume or song in iTunes, the Powermate works
in a ton of programs and the finder, and will emit a cool blue light to indicate
it's working. It breathes as if asleep at night, and quite possibly may be the
coolest looking USB device Methodshop.com has ever seen.
#07 Video Conferencing Web Camera
$150 or $25
Video Chat
If you have an
iBook
,
and you have ichat av, you're gonna want a video conferencing webcam. They've
come along way
from those blotchy looking web cams of the '90s. Now, you get almost full 30fps
video streaming with products such as iSight.
If you have an
iBook
that
is 600mhz or later, you'll be able to use the Apple
iSight. You may want to get the Griffin
SightLight as well which helps brighten up the iSight picture
(shown in picture - camera on right)
If your
iBook
is
earlier than 600mhz, you are not out of
luck, despite what your ichat or people may say. The phrase, "this
computer does not support video" is not entirely true.
Thanks to the Macally
USB ICECam (shown in picture - camera on left) , you CAN video
conferenece through iChat. The video quality is not fantastic,
and does not get up to 30fps, but is the ONLY alternative
if you have an older
iBook
.
At a fracion of the price of an isight, it's good for those
who want to use ichat to video conference but aren't expecting
amazing results. Also, it's tiny size makes it great for
portability. Software will cost an additional $5 to get
it working but still, the price tag of the ICECam is
well under that of the iSight.
If you use your
iBook
on
your lap, and why wouldn't you, or even if you leave your laptop
on for long periods of time, on a desk or any other surface,
you may want to get the ICEPad.
Essentially, a laptop stand, the slim ICEPad will
fit in your bag, has grips to hold your
iBook
in
place, and allows for better cooling (and thus better performance).
Its design, as most of MacAlly's
products are, complements your
iBook
and
its lightweight size is convenient.
You gotta take care of your
iBook
.
And there's nothing worse than finding a bag that's large enough for your
iBook
but
not large enough to accommodate your AC power cable, CDs, or other accessories
you carry. Prices for bags range anywhere from $15 to several hundred dollars.
The one on the left is from Booq bags and is one of our favorites. It goes for
about $180. Check out the following sites for some cool bags for your
iBook
that
will help serve and protect:
If you don't have a backup drive, I pity you. The law of averages will come crashing down on you one day and you'll lose everything on your computer...Back it up, while you can...In addition to being a backup drive, you can use the Smartdisk as an mp3 drive and because it's so tiny, you can bring it with you to friends houses to share your music, photos, or documents...
Why the Shuffle?
It plugs right into your USB port. You don't need a dock.
Although they sell them. You don't need a protective
case. Although they sell them. You don't need anything except the Shuffle and
iTunes and you're all set. Ultimate convenience and portability. No better device
to listen to the live unreleased mp3s from Men
Without Hats.
Also serves as a Flash
drive to store files.
If you've
got an
iBook
,
hopefully you have an airport
card.
With an Airport
card,
you can surf the Internet in practically any city in the US.
If you don't have one, get one here.
With your wireless
iBook
,
you'll be able to harness the power of Airport
Express.
Part wireless router, part iTunes helper, Airport
Express will
give you wireless internet in your home and also allow you to
send your iTunes music to any stereo in your house, WIRELESSLY.
A must have.
Headphones?
Number one? Surprised? You shouldn't be...At least, if you have
ever tried the Sennheiser
PXC 300 Noise Cancelling Headphones shown
in the picture. You'll take your
iBook
everywhere,
coddling it and making sure not to damage it....but then you'll
throw some cheap headphones on disregarding your actual ear.
These babies are expensive, and not for everyone. The noise
cancellation is
phenominal. Wear them on the plane, and you'll hear no other
noise than what's coming from your iTunes, even at low volumes.
They are comfortable and effective. Of course, there are tons
of headphone options
for you...Make sure you read reviews on comfort and design as
well as audible quality obviously. Whether you spend time on
a bus, plane, or just at home with a light sleeping friend, you'll
find quite possibly more uses for headphones than
any other device for your
iBook
you'll
ever use.
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