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Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Xcellon Wired Mac Keyboard Review

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I was sad when Apple stopped producing the old standard A1234 (MB110LL/A) wired keyboard a couple of years ago. If I’m using an iMac, Mac Pro or Mac Mini, I prefer a wired keyboard. You can still buy some used and refurbished Apple wired keyboards; however, their days are numbered.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten by with a cheap Macally keyboard in a pinch but they are very plastic and just don’t look or feel right with the modern aluminum Mac builds. There are tons of knockoffs and lookalikes but everything is a compromise, which brings me to the new Xcellon keyboard that I’m typing on right now. [Read more…]

 

[Expired] Deal: 12″ MacBook for $799

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B&H has the 12″ MacBook (2017 model) for $799 (reg. $1299) as one of its Deal Zone deals for today only. The deal applies to the gold and rose gold colors only. [UPDATE: Only the Rose Gold color remains. Gold is sold out.] The standard silver color is still only $100 off the regular price at $1199 now. This is a stupid good deal on a recent model MacBook. Check it out while it lasts here at B&H Photo.

Apple Launches 12″ MacBook with a Single USB Port for $1299

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MacBook 2015 closed

Apple has always been one to push its latest generation of hardware into the next generation by excluding features rather than including them. The current generation of Mac models dumped optical drives a couple years ago, much to the disappointment of many users.

As it turned out though, Apple was right. Most of us don’t need an optical drive in our daily computing needs. We have iPhone and iPads for music and movies, and data is more efficiently transmitted over a network as opposed to burning a CD or DVD.

With the latest MacBook, however, Apple is taking its mantra one step further by removing most of the ports and leaving only a single USB-C port. [Read more…]

Crucial SSD Upgrade Made My Old MacBook Pro Better than New

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Crucial SSD MacBook Pro Swap

I had an aging MacBook Pro. It’s a 2011 model, which I believe is the first model with Thunderbolt. And while the Thunderbolt connectivity has been great, the internal 5400RPM hard drive has gotten slower and slower over the years.

After hearing plenty of reports on the benefits of upgrading to an internal SSD drive in these MacBook models, I finally bit the (surprising affordable) bullet and picked up a Crucial 512GB SSD for a little over $200. [Read more…]