NEWS
06/30/02
Special offer for the readers of
the Cube-Zone : 5$ off the price of the 800 Mhz and
1 Ghz upgrade cards for the Cube
OWC
is offering a 5$ coupon off the price of the 800 Mhz
and 1 Ghz G4 upgrades for the Cube. You have to use
the word CUBEZONE in the coupon field when you order.
You'll get your $5 off and you'll help us. Go here
to order those two cards.
06/24/02
Installing a Radeon 7500 in a Cube
The Web Site AppleFritter has an article
about installing a Radeon 7500 in a Cube. It finally
seems possible. The author also confirmed that he tried
with a GeForce 4Mx, but it does not work because the
card is too tall. Here is the link
with the upgrade instructions.
SanDisk ships the Cruzer
The SanDisk
Cruzer is the world's first portable, pocket-size storage
device with upgradeable flash memory. Its stylish, compact
design can be slipped into a pocket or purse for easy
transport of personal computer data files, image files,
video and audio between homes, offices or any other
location where one would want to transfer personal files
and information. The Cruzer fills a void in the portable
storage market that neither floppy disks nor CDs can
address. The all-in-one unit, plugs directly into the
industry-standard USB port that is built into desktop
PCs and without any additional components necessary.
It's powered right from the USB port.
Cube enclosure for $ 710 on e-bay!!!
A Cube enclosure is currently selling
for $ 710 on e-bay.... Whoa....Guys, you should
buy a whole Cube for that price, not just the enclosure....
Something new about the Cube??
This article
says that Apple will release. Here is what is written
: " Apple Computer called on a Tuesday--they already
had the audacity to spend money to cut "When the Music's
Over" into an ad for their new cube computer software.
They want to air it the next weekend, and will give
us a million and a half dollars! a million and a half
dollars!"
What does that mean? We don't know...
maybe something new about the Cube?... We may know at
MWNY....
Readers Questions
Q : "Could you give me links
that directly deal with upgrading the cube's optical
drive? dunno if combo CDRW/DVD drives that slot load
are available, or if a slot load superdrive is available
but if so anything with that type of information would
be greatly appreciated, what i want to do is purchase
a used g4 450 cube with a dvd drive, upgrade the processor
to 1ghz apollo g4 using the upgrade from powerlogix,
if possible get a combo or superdrive, if not then just
use my ipod, upgrade the hard drive to like 80 gigs,
do you think its possible for someone to get ddr ram
working in a cube or do they need apple rom chips or
software updates before its possible? any word on the
geforce 4 being hacked to work in a cube or a better
graphics card than the geforce 3mx? thanks for any info!
"
David
A : There is no combo drive
for the Cube yet. It may be available from MCE soon.
But nothing is certain yet.
You can upgrade the hard drive to up
to 120 Gig DDR RAM does not work in the Cube.
The Cube uses SDRAM The GeForce 4 does
not work in the Cube.
However the GeForce 3 is really fast
(Keep in mind that the Cube has a 2x AGP slot). You
can also use a Radeon 7500.
06/23/02
New "Cube parts and systems"
table
We have created a new part and system
table, which will be updated weekly and give you the
best deals for Cube parts and system. You can see it
at the top of the page. Feel free to
contact us if you have some interesting offers that
could be part of this table.
06/18/02
Will the new PowerBooks use a cPad
with Inkwell?
You all know that Apple will introduce
Inkwell at the end of the summer. this technology is
a handwriting recognition software that comes from the
Newton. But will Apple only make that available to people
who own a tablet? We don't think so. Recently, we found
an interesting piece of technology. It is made by Toshiba...yes
we know...by a Wintel company.... But the sometimes
have good ideas.
This laptop does not seem revolutionary.
So why are we talking about that? Because of the cPad.
The cPad is a new kind of Trackpad. You can use a stylus
on it...and write.... Did you say InkWell? We do think
that Apple will use that kind of technology. Here is
the detailed picture of the cPad.
That new kind of trackpad could perfectly
be used with InkWell. It would also explain the rumors
of new PowerBooks that could be released this summer.
More information from Powerlogix.
Asked about the speed offered by the
two new 800 Mhz and Ghz cards, Robert from powerlogix
sent us that answer :
Q : How would your G4 800 or Ghz
compare with a dual 450 or dual 500 upgrade/hack for
the Cube? Do you have any benchmark ?
A : We'll be posting benchmarks
within the next few days. Thanks! Robert
Inside the new eMac
one of our readers found a
japanese site with pictures of the new eMac, and
especially of the inside of that computer. Very interesting,
even if you do not speak japanese! :-)
Readers questions
One of our readers, dlf, sent us a lot
of questions :
Q : As a prospective Cube buyer,
I have started studying your site .... to assess whether
the cost of an upgraded Cube (cpu, gpu, and -maybe-
dvd combo) is worth while when a 17" iMac LCD is coming
out this summer .... so your information is very crucial!
One of the things that is not clear about the new annoucements
is whether the new 745x upgrade cards will be offered
in a similarly configurable way as the 74xx were ....
namely, mix & match ....
A : The card has an L3 cache.
The iMac does not.... Concerning the 17" imac LCD, I
don't think it will happen for a while... We are still
looking for some information about the cards.... We'll
probably be able to answer that question in a few days.
Q : Do the new cards only come
bundled with a 745x cpu --- or will they be sold on
a standa-alone basis, allowing the user to purchase
whatver ZIF they want (74xx or 745x)? 2) also unclear:
are any of the new 745x upgrade cards going to dual
socketed? ...
A : They apparently come bundled.
We have no information if Powerlogix plans to sell them
without processor (but were would you find a processor....?)
Q : If so, is the "thermal envelope"
of the 7455 superior to that of the 7450? ... ie is
the 7455 (apollo) a low-power, SOI version of the 7450
(v'ger)? .... were there any comprimises made to get
the 7455 to cool down? ... bottom-line: would a dual
7455 throw off (roughly) the same heat as a single 7400?
A : There is no dual Apollo
upgrade card right now. But we guess it would be at
least as cool as the 7400 (with the help of the fan
that powerlogix put on the card)
Q: You point out that GF3 are
availible for the Cube (and the only OEM versions "work"
with the Cube; and that only the OEM versions are ADC)
... but what about the Radeon family? .... did ATI only
make one generation of OEM (ADC) cards for the Cube?
.... ie no Radeon2 (8500) etc (even retail) will work?
A : No they won't work. The
only card that work are: ATI Rage 128 Pro ATI Radeon
Nvidia Geforce 2 MX Nvidia GeForce 3 Mx The OEM versions
of those cards are ADC and will work in the Cube. For
the other ones, it depends on the card....We have not
tested all the PC cards :-)
06/16/02
Powerlogix posts a picture of the
ghz upgrade in a Cube.
Powerlogix
now has a picture of the G4 upgrade installed in a Cube.
Looking for users feedback
If you have upgraded your Cube and want
to share your experience, send us a mail.
It will be very usefull for all the people who want
to upgarde their computer.
Looking for a Cube donation (even
a non working Cube)
The Cube-Zone is looking for a Cube donation.
The Cube does not need to have a graphic card, a processor
or a hard drive. the moitheboard itself is not needed.
However, we do need the the powerboard the enclosure
and the powersupply. A non working Cube would be fine
as well. If you want to help us, send us a mail.
06/15/02
Cube processor upgrades : dual G4/450
at MacResQ
You would like to buy a processor upgrade
for your Cube, but can't afford the new Powerlogix or
don't want to wait for it. You can buy a Dual proceesor
card (450 Mhz for each processor). Our partner MacResQ
sells one for $499. The product ID is 661-2305R . Be
carefull, installing that card will void your warranty
and may damage your Cube. It is an unsupported hack.
The explanation(with pictures) can be found here.
Cube and parts for sale.
Mac-Pro
has Cubes for sale for $899. It is a used system
in its box. It comes with a 90 day warranty. The Cube
is a 64/20gb/DVD, with speakers, Pro Keyboard, Pro Mouse,
and Power Supply.
They also have a PRAM battery for $9.99,
and GeForce 2Mx, for $149.
MacResQ
now has GeForce3 ADC for $279.99. Use the product
number "P007977 " to search the site.
If you are in Europe, Shaye
has the following cards
If you want to order from
them, send them an e-mail
and tell them that you come from the
Cube-Zone.
USB fans
The summer is coming...It's time to buy
a fan. But this year, it will be a USB fan. There are
several available.
