By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

If you have a tight budget, love our planet, and need a computer, then put the Norhtec MicroClient Sr at the top of your shortlist!

This is the smallest computer I have seen until now, and can be used in many situations to replace the larger and heavier computer system.  If you are starting with a clean slate, even better: definitely consider this tiny powerhouse! It’s a small computer in physical size, uses a lot less energy.

BUT — let its Puppy Size not deceive you: there’s a lot of power inside to address your (personal) computing and communication needs.

Martin van Zanten reviews the Norhtec MicroClient Sr here.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Another lawsuit, more cash out of Apple’s pockets. I wrote earlier about the credit being offered to Canadian owners of older iPods. This case involves faulty power adapters for Powerbooks and iBooks.

A class-action suit, filed in 2006, alleged that Apple misrepresented problems with the power adapters. In 2001, Apple recalled about 570,000 adapters sold with PowerBooks after reports of overheating and sparking.

In court filings, plaintiffs said “the adapter dangerously frays, sparks and prematurely fails to work.”

Apple will pay customers who bought replacements made by Apple or a 3rd party $25 - $79 depending on the cost of the item. It’s unclear as to whether or not you’ll need a receipt, and since it’s been some time since this all happened, it’s unclear if that would truly be fair anyway.

The settlement, which was granted preliminary approval by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware on March 24th, still requires final approval. A hearing on final approval is scheduled for September 8th.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Rumored since last week, and revealed by the typical Apple Store outage, updated iMacs are here. Same prices, better specs.

And what are those better specs? Well, as Apple trumpets in their press release, for starters, buyers can now get the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors (up to 3.06 GHz), a faster 1066MHz FSB and optional nVidia GeForce 8800 GS graphics.

In the release, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing said:

“The iMac’s gorgeous aluminum and glass all-in-one design has been an incredible hit with our customers and is just one of the reasons Mac sales are growing three and a half times faster than PC sales. With the latest Intel processors, a faster new graphics option and more memory, customers now have even more reasons to love the iMac.”

The same $1,199 for the low-end model nets you a a 20″ iMac, 2.4GHz CPU, ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128 MB memory, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

The high-end 24″ model starts at $1,799 with a 2.8GHz CPU, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

Move to the higher-end 24″ model (starting at $2,199) and you add a 3.06GHz CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB GDDR3 memory, and a larger 500GB hard drive.

Here are the specs for the lower-end models at each screen size:

The new 20-inch 2.4 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

• 20-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 1GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;
• 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

The new 24-inch 2.8 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:

• 24-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

Naturally you can add more RAM and other upgrades. Also naturally, the Apple Store is back up and these babies are available now.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Despite all the skepticism from the media, Psystar has produced a video that purports to show “the triplets,” three Open Computers running Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP and Mac OS X Leopard.

The video is posted on their website, but a copy has also been uploaded to YouTube.

The Open Computer running OS X is shown running Quake 4. There’s not a whole lot of detail or close-ups in the video, which lasts about one and a half minutes. According to the narrator, the video was created using Final Cut Pro on one of their own Open Computers.

Things like this make me feel this operation is less vaporish than I originally thought, but it would be great if a reputable site could get their hands on one of the “bad boys,” as Psystar calls them, and reviews them. Or even if an end user could confirm having received one of them!

Watch the video and judge for yourself.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

A little more than a year since it was brave enough to backtrack on its Vista-only policy on consumer PCs, Dell is again breaking ground.

We know that Microsoft has set June 30th as the drop-dead date for Windows XP (despite their statements yesterday). Despite the fact that after June 30th, manufacturers such as Dell are not allowed to ship PCs with XP pre-installed, Dell has come up with an “escape clause.”

Consumers who buy either Windows Vista Business or Ultimate also entitled to get Windows XP Professional (the so-called “Downgrade Rights”). Each computer manufacturer decides whether, or how, to implement this, but generally they ship a CD with an image of Windows XP with the computer. This was how it was handled on my wife’s recently purchased VAIO.

What Dell’s going to do is implement this policy their way.

Their way means installing Windows XP on the PC themselves, rather than supplying you the CD. Thus, the PC leaves the factory with XP preinstalled.

On a special site Dell’s put up addressing this, they say:

Is there any way to get Windows XP after June 30th?

Customers may continue to get Windows XP Professional by exercising Downgrade Rights that come with Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate licenses. Dell has the ability to exercise “Windows Vista downgrade rights” on your behalf in the factory if your business is still reliant upon Windows XP and you’d prefer to have Windows XP Professional preinstalled on your PCs.

What does it mean for Dell to exercise “Downgrade Rights” for me? Where can I find this option?

When you are configuring your system online or through the help of one of our sales experts, you will have the opportunity to select which operating system you would like on your PC. When selecting your operating system, you will see an option called “Genuine Windows^® Vista Business BONUS” and “Genuine Windows^® Vista Ultimate BONUS.” With these options, you may purchase the licensed rights to Windows Vista but have Dell factory install Windows XP Professional. You will also receive a backup media disc for Windows XP Professional as well as the media for Windows Vista so you can upgrade when you’re ready. Furthermore, with these options Dell will provide technical support for the factory-installed Windows XP Professional image and your licensed version of Windows Vista.

Dell will normally only provide tech support for the factory-installed OS, but with this option, if you have XP preinstalled and then switch to Vista, they’ll support it as well.

According to a contact at Dell, the “downgrade” program will be available as an option on some Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, and Dell Precision systems at no charge, and as an option on some Vostro and Dell XPS gaming systems for a small fee.

I have to applaud Dell for this. While this is obviously good PR for a company that desperately wants to get out of the doldrums, it’s a great move and I hope other OEMs follow suit.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

You’ll recall the Mac clone maker Psystar, which not only says it can sell you a computer, it says it will install Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) on it as well. Which not only violates the Mac OS X EULA, it also requires tweaks to do it.

It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? And many times, if something sounds too good to be true …

At any rate, it’s strange that the company seems to have moved three since their announcement. Perhaps, as they indicate on their website, it was just a site error, but they started at 10645 SW 112th St. in Miami, then changed their contact info to 10481 NW 28th St., then to 10471 NW 28th St., and now they’re at 10475 NW 28th St. Unfortunately, no Google Street View of that address.

Either they have a really bad webmaster or something’s fishy.

Both the Guardian and Gizmodo have done some poking around, and nothing seems all that positive in terms of investing your hard-earned money with these guys.

• The address problem (though admitted to as an error in an interview with Tom’s Hardware).

• They can’t take orders by phone (see their site).

• They either have a really bad phone system or no one’s there.

• No response to emails.

• The principles are Rodolfo and Roberto Pedraza, who are officers or agents on a whole host of companies, only one of which, besides Psystar, appears in operation (FloridaTek). Oh, and if you click on the “Remote Desktop Technical Support” link on the upper LHS of the page you get an .EXE download - which I wouldn’t trust.

So, is this deal just “rotten to the core?” Can’t be sure yet, but it’s so fishy I’d be worried about mercury poisoning. Stay clear of this company until further notice.

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Computerworld has recently reported that in the next few years the sum total of Earth’s data will be in the two zetabyte vicinity. One Zetabyte is equal to one billion gigabytes.. in case you were wondering.

My personal and family data storage — says reviewer Paul Moons — is still a little off that, but it has increased significantly since the birth of our child four years ago. This data is mainly in the form of digital photos and videos or work documents and it is all over the place: DVDs, CDs, hard drives in different PCs, etc.

The D-Link DNS-323 NAS RAID box offers a relatively inexpensive long term storage solution which can keep all your data in one place, allow universal access and when setup as a RAID 1 device, secure it from hardware gremlins.

Read on for more here..