FEATURE OF THE WEEK | 11/14/08 – 11/21/08

“Parallels Desktop 4.0”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72496 for the Mac was released at the beginning of this week. Parallels is the very popular virtualization software that allows you to run Windows or Linux next to Mac OS X on an Intel Mac. With Parallels, you don’t have to reboot your computer every time you need to run Windows as Boot Camp requires.

We sell many copies of Parallels. “At only $69.99”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72496 (plus the cost of Windows, if you don’t already own a Windows disk), it is an essential app for many users who are stuck with Windows-only software.

Parallels Desktop 4 is reported to be 50% faster than Parallels Desktop 3.0. Graphics support is improved, more OS’s are supported (including OS X 10.5 Leopard Server and “experimental support” for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard), and Parallels now recognizes up to 8GB of RAM and eight CPUs.

Other new features:

* Manage Windows VMs via the iPhone
* Direct X 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0 support
* Support for up to 256MB of video RAM
* Parallels Virtual Appliance support
* Save screenshots across operating systems
* Includes $175 in Bonus Windows Security and Management Software

Parallels Desktop 4.0 is $69.99. “Click here to see this”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72496 or “check out a video demo of Parallels Desktop 4.0 here.”:http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/pd40_tutorial-en_US/

“Click here for a PDF data sheet.”:http://images.smalldog.com/pdfs/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac_Datasheet.pdf

NOTE: According to Parallels, some existing Anti-Viruses like McAfee and Symantec are not playing well with the Parallels upgrade. A conflict happens with users have an Anti-Virus program installed on their Virtual Machine and then install the free 12 month Parallels/Kaspersky Internet Security Suite that comes with Parallels Desktop 4.0.

People upgrading to Parallels Desktop 4.0 with an Anti-Virus program installed (other than Kaspersky), they must either:
1. Not install the Parallels Kaspersky Suite when they are asked, or
2. Turn off or remove their existing Anti-Virus before installing the Parallels/Kaspersky internet security suite.

Be sure to check out our Pre-Holiday Sales Event and our Top 10 Gifts this holiday season.

http://www.smalldog.com/holiday

We’ll continue to update the page with up-to-date products and specials, so check back often!

I’m going to see the new James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” this weekend, which is the sequel to “Casino Royale.” Did anyone notice that whenever James Bond used a computer in “Casino Royale” he looked utterly perplexed? I’ve always thought that the iPhone/iPod touch is a perfect James Bond-ish gadget. I want M to add sonar, a laser, and a miniature buzz saw to my iPod touch. Oh yeah, and cut and paste (if Apple can’t do it, certainly M can).

I hope all of you have a great week, and thanks for reading yet another edition of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Ed and Kali (and Rebecca)_

I’m a fan of the Post-It note, so I love the fact that it comes on my Mac (plus, it’s better for the environment that way). I’m __not__ a fan, however, of the clutter that occurs when I have several windows open.

I thought I’d explore some preferences to see if I could make the application work better for me, and I found an option I now use all the time: making the note translucent, with the keyboard shortcut of Command-Option-T. So now when I have several notes open, I can still see the other items I’m working on underneath.

There are many more tips to make Stickies a much better app, and “Macostips.co.uk”:http://www.macosxtips.co.uk/ has outlined a top 10 which is worth a read (they like the translucency, too!). “Check it out!”:http://www.macosxtips.co.uk/index_files/10-tips-for-stickies.html

At Small Dog Electronics, it’s obvious we love animals. So when we discovered that there was a little girl who was committed to feeding hungry dogs and cats, we thought we could provide some support!

Mimi Ausland, a 12 year old girl from Bend, Oregon, was inspired by the website “freerice.com”:http://www.freekibble.com, which uses word games to help feed those in need. She figured the same could apply to animals, so she came up with an easy (and fun) way to provide food through playing trivia games on the website.

“Check it out!”:http://www.freekibble.com

Several people wrote in with questions about the EyeTV Hybrid review I wrote last week. Most people wanted to know about the difference between the EyeTV Hybrid (which costs $135) and the EyeTV 250 (which costs $185).

El Gato has a comparison page between the two devices:
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/compare.en.html

And even better, you can see an article detailing the comparisons here:
http://support.elgato.com/index.php?languageid=1&group=englishdefault&_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&parentcategoryid=1&kbarticleid=1193

The main difference is that the EyeTV 250 Plus is a hardware encoder, so it does not use your Mac’s processor to encode analog video. This is mainly an issue for older Macs – newer Intel Macs should be able to easily handle decoding analog signals. El Gato says “EyeTV 250 Plus contains hardware encoders that offer excellent performance and recording quality. Because the processor intensive MPEG encoding is done in the hardware, you can use an older Macintosh to record high quality programming.” And later “Dual G5 and Intel Macs can handle the demand on the processor quite effortlessly, so an EyeTV Hybrid is a very suitable and inexpensive alternative for newer Macs.”

Note that both devices will allow you to import VHS tapes and convert them to digital – the guide is not clear about this. The EyeTV 250 comes with a specialized program for this, while the EyeTV hybrid requires you use the same software to record a VHS tape as you’d use to record a TV show. In my opinion, this is not a major distinction.

The EyeTV 250 comes with Toast 8 Basic, while the EyeTV Hybrid does not. EyeTV 250 needs to be plugged into the wall, while EyeTV Hybrid is bus-powered.