Kibbles & Bytes Blog

With all the basketball to watch with the NCAA tourney and the NBA season’s final weeks before the playoffs, Grace will probably get tired of watching basketball every night, although she is a big fan and likes to see the up and coming college stars. Kentucky is looking pretty hot but I picked the Bulldogs for Hammerhead. The Celtics seem to be making a run for the play-offs and are getting to be fun to watch, too.

Hey, this is a good time to order some seeds, think spring! The sap is flowing on sunny days in Vermont even if it is a bit late this year. We will be heading north as soon as Artie tells me mud season is over.

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Rachel, Dean & Grace (in absentia of Mike)_

*St. Patrick’s Day*
*Lots of basketball*
*SPRING* ….*finally!*

We are embracing the mayhem all month long with specials on monitors, speakers, fitness trackers, backup batteries, cases, headphones and much more! The second half is now underway, time to welcome spring with open arms, grab some wireless headphones and your backup drive and head outdoors.

*Trade-In and Trade-Up*
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Set your fitness goals and track your progress. Use points to easily measure all your activities, such as walking, running, swimming and cycling. This device tracks everything from steps to sleep, and will even keep a daily photo food journal. This small device is completely waterproof right out of the box. This is not something you have to carry on your wrist. You can simply clip it to an article of clothing, wear it as a necklace or even attach it to your sneaker during a run.

“*Goal Zero Torch 250 Flashlight Backup Battery Solar Recharging*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001783/march-mayhem-save-20-on-goal-zero-torch-250-flashlight-backup-battery-solar-recharging
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This fun colored speaker comes in a small package but produces a BIG sound! Great companion for a day outside in the sun, bring it with you while you plant your seeds, or mount it to your handlebar on your bicycle for a ride around town. This speaker wirelessly connects with your phone, tablet, or any other Bluetooth-enabled device.

Check out all the specials at: “*smalldog.com/marchmayhem*”:http://www.smalldog.com/marchmayhem/march-mayhem-2015

When I started to strip my Series Land Rover down for a rebuild a couple years ago, I decided I wanted to attempt to document the experience & process through time-lapse photography. I dug out my old Canon SD200 digital camera, installed some custom firmware that supported time-lapse shots, and got to work. The only problem has been, even considering how infrequently I get to work on that massive project, I have ended up with a _ton_ of individual photos.

The time-lapse alone results in 2-4GB of data for every day of work I perform, which adds up quickly. I soon went looking for a newer, bigger external hard drive to replace my 320GB LaCie Rugged Mini. Having an iPhone & iPad mini that I occasionally shot additional documentation & reference photos & video, I wanted something that could easily collect data from my MacBook Pro or my iOS devices. Oh, and I’ve been trying to perform this Land Rover disassembly & refurbishment project as off-the-grid as possible, so something small, portable, and low power was important. Enter the “*LaCie Fuel*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=lacie+fuel.

When I started to strip my Series Land Rover down for a rebuild a couple years ago, I decided I wanted to attempt to document the experience & process through time-lapse photography. I dug out my old Canon SD200 digital camera, installed some custom firmware that supported time-lapse shots, and got to work. The only problem has been, even considering how infrequently I get to work on that massive project, I ended up with a _ton_ of individual photos.

The time-lapse alone results in 2-4GB of data for every day of work I perform, which adds up quickly. I went looking for a newer, bigger external hard drive to replace my 320GB LaCie Rugged Mini. Having an iPhone & iPad mini that I occasionally shot additional documentation & reference photos & video, I wanted something that could easily collect data from my MacBook Pro or my iOS devices. Oh, and I’ve been trying to perform this Land Rover disassembly & refurbishment project as off-the-grid as possible, so something small, portable, and low power was important. Enter the “*LaCie Fuel*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=lacie+fuel.

There are a few wireless hard drives on the market, but as a long-time fan of LaCie drives, the LaCie Fuel jumped out at me. The fact that its design is reminiscent of a Jerry can, like those I have for my Land Rover, didn’t hurt either. As LaCie is now owned by Seagate (also one of my favorite drive manufacturers), their Fuel drive is based on Seagate’s own popular wireless hard drives and can even use the same media app, though they have their own branded version. After reading favorable reviews of the LaCie Fuel (including “this one from TechRadar”:http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/storage/disk-drives-hdd-ssd/lacie-fuel-2tb-wireless-hdd-1253721/review) and the hard drive which is used internally (reported to be the Samsung M9T, “as reviewed by StorageReview.com”:http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_spinpoint_m9t_hard_drive_review), I decided to go with the larger 2TB LaCie Fuel so I’d have additional space to grow into.

I’ve now been using it for a number of months and am finding that is has solved numerous storage problems all at once, but let’s start with the basic functionality. The USB 3 port–which doubles to charge the Fuel’s internal battery–is very fast for uploading & accessing data from my MacBook Pro. The drive runs so much quieter, smoother, and cooler than my older LaCie Rugged Mini, it is hard to believe it is on. While uploading files via WiFi is understandably significantly slower than using USB, the “LaCie Media app”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86652/lacie-media-app-for-ios makes it quite a simple process and it is certainly fast enough to stream HD movies to my iPad. There has even been nice firmware & app updates over the past few months that have added automatic photo & video upload from iOS devices, as well as Dropbox & Google Drive sync support. It is very straightforward to configure your LaCie Fuel to join your home or office WiFi so that when your iOS device is connected to it, it has Internet access in addition to access to your files & media. And, the LaCie Media app is quite powerful… letting you browse, upload, rename, and move files on the Fuel, so you really have full access to your drive and it’s data, even on iOS devices.

As for my photos, I currently have it configured so that my iOS devices automatically upload their photos & videos, as long as I turn the Fuel on and connect them to its WiFi network. That old Canon SD200 uses SD cards, so I either pop those into the SD slot on my MacBook Pro or into my “Apple Lightning to SD Card Reader”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/82142/apple-lightning-to-sd-card-reader on my iPad and transfer them to the Fuel. I just picked up a Dropbox Pro account, so I will be moving my photos over to that directory on the Fuel and letting them sync up to Dropbox as an additional backup (it has already synced all my documents from Dropbox & Google Drive down to my Fuel automatically).

Naturally, battery life is dependent on usage and the Fuel has quite a few options you can turn on. Fortunately, the LaCie Media app has a quick good/better/best display in the settings so you can optimize it for battery longevity when needed. I can stream a couple of movies with my default settings which includes joining my home WiFi & syncing with Dropbox. I will turn off more settings when I am away from power and want to squeeze all the battery life out of it that I can. If you are near a power outlet, you can always plug it into the included USB charger (or, as I do, my iPad’s power adapter) if you want to use it while keeping the battery topped off.

I bought the Fuel for more photo storage, and found it has opened up possibilities I did not anticipate. I am extremely happy with the large storage capacity, performance, and especially all the options that the LaCie Fuel provides. The case design, while not intended to be as durable as my LaCie Rugged Mini, it is of better quality than any other plastic hard drive case I’ve seen. For a simple, small hard drive, it really has a diverse set of configuration options and, with battery power as well, it is quite a flexible storage product. I would highly suggest the Fuel to everyone with an iOS device, especially if you regularly use both Macs & iOS devices for fun or profit.

One of the cool new features of Mac OS X Yosemite is the “*Phone Call function*”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT6337. You can receive and make phone calls from your Mac or iPad as long as you are on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone. So, let’s say you are in the living room browsing the net on your Mac and your iPhone is charging in the bedroom. Your mom calls. You will see that, in addition to your iPhone ringing in the bedroom, your Mac (and in my case, my iPad, too) is also ringing. If you want to talk to mom, you can answer from your Mac using the built-in speakers and microphone or use a set of earbuds or headphones. If you want to tell mom to call back later you can decline with a text message or set a reminder to call back.
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With the introduction of the MacBook, scheduled to ship in April, the notebook lineup from Apple has gotten very crowded. How do you choose between one of the three models?

It really all comes down to 3 things: Performance, Size, and Price.

Here is a quick summary of the various models:

* “*$899 – MacBook Air 11”, 2.38lb, 1.6GHz i5 Processor*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86669/macbook-air-11in-1-6ghz-i5-4gb-128gb
* “*$999 – MacBook Air 13” 2.96lb, 1.6GHz i5 Processor*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86667/macbook-air-13in-1-6ghz-i5-4gb-128gb
* “*$1099 – MacBook Pro 13”, 4.5lb, 2.5GHz i5 Processor*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/80919/macbook-pro-13in-2-5ghz-i5-4gb-500gb
* “*$1299 – MacBook 12” , 2.03lb, 1.1GHz M Processor*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86675/macbook-12in-1-1ghz-8gb-256gb-space-gray
* “*$1299 – MacBook Pro 13” Retina, 3.48lb, 2.7GHz i5 Processor*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86671/macbook-pro-13in-retina-2-7ghz-i5-8gb-128gb

All of these models also have an array of CTO options to upgrade RAM, storage, and processor speed. It will be interesting to see how the performance of the new Intel M processors compare with the higher revving i5 and i7 processors of the Macbook Air and MacBook Pro. I think it is probably safe to say that, at least for now, the machines with i5 processors in them will most likely outperform the M processor.

When taken on their individual merits, the new MacBook seems like a no-brainer when compared to the MacBook Air – but when you add in the price/performance ratio that you can get with a MacBook Air, its easy to see why Apple decided to keep this model in the lineup. A $400 price differential for an entry level machine is nothing to sneeze at. For those who want to enjoy a machine as thin and portable as the MacBook Air, at a nice price, this machine is a great choice. For those who like to enjoy the benefits of buying products on the leading edge of technological innovation should definitely consider the new Macbook.

As you move up the lineup, the venerable MacBook Pro 13” without retina still exists as Apple’s one portable machine with a built in DVD player. This machine is still very popular, and offers upgradeable RAM and a standard hard drive which none of the other models offer.

MacBook Pro Retina vs new MacBook – This one is actually an easier divide to make, even though their prices are identical. If you prefer performance, then the MacBook Pro is the machine to choose, if you prefer portability then the new MacBook is the direction to go. You can expect to pay a bit more for adapters and docks for the new MacBook’s USB-C connector, so if you like to hook up lots of external devices to your machine, then you should budget a bit more for those accessories.

_Dear Friends,_

Apple made its debut on Thursday as part of the “*Dow Jones Industrial Average index*”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTMsbCWUU90. I guess it is about time for the world’s most valuable company to make the list. With Apple stores getting ready for the Apple Watch and an expected deluge of customers trying out this new device, Apple is launching a whole new category of product. I doubt it will be their last but it will be interesting to see if this catches on as much as some of the other Apple hits. I believe it will. I know I will be stopping at one of their stores on the way back to Vermont to try it out.

Winter seems to have a lingering hold on the north country. March can be one of the hardest months as the days are longer, more sunshine is apparent, the rest of the country is in the throes of spring and then boom! Vermont has temps in the single digits and a snowfall. We are continuing our “*March Mayhem*”:http://www.smalldog.com/marchmayhem/march-mayhem-2015 event with fantastic deals on a wide variety of products. Needless to say, we will be celebrating springtime as well as basketball for the rest of the month. I have filled out my brackets and have the Gonzaga Bulldogs going all the way.

It is hard to believe that Small Dog Electronics is almost 20 years old. We will start our official celebration next month and, during April, I will do some brief history of Small Dog pieces here in Kibbles & Bytes. I do remember the early days with boxes of Macs stacked in my garage, living room and anywhere they would fit and Grace looking longingly at her home and wondering when she would get it back. Every now and then, I run into a customer that tells me about purchasing their first Mac up at my house on Prickly Mountain.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special carries the theme of “looking back” and features a bundle of a 2TB Seagate Backup Plus slim drive plus a Kingston 16GB Flash Key. The Seagate drive is a hefty 2 Terabytes, which is a bit of future shock for me. I remember paying over $1000 for a 10MB drive years ago and I thought that was huge! This slim drive is tiny, weighing only about ⅓ of a pound and it fits in the palm of your hand. With 2TB of storage you can take full advantage of Time Machine and always have backups of your data. It is cheap insurance! Now, speaking of power in a small package, this bundle will also include a Kingston 16GB rugged Flash Key for those times you want to take a little data with you. 16GB in a “thumb drive” is a handy way to take that Keynote presentation, your special 12-hour playlist or all your photos with you all the time! You can never have too many back-ups so we are offering this bundle of the 2TB Seagate drive and the 16GB Kingston Flash Key for only $132.98! That’s $20 off and we will ship it for free!

“*Check it out here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001797