New and Noteworthy: Apple pulls back on subpoenas; PC or Mac? Now a budget-minded choice exists; more

Apple pulls back on subpoenas The Inquirer reports that Apple has agreed to hold off subpoenaing reporters at two Mac sites until a California court decides if it is going to dismiss the case. "Apple wanted the (sites) to tell it who told them about audio hardware product code named 'Asteroid' or 'Q97'. It got subpoenas from a lower court in December, but didn't serve them." More.

PC or Mac? Now a budget-minded choice exists The New York Times opines that Apple's new pricing structure makes it easier for potential PC buyers to jump on the other side of the fence. In comparing the iBook G4 to a laptop from Sharp, author Adam Baer writes: "The iBook's nearly six-hour run time trumps the MC24's two-hour battery. (Sharp sells a slim extra battery for $150.) And Apple's G4 processor runs faster than the MC24's Mobile AMB Athlon XP-M 2400 processor. But that may not matter much if, like many people, you use a laptop to check e-mail, surf the Web, type and watch a movie occasionally." More.

Mac mini home theater dock concept Engadget has posted images of a Mac mini home theater dock concept, which would provide entertainment center-friendly connectors on the back. "Instead of buying a digital audio connector, component video converters, and external Firewire drives, this box would have it all.  The larger box also makes room for additional hard drives to turn the Mini into a true media server.  The idea is a good one, and we?ll probably see some accessories like this in the near future." More.

Previously on MacFixIt

• PowerMac G5: Some Hitachi optical drives cannot boot from CDs or DVDs
• Mac OS X 10.3.8 (#6): More printing problem solutions; Routers and slow network performance (cont.); more
• Odds and Ends: Mail.app, .Mac handling IMAP protocol deficiently?

Resources