This year, if you’re looking to give someone a gift for a notebook-owning machead, we’ve got some great suggestions:

• mStand Laptop Stand By Rain Design – For the person who ends up using their laptop as a desktop replacement, why not give them a stand, for better ergonomics and design?
• Apple Wireless Keyboard – Another gift for the desk-using notebook owner
• Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse – Pair the Wireless Keyboard with the Wireless Mighty Mouse, for the best desktop replacement experience
• Apple 24-Inch LED Cinema Display – Shiny, New, and perfect for the desktop-replacement user.
• Invisible Shield – Protect that investment with a full-body skin to prevent scratches!
• Apple Time Capsule – Make easy, wireless backups with Leopard’s Time Machine and a Time Capsule
• Incase Neoprene Sleeve – A nice carrying case for your Macbook/Macbook Pro/Macbook Air
• Kensington Notebook Computer Lock – Perfect for keeping that computer safe!
• Belkin Swivel USB Hub – Let’s face it, Apple doesn’t always pack enough ports that are needed, so expand your USB ports with a hub.
• WD My Passport Portable Hard Drive – You can never have too much Hard Drive space, and these drives are sleek, portable, colorful (Titanium, Red, Blue, Pink, White, Purple, and Bronze), and affordable!

Recently Belkin released news about a new cable to hit the market. They lovingly call it the PC-to-Mac Transfer Kit. So you too can switch from your crusty old PC to a spiffy new Mac easily with this $50 cable from Belkin.

Realistically, a simple USB drive would suffice, or even a little nicely worded question to the genius at the Apple store (or about 10 or so other fairly simple migration methods). However, if you are looking for a simple way, have an extra $50 bucks burning a hole in your pocket and like plugging things in, this nifty little gizmo is right up your alley.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s cool and all, but a quick google search and some patience will get the job done too. I’m just saying…

• 2GB Nano: $49.97
• 4GB Pink Nano: $99.97
• 4GB Silver Nano: $99.97
• 8GB Black $149.97
• 30GB White/Black: Unsure
• 80GB Black/White iPod: $229.97

So if you have a local Costco nearby, it might be worth a visit to see if they have any left.

Not too long later, I finish my Gatorade and after a nice conversation with another Apple store photographer, realize that the entire line was gone and everyone in it had been served (all 500+ of them). I decide to stroll in to the store to play with an iPhone for myself. Now, I have to admit that I was completely impressed with just about every potential aspect and strongly felt the tug to purchase. I grab one of the 5,000 sales people in the store and curiously ask if they had any left after the rush of the “lemmings”. He informed me that they had plenty and there was no danger of them running out tonight or any time soon . I chuckled to myself as I was reminded of “Captain eBay” and the “Lemmings” from a little earlier. He wouldn’t divulge just how many they had, but it sounded like a lot. Nevertheless, 2 hours in line, pay for a place, sell ‘em on eBay??? I’ll just leave is as I was glad I wasn’t any of “those guys”.

Anyway, I decide to send a quick email to Derek and ask for his thoughts only to find him “rather impressed” and somewhat embarrassed about it too. Next, I receive a Twitter from Shaun (via his new iPhone) and the tug of the gadget envy gets all the more intense. I start to walk through the store looking at accessories as I debate the subject at hand silently to myself. I fend off four more “Can I help you find anything” employees, pause for a moment and then begin my slow approach to the genius bar for the purchase. I am ready to take the plunge! In not more than a minute or two, I am next in line and suddenly a wave of clarity comes over me. I promptly turn and walk away, deciding to sleep on it. And as quickly as I had walked in, I walked out without spending a dime. “I’ll take this one up again tomorrow”, I think to myself, and try to get to my car before I doubt this decision too.

Now after returning home and reading some feeds, I receive some consolation from JoeTV and discover that as I may not share all of Mr. Pirillo’s reasons, I do share quite a few of them and think that a little more time is surely necessary to make a good decision. After all, I don’t NEED the iPhone, I just want it really bad and that’s just not a good enough reason to drop $700 (you gotta get the accessories) on something that has never been tested by the general population yet.

Continuing through the feeds, I start to sift through some of the wreckage of the day and have this to say: “As much as it pains me to not hold an iPhone of my very own in my hand tonight, I think waiting is going to be the best plan for me right now.” And that’s how it is … (at least for now anyway, who knows what I’ll think in the morning).

Now you know where I stand, where are you at?

This morning brings us a brand new release from Apple. MacBook Pro’s have been upgraded. Of course, those of us (like me) who haven’t even had their MBP for a year are a little bummed, but nevertheless, it’s a necessary evil. Some of the more noticeable changes are that they have a new more power efficient (greener) LCD display that will conserve battery life, better graphics board, capability for more RAM and a slightly faster CPU. I guess I’m a little happy that the upgrade isn’t HUGE or anything, but I am a little bummed that mine is so new and there’s an upgrade. Anyway, those of you that have been holding out for the upgrade to make your purchase, here’s your chance. Pull out your wallet and join the revolution!

Here’s a breakdown of some of the features:

The new MacBook Pro models are now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The 2.2 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

• 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440-by-900 LCD display;
• 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
• 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
• DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
• built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
• Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

• 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440-by-900 LCD display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
• 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
• DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
• built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
• Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:

• 17-inch widescreen 1680-by-1050 LCD display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
• 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
• DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
• built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
• one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
• Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard;
• the infrared Apple Remote; and
• 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

Guest Author: Christopher Ware

I’ve had my AppleTV for about two weeks now and thought I would share some of my thoughts on one of Apple’s next big gadgets.

The Hardware
The AppleTV is tiny, just about eight inches square and an inch high, far smaller than your typical DVD player or satellite box. It looks a lot like a smaller Mac Mini. All that is included in the box is the AppleTV, the remote, and a brief setup guide.

The Setup
The entire setup process takes no time at all. Wireless setup is a pretty straightforward and makes it simple to connect to networks. The only frustration that I could see is for people that purchase the unit without realizing they need to purchase the necessary cables. As I said earlier absolutely no cables are included in the box. I just can’t imagine your typical user having a spare HDMI cable sitting around the house like I did.

The Good Stuff
The user interface is similar to that of Front Row. It is clean and very simple to get around. What else would you expect from Apple? Anyone familiar with Front Row or even an iPod should feel right at home with the interface.

I was initially concerned after reading some reports that the video quality was lacking, but I found the overall video and audio quality to be quite good.

AppleTV will not allow you to buy media directly from the iTunes store. You must first download content from the web or iTunes onto your computer, and then the unit will go fetch the content from your computer. I am really hoping this will change in the future to allow for direct purchasing of content through your AppleTV making things a lot easier.

The Wrap-up
Overall, the AppleTV is one beautifully designed, easy-to-use product that should be great for people who have been looking for a easy way to show all that good stuff saved on their computers, right on their television. To be completely honest, I really have been surprised how much I have enjoyed playing around with the unit. My family also got a huge kick out of seeing all of my daughter’s Easter photos right there on my living room television instead of being huddled around desk staring at my computer screen. The AppleTV is great at everything it was built to do, and I can only imagine that the entire unit will gradually get better much like the iPod

Unveiled by innovation maestro Steve Jobs during his Keynote presentation at the 2007 MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, Apple TV is set to bring the next inevitable phase of evolution to your living room. It’s a tiny unit – 7.7 inches square and just a shade over an inch high – but it will pack a powerful punch in your entertainment center.

Apple TV is simple to use – anything you download through iTunes or have stored in your iPhoto library can be synched from your Mac or PC directly to your HDTV. So, whether it’s the latest episode of 24 or a slideshow from last Christmas, as long as it’s saved on your computer, you can watch it from the comfort of your sofa.

The Apple TV box will synch with up to five computers on your home network, it’s capable of storing up to 50 hours of video and able to stream video direct from your Mac or PC to your TV screen. It’s a versatile piece of kit, with HDMI and component video/audio outs and an Ethernet port on the off chance your house isn’t wireless already.

In the technology trends and gadget predictions for 2007, scores of people were predicting the death of the DVD. With Apple TV is set to start shipping later this month, it’s easy to understand where they’re coming from – even if the unit currently has a price tag of $299. There are a number of similar bits of kit out there – granted, none of the others integrate directly with iTunes or come in the sleek Apple-branded box, and few have such a non-imposing footprint. But the revolution, it appears, will indeed be televised – and thanks to Apple TV, you’ll be able to download it and play it back at a time to suit your schedule.

Just finished watching Apple’s Keynote Presentation and their announcement of the new iPhone. Here’s a snippit from the newly launched website.

“iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.”

Honestly, I think I will wait a bit to get one since first round hardware usually has bugs. Dunno though, it sure does look cool.

I have to admit it took some getting used to, but Apple’s Wireless Mighty Mouse is just awesome! It took me a few hours to get used to the ‘virtual buttons’ but once I got the hang of it, I was whizzing around my Mac with ease and speed. I also just love the ‘wireless’ aspect. Holy Cow! I never realized how annoying a mouse cord was until I didn’t have one to lug around.

I’m not much of a fan of the thumb pad thing on any laptop and I never really liked the one button idea, but with essentially three buttons and a 360 degree scrolling ball, I’m in love!

Bluetooth Rocks! (Keep it up Apple)