I’ve always been a bigger is better kind of guy. The biggest hard drive, biggest laptop screen, biggest monitor on my desktop, etc. It really has no end. What’s funny about me, though, is every 6 months or so I go through this big life cleaning thing and start downsizing everything. I suppose it’s some kind of self-preservation mechanism that keeps me from getting overrun by too much crap in my life.

Recently, on the tail end of a big declutter phase, I decided it would be very handy to have two 24″ monitors on my desk. Let me pause to say my dream system is a MacPro with dual 30″ Apple Display monitors connected to it. Some day, I’m going to get this setup. Course the $7,000 to $8,000 price tag to go with such a setup will definitely require me to be in a different tax bracket before I can even consider it.

Needless to say, I wanted dual monitors, which I happened to have at my disposal. The only problem is I sold both of my MacPro machines a couple of “declutter” cycles ago. I’ve got a new MacBook Pro that I use for everything. So I set out to see if I could somehow drive 2 external displays from the Mini DisplayPort on the MacBook Pro 15″.

To my surprise, it’s not only doable, it’s darn easy. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Matrox Dual Head 2 Go DP Edition (here’s a link to it on Amazon.com: Matrox Dual Head 2 Go DP Edition)
• DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort Cable
• 2 DisplayPort to DVI Cables

That’s it. That setup will let you connect two monitors of all different sizes to your single MacBook, MacBook Pro or Mac Mini display port connection.

Setup of the device and monitors is pretty easy and straightforward. Once you unpack the Matrox DualHead2Go device, you plug in the cables and your hardware is ready to go. No power cable needed since it will pull power from the USB port on your laptop.

Next you install the Matrox PowerDesk software. This allows you to control settings across the monitors and handles a single stretched image across both monitors. I didn’t run the laptop display alongside the dual monitors. I just used the 2 external Dell 24″ displays and was very pleased. The picture was gorgeous and it was just like other dual monitor setups I’d used on desktop machines in the past. Here are a couple of pictures of where I placed the Matrox and MBP under my desk:

There were, however, a few wrinkles. First, your Mac won’t see the external displays as separate devices. Instead it sees it as one monster monitor. My displays were each running at 1920×1200, but as far as the Mac was concerned, it was just one device. This kills the ability to dock applications or other windows onto a particular display. You have to manually move things around most times. Also, the dock, which I typically have centered at the bottom was in the middle…..of the one monster display. This means it was half on one monitor and half on the other. Moving it to the left-hand side fixed that though.

The other problem I’ve run in to is some weird issue where my MacBook Pro loses the ability to display to the monitors. I have to go through a painful unplugging, plugging in and sometimes restart process to get things working again. Of course it comes at the worst times too. I finally broke down and called tech support (which I HATE doing) because I thought there might be an issue with the Matrox device itself. Turns out DisplayPort connections are some of the most finicky. Didn’t really get that problem solved.

Overall, this was a cool experiment, but not a realistic long term setup. If you’re desperate, give it a try, but keep your expectations realistic. It’s not without it’s faults.

Also, there are different Matrox devices for analog, DVI and even a triple display device.

An interesting post was put up on ZDNet.com talking about a survey conducted by ChangeWave Research. The survey found that over half of Verizon customers want an iPhone. 54% to be exact. That’s a HUGE number for Apple and HAS to be a consideration when looking at what seems to be an inevitable roll out on the Verizon network.

The typical Verizon customer, I believe, is there because of call quality and network coverage. Plain and simple, Verizon is the best in both of those camps. I don’t know that anyone other than hardcore sales people for other providers would argue those facts. 49% of Verizon’s customers were “very Satisfied” with the service. Compare this to 23% for AT&T.

I have both a Verizon phone and an iPhone on AT&T and I would agree. Despite disliking AT&T’s coverage, I just can’t give up the iPhone, yet it’s not solid enough to replace my Verizon phone completely. My biggest complaint is dropped calls and call quality. Seems like both of those things have been getting worse over the past year. Initially I thought it was a problem with the iPhone. Other phones on AT&T don’t appear to have the same problems as us iPhone users. However, I’m now wondering if it’s just AT&T in general. Check out this graph of dropped calls over a recent 90 day period:

Sure different phones have different reception strengths and weaknesses, and the iPhone certainly could be one of the worse devices. There just seems to be more reception problems lately. I’ve also noticed data getting spotty service overall. Yesterday, for example, I was at my kids’ track meet, out in the wide open with 4 bars and data was dead. The iPhone was even reporting 3G service. That’s becoming a common occurrence for me.

All that to say, I personally think it’s time for the iPhone to make a move to Verizon. Verizon has always been behind the curve on cool devices. We’ve lived with the boring phones for years now, but they DO work well. I bet that Verizon stands to gain a huge boost in new customers if it finally releases a cool device like the iPhone on their network.

The sad part is, people are starting to question if it will happen this year. One analyst with BroadPoint AmTech says it won’t happen until the first quarter of next year. Here’s for hoping he’s wrong. I’m ready to go back to carrying one cell phone!

Read the entire ZDNet blog post here: Majority of Verizon customers want iPhone, but analyst says not this year.

I’m not sure whether to think this is creepy or cool. Starbucks announced last week that you can now pay for that Mocha Soy Latte with an app you can download onto your iPhone or iPod Touch. It’s called the Starbucks Card Mobile App and basically will function as your Starbucks Card once you plug your card number into the app.

Right now the only stores accepting the digital payment are select stores in Seattle and the Silicon Valley. Strangely, you can also use it in all US Target Starbucks Stores. That’s odd to me because those “leech” type stores always seem to be behind the times in Starbucks technology.

Feels a bit strange to me overall. Sure it’s convenient to pay for everything with your phone, and I know it’s just a matter of time before every Tom, Dick and Harry follows suit. I also know micropayments via a cell phone are all the rage in Japan. Still seems futuristic and kind of like technology is taking over my life (as if it hasn’t already). Maybe I just need to get with the times.

Anyone try this app out yet?

Fortunately for all of us, that burning question has a relatively reliable answer. A company named iSuppli broke the costs down and determined that the components for each of the released models of iPad come in at the following totals for parts:

iPad 16GB version – $259.60 ($236.40 profit for Apple)

iPad 32GB version – $289.10 ($309.90 profit for Apple)

iPad 64GB version – $348.10 ($350.90 profit for Apple)

Roughly a 50% margin, give or take. I don’t believe that includes assembly or getting the devices to the States, as well as other charges involved with product marketing, store shipments, etc. Still not bad given that prices on hardware will continue to decline over the life of the product giving Apple even more margin over time.

Interestingly enough, more than 40% of the iPad’s costs are consumed with components powering the touchscreen display and user interface of the device. Here’s what I gathered for individual component costs for those interested:

Touchscreen Display – $95.00

Processor/Main Chip – $26.80

Flash Memory Chips – $29.50 (16GB); $59.00 (32GB); $118 (64GB)

Broadcom Chip for Bluetooth & Wi-Fi – $8.05

Texas Instruments Chip to help control touchscreen – $1.80

2 Additional Chips used to control touchscreen – $3.70

Ciruss Logic Audio Chip – $1.20

Aluminum Casing on Device Back – $10.50

For as expensive as everyone complains Apple hardware has always been, a 50% gross margin doesn’t seem out of line by any stretch. They make great devices that I’ve always felt last longer than their counterparts.

[Source BusinessWeek.com]

I really had no intention of buying an iPad on Saturday. My plan was to wait for the 3G version thinking the built in connection to AT&T would come in handy. Well, Saturday came and something happened around mid-afternoon. One of my kids asked, “Dad, are we getting an iPad today?” which led to game over. It was like the unseen Apple gods had flipped a switch in my Apple psyche and I started dialing for iPads.

I tried two different Apple Stores, both of which were either out or almost out. I tried several Best Buys. No luck. Then…JACKPOT!!! What I assumed to be the busiest Apple Store in Portland reported having all three models in stock with barely a line. They closed at 8:00pm and I got there at around 7:30pm. After less than 5 minutes in line, not even enough time to partake in the snacks they had out for customers waiting to get into the store, I was introduced to my Apple sales guru and ushered into iPad-land.

I opted to skip all of the hands on fluff and just buy. I was out of the store, iPad in hand, less than 10 minutes later. Don’t know if it’s true, but a couple of the store employees mentioned the iPad allotment to their store was based on the number of pre-orders that were to be received in the same location. They had a counter full of iPads left when I walked out at near the end of the day on Saturday.

So, why did I break down and get an iPad on Saturday? There were 3 big things that swung me to accelerated purchasing:

1. New Apple Toy Envy – This is probably why I buy just about anything new Apple comes out with. They just make sweet gear. Having something THE DAY it comes out from Apple is like going to see a highly anticipated movie at midnight on the day of it’s release. It’s just plain fun and all your friends envy you.

2. Wifi/Non-3G Version – After committing to the 3G version, I decided that that WiFi version of the iPad actually made more sense. I already have a Sprint Overdrive that gives me both 3G and 4G service (on Clear’s network), so in most areas I’ll use an iPad, I will actually have faster service than if I had the built in 3G service from AT&T. Not to mention I won’t be saddled with another $30/mo in fees. The Overdrive fits in a pocket, is a no brainer to use and acts a personal hot spot, so it will be only slightly less handy than having the service built into the iPad. Also, it’s just rare anymore that I’m not in a spot with WiFi of some sort.

3. Cost Savings – The WiFi version is cheaper and I’m now saving $30/month on service fees. How often can you be an early adopter and actually SAVE money?! Hey, I didn’t say all 3 reasons for impulse buying were solid.

In the end, I really have no complaints. Even when my wife said, “So what exactly are you going to do with it?” That’s actually part of the fun of the iPad in my opinion…figuring out what you’re going to do with it.

I was reading a press release this morning about the Apple iPad Pre-Orders. It indicated all pre-orders going forward were going to be delayed on the Wi-Fi units until April 12th with the Wi-Fi + 3G versions still coming “late April”. We’re almost to April and no date on the 3G models seems a bit odd. Add to it that Apple is delaying add’l Wi-Fi models for 9 days and my mind starts to wonder.

My first thought when reading that was could Apple have discovered an issue with the first run units that needs to be fixed before additional devices are shipped? All you early MacBook Air adopters know exactly what I’m talking about. We suffered through more than our fair share of problems with the first gen versions of those. Still great devices and I wouldn’t necessarily wait if I had it to do all over again.

For the iPad, I don’t know that I’d want one of the April 3rd shipped devices. Part of me wonders if it wouldn’t be better to wait until the 3G models come out (I’m waiting for 3G anyway) to at least have a little better shot at a device sans the early adoption woes.

Part of what is contributing to this paranoia is I’m really really surprised that Apple is even selling that many iPad Wi-Fi editions out of the gate. Aside from devices for press and all the giveaway iPads I’ve seen going for everything from buying insurance to selling affiliate offers to buying make money online products, I just don’t see the early adopters going for the base version. Everyone I know is waiting for the 3G edition.

Perhaps Apple has intentionally created the shortage, just like always seems to happen with these cool category changing products. Course, again, this doesn’t seem likely. Especially given that Best Buy will have iPads hitting the shelves the same time the Apple Store does this time around.

What does everyone think? Apple cover up, poor production planning, or just plain old shortage?

[Source AssociatedContent.com]

Just stumbled across a site that is claiming to have iPhone 4G parts in hand. Looks like there are some changes to the reflective surface and the face appears to be a tad bit longer. It’s tough to say if these signify something legitimate that’s coming or if they’re just prototypes built by some Chinese rip-off device company.

Regardless, it’s still exciting to anticipate what Apple will be releasing in the next gen iPhone. I really hope it’s 4G capable and would LOVE IT if it were on Verizon.

[Source & Image: iresq.com]

Can’t wait for Apple to release the new iPad? Build your own iPad…well, sort of. This is more like an iPaperPad, but it will be one heck of a sweet piece of “gear” until you get your hands on the real thing. The process is pretty easy. Here it is:

1. Go here to print out the front and back of the iPad: Front, Back. Make sure you print in color on a printer capable of borderless printing.
2. Cut along the dotted lines and fold.
3. Put either a pad of paper, or a stack of heavy paper into the middle.
4. Glue everything together.
5. VOILA! You’ll be the envy of the coffee shop.

If you’ve got a large format A3 printer, you can grab a PDF that will print an iPad to full size here: iPad A3 PDF.

Personally I think it looks pretty nice. A great mod would be to use a bound pad of paper and keep the front page loose so you can use the pad underneath it. Then it would serve a useful purpose as well as be some eye candy.

I got to thinking again this morning about Apple’s latest “money saving tactic” of quitting Macworld Expo altogether (read my earlier post here). I’m Wondering what Apple is up to.

Are they trying to avoid going down with yet another event that is trouble and headed for the big Consumer Show Heaven in the sky? Are they really spending that much money taking part in a show they don’t feel they’re getting a good value out of? Did the Macworld Expo execs forget to send the Apple execs a Christmas card with the usual jelly bean of the month club membership for the coming year?

Of course there’s a lot we don’t know, but one thought ran through my mind…is this an easy way to transition Steve Jobs out of the spotlight and begin grooming, or at least trying out, possible replacements? Phil Schiller is, after all, one of Apple’s marketing geniuses. It would have been better if he’d gotten some stage time at the WWDC Keynote, but nonetheless, a guy in marketing, much less a genius, should be able to get up and kick some keynote butt.

As I was pondering these lofty questions and running through my mail, I see an update from a news service about Steve Jobs’ hormone imbalance treatment. Now replacing Jobs at Apple’s last appearance at Macworld Expo makes sense. It also lends some credibility to the news sources reporting Jobs’ health issues. At this point you may be thinking “Uh, yeah genius!  That’s exactly what they’re doing.”, but I hadn’t made the jump yet.

With Phil at the keynote helm, we have to wonder if Apple will set him up for success or test the waters first. Will they show that Apple is bigger than Steve Jobs and announce a revolutionary product or two (such as a new iPhone form factor or Mac tablet)? That would sure solidify a stance that Apple can/will march on regardless of whether or not we see Jobs at the public forefront.

Or will Apple give us some dismal upgrades to existing lines leaving us wanting just a bit more like it has in too many keynote addresses in the past? Consequently, this wouldn’t do much to solidify the Philster as a worthy Jobs replacement.

It will be interesting to see what happens and we won’t know, as usual, until showtime.  One thing is for sure:  Apple again has us talking about and wondering what tomorrow’s keynote will contain. I’m already excited!

We at TweakOSX.com just want to take a minute to wish you all a happy and safe New Year. We hope that 2009 presents lots of great opportunities and lasting memories.

Happy New Year everyone!