ExpanDrive

Apple’s move to Mini DisplayPort on the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro line has caused me a fair amount of consternation regarding upgrading given that my Dell 3007WFP-HC only supports dual-link DVI and Apple’s $100 Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter has gotten quite a lot of bad press with respect to its stability. Last year Michael Tsai wrapped up the the current state of affairs quite well:

The current state of affairs is that:

• The software update is not yet available, and Apple has no estimate of when it will be.
• Nobody sells a 30-inch display that can directly connect to a Mini DisplayPort.
• Dell makes a 30-inch display with a full-size DisplayPort, but (as far as I know) there is no adapter to connect it to a Mini DisplayPort.

As I happily type this post on a new Core i7 MacBook Pro connected to my 3007WFP via the adapter I’m happy to say that this issue with the adapter appear resolved and I thought I’d issue a short public service announcement letting others know. I’ve had not a single issue and have spent considerable time with the monitor connected directly to the adapter as well as through my IOGEAR GCS1782 2-Port Dual-Link DVI KVMP Switch. Also, Circuit Assembly now makes a $13 DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort adapter that Jon is quite happy on his Dell 2408WFP, which supports DisplayPort.

Today Apple released a new 27″ iMac with impressive specs, a unibody design and an impressive LED backlit display. Somewhat hidden in the announcement is a small but important feature – the DisplayPort connection on the back of the 27″ iMacs operates both as a jack for an external monitor and also as an input for an external computer if you want to use your 27″ iMac as a monitor.

The 27″ iMac [starting at $1699] has the same modern LED screen as Apple’s 24″ LED Cinema Display[$899] – noticably higher quality than Apple’s dated 30″ Cinema display [$1799]. It is of comparable size and weight, nearly the same resolution [2560x1440 vs 2560x1600] – $100 cheaper, and comes with a free Mac – namely a 3Ghz Core2 Duo with 4 Gigs of RAM and a 1TB hard drive in the base configuration.

30″ Cinema display – $1799               27″ iMac – $1699
          

I’ve had Dell’s 3008WFP 30″ monitor [MSRP $1699] sitting on order for a few days now – which I just canceled in favor of Apple’s 27″ LED version, which comes with the free Mac.

The situation with Address Book / Google Contacts sync is completely bizarre. The Google Mac Blog says that OS X 10.5.3 “now lets iPhone users sync their Address Book with Google Contacts.”

Awesome, but what’s up with iPhone requirement? Is there some special technology in the iPhone, a technology that doesn’t exist in full-sized computers, that makes the sync possible? Is this a business ploy to attract gmail users to the iPhone who might otherwise use a Google -> Address Book -> iSync double-bridge to get their gmail contacts on their Razr?

But then you can enable sync, without an iPhone or iPod touch, if you’re willing to brave a simple .plist hack? I’m very confused about what the logic is behind all of this.