power Mac G4 Cube and Mac Pro trashcan

G4 Cube & Mac Pro – Failure never looked so good

Truong Nguyen Product Reviews

Introduced more than a dozen years apart, the Power Mac G4 Cube and Mac Pro trashcan share more than a few similarities. They both look nothing like computers but rather pieces of art. Apple priced them well above the competition, and they both failed spectacularly. Nevertheless the G4 Cube established a cult following for its fascinating design and functionality. The electrical and mechanical engineering was out of this world especially for 2000. If you ever get a chance to see this G4 Cube in person, make sure to see and touch its bottom. One feature that most love is the…

Dongles and adapters for Late 2016 MacBook Pro

Dongles and Docks: Apple’s Latest Lineup

Truong Nguyen Product Reviews

By now you’ve probably heard about the Late 2016 MacBook Pro with its impressive Touch Bar, high price, and lack of ports. In order to make Mac laptops thinner and lighter, Apple decided to drop almost every port in favor of USB-C Thunderbolt 3. It’s future-proof, they said. What about using this new MacBook Pro in the present? Dongles, they said. I’ve used both the Late 2016 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pro for the past two months. I wanted to use them as much as I could so that my assessment would be fair and even-handed, not merely a gut reaction…

Best MacBook for Students 11" to 17" screen sizes

Mac To School. What’s The Best MacBook For Students?

Truong Nguyen Product Reviews

It’s August and back-to-school shopping is right around the corner. Top of the list is often a new laptop. With so many options, it can be overwhelming to decide which laptop is best for you or your student. Within the Apple lineup, there are three laptop choices – the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Below I compare three configurations from these models. I’ve matched their specifications as closely as possible. Each configuration has a 256GB solid state drive and 8GB of RAM. I don’t suggest the 128GB solid state drive configuration as it’s easy for most students to run out…

Best Apple WiFi Router for a Home Network?

Truong Nguyen Product Reviews

What’s the best Apple WiFi router for my home network? I get asked this question from my customers all the time. Apple currently offers three wireless/WiFi routers: AirPort Extreme, AirPort Time Capsule and AirPort Express. Below is a breakdown of the purposes of each router and my typical recommendation, the Time Capsule. Which Apple WiFi Router?   Choose the AirPort router that best suits your WiFi needs. If you have a complex wireless setup and would like assistance with your home network, please contact me for an on-site consultation in the Twin Cities area.

MacBook 12″ retina vs. PowerBook G4 12″ – The 10-Year Mac Laptop Evolution

Truong Nguyen Product Reviews

I love 12″ display Apple laptops. My very first Mac was a 12″ iBook that my brother bought me for college, and one of my all-time favorite Macs is the 12″ PowerBook G4. It remains to this day one of the best Mac laptops I’ve ever used. So when Apple announced a new 12″ laptop after a 10-year hiatus, I was excited to see what was in store. A decade in the technology world is comparable to a century in a human lifespan. In 2005 Facebook was only available on a few college campuses. Google was nowhere near the household name it has…

G4 Cube, a failure that made Apple successful

Truong Nguyen Product Reviews

Almost 11 years ago, Apple unveiled a very special computer to the world. It was truly a “magical and innovative” product back then and still has a very strong fan-base today of which I’m a part. That computer is the beloved PowerMac G4 Cube. Never before had that many features and power been made available in such a compact and beautiful design of a computer. In fact, it was one of the most powerful offerings from Apple at the time with all the latest technology (in 2000) such as G4 PowerPC processor, discrete Nvidia video card, Airport card for Wifi…