I’m a big supporter of the school that says statistics can be molded to say whatever you want: It’s fairly obvious that cost does not scale linearly with increase in function- at some point the curve flattens out, mostly when you stop adding hardware features (that require more components) and start adding software features (App Store, anyone?). But I think this is pointing towards a larger trend.

Smart phones, while somewhat of a novelty to the average consumer, are only going to get cheaper and even more functional. Even in my lifetime I’ve seen the explosion of technologies we now consider ubiquitous- USB, DVD, digital cameras- and the smart phone is going to see the same kind of leap forward. It’s already happening, too- phones are increasingly being advertised with full-size keyboards for ease of use as the text message becomes an increasingly important means of communication. Touch screens are becoming more popular as manufacturers scramble to replicate the iPhone’s revolutionary interface (not quite, LG). Some form of web browsing is available on even the cheapest handsets, even if it’s only to download ringtones or screen themes.

With the smart phone revolution comes the question of carrier reliability. AT&T’s shortcomings with their national network have been well publicized, and their failure to implement features like MMS and tethering for the iPhone despite what must have been months of warning from Apple (not to mention all the cash the iPhone has brought to the company) is questionable at best. When smart phones take off, the massive increase in bandwidth load could create havoc for the major networks not equipped to handle anything more than small, inexpensive text messages.

Perhaps the largest barrier to overcome is price, and it remains to be seen whether or not the current expense will manage to come down to the standard plan rates. Currently Verizon’s cheapest voice-only plan runs around $40 per month; add e-mail and nationwide messaging and it more than doubles to $100. For the iPhone the required data package runs $30 while the cheapest voice plan adds another $40. Upgrading the existing infrastructure should bring operating costs down, and plan costs will fall accordingly.

Do you own a smart phone? How long have you had it? Leave a note in the comments.

Technorati Tags: smart phone, apple, blackberry, iphone, RIM, MMS, tethering, ATT, verizon wireless

This program is one of my latest open-source discoveries.  It’s a free password manager with almost all of the features of commercial programs like 1Password.  Well worth investigating if you are looking for such an application.

Technorati Tags: KeyPassX, password management, password, open source, Apple, encryption

After spending a little time with my new machine (15″, 2.53 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 9400M), here are some general impressions. I also got the MiniDisplay Port to VGA adapter.

Build: The unibodies really are a lot more solid than the “classic” Macbook Pros. I remember stability issues with the Classic models, especially on the palm rest and the plastic edges. The buttonless, glass trackpad also feels very solid, and while the absence of a dedicated mouse button takes a little getting used to, it’s not that much different and increases trackpad area for multi-touch gestures.

I do have complaints, starting with the edge of the top case. You’d think after all the complaints about the original Macbook’s sharp edges that Apple would chamfer the edges of their unibodies even just a little bit to make it a little more comfortable if you are the kind of typer that rests their wrists in contact with them. The edges are quite sharp, as are the points created by the cutout that allows you to open the magnetically fastened lid.

While I understand the need to move all of the ports to the side, this is quite annoying (and I guess for those who have their cables on the left side of their Mac, it’s amazing). I find the unibody case to be a bit too thick on the sides- the MiniDisplay Port is particularly hard to remove without yanking on it forcefully, something that is very bad for cables. Unfortunately I don’t see any way around it since Apple’s obsession with smooth, shiny plastic and tiny plugs makes it impossible to remove properly. One would think that Apple could think of some inventive compromise between the current plugs and their MagSafe plugs to make this less of an issue. The edges of the ports are not chamfered either, which means that I expect the silver powder coating there to get brutalized sooner or later. Oh well. If the MDP port is too deep, the headphone jack is too shallow, and feels much less sturdy than that on the Classic model. I’m not really sure why this is, but there is a fair amount of “wiggle room” on my unibody where the connection on my Classic was always as rock-solid as one could expect from a 1/8″ plug.

Audio: The speakers on the unibody are crap. Tinny, virtually no bass at all, and overblown treble. And yes, I’ve tried tweaking iTunes’ equalizer to try and make up for it to no avail. Big disappointment, but I guess that’s why I have good headphones in the first place.

Screen: The LED-backlit screen is brighter and more responsive than the Classic. The glassy face is easier to clean since it is not inlaid in the bezel (of course this makes a screen repair more of a screen replacement). My only complaint is that the hinge is significantly looser than the Classic’s; several times I’ve picked up the machine and accelerated it upwards too quickly, only to have the lid flop down. This never happened with the Classic, on which it was actually rather difficult to adjust the screen precisely with just one hand.

My take on glassy vs. matte: I think this issue is blown way out of proportion. If you calibrate your screen you’re going to get accurate colors if you’re using matte or glassy. Furthermore, matte screens are clearly not in Apple’s future plans, so those who maintain that they will never buy anything other than a matte screen are going to have to either adjust or find a new platform.

Heat: Before I had the original logic board replaced on my old Classic, I recall idle temperatures of around 60 C (with fans running at ~2000 rpm). After I got it replaced, idle temperatures dropped to around 45. My new unibody is currently running BBEdit, iTunes (no music playing), and FF 3.5 at 52 C. While the idle temperatures might compare, the machine actually feels cooler. I’m not as familiar with the internals of the unibodies as I want to be at the moment, but I remember on my Classic that the screen-side bottom of the machine would get burning hot. Not the case here, and even if temperatures increase past 70 C I don’t really find it uncomfortable to handle the chassis.

I have notice that the fans momentarily spin up every time the machine powers on or wakes from sleep, which is a little strange but ultimately inconsequential.

Battery: This was my biggest concern about the new models, as I had two extra batteries that I swapped out regularly during the work day if I had to be away from a power source secure that this option would always be available. I was not pleased that Apple decided otherwise, but couldn’t wait very long to get a new machine.

I’m happy to say that my fears were unfounded, and the new batteries are, quite frankly, amazing. The other day I got 9 hours out of mine with the screen at half brightness and browsing the web on and off (I use Caffeine to prevent my display from going to sleep). While that’s certainly not typical (I usually get 6-7 hours), it’s certainly an improvement over the 2 hours I was getting from the Classic batteries. They don’t take significantly longer to charge either; I drained my battery last night with the intent of calibrating it today and it topped off in about 2.5 hours.

While some might gawk at the prospect of needing to take your machine into Apple for a mere battery replacement, they claim that it is same-day service with a Genius Bar appointment. The cost is $129 for the 13″ and 15″ models, $179 for the 17″ model.

Speed: I could run some tests to see how the new machine performs, but I have no basis for comparison. Applications seem to launch quicker, boot time is not noticeably improved, Time Machine and Spotlight indexing still take forever. For the average user, the processor upgrade won’t matter at all besides the “future-proofing” factor.

Other issues: The black keys seem to become noticeably dirty even after light use. I’m sure the same thing happened on the aluminum keys of the Classic, but aesthetically it’s a little gross to see your keys covered in who knows what. The low-end Macbook Pro now ships with a 60W MagSafe Adapter instead of an 85W adapter (the 2.66 and 2.8 GHz models ship with 85W adapters). The power button has been relegated further into the top-right corner of the machine and is less satisfying to press than the old shiny silver button of the Classics. The SD card sticks out of the machine when inserted into the reader, but I never use SD anyways so that doesn’t particularly matter to me. The screws that secure the bottom plate to the chassis are tapped at a slight angle to account for the curve of the piece. This makes unfastening these screws more difficult than if the holes had been tapped vertically. The sudden motion sensor seems overly sensitive, parking the hard drive heads even if I gently lift up the machine off my desk.

Overall the new Macbook Pros are very nice machines. The battery life extends their portability significantly, and while the numerous minor problems can raise eyebrows, overall they aren’t enough to negate the advantages of upgrading or making it your first Mac.

Full technical specifications can be found here: Technical Specifications

You can buy a Macbook Pro from the Apple Online Store or from Amazon:

13″ Macbook Pro
15″ Macbook Pro
17″ Macbook Pro

Do you own a unibody?  What are your impressions?

tags]Macbook Pro, Apple, MiniDisplay, SD card, notebook, laptop, computer, glossy, glassy, chamfer, headphone, USB, MagSafe, optical drive, review, trackpad, multi touch, internal battery, unibody[/tags]

How to Change Your Time Machine Backup Interval

Technorati Tags: Time Machine, OS X, backup, interval

Technorati Tags: OS X, Finder, Dock, un-minimize, Witch, Command Tab

2 Ways to Batch Rename Files in OS X

Technorati Tags: rename, automator, name mangler, apple, os x, leopard, mac, batch edit

The tutorial explains how to get rid of the annoying, capitalized sidebar category headings and change them to normal capitalization.

• Changing Icons
• Installing Windows XP in VMWare Fusion
• Creating encrypted Disk Images (password-protecting folders)
• Installing and uninstalling applications
• Using Automator

They’re very well done, and sometimes it’s nice to see something done rather than read a step-by-step guide. If you’re a forum member, you can make suggestions in the proper thread.

[tags]Youtube, macrumors, icon, OS X, disk image, VMWare, Windows XP, automator, workflow, applications, Apple, Mac, password, install, workflow, permissions
[/tags]

Note: If the application you want to remove comes with its own uninstaller, I always recommend using that first- especially for large, commercial programs like those in the Microsoft Office Suite or in the Adobe Creative Suite.

AppTrap

AppTrap is a preference pane that asks you if you want to remove associated files when you drag an application to the Trash. Upon installing the preference pane, you have to go into the panel and Activate it if you want it to search for associated files. You can also set AppTrap to start up upon login.

In general AppTrap does fine, my reservations about it are more about the UI. I tend to like stand-alone applications better, as I am not frequently deleting entire applications. I also don’t like how it only searches for associated files after you’ve moved the application itself to the Trash. The reason I don’t like this is because the other three programs reviewed give you the option to cancel the action before anything is done, which helps if you’ve selected the wrong thing to delete by accident.

AppTrap is Free.

AppDelete

AppDelete is a stand-alone, drag-and-drop application by Reggie Ashworth. It’s UI is spartan but functional. Upon dragging an application to the AppDelete window, a new window appears prompting you to select the files you want to remove (all are selected by default). In my tests, AppDelete removed more items than the competitors. If AppDelete is in your Dock, you can also drag apps to the dock icon and the program will launch and automatically search for the associated files. It gives you a log, and immediately after moving the files to the Trash there is an “Undo” button to put everything back.

One problem I had with AppDelete is that it seems to be slower than the rest, although this could be due to a more thorough search. The UI, while functional, is not particularly pleasant looking if that’s important to you.

AppDelete costs $5.

AppZapper

AppZapper by Austin Sarner and Brian Ball has, in my opinion, the most functional UI of the four. Upon dragging an application to AppZapper’s window, a list of files the program finds to move to the Trash are presented with the file names, type, path, size, and an option to show in the Finder. You can cancel the action before anything is done. There’s a button you can press to list all the apps on your computer, and you can also remove Widgets, Preference Panes, Screensavers, and plugins. There are preferences to turn off the annoying Zap sound and a “Safe List” you can customize.

On the downside, AppZapper is the most expensive of the 4 applications reviewed at $12.95 for a single user license.

AppCleaner

AppCleaner is almost the same thing as AppZapper. It can remove Widgets/Plugins/Screensavers and has almost the same drag-and-drop functionality as AppZapper. It does not show the file size or type in the confirmation window, but does show the path and has a view in Finder option. The zapping sound is replaced with a 3D animation you can turn off, and there is a customizable safe list. It can be set to automatically search for associated files upon dragging an app to the Trash, much like AppTrap. AppCleaner also has more selection options, the most important being Select/Deselect All.

There aren’t many downsides to AppCleaner. It seems to find the same number of files as AppZapper in more or less the same amount of time. The animations are annoying, but can be turned off.

AppCleaner is free.

Conclusion: For the best combination of price and functionality, go with AppCleaner.

Are there any that I missed? Leave me a note in the comments and I’ll check it out.

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, application, AppZapper, AppCleaner, AppDelete, AppTrap, freeware, shareware, delete, uninstall

For reference, I look for a couple of things in editors. Syntax highlighting is a must, and usually this isn’t a problem. Section collapsing is very handy for when your code gets too long to be viewed on one page. Some form of managing multiple files via tabs, a drawer, or whatever makes larger projects easier to keep under control. Line numbers are a must when you’re validating your code. Cost is not so much an issue for me, but it’s definitely nice if a program is free as well as being functional.

On the flip side, things that aren’t dealbreakers for me but others like: FTP uploading, WYSIWYG, Live preview, live tag behavior, built-in validator, and built-in external preview.

All that being said, lets get into the list.

1. Adobe Dreamweaver (CS4)- widely acknowledged as king of HTML Editors. It has a lot of nice features, including but not limited to:

• HTML/Coldfusion/PHP/ASP/XSLT/CSS/JavaScript/XML templates
• Code only/split/full WYSIWYG modes
• Live tag suggestion/completion
• Syntax highlighting / Invalid code highlighting
• Section collapsing
• tabbed editing window
• Built-in Preview button
• Line numbers display by default
• Click-to-insert tags
• Auto-cleanup feature (close open tags, remove redundant nested tags, etc)
• Built-in validation
• FTP upload

The obvious downside to Dreamweaver is its cost. At $400 for the Mac version ($200 to upgrade), DW is almost certainly out of range for those just looking for a quick solution. To justify DW’s cost, you’ll need to be depending on it for your professional livelihood. The live preview doesn’t display all elements how they are supposed to fit on the page, and if you’ve got more complex webpages it’s pretty much useless. The auto-cleanup does a good job for the most part- it found nearly all the open tags in my test document and closed them. Removing redundant tags didn’t go as well- it missed several redundant tags in tables and lists. Dreamweaver does have FTP upload, but the process to set it up involves clicking through a seemingly unnecessary number of winds and steps before you’re actually able to do it. However, I always recommend uploading files manually with a dedicated FTP client like Transmit ($30, Panic Software) or Cyberduck (free). I also found Dreamweaver’s live tag completion to be annoying- oftentimes it pops up and completes a tag that I don’t want, or just gets in the way. Collapsing sections also is not nearly as intuitive as the method used by TextMate, but at least it works.

2. Nvu

Nvu is a free alternative to Dreamweaver. Its features include:

• Syntax highlighting
• Line numbers displayed by default
• Tabbed editing window
• Normal/HTML Tags/Source/Preview
• Built-in Validation (kind of)*
• Free!

To be totally honest I was really disappointed with Nvu. For starters, the interface is painfully outdated and slow. The default view is “Normal” which, as far as I can tell, is the same as “Preview” mode with sections denoted by small markers on the page. In source mode there is syntax highlighting, but the highlighting on a tag doesn’t show up until you save the document and the editing window “refreshes.” The Validator* just sends the code to the W3C online validator and prints the results in a window. You can only insert tags from the top navigation menu in Normal, HTML Tag, and Preview mode- what is the point of that? Would it be so hard to click and have h2 tags wrap around a string? FTP upload is included, and is much simpler than Dreamweaver’s. When I first uploaded the HTML from my site, a dialogue box popped up asking if I wanted to activate the spell-checker. Why this isn’t automatically on mystifies me, and when I activated it the program beachballed for upwards of 30 seconds before I force-quit. There is no section collapsing. For the life of me I could not figure out how to turn line wrapping on, so long lines ran right out of the viewing window. Not very handy for writing, say, a paragraph or a long hyperlink. I guess you get what you pay for- Nvu is free. 

3. Smultron

Smultron’s features include:

• Syntax highlighting
• Line numbers display by default
• Drawer for file management
• Close tag by keystroke
• Code view
• Free!

Smultron is about as bare-bones as you can get. There is a preferences window for syntax highlighting, but when I pasted my site’s HTML into the editing window none of the tags actually highlighted (somewhat alarming). One thing I did like was the tag closing by keystroke. It does not have FTP upload or any sort of GUI to insert tags. I found a weird issue with long lines- the line highlighting does not like lines when the “line wrapping” preference is turned on. For simple websites, however, Smultron offers a nice, basic editor that won’t take up much space or resources to run.

4. Sandvox

Sandvox’s features include:

• Full WYSIWYG editing
• FTP uploading/publishing
• pre-loaded page themes
• Drawer for managing files

Sandvox is a full WYSIWYG editor, and thus automatically doesn’t get my recommendation (not that that is important to anyone). I will say that it does present a clean, easy to use interface one would expect from such a program, and I can see how anyone interested in creating a quick, nice-looking website. Unfortunately without publishing to the web, you cannot access the HTML code directly, as projects are saved in .svxSite format. However, I do think it’s rather expensive ($57, Karelia Software) for the relative lack of features and flexibility.

5. BBEdit

BBEdit’s features include:

• Syntax highlighting
• Section collapsing
• Drawer for managing files
• Code view
• Preview in browser option
• Syntax checking feature (pseudo-validation)

The polar opposite of Sandvox, BBEdit is my HTML/Text Editor of choice. It as a full set of insertable tags, which unfortunately are only accessible from a tree-style menu which, while complete, is somewhat inefficient. Line numbers are not enabled by default, but at least it’s easy to turn them on (the “T” button on the top opens a drop down menu where you can select line numbers). It has direct FTP upload/download as well as a full range of syntax highlight settings for other languages. The Preview feature opens your page in your browser. The downside is yet again cost- BBEdit is $125 ($30 upgrade, $50 educational price) from Bare Bones Software.

6. TextWrangler

TextWrangler’s features include:

• Syntax highlighting
• Drawer for file management
• Code view
• Free!

Textwrangler is BBEdit’s lite version. It has all the syntax highlighting features and generally the same characteristics as BBEdit, the main difference is that it does not have BBEdit’s exhaustive menu of HTML tags to select. If you know HTML or have a reference sheet next to you, this is probably a non-issue. You can still upload/download to/from an FTP server, but there is no built-in way to preview your page either internally or by launching your browser. However, you can’t beat the price (free), and if I didn’t get BBEdit for free I would have no hesitation using TextWrangler.

7. RapidWeaver

RapidWeaver’s features include:

• Full WYSIWYG editing
• FTP uploading/publishing
• pre-loaded page themes
• HTML code view (not editable)
• Drawer for managing files

RapidWeaver is a popular WYSIWYG page creator. I found the interface to be somewhat confusing, as many aspects of the template seem to be uneditable or at least not readily editable. The ability to view the HTML but not edit directly is frustrating, although you can copy/paste the code to a text editor and in theory upload to your server, replacing the file RW uploads automatically. It also appears that you can’t publish to a local version, which is annoying. RapidWeaver costs $79 from RealMac Software.

8. KompoZer (beta)

Kompozr is touted as a bug-free, universal binary version of Nvu. It’s features include

• Syntax highlighting
• Line numbers displayed by default
• Tabbed editing window
• Normal/HTML Tags/Source/Preview
• Built-in Validation (kind of)*
• Free!

Kompozr runs noticeably faster on my machine, and seems to be smoother as well. However, it is really just a carbon copy of Nvu, and the same shortcomings I mentioned before are still present. Why is there no tag insertion in the Source window? The seemingly redundant Normal/Preview views are still present, and the Validation option is greyed out if you are in the source window, which boggles me. It is free however, and perhaps some of these issues will be resolved in the full release. Even the beta version of KompoZer is not as bad as the latest release of Nvu, however. KompoZer is free.

9. TextMate

TextMate’s features include:

• Syntax highlighting
• Section collapsing
• Line numbers display by default
• Code view
• Auto-cleanup feature (close open tags, remove redundant nested tags, etc)
• Built-in validation
• Section collapse
• Drawer for managing files*

TextMate is what I used before I was able to get BBEdit. While I do prefer BBEdit, TextMate has one feature that I sorely miss- if you have a set of brackets, Textmate highlights the opening bracket when you scroll the cursor over the closing bracket. This is very helpful when you’re trying to find the text enclosed by a tag or a section in your code. It does have its annoyances- the drawer doesn’t open if you create a new document, only if you create a new project. Large files take much longer to load in TextMate than in BBEdit, and indenting a selection of text uses a 3-stroke key command instead of 2. Textmate is available for approximately $53.

10. Taco HTML

Taco HTML’s features include:

• Syntax highlighting/checking*
• tabbed editing window
• Built-in Preview for multiple browsers (including iPhone) and live preview
• Tag insertion via menu

Taco HTML is a step up from Smultron. It does not have FTP upload or built in validation. The syntax checking* is built-in, but I am a bit mystified as to how useful it is because it did not catch my open img tag that I placed in my test document (however it did catch open div, span, and h2 tags). Line numbers are not turn on by default, although it’s simple enough to fix that. Taco HTML is available for $25 from Taco Software.

For those of you looking for a recommendation, it doesn’t get any better than TextWrangler. It’s powerful, fast, and free- and if you know HTML you won’t miss the enhanced functionality that BBEdit offers. If you’re just learning HTML, I always think it’s better not to have the crutch of automatic formatting.

Do you have a favorite HTML editor I didn’t include here? Leave a comment!

Being the student of weird knowledge and trivia that I am, I filled in the blanks…

For those of you that don’t get it, view this Wikipedia article on the subject.

I’m going to go check my apartment for possible points of entry now.

Oops, here’s another captcha letting me know what the internet thinks of me.

Technorati Tags: Ted Bundy, captcha, spam

1. Tread lightly- do not immediately dive into a discussion about site mechanics, forum rules you don’t agree with, or get into direct disagreements with long-standing members about such things. You just come off as looking foolish, and you will start off on the wrong foot with basically everyone.

2. Learn to SEARCH the forum archives- There are few things more annoying than people who ask a question with their first post that has already been answered dozens of times in the past.

3. Don’t “drive-by” post- Become a part of the forum community.

4. Be reasonable- Don’t use loud colors, annoying animated gifs, or anything that unnecessarily raises your profile in your avatar or signature.

5. Read the forum rules, especially regarding links, post length, and general forum protocol. Many forums do not allow posting of links until you’ve reached a certain number of posts. Almost all forums frown on posting one-word responses, “+1″s, or smilies. For tech support forums, educate yourself on touchy issues like discussion of torrents or unsolicited advertising.

6. If someone does not immediately respond to your post, don’t repeatedly “bump” it. You just come off as self-absorbed. If someone has something interesting to add to the discussion you started, someone will post it.

7. If you see a post that breaks the rules, don’t feel bad about reporting it to the moderation team. Reporting is almost always anonymous to the general public, and oftentimes (especially in big forum communities) the moderators rely on help from their users.

8. Format your posts nicely- This means using punctuation, paragraphs, adhering to language conventions, and not using excessive punctuation.  Loading a thread and being greeted with a huge block of text in capital letters is a sure way to get either ignored or banned.  This also means making use of hyperlink parsers, quoting, and proper attachment management.

9. Learn to lurk- Start off slowly by reading threads for a while before posting.  You will learn the general attitude of forum members and be able to make a more graceful entry into the community.

Lastly I would like to list some common forum terms you might come across.

• trolling- posting an intentionally inflammatory remark with the intent to rile up fellow forum members.
• thread hijack- making a reply that has an entirely different subject than the original post.
• flame- a negative post or personal insult intended to incite a negative response.
• bump- replying to a thread you started in order to move it to the top of the forum.  Generally frowned upon- if someone has an answer to your question, they will post it.
• thread revive/necrobump- replying to an old post no longer relevant.

Following these nine principles will get you off to a good start almost anywhere. Are there any things I missed? Leave a note in the comments.

You might think that if you lose that little piece you have to buy a whole new adapter, which isn’t totally out of the question considering Apple’s usual method of forcing you to buy an Apple-only replacement. Fortunately, that’s not the case.

For around $3 and a trip to Radio Shack you can not only replace Apple’s plug adapter, you can extend its reach and move the bulky, annoying power brick itself away from the wall. This is especially useful if you’re using a power strip or surge protector, or your outlet is behind a desk where space is at a premium.

You might already own a set of accessories like those pictured below. The 3-foot extension cord is nice, but it has a ground plug, meaning it can’t fit into 2-prong outlets.

Looking more closely at the shape of the connector for that little corner piece. This is the same connector (Unpolarized C7) used for many hard drive power adapters, DVD players, even the XBox gaming system, and you probably have several of them lying around your house if you have even an elementary collection of electronics (picture below). If you don’t have one, cords with this connector of various different lengths can be found at your local electronics store.

Once you have the cord, all you need to do is stick the appropriate end into the power brick.

The connection should be fairly secure, and with my 85W Macbook Pro adapter I can hold the adapter by the plugged-in cord and even swing it around a little without the adapter flying off and hurting someone. The metal ping that secures the Apple-made corner piece to the assembly actually puts upward pressure on the cord, making it more secure.

So if you don’t mind a piece of Apple hardware being aesthetically different from the rest, here are your alternative options and how much money you can save using this solution. For sake of argument, I’ll assume that a cord will run you $5 USD at Radio Shack.

• Buy a new power adapter ($80/Amazon). Savings ~$75
• Buy the international Traveler Kit ($42/Amazon). Savings ~$37
• Buy a replacement off eBay (~$3-5). No savings, but you have to wait for it to ship.

Note that by buying your own cable you can extend the length of your adapter’s cord further than the 3-foot length provided by Apple. As far as I know they don’t make longer cords.

Another nice thing about this solution is that the connector is an international standard. You can go into electronics shops in almost any country and find the C7 plug, so even if you wanted a collection of the major types of plugs it will most likely cost you under $20 US.

In summary:

Advantages:

• Cheap
• International standard
• Fast (don’t need to wait for a shipment)
• Moves the brick away from the outlet.
• Can extend the reach of the adapter longer than 3 feet.

Disadvantages:

• Does not match aesthetically
• Not as secure as the Apple plug
• Official part is available on eBay

A list of adapters this mod will work on:

• 85W Adapter for Macbook Pro
• 60W Adapter for Macbook
• 45W Adapter for Macbook Air
• USB iPod Power Adapter

Update 06 May, 2009: AppleInsider is reporting that a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple for faulty MagSafe Adapters.  The picture in the AppleInsider article is actually exactly what happened to one of my adapters- it was fraying near the magnetic connector and then started to burn through the plastic.  I called Apple and they replaced it without giving me any trouble, and the new unit has a stronger neck connecting the magnetic part and the cord itself.  However, I just took a look at my other Magsafe, and this time the cord is fraying near the neck connecting the brick and the cord that goes to the laptop.  Hrmm…

Technorati Tags: Apple, MagSafe, Power, Adapter, World Traveler, eBay, electricity, plug, accessory, Macbook Pro, Macbook, brick, Radio Shack, Amazon, C7, power cable, cord, iPod