In case you didn’t see it mentioned on other news sites, forums, etc, we announced free shipping on all orders over $150 today thru December 31st from our on-line catalog of over 2,500 products and a Top 10 Gift Giving Ideas list with “stocking stuffer” suggestions starting at $3.99 to help you make tech/gadget gift giving easier and more economical heading into the upcoming “Black Friday/Cyber Monday” holiday shopping kickoff dates.

We’ve been reading that value and frugality are the key objectives of shoppers this year and wanted to make sure we offered the right products and services to make us the easiest, one-stop choice for all your Mac, PC, iPod, and iPhone product purchases. And even bigger news perhaps is that we’ve extended our operation hours so qualifying orders can ship same day when placed as late as 10:30pm as well as permanently extending our Live Chat support to a full 24/7 service level.

OWC Top Gift & Stocking Stuffer ideas include:

• Kensington Pocket-Link 3-in-1 Cable $3.99

Provides retractable Ethernet/telephone and USB cords in a single, self-contained housing.

• Cellboost iRecharge $4.99

External battery pack for iPods/iPhones and other USB chargeable devices.

• OWC Memory Upgrade Kits from $15.99

More memory = faster Mac with easy to install OWC Memory upgrades.

• OWC Express USB 2.0 Enclosure $19.99

Pocket-sized, bus-powered 2.5″ SATA hard drive enclosure for the digital mobile lifestyle.

• NewerTech® NuPower® Charge & Sync+ $39.99

Portable charger, battery pack, and sync solution for iPods, iPhones, and other USB compatible devices.

• NewerTech Voyager Quad Interface Hard Drive Docking Solution $89.99

“Quad Interface” hard drive dock for 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA hard drives up to 2.0TB.

• NewerTech Guardian MAXimus $319.99

Plug and Play RAID 1 with two 1.0TB hard drives for protecting precious holiday memories.

OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay RAID “Quad-Interface” Solutions use the latest Serial ATA drive technology and a custom Oxford 936DS based bridge design to provide total interface flexibility along with Sustained Data Rates of well beyond 200MB/s. These solutions are excellent for a wide range of applications and data storage needs – including all the way up to live High-Definition video capture! High-Performance, Plug & Play, and Reliability backed by an industry leading 3 year full solution warranty.

They’re constructed of aircraft-grade aluminum, measure only 9.3″ L x 2.8″ W x 5.6″ H, and are fully A/V Certified as well as EMC Retrospect Backup Certified for all your A/V, Backup (Time Machine Ready), Graphics, Music, General Data needs and more! You can Plug & Play on whichever best interface option is available on your systems today as well as have future compatibility with 2 x FireWire 800 ports, 1 x FireWire 400 port, 1 x USB port, and 1 x eSATA port. Completely transparent, total interoperability of data access, read/write regardless of what computer(s) and/or interface you switch between…ease of use just doesn’t get any better than this.

Prices start at just $199.99 for these solutions with capacities going all the way up to 4TB. And speaking of that 4TB model, that’s the early “Black Friday” deal…now just $499.99…a $50 drop! And if you want to look at it on a per byte basis, that’s like $0.12 per gigabyte of storage. Or further still, you could use this 4TB model as a home media center and store up to 481 uncompressed DVD’s.

But getting back to the reasons why OWC is better than other brands – we provide detailed information in our descriptions of the exact hard disk drive models you’ll find inside our solutions as well as performance throughput test data so you can see what these fastest in class solutions can offer you in real-world use.

Like all OWC storage solutions, ,the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay RAID models include the full retail version of Prosoft DataBackup III ($59 retail value) for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup ($49 retail value) for Windows. Also included is the complete Intech HD Speedtools performance suite. None of these applications are required to use the Elite, but are excellent applications to have in your utilities library. Plus, don’t overlook the convenience and cost-savings of the included FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB, and eSATA connecting cables.

If you like everything you’ve read thus far and have your own SATA hard drives, we even have DIY Enclosure Kits starting at $107.99 for different RAID and non-RAID modes.

NewerTech’s Guardian MAXimus® is the Plug & Play solution that keeps your data safe with real-time data redundancy via hardware RAID-1 Mirroring. Connect to any Mac or (or PC) with FireWire 800, FireWire 400, eSATA, or USB 2.0 and it does the rest. Perfect for the ultimate Time Machine backup too!

Fast, Easy to Use, Priced Right too!

The NewerTech Guardian MAXimus RAID-1 FW800/400+eSATA+USB2 ‘Quad Interface’ solution provides high performance, exceptional data protection/reliability, and plug and play simplicity with its Oxford936 based bridge interface. This solution is a hardware RAID 1 ‘Redundant Mirror’ which automatically and real-time keeps your data backed up to protect against a hard disk failure. LED indicators on the front of the solution indicate the status of the two drives. Should a drive ever experience a malfunction, normal data operation continues seamlessly. If the malfunction if a recoverable ‘soft’ type, the Guardian MAXimus will rebuild the mirror (also without data interruption) automatically. If the disk failure requires a drive to be replaced, once the new drive is installed – again, the Guardian MAXimus will automatically rebuild the Mirror without loss of data to time.

Available in capacities of up to 2.0TB + 2.0TB Mirrored, the Guardian MAXimus is a sleek, compact Aluminum design of only 9.0″ Long x 2.8″ Wide x 5.8″ High. In addition to the benefits of Hardware RAID 1 Mirroring, these solutions are full certified for Audio/Video, Backup, Graphics, Music, General Data needs and more! With 2 x FW800, 1 x FW400, 1 x USB 2.0/1.1, & 1 x eSATA Ports – units are fully Bootable and provide excellent access flexibility to stored data based via whatever interface choice(s) are available on systems solution may be connected to.

NewerTech Guardian MAXimus FW800/400+USB2+eSATA RAID 1 prices:

• 320GB + 320GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Data Buffer –  now $219.99 (a $10 Price Drop)
• 500GB + 500GB Mirror 7200RPM w/32MB total Data Buffer –  now $229.99 (a $10 Price Drop)
• 750GB + 750GB Mirror 7200RPM w/64MB total Data Buffer – remains at $299.99
• 1.0TB + 1.0TB Mirror 7200RPM w/64MB total Data Buffer – remains at $319.99
• 1.5TB + 1.5TB Mirror 7200RPM w/64MB total Data Buffer – remains at $399.99
• 2.0TB + 2.0TB Mirror 7200RPM w/64MB total Data Buffer – now $519.99 (a $30 Price Drop)

Solutions all include connecting cables for FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB, and eSATA + Intech HD Speedtools Utility Suite for Apple OS X, Prosoft DataBackup III – Full retail application for Apple OS X ($59 retail value), NovaStor NovaBackup – Full Retail Application for Windows ($49 retail value), everything you need to plug and play and go. Solutions are further backed by a full THREE YEAR NewerTech Solution Warranty.

Also Available – do it yourself GMAX RAID-1:
0GB Kit – build your own Guardian Mirror available now $139.99 (an $8 price drop) – software bundle & cables included.

Special Offer: NewerTech Guardian solutions qualify for Prosoft Drive Genius OWC Exclusive Special Offer!

Buy Drive Genius now for as low as $25 with purchase of a qualifying storage product – That’s up to 74% off retail price, up to 37% off OWC’s lowest normal selling price! Details online here: http://eshop.macsales.com/special_offer/prosoft_Drive_Genius

While NASA’s LCROSS mission perhaps fizzled to the naked eye, I did catch some highlights in OWC Larry’s recent Hot Deals Blast that might lift your spirits. And if you aren’t a subscriber to the Blast, you can do so for free by visiting the OWC Resource Center. “What’s a Hot Deals Blast?” you might be asking…well the official description from our site is:

Some deals are of such limited quantity or just simply too hot to wait for our next Tips n’ Deals emailing. The OWC Hot Deals Blast goes out 5-7 times a month and subscribers are sure to have the first shot at new specials we put online. This is the list to be on to make sure you’ve got the first shot at new deals, clearance specials, etc!

That said, two product mentions jumped out at me as being very useful. The first is how you can maintain your Mac like a Genius and perform Recovery like a Pro.

Prosoft Drive Genius should be a standard part of every Mac user’s software library. For $59.99 (vs. $99 retail) or as low as $25 with a qualifying storage solution, it’s a great deal + an application that can pay for itself. This is the same utility that the Apple Store Genuis Bar uses for the ‘Yearly Tune Up’ service that is part of the ProCare service they offer. Instead of paying them to do it, you can keep your Mac running great and right from the comfort of your own home. Already fully updated for Apple OS 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’ – this utility suite includes:

Drive Slim – locates duplicate, identical files and allows these space wasting dupes to be deleted and can put aliases in their place so no problem finding the single file that remains.

DeFrag – Over time, as you write new files, update existing files, delete files – files and file groupings on your hard drive become fragmented. As a result of fragmentation, your hard drive has to move the read/write heads to multiple locations when reading and/or writing and that slows things down. By optimizing your drive with the Defrag utility, best data access performance is then restored.

Repair – fixes minor corruption/file system issues; Shred – DoD compliant erasure of data from unused portion of drive/after file deletion, etc.; Clone – make a bootable clone of your entire drive on another, for backup or when upgrading to a new drive; Integrity check – make sure all systems are ‘go/green’ – identify those that are not; And more!

Prosoft Data Rescue is the utility that can save you big time should a major problem occur. Also available for $59 (vs. $99 retail), this utility is tops for recovering data. From accidental file deletions to catastrophic drive directory corruption and even with a drive that is failing -this is the utility up to the task of bringing back your critical files. Somethings even a backup isn’t going help you with – and before paying the high price for someone else to recover your priceless data, more often than not – as long as the drive is still seen (even if it won’t mount), Data Rescue will save the day.

Keep your Mac tip-top + be prepared – Both Drive Genius + Data Rescue together for $109.99 (vs. $198 Retail)

The second item that caught my eye was how you can power your mobile Mac with genuine Apple MagSafe Power Adapters. We’ve got ‘em used or refurbished, fully tested, and backed by a 90 day OWC Warranty starting at $42.75 in the following models:

Apple Genuine 85 Watt Magsafe AC Power Adapter for all Apple MacBook Pro 15″ and 17″ Models

Apple Genuine 60 Watt Magsafe AC Power Adapter for all Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro 13″ Models

Apple Genuine 45 Watt Magsafe AC Power Adapter for all Apple MacBook Air Models

If you can use a spare adapter, or need a replacement for one gone bad – this saves you over $30 vs. the cost of a new adapter. NOTE: it is important to purchase the adapter model that is correct for the laptop model you have/plan to use it with. Using a lower wattage adapter than correct for your machine will impact charging time while a higher wattage than specified can reduce the lifetime of the battery.

One thing to remember on all of the above prices…those are the everyday prices. There are additional savings to be had if you are a Hot Deals Blast subscriber…so join today!

Do remember those old but memorable Doublemint chewing gum ads on TV?  The ads had a jingle with the famous phrase “Double your pleasure…Double your fun…” which lends itself perfectly to today’s examination of the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay RAID Solutions.

Two drives for doubling your performance storage capacity up to 4TB and two interface models to double your purchase options!

Today’s spotlight rests on the “Quad Interface” model. Its custom Oxford 936DS chipset provides interface flexibility along with sustained data rates of well beyond 200MB/s. That kind of performance makes the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay an excellent choice for a wide range of data storage needs like backup (Time Machine ready), graphics, music, and even live High-Definition Video capture! Speaking of video capabilities, these professional grade solutions are fully A/V Certified, EMC Retrospect Backup Certified, and Pro Tools Compatible.

With two FireWire 800 ports, one FireWire 400 port, one USB port, and one eSATA port (hence the “Quad” moniker) and all interface connection cables included, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay Raid Solutions are ready for Plug & Play use with Macs and PCs available today as well as in the future.

Performance can also mean knowing exactly what you’re getting and what the expected performance should be. Unlike the competition, OWC provides detailed information of the exact hard disk drive models you’ll find inside our solutions (no mystery meat here) as well as performance throughput test data to see just what you can expect from these fastest in class solutions.

And if their sleek, compact aircraft grade Aluminum housings aren’t more captivating than those TV twins, check out the attractive price drops we’ve given the Quad models:

640GB 7200RPM with 32MB of Data Buffer – $199.99
1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB of Data Buffer was $219.99, now $217.99
1.5TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer was $279.99, now $274.99
2.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB of Data Buffer – $294.99
2.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer was $307.99, now $299.99
2.0TB Enterprise 7200RPM 64MB Data Buf – $399.99
3.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer was $407.99, now $379.99
4.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer was $619.99, now $549.99

See the full line up:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/PerformanceRAID/

As is standard with all OWC storage solutions, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay Solutions include a $200 retail value disk utility bundle consisting of Prosoft DataBackup III, NovaStor NovaBackup, Intech HD Speedtools, and Carbon Copy Cloner. And, if you want to add to your utility library, you can save up to 74% off the retail price of Prosoft Drive Genius with the purchase of qualifying OWC storage products. Plus, don’t forget about the industry leading three year warranty and 48 Hour Warranty Service.

Want to DIY? Get one of our OWC Elite-AL Pro RAID SATA HD Enclosure Kits with user configurable RAID modes now starting from $107.99

There are so many great things going for the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay Solutions that it almost makes me want to sing about it. But that might pit me against a much better Chicago area commercial legend.

Avast Ye and a hearty Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day to ya!

And with the pirate theme today check out our specials and clearance listin’s with prices so low you will practically be stealin’ t’ booty from us.

Just a few of t’ gems ye’ll be findin’ thar:

Apple genuine Magsafe 45W, 60W and 85W Power Adapters from $42.75

Kensington PocketLink 3-in-1 Cable- Retractable Ethernet, USB & Telephone cord for mobile or home use for only $2.99

The Vidpro SN-925 Notebook Workstation with Integrated 6 port USB 2.0 powered Hub & Media Card Reader. only $29.99

Apple Genuine MacBook and MacBook Pro batteries from only $49.99

…and who could live without t’ LIDAR evading Laser Plate – Clear Automobile License Plate Protective Shield  for only a measly $4.99 Arrr!

So join us in a tankard of grog, Rum, or brain toniq and join in the fun.

For complete information on the world-wide phenomenon that IS Talk like a Pirate Day, check out the official website:

There are few constants in life. Death and taxes are the cliché ones. I’ll also add to the list the Chicago Cubs not making it to the World Series, movies based off of video games being terrible, and memory upgrades from Apple costing way too much.

That last one is a big one in the Mac community; it can cost up to $1100 to upgrade the latest model iMac, MacBook or MacBook Pro to a full 8GB if you get your memory from Apple.

That’s just plain silly.

As we have mentioned time and time again, adding more memory is—dollar for dollar—the most cost-effective upgrade you can perform on your Mac, a constant that is even more true now that Snow Leopard is on the scene. That is, of course, as long as you don’t fall into the trap of buying your memory from Apple.

OWC now has 8GB upgrade kits for $519.99. That’s less than half of what it would cost to upgrade your Mac to 8GB at the factory. Making this deal even better, an additional $45 Rebate is available with the trade-in of the factory standard 4GB memory set (two 2GB chips), giving this upgrade a net cost of well under $500! That’s a heck of a lot better than the $1100 Apple charges. The only difference is that you need to install it yourself. Fortunately, we have free instructions for performing these upgrades easily available.

There are also 6GB Kits for both the latest the latest DDR3 models as well as 6GB DDR2 Kits for previous generation iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro models that originally only had up to 4GB possible. Prices for these start at $174.99 for the DDR2 kits and $299.99 for the DDR3 kit, and these are immediately available.

Of course, if you want more RAM but don’t want to max out the machine, there are other options available for iMacs, Mac minis, MacBooks  and MacBook Pros, as well.

For those of you who have been putting off the purchase of a new OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad-Interface” Storage Solution, your procrastination has paid off. We’ve dropped the prices even lower - they’re now more affordable than ever.

While I could go on about the features of the drive, I’ve already done that in other posts, and I really hate to repeat myself.

So, instead, I’d like to share a couple of my favorite quotes from recent reviews of the Mercury Elite-AL Pro series.

The first one came from About.com earlier this week. This article caused me a little bit of confusion; while all the specs were modern, the physical description (and the pictures) were of the older case design, which we retired last December. Performance didn’t change, though, and that’s something important to note. Since little about the bridge board itself has changed, data throughput will have remained just as good.

However, the main reason I’m including it  is that it had a great opening paragraph, which kind of sums up why I, myself, happen to like this series of drives.

OWC’s Mercury Elite-AL Pro series of external hard drives and cases provides more bang for the buck, not only in having a quad interface made up of USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and eSATA ports, but also in ruggedness and ease of assembly and use.

Pretty spot-on, I’d say.

The other quote I have is from MacTalk. Whereas the About.com review needed an entire, eloquent paragraph to distill its essence, MacTalk’s review was best summed up in a single sentence:

The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Quad Interface external drive enclosure is one bitchin’ fast enclosure.

Oh yeah…. that’s what I like to hear.

I could probably go on all day about the rave reviews the Mercury Elite-AL series has gotten, but I get the feeling you may be more interested in the actual prices…

• 250GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – $119.99
• 320GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $122.99
• 500GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $129.99
• 750GB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – $159.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $164.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW 179.99
• 1.0TB “Enterprise Class” 7200RPM with 32MB Buffer – $229.99
• 1.5TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW $219.99
• 2.0TB GreenPower w/32MB Data Buffer – NOW  $329.99
• OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 0GB Enclosure Kits are also available starting from $49.99. These kits allow you to install your own 3.5” SATA drive in a versatile, high-quality enclosure.

The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” has always been a great value. Now, with this latest round of price drops, the value is even better.

Another week has gone by, and here we are with another drop in prices on an OWC Storage Solution.

This time around, we’re dropping the prices on the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID “Quad Interface”. I could go on and on about this model RAID, but the specifications are almost identical to the “Triple Interface” version we featured last week, with the exception of this singular difference:

The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID “Quad Interface” features four ways you can connect it to your computer, hence the name. Whether you want to connect via eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB 2.0, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID “Quad Interface” can oblige, offering connection speeds of up to 300MB/s via eSATA.

Other than this difference, all the features – the Oxford-based bridge, full bootability, all the cables & backup software, the industry-leading 3-year warranty, etc. – you can find on the “Triple Interface” model, you can find on the “Quad Interface” model.

So, without any further ado, let’s get to the prices.

• 640GB 7200RPM with 32MB of Data Buffer – $199.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB of Data Buffer – $219.99
• 1.5TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer – $279.99
• 2.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB of Data Buffer – $294.99
• 2.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer – NOW $307.99
• 2.0TB “Enterprise Class” 7200RPM w/64MB Buffer – NOW $387.99
• 3.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer – NOW $407.99
• 4.0TB GreenPower2  64MB of Data Buffer – NOW $619.99 (that’s a $100 price drop!)
• OWC Elite-AL Pro RAID SATA HD x 2 enclosure kits are also available without drives as ‘Add Your Own Hard Drives Kits’ starting from $104.99, and have user configurable options for different RAID and non-RAID modes.

You may be wondering how we can keep offering these price drops on our enclosures. Well… that I can’t tell you. But what I can guarantee you is that we’re not skimping on the quality that we’ve put in all our Storage Solutions.

As I mentioned in April, OWC puts a lot of attention into our Storage Solutions, right down to the little details. That means you still get all the cables you need for the solution, that you still get great backup software bundled in, and there are never any “mystery meat,” generic drive mechanisms in our enclosures.

Seems like lately I’m playing a fun game of “he said” with OWC Chris S. In this installment, I once again have to commend Chris for his well phrased examination on all the features and benefits offered by the Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Triple Interface” single bay storage solution.

However, that was back in late July and the “now” news is about lower prices on the “Dual Interface” version of this professional grade storage solution. Featuring FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces and capacity from 80GB to 2.0TB starting at just $74.99, you just can’t find a better combination of value, performance, and award winning “buy with confidence” reputation in Mac or PC desktop storage.

Here’s a quick “tale of the tape”:

• Oxford 934SSA based performance bridge solution

• Two 1394A pin 6 pin FireWire 400 ports, One USB 2.0 port

• FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connecting cables included

• Up to 32MB drive cache

• Fully bootable and ideal for applications, A/V, photos, music, etc.

• Certified for Audio/Video and Time Machine

• Compact, shock resistant Aluminum design

• $200 retail value utility bundle: Prosoft DataBackup III (OS X), NovaStor NovaBackup (Windows), Carbon Copy Cloner (OS X), and Intech Speedtools (8.6-10.5.x)

• Fully Mac & PC compatible

• Industry leading 3 year Solution Warranty

So, now that I’ve got your attention, let’s get to the main course…bring on the models!

80GB 7200RPM with 8MB Data Buffer $74.99
160GB 7200RPM with 8MB Data Buffer $ 89.99
250GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $ 95.99
320GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $ 97.99
500GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $107.99
750GB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer $134.99
1.0TB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $137.99
1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer $149.99
1.0TB Enterprise 7200RPM 32MB Buffer  $189.99
1.5TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer $194.99
2.0TB GreenPower w/32MB Data Buffer $299.99 (A $30 drop!)

All of the above models can be found at: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/400+USB2/

And if you’re a DIY’er, we even offer 0GB “Add Your Own Drive” Kits from $49.99 so you can build a solution with your own supplied hard drive! And of course, we offer the resources you need to make that install easy like free installation videos in our Tech Support area.

Who would have imagined it? Just two months after the initial Falling Prices posts, we’re already in repeats. In June, we announced some great price reductions in our Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID “Triple Interface” model line. Now, we’re happy to announce even further price cuts.

As I mentioned back then, these are really nice units: fast enough for the data I was writing to it and incredibly easy to set up. With all the software and extras included (hint: the secret ingredient is “love”) they were a great deal before; this new price drop makes them an even better value.

In case you’re new (and/or just don’t feel like searching the archives) let’s go over some of the features of this specific OWC Storage Solution:

• Triple-Interface - The  Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID can connect up via FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 2.0. All you need to do is plug it in and go, so it’s great for projects that need to bounce between computers.
• Custom Oxford-based bridge - This A/V Certified bridge chipset ensures fast and reliable data transfer between the drives and your computer.
• Large Capacity - The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID is available in capacities up to 4.0TB. That’s enough room to store all your music, Photos, capture video, or even make backups.
• Fast, Fast, Fast - There are two 7200 RPM drives, configured in a RAID 0 (striped) in this solution. This provides phenomenal read/write speeds, making disk-intensive tasks, such as video capture and editing, much faster.
• Fully Bootable - With Snow Leopard releasing soon, many people are cloning their old system over to an external drive before installing the new OS. With the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID, you can rest assured that if a key piece of software is incompatible with 10.6, you can boot right to your clone and continue working.
• No searching for cables - Like all OWC products, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID comes with all the connecting cables you need. Whether you need FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB 2.0, the cable is in the box so you can use your drive right away.
• Backup software included - For making your backups easy, we include the full retail version of Prosoft DataBackup III ($59 retail value) for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup ($49 retail value) for Windows. Also included is the Intech HD Speedtools performance suite and Carbon Copy Cloner. None of these applications are required to use the Elite, but they are excellent applications to have in your utilities library.
• 3-Year Warranty - The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID is backed by an industry leading 3 Year Full Solution Warranty, underscoring OWC’s commitment to quality, performance and reliability.
• The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID also qualifies for our exclusive Prosoft Drive Genius offer! Buy Drive Genius now for as low as $25 with purchase of a qualifying storage product – That’s up to 74% off retail price, up to 37% off OWC’s lowest normal selling price!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – these Storage Solutions are one heck of a value, especially with these new, lower prices.

• 640GB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW $179.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – $199.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW $254.99
• 2.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – $259.99
• 2.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB Data Buffer – NOW $287.99
• 2.0TB “Enterprise Class” 7200RPM w/64MB Buffer – NOW $359.99
• 3.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer – $379.99
• 4.0TB GreenPower w/64MB of Data Buffer – was $679.99, NOW $579.99 (a $100 price drop!)
• OWC Elite-AL Pro RAID SATA HD x 2 enclosure kits are also available without drives as ‘Add Your Own Hard Drives Kits’ starting from $104.99, and have user configurable options for different RAID and non-RAID modes.

Ease of use, speed and reliability make the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID a great solution. These new prices make them a great value.

While OWC Chris S. did a very nice and thorough examination of all the benefits to the FireWire 400/USB 2.0 “Combo Interface” Mercury On-The-Go Pro just last week, I wanted to make you aware of the biggest savings ride offered in this product.

While perhaps not as exciting from a speed thrills standpoint, the USB 2.0 only interface On-The-Go Pro models offer all the same great base benefits but at the lowest prices in the line.

Think of it this way…when you want to go somewhere, and don’t have a lot of green, you can still get to your destination by bus…and in this case, via USB 2.0 that’s found on nearly every legacy to modern computer.

So go ahead, climb aboard the bus…and enjoy the savings from us!

80GB 5400RPM w/ 2MB Buffer    -  $62.99
160GB 5400RPM w/ 8MB Buffer  -  $72.99
250GB 5400RPM w/ 8MB Buffer  -  $82.99
320GB 5400RPM w/ 8MB Buffer  -  $89.99
500GB 5400RPM w/ 8MB Buffer  -  $114.99

250GB 7200RPM w/ 16MB Buffer -  $92.99
320GB 7200RPM w/ 16MB Buffer -  $102.99
500GB 7200RPM w/ 16MB Buffer -  $159.99 (a $30 price drop)

And geez…even the 0GB “Add Your Own Drive” Kit is priced from $25.99. About the only way to travel with your data more economically would be by special Express!

About a month or so ago, we had a series of price drops across our line of external enclosures. Well, the trend continues, this time extending into our popular Mercury On-The-Go Pro series. I’m a big fan of these drives, owning a couple for several years now, and these new prices have me looking at purchasing yet another one to compliment my new MacBook Pro.

I’m not alone in praising the On-The-Go Pro; it has received praise from the likes of MacFormat UK, The Mac Observer, Photoshop User, CNET and Macworld. It has even been used by Macworld as the drive to beat when comparing  other portables. Why all the love? Let’s take a look at what this pocket-sized powerhouse offers:

• FireWire and USB 2.0 connectivity - No matter what computer you want to hook it up to, the Mercury On-The-Go Pro can accommodate. Whether you want to use the fast FireWire connection or the near-ubiquitous USB 2.0, the OTG (as we like to call it around these parts) can not only connect, but it can even be powered by your bus of choice. Leave that tag along AC adapter at home!
• Fully Bootable - This is great for backing up your system on the road. If something happens to your main drive and you’ve cloned your system to the Mercury On-The-Go Pro, all you need to is hook it up and you can continue working as if you were running off your internal drive.
• Fast, Fast, Fast - The Mercury On-The-Go Pro features Oxford Performance chipsets (FireWire), and the best qualified HD mechanisms for optimum performance and reliability.
• Made for travel - The small form factor lets you conveniently stow it in your laptop bag, a desk drawer, or even your shirt pocket! Its shock absorbing design further protects the drive (and your valuable data) from the rigors of day-to-day travel.
• Backup software included - Backing up with the Mercury On-The-Go Pro is even easier with the included software bundle. We include the full retail versions of Prosoft DataBackup III ($59 retail value) for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup ($49 retail value) for Windows. Also included is the Intech HD Speedtools performance suite and Carbon Copy Cloner. None of these applications are required to use the drive, but they are excellent applications to have in your utilities library.
• Accessories included - The Mercury On-The-Go Pro comes with all the cables you need to use the drive right out of the box. We even include a nice carrying case to keep it all together when you’re on the road.
• 3-Year Warranty - OWC stands behind its products. The Mercury On-The-Go Pro is covered with an industry leading 3-Year Full Solution Warranty.
• The Mercury On-The-Go Pro also qualifies for our exclusive Prosoft Drive Genius offer! Buy Drive Genius now for as low as $25 with purchase of a qualifying storage product – That’s up to 74% off retail price, up to 37% off OWC’s lowest normal selling price! This isn’t a “limited/non-support” version, either – it’s the full retail version! It’s a great deal on a great product.

Now that we’ve established what makes the On-The-Go Pro so popular, let’s take a look at the great new prices that will make the On-The-Go Pro.

• 80GB 5400RPM 2MB Buffer – NOW $ 74.99
• 120GB 5400RPM 8MB Buffer – NOW $84.99
• 250GB 5400RPM 8MB Buffer - $99.97
• 320GB 5400RPM 8MB Buffer - $109.99
• 500GB 5400RPM 8MB Buffer – NOW $139.99

• 250GB 7200RPM 16MB Buffer – NOW $112.99
• 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Buffer – $125.99
• 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Buffer – was $219.99, now $199.99 (That’s a $20 price drop!)
• Also available, OWC On-the-Go 2.5” Kits ‘add your own drive’ now priced from $25.99

Built for performance, reliability, and durability, the Mercury On-The-Go models have been recognized with top reviews and include ‘Very Good’, ‘Gear of the Year’, and Editor’s Choice award bestowments. Bus Powered, Pocket Sized – High Capacity Storage in the palm of your hand!

Double Feature – further falling prices!

You may recall that the original set of price drops were for the NewerTech miniStack. Well, aficionados of hard drives with integrated FireWire and USB hubs can rejoice – we have even more price reduction on these to announce.

• 160GB 7200RPM w/ 8MB Buffer – $139.99
• 250GB 7200RPM w/ 8MB Buffer – $142.99
• 320GB 7200RPM w/ 16MB Buffer – $144.99
• 500GB 7200RPM w/ 16MB Buffer – $149.99
• 750GB 7200RPM w/ 32MB Buffer – $179.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM w/ 16MB Buffer – $184.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM w/ 32MB Buffer – $199.99
• 1.0TB “Enterprise” Class 7200RPM w/ 32MB buffer – NOW $237.99
• 1.5TB 7200RPM w/ 32MB Buffer – NOW $247.99
• 2TB “GreenPower” w/ 32MB Buffer – NOW $349.99 (a $30 price drop)

That’s two drive series Price Drops in one post! In these economic times, every penny counts, so we here at OWC are making sure you get the best bang for your buck every day!

At the moment, most – if not all memory upgrades – are still selling for substantially below the prices the same upgrades went for this time last year. What’s significant is that those prices a year ago were pretty much at lows already with the chipmakers (Micron, Hynix, Samsung, Etc) selling the parts at prices under that which it costs to produce. These companies have posted – individually – billions in losses on these memory chip sales over the past 2 years. Micron alone has lost over $2 billion during that period. When 4GB was selling for $99 last August – those prices were not sustainable. Due to the global economic meltdown at the end of 2008, costs that were already way below what was supportable dove to all new lows as the chipmakers needed to keep cash flow going. In 2009, we’ve seen productions reduced and entire producers (Qimonda/Infineon for example) completely exit production. As a result, prices had been easing up over the course of this year as the supply/demand equation has come into balance.

Today’s prices are still as much as 50% less than where the cost of various modules could easily be heading. Just over the past five days we’ve now seen cost increases of another 5-10% on DDR2 and DDR3 memory that was already up about 20-30% just over the prior 3-4 weeks. After about two years+ of supply imbalance, we are seeing things start to move swiftly back to a cost level that – if nothing else – will ensure memory continues to be available while these producers stop bleeding red ink to turn out the parts.

Currently, we have stock that doesn’t reflect the latest cost increases. More memory makes a tremendous difference for performance and will make an even bigger difference with Apple’s 10.6 Snow Leopard too. I have no crystal ball – with respect to real costs and supply – but it’s far more likely for pricing to continue ticking up a slope than go downhill again. It’s finally come to the point where the remaining chip makers no longer can continue producing parts sold below true cost vs. that long time bit about it being better to keep production lines going. They can’t afford to and the adjustment to supply is starting to show.

So, how do you turn this somewhat scary price ride into a fun, thrilling experience? Add some speed thrills to your Mac by getting in line on our site right now with these deals:

Add up to 8GB of Memory / Ram to Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro models with 4GB kits from $62.99

Add up to 8GB of Memory / Ram to Apple iMac models with 4GB kits from $62.99

Add up to 4GB of Memory / Ram to Apple Mac mini Models with 4GB from $62.99

Add up to 32GB of Memory / Ram to Apple Mac Pro Models with 8GB Kits from $25.62 per GB of upgrade

Your model not listed above? Never fear…we have upgrades for nearly every Mac produced during the last two decades!

More than just the original factory maximums, we also have tested and support configurations that were not or in some cases still not available from Apple. This includes up to 6GB or 8GB on various MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac models that were limited to 4GB; 16GB or 32GB on Mac Pro models originally limited to 8GB or 16GB. When you select memory upgrades by your model – our site shows exactly what upgrade options we have tested and support for your specific machine. Outside of Apple, OWC has the most extensively Apple Mac computer equipped testing lab which enables us to truly confirm all aspects of memory operation. This lab includes nearly every Apple Mac model that has been released over the past 15 years. We don’t just produce & sell memory for Mac – we know Mac memory inside and out.

Not all memory is created equal – OWC guarantees all our memory to meet or exceed Apple Specifications with particular attention to Apple specific requirements including (but not limited to) cooling/temperature, temperature sensor chips, SPD firmware, and gives you purchasing confidence by backing it with a Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty. Heck, we even offer cash back rebates for your old Apple memory modules!

So go ahead, buckle on in and let us help you take your Mac on a thrill ride before the “admission fee” increases.

Hardware and/or software bundles are often really good deals. Most times, you can get a number of pieces that work exceptionally well together for a price considerably lower than if you purchased them separately. When combined with lowered prices, these bundles become even more attractive.

Just such a thing has come to the OWC Mercury Pro Blu-ray “Quad interface” optical drives.

First, let’s take a look at the new pricing/features of just the drive solutions:

• OWC Mercury Pro “Quad Interface” External Drive (model OWCMRF8UEBDW6) - $299.99.
  • eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 interface
  • Up to 6X Blu-ray, 16X DVD, and 40X CD Burn Speeds.
  • Includes all connection cables
  • Two 25GB 4X BD-R discs
  • One year OWC warranty
• OWC Mercury Pro “Quad Interface” External Drive (model OWCMRF8BDSD8X) - $349.99.
  • eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 interface
  • Up to 8X Blu-ray, 16X DVD, and 32X CD Burn Speeds
  • Includes all connection cables
  • Two 25GB 4X BD-R discs
  • One year OWC warranty.

While those are great prices on great drives, we’re taking it a bit further and offering up a pair of bundles with Toast 10 Titanium Pro, as well. A long time Mac favorite tool for burning CDs and DVDs, Toast 10 Titanium Pro takes burning on Macs to the next level with built-in Blu-ray data and video disc burning capabilities, in addition to DVD & CD support.

• OWC Mercury Pro “Quad Interface” External Drive and Toast 10 Titanium Pro Bundle (model OWCMRF8UEBDW6T) – $399.99.
  • eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 interface
  • Up to 6X Blu-ray, 16X DVD, and 40X CD Burn Speeds.
  • Includes all connection cables
  • Two 25GB 4X BD-R discs
  • One year OWC warranty
  • Full Retail Version of Toast 10 Titanium Pro
• OWC Mercury Pro “Quad Interface” External Drive and Toast 10 Titanium Pro Bundle (model OWCMRF8BDSD8XT) – $449.99.
  • eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 interface
  • Up to 8X Blu-ray, 16X DVD, and 32X CD Burn Speeds
  • Includes all connection cables
  • Two 25GB 4X BD-R discs
  • One year OWC warranty.
  • Full Retail Version of Toast 10 Titanium Pro

Let’s Get High-Definition!

Of course, the really great thing about bundling Toast 10 Titanium Pro with our Mercury Pro Blu-ray drives is that it becomes the perfect combination for burning your HD videos for playback on your home Blu-ray player. With HD video cameras widely available, and even iMovie being capable of handling HD video, it somehow seems kind of silly to have to edit all that HD footage together and scale it down to DVD if you want to watch it on your television.

So the question is: if the OWC Mercury Pro supports Blu-Ray media and Toast 10 Titanium Pro allows you to author Blu-ray video discs, what’s stopping you from taking your HD movies and putting them on Blu-ray, for highest-quality playback? Instructions, of course!

Fortunately, OWC has you covered there, too. We’ve put together a nice walkthrough of how to create a basic Blu-ray video that will play on your home Blu-ray player.

Now, you can view your HD video the way it was meant to be viewed – in full HD!

This is one I’m sure you’ve been waiting for. Following the price drops on the NewerTech miniStack, the Triple-Interface Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID and the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad”, we’ve got some reductions for the popular Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” external Storage Solution.

Like all of our Storage Solutions, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” offers incredible value along with great versatility.

• “Quad”-Interface - Whatever connection you have open, be it eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 2.0, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” has you covered.
• Oxford 924 performance bridge - Our high-quality bridge boards ensure that no matter how you have it hooked up, you’ll get the best performance you can.
• Fully Bootable - The Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” is fully bootable on your Mac, making it a great choice for a bootable clone.
• Large Data Buffer - Data buffers up to 32MB make high data transfer tasks, such as video capture, more relaiable and less susceptible to interruption.
• All cables are included - Nobody likes having to search for the appropriate cable to hook up their drives. You don’t have to worry about that with OWC Storage Solutions; we include one for each interface.
• Backup software included - Backing up with the Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” is even easier, with the included software bundle. We include the full retail version of Prosoft DataBackup III ($59 retail value) for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup ($49 retail value) for Windows. Also included is the Intech HD Speedtools performance suite and Carbon Copy Cloner. None of these applications are required to use the Elite, but they are excellent applications to have in your utilities library.
• 3-Year Warranty - OWC stands behind its products. The Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” with an industry leading 3-Year Full Solution Warranty.
• The Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface”  also qualifies for our exclusive Prosoft Drive Genius offer! Buy Drive Genius now for as low as $25 with purchase of a qualifying storage product – That’s up to 74% off retail price, up to 37% off OWC’s lowest normal selling price! This isn’t a “limited/non-support” version, either – it’s the full retail version! It’s a great deal on a great product.

Those are just some of the reasons the Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” is such a popular Storage Solution. Now, it’s going to be even more popular with these new prices!

• 250GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $119.99
• 320GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $124.99
• 500GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $134.99
• 750GB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW $159.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer – NOW $165.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW 184.99
• 1.0TB “Enterprise Class” 7200RPM with 32MB Buffer – $229.99
• 1.5TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW $229.99
• 2.0TB GreenPower w/32MB Data Buffer – NOW  $359.99 (a $60 price drop)
• OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 0GB Enclosure Kits are also available starting from $49.99. These kits allow you to install your own 3.5” SATA drive in a versatile, high-quality enclosure.

For fast storage that’s easy to use, you can’t go wrong with the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID. For best value, you can’t go wrong with OWC.

No matter how you look at it, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro ‘Quad-Interface’ is the choice for High-Performance, Reliability, and Flexibility.

Looking to be among the first notified of these special deals and more?  Sign up for OWC Larry’s Tips and Deals Newsletter.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw price drops on both the miniStack v3 and the Triple-Interface Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID. It turns out that this week, the Elite RAID’s bigger brother, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” is also seeing a price reduction.

This round of pice drops adds even more value to a Storage Solution that’s already packed with features like these:

• Quad-Interface - The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” can connect up via eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 2.0 for maximum versatility
• Fast, Fast, Fast - There are two 7200 RPM drives, configured in a RAID 0 (striped) in this solution. This provides fast read/write speeds, speeding up disk-intensive tasks, such as video capture and editing. The eSATA connection allows you to utilize the RAID to its maximum performance.
• Custom Oxford-based bridge - This A/V Certified bridge chipset ensures fast and reliable data transfer between the drives and your computer.
• Fully Bootable - If you use this Storage Solution to clone your internal drive, you can boot right to the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID and continue working should your main drive fail. Speed enthusiasts may also want to try using it as their main boot drive, taking advantage of the speed this solution can offer.
• Large Capacity - The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” is available in capacities up to 4.0TB. That’s enough to back up several home computers.
• Brand-name Hard Drives - There’s no worries about “mystery meat” here. OWC Storage Solutions use high-quality drive mechanisms from well-known drive manufacturers such as Hitachi and Western Digital, and we tell you exactly which mechanism is used right there in our specifications.
• No searching for cables - Like all OWC products, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” comes with all the cables you need. Whether you need eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB 2.0, the cable is in the box so you can use your drive right away.
• Backup software included - For making your backups easy, we include the full retail version of Prosoft DataBackup III ($59 retail value) for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup ($49 retail value) for Windows. Also included is the Intech HD Speedtools performance suite and Carbon Copy Cloner. None of these applications are required to use the Elite, but they are excellent applications to have in your utilities library.
• 3-Year Warranty - The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” is backed by an industry leading 3 Year Full Solution Warranty. We know our products are high-quality, and we stand behind them!
• The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Performance 7200RPM RAID also qualifies for our exclusive Prosoft Drive Genius offer! Buy Drive Genius now for as low as $25 with purchase of a qualifying storage product – That’s up to 74% off retail price, up to 37% off OWC’s lowest normal selling price!

Okay, we all know that the The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” is a great Storage Solution, but all the features in the world don’t mean anything if the pricing is obnoxiously high. Don’t worry. Remember the first paragraph of this post? We’re talking about price drops. Here’s the scoop:

• 640GB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – NOW  $199.99
• 1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer – $219.99
• 1.5TB 7200RPM with 64MB Data Buffer - $279.99
• 2.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer - NOW $289.99
• 2.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB Data Buffer – was $369.99, NOW $319.99 (a $50 price drop!)
• 2.0TB “Enterprise Class” 7200RPM w/64MB Buffer - NOW $394.99
• 3.0TB 7200RPM with 64MB of Data Buffer - NOW $409.99
• 4.0TB GreenPower w/64MB of Data Buffer - was $779.99, now $719.99 (a $60 price drop)
• OWC Elite-AL Pro RAID SATA HD x 2 enclosure kits are also available without drives as  ‘Add Your Own Hard Drives Kit’ starting from $104.99, and have user configurable options for different RAID and non-RAID modes.

The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro RAID “Quad” is a high-quality, fast, easy-to-use RAID storage solution. These new prices just make them an even better value.