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And The Mac Pro Upgrade Savings Beat Goes On

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 | Author: OWC Grant

I read a good interview on Cher the other day and when I sat down to write this post, her “Beat Goes On” duet just seemed apropos for this topic.

Now that Apple officially supports 64GB of RAM in the Dual Processor 2010 Mac Pro 8-core and 12-core models, I got to wondering what the cost of that upgrade would be compared to our own 64GB kits.

A 64GB factory RAM upgrade will set you back a cool $3550.

Wanna save up to 48% on that upgrade? Then just buy OWC kits priced from $1819.99.

You don’t have to have a top of the line Mac Pro to enjoy those level of savings.

The single processor Quad-core model maxes out at 32GB at a factory cost of $1775. OWC’s 32GB RAM upgrade for this machine runs $919.99…and savings of 48% again.

And those savings don’t even take into consideration our cash back rebate offer for factory modules!

If I can pound that drumbeat rhythm into any Mac Pro owners consciousness, it’s that you can save big money by upgrading your RAM with OWC.

To see all the upgrades for the 2010 Mac Pro models, just visit this easy to find what you’re looking for page.

Have a 2006-2009 Mac Pro? No worries, we have just what your machine needs to run its best.

And the beat goes on….

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Category: Product Spotlight
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How Training & Resources Serve OWC Customers

Friday, March 4th, 2011 | Author: OWC Jessica

As a first time poster,  I would love to share my OWC experience with you and how it makes a difference for you.

You may remember an introduction to OWC’s hybrid representative role from a blog post in June 2010. OWC Tracey explained the extensive training involved in preparing “hybrid” reps with the various skills and knowledge necessary to provide one-call resolution for our customers. I was one of the reps hired at the same time as Tracey and I must completely agree with her conclusion. OWC Hybrid Training offers a way to serve our customers with in-depth knowledge.

And, truthfully, that training never really stops. With over 2,900 products and new products being developed everyday, it really can’t. Fortunately, we have so many resources at hand that we can learn something new every day.

Just a few weeks ago, a customer asked me a very specific question: “How would you describe what your gel case feels like compared to you carbon fiber case for the iPhone 4?” OH NO! I had never actually held either case in my hands. I had read the press releases and even seen the cases in our product training classes, but what on earth do they feel like? I had no idea. Article Continues…

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Category: OWC Difference, Random Thoughts & Topics
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“Secret” Firmware lets Late ’08 MacBooks use 8GB.

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 | Author: OWC Grant and OWC Chris S.

Every once in a while, a blip on the radar comes up, letting us know that there’s something not quite right in our little corner of the Mac Universe. This time around, it came in the form of Tweets directed to us, as well as in posting in popular Mac forums.

As it turns out, several other memory vendors—along with some Late 08 MacBook/MacBook Pro users—have laid claim to these machines working with 8GB of RAM. This was contradictory to our testing in December 2009 which quite clearly showed that while these models recognized a full 8GB, if an application addressed more than 6GB, the system would slow down significantly.

Not being the type to just let these sorts of claims to go unchallenged, we went back to our testing lab, grabbed the affected model machines, running 10.6.6. and dropped an 8GB upgrade kit in them.

The results were exactly the same as in 2009, lending credence to our conclusions, but the sheer number of claims to the contrary led us to continue searching—and the trail ended at Apple.

In late 2009, an EFI Firmware Update was released to address the buzzing noises coming from the optical drive. However, it seems that somewhere along the line, Apple changed this update without notating it anywhere.

Whether any other elements were affected by this change is undetermined, but it did change memory addressing; with the later version of the update installed, you could address a full 8GB in Snow Leopard. Unfortunately, Software Update doesn’t show this version as being different from the previous one, so users wouldn’t be notified if they had already updated their firmware to the older version.

The practical upshot of all this is that if you installed the EFI Update when it first came out, like we did, you would have gotten the old code, which meant your computer would only address 6GB properly. Those who didn’t upgrade until after Apple changed the updater got the newer firmware, which allowed proper addressing of 8GB.

Once we manually installed the “updated” version of the EFI Firmware in our test machines, they were able to address 8GB normally, without any crashing or slowdowns.

How do you ensure your Late ‘08 MacBook/MacBook Pro can address 8GB of RAM?

Article Continues…

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Category: Benchmarking/Performance, Tech Tips
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NewerTech Announces Plug And Play eSATA To USB 3.0 Adapter For SuperSpeed Data Transfer At Macworld 2011

Thursday, January 27th, 2011 | Author: OWC NewsFeed

Newer Technology, Inc. announced today the NewerTech eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter for using an eSATA interfaced equipped external hard drive with computers offering the ‘SuperSpeed’ USB 3.0 interface. The $29.95 MSRP adapter offers benchmark proven performance of up to 247MB/s reads and 206.4MB/s writes for the fastest data transfer rates available with external data storage/backup. NewerTech’s exclusive distributor, Other World Computing (OWC) will be demonstrating the new NewerTech eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter and other NewerTech high performance, yet Plug and Play upgrades and accessories in booth #513 at the Macworld Expo, which begins today in San Francisco, California.

Up To 6X Faster Than Typical Interfaces Article Continues…

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Category: New @ OWC, Press Releases
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Loaded with Stuff!

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 | Author: OWC Robert

It has been over 6 months since I last told you about my Lola and I feel that It is my duty to share some of her newest experiences with you. Time just flies when you are having fun and let me tell you, Lola has had some fun.

She has been driving pretty fast as of recently! You could even say Jimmie Johnson fast when using an OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE SSD drive. Only the fastest and most reliable Solid State Drive on the market today will suffice for Lola’s data storage and backup needs.

At this point, I must say that Lola is pretty spoiled. She has taken over my credit cards. I am sure that some of you can relate. Lola is loaded with so much stuff that she now has her own section in my home.

She recently demanded that I take better care of her. Always dragging her to and from work and anywhere else she demands.

So, as always I quickly shopped and purchased the Case Logic Laptop Sleeve. It has everything that a MacBook Pro like Lola would want and need. Form fitted, suede, zippers, durability and a slimline design. Even a 25 year warranty. 25 years! I mean, really!?!

Of course, It did not stop there.

Lola wanted more protection from all of the bumps and bruises of travel. I continued to shop and got her the Matias Laptop Armor. It is stylish, rugged and has a silver aluminum slim design.

There is that word “slim” again. Lola just loves slim.

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Category: Random Thoughts & Topics
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When Will You Have Zettabytes Of Data?

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 | Author: OWC Grant

According to the analyst firm IDC, the amount of data created worldwide in 2010 will total 1.2 million petabytes…or 1.2 zettabytes.

Now if you’re still coming to terms that your modern digtial life is getting close to totaling a terabyte of data…I suggest just accepting the fact that data storage will be an ever growing need you will have to continuously address in future years.

And regardless of what pundits like Jeremy A. Kaplan say, the hard drive is far from dead. I’m betting big that people will still want to maintain control (their own managed copy) over their data even if the “cloud” beckons a siren’s song of simplicity.

So, how big is a zettabyte file? A total of one billion terabytes equals a single zettabyte. With our fondness for all things space related (if you’re new to the scene, just check out our company name ;-) 800,000 petabytes (one petabyte is a million gigabytes) is equivalent to a stack of DVDs that can reach the moon and back to Earth again, according to IDC.

And the total amount of data generated in 2020 is predicted to be 35 zettabytes…which would be a stack of DVDs that would reach half the distance to Mars.

From my POV, it’s very unlikely end users will see that kind of storage need in the foreseeable future…but hey…with so many things converging into bits of data these days, the ability to predict what will be for sure is a fool’s game. But at least you now know what the future might be called.

You know, I dig this file size name. It sounds like another name I’m familiar with that is quite big and famous in her own right….

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Category: Random Thoughts & Topics
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You like us! You really like us!!!

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 | Author: OWC Chris S.

Remember a couple of weeks back, when we asked you to vote for OWC in the “Meet me at CES” video contest? Well, voting wrapped up last Friday and the results are in: We’re one of the winners!

As you can imagine, we’re pretty excited about it here in the OWC offices, and we can’t wait to share it with you, our readers. So without further ado… Article Continues…

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Category: Random Thoughts & Topics
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Cyber Monday Specials at OWC!

Monday, November 29th, 2010 | Author: OWC NewsFeed

It’s Cyber Monday, the day all the online retailers release their best holiday deals. Don’t worry, folks; even though our prices are a deal every day, OWC Larry has put together over 230 specials for the holidays.

Here’s just a sampling of what we’ve got for you:

That’s just a sampling of what we’ve got for you; you can find the full selection on our Web site.

Extra Special Offer

Instant Savings of up to $50 just for using the Amazon Checkout option on our site. All you need is an Amazon account!

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Category: Special OWC Deals
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