Skylarking

New Mac Prices (click to enlarge)

Often people say to me, “I think I’m going to get a Mac” because they’ve “had enough of Windows”.

Then I ask them, “How much did you pay for the computer you have?”

90% of the time they say about $600 to 800.

Then I let them know that they’re not likely to find a Mac at that price because the cheapest Mac, apart from the Mini which no Mac owner I know has ever considered, costs at least $1,000. Most Mac owners start with the MacBook Pro which costs anywhere from $1,200 to $2,300 depending upon the features you get.

That’s usually when I say, “Any $1,200 computer is a good computer.”

For more information $1,200 computers, check out this article from PC World: “The Perfect PC: Don’t Buy It, Build It”. They discuss $500 machines briefly, then they elaborate on more expensive machines, even though they are talking about building your own computer.

FYI, I have an iMac and two PCs.

Here’s some news for you to “look to the night skies” tonight from my friend Jason Shilling Kendall at The Inwood Astronomy Project: Tonight, Friday August 13, from 10pm EST to 1am EST Saturday August 14, you can watch for the Perseid Meteor Shower. Though it started on thursday evening, you still have a chance to see it tonight.

Here’s some more news on the Perseid Meteor Shower.

I don’t have any complaints with Windows 7 whatsoever. Really I don’t, but I have read about some people experiencing a problem accessing the G1′s SD card with Windows 7.

Okay, I experienced this problem too, but, luckily, I knew how to fix it.

What happened? I was connecting my T-Mobile G1 Smartphone to my computer to backup the memory chip in the phone. For your information, the G1 was the first phone to use Google’s Android Operating System for smartphones. Today’s leading Android based phones are Verizon’s Droid, Google’s Nexus One, and T-Mobile’s new Samsung Vibrant.

But, as they say, I digress.

HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1)

Shortly after upgrading to Windows 7, I attached my G1 to my PC via the docking station, and then I “mounted” the SD card in the G1 by selecting “Mount” option from the G1′s notification panel.

Now, for those who don’t have a G1, you “mount the SD card” — sounds ‘dirty’, I know — so you can transfer files to and from the SD or memory card in the phone to your computer.

But, now, with Windows 7, one time I attached my G1 via its USB cable (or docking station) I saw a notification on my computer’s desktop that Windows was “installing a driver” for the “HTC Dream”. (For your information, HTC is the company that makes the G1 for Google and T-Mobile. Dream is HTC’s model name for the G1).

I had never seen this happen before, but I thought it was cool because I was thrilled that Windows 7 was capable of recognizing so many devices when they were attached to the computer.

My thrill was short lived.

Once I mounted the card, and I double clicked the “Computer” icon on the desktop, I expected to see an icon, as I had in the past, that represented the SD card in my phone.

The icon wasn’t there.

I unmounted the card, remounted it, and, again, no icon for the card visible after double-clicking the Computer icon.

Uh oh!

This meant I wouldn’t be able to get my files the old fashioned way. Instead, I would have to remove the card from the phone and insert it into the memory card reader on my desktop computer. That would work, but I would prefer being able to just access he chip by attaching the phone to the computer as I always had.

The Fix. Here’s the solution for anyone who has experienced this problem, too.

1. Right-click the Computer icon.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click Device Manager.
4. Locate “HTC Dream” on the list. You may need to double click a few items on the list to reveal the HTC Dream listing. I think I found it under “Other Devices”.
5. Double-click HTC Dream.
6. Click the Driver tab.
7. Click Update Driver.
8. Select “Mass Storage Driver”.
9. Click OK to close out the dialog boxes.

Now when I connect my T-Mobile G1 via its USB cable or dock, and then mount the SD card, I am able to access the G1′s memory chip and transfer my files without a hitch.