From: "Ralph Megna" <ralph@macastronomy.com>

Date: October 17, 2008 2:55:10 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: Say NO to the new No FireWire MacBooks.

Hi all,

This subject is getting a lot of airing in all kinds of Mac forums.  I sent my complaint to 

the Apple feedback page this morning.

In my view, the problem is three-fold: First, many of us have Firewire peripherals that are 

unusable with the new MacBook (which just happens to be the best selling Mac product of 

all time).  Second, many people (including me) strongly prefer to connect to stuff with 

Firewire because of its speed and intelligence, two characteristics never associated with 

USB of any flavor.  Third, with the loss of FIrewire, so goes target disk mode.

The good news is that every other shipping Mac except the Air (where its absence is at 

least defensible) still has Firewire.  For how long?  Who knows.

One small correction to something said here: There is one exception to the "once it is 

removed it never comes back rule" - Firewire 800 was deleted from the first MacBook Pros 

(because Apple used Intel's basic laptop chip set which isn't Firewire-friendly), but later 

was restored, alongside the FW400 port.  The new MBPs have only an FW800 port, but that 

is backwards compatible with 400 with little more than an adapter cable.

A suggestion to those needing a new Mac laptop but unable/unwilling to spend $2K+ for a 

new MBP: Get a refurb MBP.  Fully loaded refurb MBPs start at $1349 - just $50 more than 

the new MacBook, and it is a much, much more capable computer with both FW400 and 

FW800 ports!

Ralph

--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, "Milton Aupperle" <milton@...> wrote:

Hi Folks;

Apple has removed FireWire from their new Aluminum MacBooks. If you

care about Astro IIDC, then I urge you to not purchase ANY Mac that

doesn't have FireWire.