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Option-Click AirPort Menu for Network Details

If you hold down the Option key while clicking the AirPort menu in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, you'll see not just the names of nearby Wi-Fi networks, but additional details about the selected network. Details include the MAC address of the network, the channel used by the base station, the signal strength (a negative number; the closer to zero it is, the stronger the signal), and the transmit rate in megabits per second showing actual network throughput. If you hover the cursor over the name of a network to which you're not connected, a little yellow pop-up shows the signal strength and type of encryption.

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Published in TidBITS 389.
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21 Jul 1997 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Apple Powers Up the PowerBook 1400

by Tonya Engst Send Email to Author

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Last week, Apple announced imminent updates to the PowerBook 1400 series, which should interest anyone planning to buy a 1400 this month.

<http://product.info.apple.com/pr/press.releases / 1997/q4/970714.pr.rel.pb1400.html>

Out with the Old -- For those who don't memorize PowerBook specs, PowerBook 1400s have the BookCover feature for customizing their cases and the pop-out keyboard for easy access to the innards (see TidBITS-350 and TidBITS-371). They are based on the PowerPC 603e chip, come with built-in 6x CD-ROM drives and hard disks sized from 750 MB to 1 GB. The old line included four models, ranging from the 1400cs/117 with a dual-scan screen to the 1400c/133 which offered an active-matrix screen and 128K of level 2 cache. Estimated retail pricing ranged from $2,500 to $4,000.

In with the New -- The new series has three models with faster CPUs but similar screens: the 1400cs/133, 1400c/133, and 1400c/166, and estimated pricing from $2,500 to $3,500. Each machine has an 8x CD-ROM drive, a 128K level 2 cache, and comes with either a 1.3 GB or a 2 GB hard disk. These PowerBooks will begin shipping with either Mac OS 7.6 or 7.6.1, not Mac OS 8. In related news, Apple has delayed shipment of the sub-compact PowerBook 2400c until August, ostensibly so that it can ship with Mac OS 8 installed.

<http://product.info.apple.com/pr/media.alerts/ 1997/q4/970714.pr.alrt.pb2400.html>

 

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