Got 30 bucks* or so just burning a hole in your pocket (or PayPal account) and want to do something nice for your Mac? Here are some of great values.
HP Deskjet D1660 Color Printer ($29.95 – MacConnection) - Great down and dirty printer. Up to legal size, does envelopes, labels, fair job on photos, not a bazillion ink cartridges to buy (just two .. the HP 60 B&W and Tri-Color modules). Not for high-end proofs or “keepsake” photos. Just a good everyday printer. Oh yea, Windows boxes can use it too. Update – 4/3/2011: Product has been discontinued. Check out the HP Deskjet 1000 Printer. Same price. Similar specs.
SpamSieve ($29.95 – direct) – Apple Mail or Entourage Junk Mail filter not doing it for you? This is your solution to auto-detecting and handling of eMail nasties. Uses Bayesian spam filtering for great accuracy. Learns and adapts. Very few false positives. Especially helpful if you have a lot of different eMail accounts. Free Trial Available.
MacPilot ($19.95 – direct) – If you didn’t know, many applications/processes have a number of hidden features you can tap into. Examples: change the login background image, lock your Dock, tons others. You can either learn the ins and outs of Terminal and then Google/Bing for the hidden goodies, or you can get MacPilot. MacPilot also has some powerful system customization tools such as broadband connectivity optimization, handling log files, remove unneeded foreign localizations (you don’t really need Mayan Languages, do you), and more. Although on these higher tech mods, you should really know what you are doing. But if you do, MacPilot makes it easy. Free Trial Available.
ASM ($9.50 – direct) – Long-time Mac users may remember Switcher, which among other things placed a system-wide menu to the right side of the menubar which listed all of your open applications, so you can quickly hide, quit, switch between them. Extremely convenient. Somewhere along the line, the Mac OS gained and lost again that capability. With ASM (Application Switcher Menu) you can get it back. Free Trial Available.
MacAlly iKeySlim USB 2.0 Keyboard ($27.95 – from MacConnection) – Mistakenly get that “stubby keyboard” when you got your new Mac and don’t want to spend $50.00 for the Apple full-sized one? Or maybe your old keyboard has just gotten too darn grungy. Here’s a great replacement at a great price. It’s a Mac-specific keyboard (all the right Command keys, no funky Windows stuff) with two USB 2.0 ports, Volume and CD Eject Buttons. Great feel (I like a good old-fashioned “click”). IMHO, best bargain of the lot.
Happy shopping.