Replies to post #31068 on Apple Inc (AAPL)

[BlueDjinn]

My bad--I should have clarified: NAV is ok, but I would NEVER use Norton Utilities on the Mac!! I did so for years (in the OS 9 days) before realizing that it kept screwing thing up worse than they were before! (Or at the very least, wasted a lot of time accomplishing nothing--somehow "10,000 bundle bits" were always "turned off" even if I ran it twice in a row...)

For actual drive maintenance/repair, DiskWarrior absolutely kicks ass! Highly recommended!!

For occasional maintenance, repair your disk permissions via OS X's built-in Disk Utility once in awhile--generally just before and just after an OS upgrade (like this weeks' 10.3.8), or after upgrading/installing a bunch of smaller items. It's quick and painless (you don't need to reboot afterwards, and you can let it work in the background while you do other stuff).

[tomm]

When OS X first came out there were some issues with disk repair and DW was the weapon of choice. Now that we are at 10.3.8 there are only rare occasions when anything other than Apple's built in Disk Utility is needed - I haven't used DW in over a year.

I would suggest you use the free Carbon Copy Cloner to make a virgin copy of your system once it's set up so you'll have a bootable OS should disaster strike - dropping your P'book and crashing the HD. After that, periodic backup is plain good practice.

Norton is useless, IMO

p.s. Philly lost, so lose the Eagle pics :)

[spitsong]

vinnyh, nextstage re: DW & March 85s (respectively)

vinnyh,

I've only had to use DiskWarrior twice, both times in OS 9 about 4 years ago, and both times immediately after trying to rip a Pete Yorn CD. Dunno why it would have been necessary after trying to do something so simple, but there you go. DW worked like an absolute champ, fixed the problem in a jiffy, and it's sat in my software CD rack, unused, ever since. As such, it is something I would recommend that you have access to, but it may not be necessary to buy a copy immediately. If you're looking to save some money, just make sure you know where to get a copy on short notice, and you should be all right.

nextstage,

I was puzzled why AAPL dropped so suddenly earlier this week, after moving upward in the way that seemed like a total foregone conclusion to me for several days before that. There was simply no sane reason for AAPL to be dropping when Apple is kicking such major butt in all the marketplace right now. We won't know more about how many Mac minis and iPod shuffles are moving (much less other Macs or iPods) for several weeks, but the incredible demand for both models, as well as reports that Apple is upping its orders on both, indicates that there is tremendous initial demand, and that both will be big hits. We'll know more in a few weeks, but for the moment 2005 is looking like a very good year for Apple, and the stock price is going to move up in reaction/anticipation of further good news, I think (barring negative developments in the broader market, of course).

The split may be a virtual non-issue, as others here have already suggested (a subject that was beaten to death on this board's predecessor the last time AAPL split), but it clearly has a positive effect on the share price, and I believe it's reflective of expected good times ahead. Frankly, I think AAPL could just about double from today's levels by year-end, so a split somewhere along the line is not unexpected. I figured it would get announced about the time that AAPL hit $100, but then again I don't think that's far from happening, and by the time of the split, we could be there already.

I am continuing to hold my March calls, which are still considerably out of the money, but right back at water level again from where I bought them. Because I expect the stock price gains between now and March expiry to outpace the deterioration of their time value. Wish me luck.

I wish you the same.