I didn't say it was impossible, but it's not something that's going to work out well most of the time.
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Mac vs Hackintosh?
- Thread starter Cyborg21
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I didn't say it was impossible, but it's not something that's going to work out well most of the time.
Cyborg, there's a book out "How to Build Your Own Hackintosh" which is a free PDF from "Make Use Of" that shows you how to go about making your own Hackintosh - which is quite good. I've built a few computers in my time - some of them based on Unix and a recurring one built on Linux hence my nickname. Forewarned is fore-armed as they say, so get this download and decide later whether you want to go this way, or pick up a second-hand Mac Pro or Macbook Pro off of Ebay. The best one right now is the Mac Mini - which I reckon is a good deal for around £199. (British Currency). Best of Luck!
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I've thought about building a Hackintosh - in England where our Government tries to bleed every red cent (or penny) from our pockets via their absurd taxes, has made me think twice more than once. In the end I bought a G4, then I went on to a G4 imac in 2004. The last Mac I bought was second-hand Macbook Pro off Ebay. It works great, it has the full complement of Ram, a 750gb Sata drive and some programs (pre 2011) that work beautifully! There are lots of great products that are original MAC with maybe a larger SSD (Solid State Drive) than is usually fitted, together with Ram that makes the particular MAC more like the King Kong of the Apple Family than the usual fare. Ebay is about the best place to go or, if you can afford it, scrumpymacs do a really good deal too - but everything is like new when you get their product - and their's is totally Mac. Best Wishes!
There is nothing particularly hard about building computers or hackintoshs. Hacks aren't particularly unstable either and point upgrades generally aren't cause for concern. Read a lot before you buy, have a plan and follow it if you need to add a kext write it down so you'll remember later. When it works to your satisfaction clone the drive and put it on the shelf you now have a known good GM. I say the same thing to people who build Gentoo or Arch boxes write stuff down and clone and there is no issue
The common thread here is that Hackintosh (or making your own furniture, baking your own bread, amateur drag racing, or knitting a sweater) is a hobbyist activity (in the First World). The fun is in the making. IF you do a good job of making, then there's the satisfaction you get from the achievement, and from using it.
When hobbies cease to be fun, projects tend to go unfinished.
If the project is a success? You acquire new knowledge and skills. You have a useful object. You spent less money out of pocket. Maybe you end up on a new career path.
If it's a failure? You acquire new knowledge and skills, and some wisdom. You have a box full of computer parts worth a fraction of the price you paid for them. You still don't have the new computer you desire. Your self-esteem takes a hit.
If you have experience servicing/upgrading PCs, then you already have many of the skills required. If you've never stripped a PC down to the chassis and reassembled it successfully, that might be a better first project. It's easy to find an old, functioning PC, at zero or no cost. Tear it apart, put it back together again, and see if it still works as well as it did prior to "surgery."
When hobbies cease to be fun, projects tend to go unfinished.
If the project is a success? You acquire new knowledge and skills. You have a useful object. You spent less money out of pocket. Maybe you end up on a new career path.
If it's a failure? You acquire new knowledge and skills, and some wisdom. You have a box full of computer parts worth a fraction of the price you paid for them. You still don't have the new computer you desire. Your self-esteem takes a hit.
If you have experience servicing/upgrading PCs, then you already have many of the skills required. If you've never stripped a PC down to the chassis and reassembled it successfully, that might be a better first project. It's easy to find an old, functioning PC, at zero or no cost. Tear it apart, put it back together again, and see if it still works as well as it did prior to "surgery."
It depends on how much your time is worth whether you save money. Just get a mini. They're cheap and good. I wouldn't do a hackintosh for any machine that needs to be reliable.
The cost of a Mac isn't just the upfront price, you should also factor in the resale value, same as buying a car. And that is much better for a Mac than a PC.
A 3 or 4 year old PC, especially one you built yourself (which is what a Hackintosh is) , will be almost worthless, the same mac would probably be worth half to a third what you paid. That evens the price out considerably, can even tilt it in favour of Mac.
In my case when I did the maths on a PC I built and then had to dispose of for pennies 4 years later, and a Mac that I sold for more than a third of its price 4 years later, the Mac cost half the PC price on a per year basis.
In terms of price / cost ratio. I question whether it's worth building a new machine for the purpose of a hackintosh.
However if you have the time and patience and like a challenge it's worth the effort on old machines.
I had an old dell precision nearly 7 years old with a pentium D - remember those? You can pick these up for 20 quid on eBay! With a compatible graphics card and a SSd it performs well enough for day to day tasks such as web browsing office, YouTube, photoshop. In fact I sold my iMac , it runs ML and crashes less than my iMac but I think it had a overheating problem.
However if you have the time and patience and like a challenge it's worth the effort on old machines.
I had an old dell precision nearly 7 years old with a pentium D - remember those? You can pick these up for 20 quid on eBay! With a compatible graphics card and a SSd it performs well enough for day to day tasks such as web browsing office, YouTube, photoshop. In fact I sold my iMac , it runs ML and crashes less than my iMac but I think it had a overheating problem.
Lolz
I never built anything. I bought a very cheap HP in 2006, took it to a shop and asked them to plug in a new HDD...
Then in 2014 returned and chose a Mobo n processor, psu and Ram and box. Same shop.... They plugged it together and I took it home.
DIY doesn't actually mean you need to do it yourself!
I never built anything. I bought a very cheap HP in 2006, took it to a shop and asked them to plug in a new HDD...
Then in 2014 returned and chose a Mobo n processor, psu and Ram and box. Same shop.... They plugged it together and I took it home.
DIY doesn't actually mean you need to do it yourself!
Have been using Macs since 1985 (and Apple ][ before that). Not interested in a Hackintosh, I don't want to spend time chasing down incompatibilities with software and worrying about whether each update will break something.
Macs might be a little more expensive, but most of the time you get what you pay for.
Macs might be a little more expensive, but most of the time you get what you pay for.
Macs are nice, but if I wanted building a customized desktop I'd install Linux since most software I use on Macs are GPL ones. MacPorts or APT, both look great to me.
I'll put my 2 cents. I did a hackintosh for fun a long time ago... it sucked. This time round though, I needed a good NAS but more than just a NAS so I went with a hackintosh. Honestly, it was really easy for me. I've build PC's before and having been in the hackintosh scene previously, it wasn't that bad at all. About as "easy" as I had expected. I put it together and installed the OS in about 1 evening. A few hickups here and there but got it running just fine. Total time spent, about 6 hours of my active time (build and install).
Now the what you're using it for, that's the big one. If it's for daily money making use, I'd never use it. What I needed was something to store files, be a plex server, possibly transcode video, and also have the ability to run background automated stuff (apple script). I thought about replacing my dying mini (2009, but it's really on the HDD's that are dying) but I really wanted the ability for multiple desktop drives, but I also wanted the ability to process some things (x-out for a nas).
I've got stuff working just fine so this setup is going to get the OS drive cloned, and I'm going to lock it down so no updates except for application updates (ie plex, handbrake, etc.). Maybe.. just maybe... I might toy with Yosemite during my Christmas break, but it'll need to be well supported before I'd entertain an update.
Now the what you're using it for, that's the big one. If it's for daily money making use, I'd never use it. What I needed was something to store files, be a plex server, possibly transcode video, and also have the ability to run background automated stuff (apple script). I thought about replacing my dying mini (2009, but it's really on the HDD's that are dying) but I really wanted the ability for multiple desktop drives, but I also wanted the ability to process some things (x-out for a nas).
I've got stuff working just fine so this setup is going to get the OS drive cloned, and I'm going to lock it down so no updates except for application updates (ie plex, handbrake, etc.). Maybe.. just maybe... I might toy with Yosemite during my Christmas break, but it'll need to be well supported before I'd entertain an update.