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Clones/CoreComputers

Horrortaxi

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
The guy from Core Computers was on Tech TV today showing off his Mac clone. Basically he took a Sawtooth logic board and a Sonnet processor and put them into a beige PC case. This is touted as an "inexpensive" way to get a Mac--but he spent $1500 making his Frankenmac. Is there something I'm missing here? The way I see it you'd need gullibility and stupidity in dangerous amounts to see this as a good deal. You can buy a brand new 1.25Ghz Power Mac for $1300 so naturally $200 more for a 4 year old computer in an ugly case is a bargain.

An older Power Mac with the Sonnet processor can be had for under $1000 and you still get to call it a Mac and feel good about it. I just don't get the clone thing at all. Maybe I should buy old $400 Macs and transfer the guts to AT cases then resell for $1000.
 
I've heard of this once in a while... Honestly, as far as I can figure, the only way it's cost-saving is if you use salvaged mb and perhaps processor.

pnw
 
Well they probably scheduled him a long time ago. Apple knew what he was doing which is probably why there is a 1.25 G4 Powermac still in the lineup for now. To take fill the gap for the people that want an upgradable mac, but can't afford the latest and greatest.
 
yeah when he released his initial plans I wanna say the dual 1.25's were in the 2 grand range and the 1.42 was in the 3 grand range.
 
And that's probably when TechTV booked him. Since then he's received the C&D letter, the G5 has been announced and the G4 has dropped to $1200. That basically undercut his price.
 
Even the Amiga site went through this thing, the ONLY way to legally run an Apple OS is to run it on an Apple hardware.

Apple specifically forbids the operation of the OS on anything but Apple Hardware in the EULA -- the option of running on alternate hardware died when the clones got killed off.

---

When the idiot called his computer a clone, he was no longer able to ship his system with an Apple OS -- even dumping a boxed version in the shipment to run on it would have landed him a cease and desist (ooops).
 
Originally posted by Sun Baked
Even the Amiga site went through this thing, the ONLY way to legally run an Apple OS is to run it on an Apple hardware.

Apple specifically forbids the operation of the OS on anything but Apple Hardware in the EULA -- the option of running on alternate hardware died when the clones got killed off.

---

When the idiot called his computer a clone, he was no longer able to ship his system with an Apple OS -- even dumping a boxed version in the shipment to run on it would have landed him a cease and desist (ooops).
Click to expand...

It had nothing to do with him calling it a clone and he never received a cease and desist letter from Apple.

Apple shut off his mother board supplier. All Apple resellers have an agreement with Apple so that they can not sell parts to someone else for resale. Apparently the reseller that was doing this was not aware of this and got a sever peepee slapping from Apple.
 
Originally posted by Kwyjibo
yeah when he released his initial plans I wanna say the dual 1.25's were in the 2 grand range and the 1.42 was in the 3 grand range.
Click to expand...

So at best you'd be paying almost as much for a 3 year old computer as you would for a new one. I still don't see the bargain.
 
Originally posted by Horrortaxi
So at best you'd be paying almost as much for a 3 year old computer as you would for a new one. I still don't see the bargain.
Click to expand...

ok I did not read the fine print on these guys for a very important reason, I was not interested! I"m just saying that when they came out their prices seemed fair on quick look over.
 
Originally posted by Sun Baked
Apple specifically forbids the operation of the OS on anything but Apple Hardware in the EULA -- the option of running on alternate hardware died when the clones got killed off.
Click to expand...

This is true and I am not disagreeing but what constitutes Apple Hardware? This guy is using genuine Apple motherboards (with Apple designed logic chips). The only other part of a PowerMac you can really call Apple Hardware is the case as all the rest is off-the-shelf. So I would say this is OK as this is Apple Hardware. The other possibility is that if you take all the hardware out of a PowerMac and put it in a new case you are no longer allowed to run Mac OS on it!
 
Originally posted by Horrortaxi
So at best you'd be paying almost as much for a 3 year old computer as you would for a new one. I still don't see the bargain.
Click to expand...

When this guy first started building these Macs they were about $1500-$1800 for the top end models which at the time were dual 1.25GHz. At the same time Apple was selling the Dual 1.25s for $3000. They were a big deal even if they had an outdated motherboard.
 
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