I considered making a Hackintosh and guess what I found out!

[Sehnsucht]

So my need for a MacBook Pro has reached a level of desperation that I never thought I'd reach: I've been browsing and configuring PC laptops from the likes of Dell, Sony and Alienware. Considering which one would be the best to make a Hackintosh out of. And GUESS WHAT!!!

The first two sneaky folks start off with a baseline configuration that looks cheap but SUCKS. Once I add decent NVIDIA graphics, a big enough hard drive, enough RAM, and a processor better than the standard crummy 2.0GHz, the price jumps from $799 to $3,000+ in a HURRY. (Not including, of course, the $129 for a retail copy of Leopard.) But if I had $3,000 to spend, I'd just buy a real MacBook Pro instead and wouldn't be screwing around with a Hackintosh to begin with.

Never mind that! I guess Steve will be getting his $3,000 EVENTUALLY. If I could just find the goddamn money somewhere.

 

[Eidorian]

I wouldn't start off with the barebones model and upgrade it up either. You thought Macs were expensive...

Desktops are the main route for a hackintosh and failing that a netbook.

 

[Consultant]

Get refurb. Looks new, same warranty as new.

store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

 

[Jack Flash]

Hackintosh'ing a laptop (that isn't a netbook) is just inviting misery into your life.

 

[JasonA]

Get refurb. Looks new, same warranty as new.

store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

I've been shopping for a new MBP recently, I don't think refrubs are all that everybody says they're cracked up to be. I did consider refurb, but you have to buy refurb from Apple, and Apple charges sales tax. It's cheaper to buy brand new from another retailer online that doesn't add sales tax, than it is buy a refurb from Apple. It was for me, anyway, and I live in Michigan where sales tax is 6%. Something to think about...

 

[Eidorian]

I've been shopping for a new MBP recently, I don't think refrubs are all that everybody says they're cracked up to be. I did consider refurb, but you have to buy refurb from Apple, and Apple charges sales tax. It's cheaper to buy brand new from another retailer online that doesn't add sales tax, than it is buy a refurb from Apple. It was for me, anyway, and I live in Michigan where sales tax is 6%. Something to think about...

Your mileage bay vary on refurbs. The education discount is pointless now on hardware with sales tax. Might as well get it fro a reseller online.

 

[winninganthem]

Yeah, Apple makes premium computers that actually can be a pretty decent deal. More inexpensive choices may match in certain specs but fall short in others.

 

[stainlessliquid]

What Dell is able to go from 799 to 3000+? Do they even sell a $3000 laptop outside of the Precession (which just annihilates the MBP in every category)?

I recently compared the Dell XPS with the MBP and was shocked to see just how much better you could get for so much less money. I didnt see any opportunity to build one that was $3000. I never knew just how horrible a deal a MBP was.

 

[techound1]

I never knew just how horrible a deal a MBP was.

And have you started playing with Windows 7 yet? All the bells and whistles of OS 10 without the heavy hardware costs (typing this on a $350 netbook on Win 7 - yeah, it runs it just fine...).

 

[asphyxiafeeling]

ewww

So my need for a MacBook Pro has reached a level of desperation that I never thought I'd reach: I've been browsing and configuring PC laptops from the likes of Dell, Sony and Alienware. Considering which one would be the best to make a Hackintosh out of. And GUESS WHAT!!!

The first two sneaky folks start off with a baseline configuration that looks cheap but SUCKS. Once I add decent NVIDIA graphics, a big enough hard drive, enough RAM, and a processor better than the standard crummy 2.0GHz, the price jumps from $799 to $3,000+ in a HURRY. (Not including, of course, the $129 for a retail copy of Leopard.) But if I had $3,000 to spend, I'd just buy a real MacBook Pro instead and wouldn't be screwing around with a Hackintosh to begin with.

Never mind that! I guess Steve will be getting his $3,000 EVENTUALLY. If I could just find the goddamn money somewhere.

hackintosh discussion aside... i must say...


if you're going to buy a PC don't go with that mainstream GARBAGE, especially overpriced crap like alienware. (outside of the extreme SLI/Crossfire capabilities they can have, they really are just overpriced as hell) try and check out the REAL pc makers like Sager, Asus, Clevo, Msi, etc.

http://www.xoticpc.com has some good computers, like this one:

http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-n80vnc1-p-2550.html

14.1 inch screen 1280X800

2.66 Core 2 Duo (Montevina)

4GB RAM 800Mhz

320GB HD 7200RPM

Nvidia 9650M GT (20% performance increase over the 9600M GT)

all for 1,259 dollars. my cousin who lives with me just purchased this computer; it's a dream!

that's just an example, if you need a larger screen/more power it's available, you just need to know where to look!

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

laptops arent hac friendly. A refub MB is a good deal though. A desktop hac is totally worth it though, i spent about $600 building one that had better specs the highest imac at the time. I ca also upgrade the parts in my tower, you cant do that with an imac.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Hackintosh'ing a laptop (that isn't a netbook) is just inviting misery into your life.

How so?

OK yes...I have no idea because I've never done this before. My first guess would be driver issues?

And have you started playing with Windows 7 yet? All the bells and whistles of OS 10 without the heavy hardware costs (typing this on a $350 netbook on Win 7 - yeah, it runs it just fine...).

Ewww, netbooks! Ewww, Windows! Well, really...I absolutely lurv the way the task bar in Windows 7 looks like the Dock! I may run W7 in Boot Camp when it comes out.

laptops arent hac friendly. A refub MB is a good deal though. A desktop hac is totally worth it though, i spent about $600 building one that had better specs the highest imac at the time. I ca also upgrade the parts in my tower, you cant do that with an imac.

I have an iMac already which I'm perfectly happy with, except that I've been needing a Mac laptop for school, i.e. portable. I'm definitely going to hack a desktop eventually when I get around to it. I'm probably going to end up getting a refurb MBP.

 

[techound1]

Ewww, netbooks! Ewww, Windows! Well, really...I absolutely lurv the way the task bar in Windows 7 looks like the Dock! I may run W7 in Boot Camp when it comes out.

Yeah, the more I play, er, work with Win 7, the more I realize how much like OS X it has become. Even ejecting USB sticks is a right click now, rather than a trip to the little bunch of icons in the lower right (you can see how well versed I am in windoze ).

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Yeah, the more I play, er, work with Win 7, the more I realize how much like OS X it has become. Even ejecting USB sticks is a right click now, rather than a trip to the little bunch of icons in the lower right (you can see how well versed I am in windoze ).

You could eject removable drives via right click in the XP days. The taskbar also functions nothing like the dock it just happens to have large icons. I hop the taskbar doesnt start acting like the dock because its nice to have one OS where minimizing windows actually works.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Or I could get a mini, now that they've actually got decent specs!!

 

[opera57]

Well, yea. You might save a little bit in building your own hackintosh, but it will never run OS X how it was intented to run. Updates break it. It will be unstable. You can't beat a real mac

 

[shokunin]

How so?
OK yes...I have no idea because I've never done this before. My first guess would be driver issues?

Getting a Hackintosh to sleep and wake up reliably has always been a challenge. Then getting the Hackintosh to sleep and wake up and resume wireless networking and audio has also been a challenge. For me, sleep and resume are essential in a notebook. My MB Air has an uptime of around 20+ days because I usually put it to sleep when not in use.

For notebooks, I prefer to go genuine Apple. Building a desktop Hackintosh is much easier as you have more options on the selection of compatible components.

Sleep is still an issue with desktops, but my Hacks are shutdown, restarted as needed.

Well, yea. You might save a little bit in building your own hackintosh, but it will never run OS X how it was intented to run. Updates break it. It will be unstable. You can't beat a real mac

A lot of progress has been made over the past 6 months. The move away from using Distributions (Kalyway, Leo4all, Deneb, etc) to using an EFI boot partition or Boot 132 and installing using an unmodified Retail Leopard DVD has moved reliability and upgradability up several notches. However, for many it can be a daunting effort when things do go wrong, and sooner or later things do go wrong.

My most reliable Hackintosh so far is Nehalem Core i7 hackintosh at 3.6ghz with a retail install of Leopard. Fast and very stable at 10.5.6.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Updating isnt an issue at all. The new VooDoo kernel makes updating incredibly easy. Updating takes about 5 minutes to prep for and thats it.

Wake/sleep is a non-issue too. Psystar gave us the OpenHaltRestart kext that t works on every hack i've seen or read about. I've never heard of it not working.

Yes, the mini got updated, but i assure you that i can build a hack in a mATX case for $600 that has better specs. Better yet, the hac can be updated in the future. I can drop a quad in a hac if i felt like it, can you do that in the mini? Can you even get to the cpu at all? If i build in a mATX case i could eventually drop a blu-ray drive in it, the mini cant do that. The hac will even be built with desktop parts! How awesome would it be to have a 'mac' built from desktop parts that costs less than $3k!!

I am afraid i dont understand the saying "it will never run OS X how it was intented to run." Quite a few apple fans throw this around without ever explaining what it means. On my hac i have full access to every feature in OSX, plus extras like bootloader mods and such.

 

[cube]

You can get good specs for little money from a brand like Acer.

 

[kastenbrust]

Updating isnt an issue at all. The new VooDoo kernel makes updating incredibly easy.

Thats not quite true, if you use it on any computer thats not supported when you restart after an update you'll get a message saying "you have to restart, please press your power button" and the computer will instantly freeze. I've tried it on a Fujitsu-Siemens laptop, Dell laptop, Acer PC and my own build PC and it did the same thing to all.
The best way to go is using an EFI-X card and installing a Retail version of OS X.
Still spec for spec Apple tend to be cheaper, although it depends where you live as their prices are regional.

 

[LERsince1991]

When i was installing a new hard drive into my laptop I wanted to try and install leopard so I tried to make a hacintosh. It didn't work

So I installed windows.
I then tried it on my dads laptop when I was reformatting it and it didnt work and I haven't tried it on a dell yet though... Little brothers laptop here I come...

Nah I'll just buy a macbook in 3 weeks for my 18th

Edit: I have an acer, Dad has an AJP and bro has a Dell

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Thats not quite true, if you use it on any computer thats not supported when you restart after an update you'll get a message saying "you have to restart, please press your power button" and the computer will instantly freeze. I've tried it on a Fujitsu-Siemens laptop, Dell laptop, Acer PC and my own build PC and it did the same thing to all.
The best way to go is using an EFI-X card and installing a Retail version of OS X.
Still spec for spec Apple tend to be cheaper, although it depends where you live as their prices are regional.

Desktops are much cheaper spec-for-spec ( ) if you build your own.

If you had a working osx install and the update broke it then you did something wrong. You may have lost certain kexts in the upgrade, but that is why you are always advised to boot with "-v" so you can see what was replaced. Most people iwll advise you to keep a backup of your extensions folder and check the new one after updating to make sure you didnt lose anything.
Your problem, however, sounds like you let the kernel get replaced by naming your custom kernel "mach_kernel" and replacing the original instead of editing the boot plist like you are supposed to so you never even use the mach kernel. Once again, it takes about 5 minutes to do that.

Osx86 isnt for noobs, but if someone is serious about getting good performance on osx without spending a ton of cash then they will get it done.

 

[Acorn]

i was going to try and put leopard on a 12 inch laptop (not netbook) that I have but ended up duel booting windows 7 and Ubuntu. Ubuntu immediatly recognized audio, wireless, and even the gforce 9300 card. pretty cool.

Ive seen several asus laptops with 1 gb of gforce 9650 graphics for 950.00, which may be a good subsitute for a mac. In the end you gotto wonder if its worth it though. it just seems easier to dual boot Ubuntu + windows and be done with it instead of fighting with leopard on a unsupported machine.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Getting a Hackintosh to sleep and wake up reliably has always been a challenge. Then getting the Hackintosh to sleep and wake up and resume wireless networking and audio has also been a challenge. For me, sleep and resume are essential in a notebook. My MB Air has an uptime of around 20+ days because I usually put it to sleep when not in use.

You bring up a very interesting point. Now I'm thinking, issues?! Challenges?! Problems?! F*** that! If I got a Hackintosh, I'd expect it to work near-PERFECTLY and with almost NO ISSUES just like my real Mac, no questions asked. Always having to dick around with making the computer work right sorta defeatz teh purpose of getting OS X...if I wanted issues, I'd just stick to Windoze.

Alrighty then, my mind has been made up: For school, refurb MacBook Pro it is!! Desktop Hackintosh sometime in the future to tinker with when I'm bored.

 

[kastenbrust]

You bring up a very interesting point. Now I'm thinking, issues?! Challenges?! Problems?! F*** that! If I got a Hackintosh, I'd expect it to work near-PERFECTLY and with almost NO ISSUES just like my real Mac, no questions asked. Always having to dick around with making the computer work right sorta defeatz teh purpose of getting OS X...if I wanted issues, I'd just stick to Windoze.

Alrighty then, my mind has been made up: For school, refurb MacBook Pro it is!! Desktop Hackintosh sometime in the future to tinker with when I'm bored.

oh yeah, the most important thing when choosing a laptop to be hackintoshed, make sure the wireless card is compatable!!! or you'll have a life of hell.