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I want to get into macs but I may have to go with hackintosh.

steve knight

steve knight

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 28, 2009
2,735
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My budget or lack of one will prevent me from getting a real mac for who knows how long.
but I may be able to do the hackintosh route. I found several sony vao laptops that work but of course the one I have is not listed since it was a very small expensive one (I bought it as a cheaper alternative to a braille note take for my wife)
my wife is getting tired of the battles to get good speech on her pc's nothing like 1200.00 speak software that always has something that does not work.
so we have a sony vaio txn15p the specs are below. what do you think of it running osx?

CPU 1.2-GHz Intel Core Solo Processor U1400 Ultra Low Voltage
Operating System Windows XP Professional
RAM/Expandable to 1GB/1.5GB
Hard Drive/Speed 80GB/4,200 rpm
Optical Drive 2.4X DVD+R DL
Display/Resolution 11.1 inches/1366 x 768
Graphics/Video Memory

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950/128MB shared
Wireless Networking 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth, EV-DO
Ports Two USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, Ethernet, modem, headphone, mic
Card Slots

One Type I/II PC Card, Memory Stick, Secure Digital
 
You might want to check the Merged Hackintosh Thread for a lot of relevant information

Also, the definitive resource is generally considered to be the insanelymac.com forums for this

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
MacDawg said:
You might want to check the Merged Hackintosh Thread for a lot of relevant information

Also, the definitive resource is generally considered to be the insanelymac.com forums for this

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
Click to expand...
M y search got nothing and yours worked great, seems someone got it going.
I thought about selling it but now they only go for 500 if I am lucky so that would not work. hell if I can get my dell desktop going that would save me huge amounts. but I doubt it will work. but you never know. lots to learn.
 
Your hardware seems almost ideal for a hackintosh since it is close to older Mac hardware.
 
You know installing Mac OS X on anything other than a Mac is breaking the license agreement with Apple?
 
so is jailbreaking my iphone. but atleast I am not pirating the software.
hey if apple wants me to buy a mac they need to make them affordable for most people.
 
JNB said:
You can use any keyboard & mouse, as long as they are USB; there's no "Mac" specific, other than the Command key, and that's easy to deal with. You may also be able to use Bluetooth, but in the case of a Hackintosh, USB is a reliable and inexpensive sure thing.
Click to expand...

with that said, not everything usb will work on a mac

usb wifi dongles come to mind, as well as some external dvd burners and webcams
iAlexG said:
You know installing Mac OS X on anything other than a Mac is breaking the license agreement with Apple?
Click to expand...

As the op has said, so is jailbreaking phones and no one raises a fit

If one can buy the OS in a retail store, kudos to them if they install it on hardware they have
 
I think he will be fine with 1GB if he just wants to do light work like web surfing and email. My Macbook here does fine on 1GB but all I do is surf.
 
all my wife does besides having speech going is itunes the web and em,ail and word once in awhile.
 
I am sorry your budget cannot afford a 500 dollar mac mini. What is the price tag on that laptop? Good luck in stealing software. Just buy a mac they are same price practally.
 
I already own the laptop for 2 years now. the laptop was 2300.00 I bought it for my wife as it cost less then buying a braille note taker they go for around 4000. but i used my inheritance to buy it.
I have to save up just to buy the software. I am not stealing the software I am just not using it like apple wants me to use it.
but this would cost little to test out the speech on a osx. then if it works we can work on getting new computers or used ones.
 
Go to the apple store to test it. Hackintosh is a form of stealing no matter what you say you buy. Jailbreaking your iPhone voids your warranty. Just cause you buy software does not make hackintosh legal.

My recommendation is go to the apple store to test it out.
 
I went to the store they did not really have much a clue to really work only with speech. it will take her weeks of playing to lean how well it works and to just learn it. so this way lets her try it and see how it works. if it does then I will see about getting a mini when I can since the laptop will be running out of steam soon.
 
This link might aid in understanding where people are coming from with the issues surrounding installing Apple software on non-Apple hardware.

http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/

Also, I personally know many people who fail to realize that a Mac Mini is a full fledged computer - even though you can't tear it apart and modify it easily. They may look insignificant but I can attest that they are not - the bottom end Mini will likely keep up with your Sony and even more so could surprise you. As for laptops, well... they do start above the $599 BestBuy PC but then again, you get what you pay for.
 
I can't go out and buy a computer right now. I was not planning on buying a computer to try this with. I have the computer and I wanted to try a mac with minimal cost for my wife. if it works when I can I would buy her a mini.
if I could afford another computer I would just buy the mini and forgo the hassle of trying to get a non apple computer to run.
 
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