Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

'OpenMac' Promises $399 Headless Mac... But Not From Apple

jdc said:
That's pretty bitter of you!
Click to expand...

Obviously you didnt read my first post on the topic.

At one time in my life I had to run a Dell with Windows ME because I couldnt afford anything else. I can tell you one thing, that wasnt a fun experience.

Back then when I had to run with that, I didnt complain about how I couldnt afford a Mac, thats the way it was and thats it.

And even though I now have two Macs, im at present still typing on that exact Dell im describing but now with XP installed (its now nearly 8 years old). So nobody better dare turn around and tell me Im being full of myself because I eventually managed to get a Mac and its unfair how they cant afford one because they are too expensive. Thats life, live with it.
 
Actually, that's not far off the mark.

I'm needing to replace my DIY PVR that blew chunks over the weekend and came across an Acer Aspire M1640 (Intel Dual core 1.8, 2GB RAM, 250GB HD, and DVD-R/CDRW in a case eerily similar to this one) for $399 at Best Buy, of all places.

ChePibe said:
Still, $400 just seems a bit too sweet... but I haven't priced parts in a while.
Click to expand...
 
wheelhot said:
You rock!, its something like I always dreamed of owning a Lamborghini, but I can never own one, so is the company to blame for selling expensive prices?. Its just the same for Mac.
Click to expand...

Okay, can we just stop the car analogies? They don't make any sense. Of course you can't blame lamborghini for selling an expensive car. They also can't get mad if they are simply using off the shelf commodity parts and I go and buy the parts at commodity prices and build my own lambo for a fraction of the cost. Exotic sports car are expensive because they are generally made with exotic parts and materials. Macs are made with the same commodity parts that make up Dells or any other of a number of PCs.
 
It's nice to know that there are people gunning to get OSX out on standard hardware, however through my experiences with the OSX86 project, there were too many issues to actually have this be something that I'd go through with having as a primary system. When I had my desktop PC, most of the hardware was compatible, but it was still only to a point. DVI didn't work on my vid card, only VGA...audio worked, but only in stereo...onboard wifi didn't work at all...blah blah blah, the list goes on. Updating was also a really touchy system, since if an update modified any of your kexts or whatever was modified to make the OS run on a guy's hardware in the first place, it'd kill your install. however, OSX86 did show me that OSX was something that I'd like to keep around permanently and a 'hackintosh' wasn't the way to go about doing things for my primary system, so I wound up with a Macbook Pro and haven't regretted my decision.

so yeah, this is a great idea in theory, but in practice there'll probably be a lot of pissed off people who think they're going to get something fully functional, but wind up with their installs dying on updates, and various issues with compatibility. on top of that, apple's legal dept will probably do whatever's within their power to stop them dead in their tracks, whether it be going after these guys full force or just having them remove all references to macs/apple on their site.
 
eastcoastsurfer said:
Okay, can we just stop the car analogies? They don't make any sense. Of course you can't blame lamborghini for selling an expensive car. They also can't get mad if they are simply using off the shelf commodity parts and I go and buy the parts at commodity prices and build my own lambo for a fraction of the cost. Exotic sports car are expensive because they are generally made with exotic parts and materials. Macs are made with the same commodity parts that make up Dells or any other of a number of PCs.
Click to expand...

With the exception of the OS this is a great point.
 
cthomet said:
this might make apple reconsider their prices. price drops in the future due to competition from machines like this (no matter how crappy, they are an alternative for those wanting a low priced machine that runs leopard) would be pretty sweet
Click to expand...

Or it will make MacOS X prices go up. Maybe Apple will now charge $2000 for MacOS X, with an $1871 rebate to owners of Apple computers.
 
knewsom said:
Yes, but if that Bugatti Veyron was really just a Pontiac Fiero in a nice body, would you still pay as much for it? And if you did without realizing it, wouldn't you be kinda ticked? And if you DID realize it, wouldn't you just look on craigslist for a Fiero?
Click to expand...

Best quote ever. I wish this were Slashdot so I could mod you up.
 
Nifty little machine.

I've wished Apple would sell OS X retail by itself for a long time now. I understand why Apple doesn't support clones, I understand their reasoning for strict control over the hardware + software to ensure the user experience they've designed. I get it, I honestly do.

However, I think Apple is missing a market segment by not having a reasonably priced Mac that is truly expandable. I bought a Mac Mini when they first came out to check out OS X and I like it but it's a very weak computer. I build my own PCs and the ideal experience for me would be able to dual-boot Windows and OS X on my own hardware. I can't justify buying a workstation-class machine for my personal use in order to accomplish this in a legit fashion. I also don't feel like playing the cat and mouse game with Apple with unending hack/fix cycles if I choose to go the OSx86 route.

The iMac is a great machine and a good value. I've just never been a big fan of all-in-ones. I wish I had another option. I'll probably be picking up a new iMac to replace my aging Mac Mini when they move over to Nehalem, not because it's an ideal solution for me but because it's the best of very few options.
 
Man why can't Apple make something like this?? My roommate just configured a custom built PC with a gig of graphics card memory, 4gb of RAM, Quad core processor, and two 10,000 RPM hard drives for 1,300 bucks.

I dno't know, if you have the technical know how to deal with computer parts, its probably worth saving a couple thousand dollars.
 
knewsom said:
Yes, but if that Bugatti Veyron was really just a Pontiac Fiero in a nice body, would you still pay as much for it? And if you did without realizing it, wouldn't you be kinda ticked? And if you DID realize it, wouldn't you just look on craigslist for a Fiero?
Click to expand...

You mean like Lexus is a rebranded Toyota or Acura is a rebranded Honda, but yet cost 2x as much? :p
 
Eraserhead said:
If you only earn $3000 a year, like a large proportion of the world, how can you seriously be expected to buy software, especially if it costs $100 to buy legitimately? Whereas if you earn $100000 you can spare the cash.
Click to expand...

Thanks for being so level headed in your response. I don't have a beef with you personally, but my final point about people 'stealing' or illegally downloading software relates to all sections of the computer owning public. Probably most of those people are in the majority who can both afford to buy a new computer and the software to go with it.

I believe this 'low cost mac' is actually aimed at people who want a mac mini but see it as poor value. Me included.

I want a workstation, but find the MacPro to be way out of my budget. I've got an iMac, but can't upgrade the graphics card. I am seriously considering building a hackintosh, but this option (if it runs 10.4) is perfect for me.

jdc said:
With the exception of the OS this is a great point.
Click to expand...

The gap between Mac OS X and MS Vista is not as wide *for most people's use* as the gap between a Lamborghini and a Ford in terms of use. I agree, car analogies don't work as a Mac cost a bit more than a similar PC not 100 times more!
 
eastcoastsurfer said:
Okay, can we just stop the car analogies? They don't make any sense. Of course you can't blame lamborghini for selling an expensive car. They also can't get mad if they are simply using off the shelf commodity parts and I go and buy the parts at commodity prices and build my own lambo for a fraction of the cost. Exotic sports car are expensive because they are generally made with exotic parts and materials. Macs are made with the same commodity parts that make up Dells or any other of a number of PCs.
Click to expand...

jdc said:
With the exception of the OS this is a great point.
Click to expand...

Both of you, if you cant afford a Mac, that isnt Apple's problem, go buy what you can afford.
 
You are all 100% incorrect about the illegality of this. Clearly few actually understand EULA.

Furthermore there is nothing wrong with this. I salute this company for doing what many others should be doing.......offering Apple some competition!!!!!!!!

Personally I love the Apple, but I'm tired of being price gouged by them because of their ludicrous monopoly. People think that Microsoft offers competition to Apple, which is as absurd as stating that Shoprite offers competition for Home Depot.

They aren't even close to the same thing, or even similar.

6 months into Leopard I am no longer impressed and have no desire to pay anymore bull fill in the blank premiums for Apple's "genius".
 
NO comment

Still stunning....I just cant take this....
too much.
look like White recycle bin.
 
mutantteenager said:
I want a workstation, but find the MacPro to be way out of my budget. I've got an iMac, but can't upgrade the graphics card. I am seriously considering building a hackintosh, but this option (if it runs 10.4) is perfect for me.
Click to expand...

The length of any Mac Mini thread on here is testament to the popularity of that view.

I work at a large UK university (in computer science). Mac laptops are everywhere. We don't even consider Apple hardware for desktops. Apple don't provide anything suitable (we usually go with Dell and put linux on them). They are really missing out here.

Personally I'd have an expandable mac desktop like a flash at home too if Apple made one.

You can also extend this argument into laptops too. Where the 12" Powerbook replacement? None of the current hardware fills the gap.
 
what next for apple.....

To be honest i'm not entirely sure whether apple will have any power to stop this machine, especially is the makers do not explicitly market and advertise it as an OS X capable machine......
however, maybe apple will stop selling OS X on physical media (e.g. DVDs) and future releases will only be available via the apple online store or via software update to verified "official" mac owners..... i'm not sure how plausible this is but it does sound like something apple would do.

17 MBP 2.4
1.6 MBA
8 core 3GHz Mac Pro
 
eastcoastsurfer said:
Of course you can't blame lamborghini for selling an expensive car. They also can't get mad if they are simply using off the shelf commodity parts and I go and buy the parts at commodity prices and build my own lambo for a fraction of the cost. Exotic sports car are expensive because they are generally made with exotic parts and materials. Macs are made with the same commodity parts that make up Dells or any other of a number of PCs.
Click to expand...

Lamborghini can't get mad at you if you build a car using off the shelf commodity parts that equals or betters the specs of their cars at a fraction of the cost.

But if you buy Lamborghini badges and logos and stick them on your homebuilt car and try to pass it off as a Lamborghini, they might just have a beef with you.
 
For gaming, don't kid yourself with OS X is not the way to go (Peggle anyone?). Buy a dedicated PC. Don't compromise with parts just because they (sorta) run OSX. For a similar price you can get a basic dell that will even include your copy of Windows.

For a server, just use a mini. It's cheaper in the end.
mini - $600
The Laptop parts do buy you something. You'll save $100+ a year on your power bill.

OpenMac - $400(hardware)+$130(OSX)+$80(iLife)
They will throw in the headache for free.

Seriously. I ran a Hackintosh for a few months before buying my real Apples and I can not begin to explain the difference. OSX86 is a hobby project, not a real platform for getting things done.

I'm all for clones, but if Apple isn't on-board, good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back