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Psystar Working on Mac OS X Netbook?

Adam Young said:
I think Apple has hit the sweet spot with the iPhone/iTouch and the MacBook. Please, please, please, no more netbooks.
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Macbook yes, the iPod Touch and iPhone are no where near what is to be considered as a netbook. The lack of a physical keyboard and inputs is the largest issue.

They make great PDAs, but I would never consider them to be anything more than micro computers/PDAs
 
I laugh every time i hear the term "mac clone" any more.
What is a mac clone these days? The hardware in macs is identical to most PCs, the only difference between Macs and modern PCs is the OS which is only due to a synthetic limitation imposed by apple. Psystar didnt copy anything from apple, they just circumvented the OS lockdown.


Also, Macminiintel, do you realize apple sells plastic computers? Oh yes, thats right, you are desperate for reasons to defend Apple, so go ahead and bash PCs for being platic when apple still sells plastic models.
 
I hope sometime in the future Apple goes back to RISC, rather than X86, As much as I love intel for speed and compatibility, it haunts me to think that PC users can cheaply and easily build a Hackintosh rig

Buy a proper mac.

iHope it won't be like 1995/96 again....

"I think we're a clone now, there's always Michael Dell, Just hanging around"
 
NoSmokingBandit said:
Psystar didnt copy anything from apple, they just circumvented the OS lockdown.
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Which is part of the problem.


BillyBobBongo said:
Er...I don't own an iPhone!

I appreciate your passion for Apple...but you do know that they're a mean money grabbing company like everyone else?! The may pretend to be all friendly and easy going....but they're in it for one thing....and they want a lot of them!
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True. They all are. That's really the only reason to be in business. It might be a happy accident that we have Macs and OS X and all other good things Apple. As long as they remain healthy, this trend will continue.
 
*LTD* said:
You think that's good for Apple or the consumer? You think that's good for OS X's reputation? Do you think someone fscking around with Apple's OS and then sending customers to hack-and-slash internet sites for "support" is a good thing??
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I couldn't care less what's good for Apple or OS X's reputation; that's Apple's job to take care of and maintain. If a competitor makes Apple double its efforts, good. And if psystar's support is as bad as you say, the market will sort it out quickly enough.

There's a good reason Apple keeps such tight control over their product. So it doesn't become a Windows-like experience! That's the whole point. So things remain easy. So there is a strong, sustained support infrastructure for the consumer.
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Isn't it pretty to think so? Apple keeps everything locked down to maintain high prices. If there's a consumer benefit to the lockdown, it is purely a side effect. Could it be argued that this is pro-competitive? Sure. Is it actually pro-competitive? I don't think so.

If you want Apple to lower prices, that's one thing. But having some operation like Psystar continue their practices just to send Apple a message about their pricing is just stupid, and ultimately ends up generating the WRONG message.

I understand the perennial griping about Apple's pricing, but that's the kind of competition (from Psystar) that we, as Apple users DO NOT need. We need to be a bit more farsighted when it comes to Apple and its "competitors."
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Market entry has to happen sometime. And it's rare that the entrant will be perfect. Similar to free speech, the champion often is not a poster child. Being farsighted should not equal inertia.

Why should anyone be doing any research or going through any learning curve to be able to use tech and make it work?? Is that supposed to be fun? learning about something you shouldn't have to? No good for the average consumer. There's already enough of a learning curve with Windows.
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And Windows chugs along and takes hits accordingly.

That's bad engineering. It needs to be dirt-simple and dead-easy. Unless you're in love with the PROCESS of getting things to work (read: tinkering.) Some of us (most of us) don't have the time for that. We have things to get done.
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I have no desire to tinker. I want stuff to work out of the box. (However, I disagree about the time issue; most people actually don't work that hard, but that's a different discussion.)

Overall, I see your point. Your argument boils down to Apple's business practices are procompetitive because it provides a better user experience. I disagree. Apple does not have to compete on price, and therefore does pretty much as it pleases (which makes sense). Imagine the innovation that would come out of Cupertino if Apple got pushed even just a little bit harder. I'd like to see that.
 
NoSmokingBandit said:
I laugh every time i hear the term "mac clone" any more.
What is a mac clone these days? The hardware in macs is identical to most PCs, the only difference between Macs and modern PCs is the OS which is only due to a synthetic limitation imposed by apple. Psystar didnt copy anything from apple, they just circumvented the OS lockdown.


Also, Macminiintel, do you realize apple sells plastic computers? Oh yes, thats right, you are desperate for reasons to defend Apple, so go ahead and bash PCs for being platic when apple still sells plastic models.
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Last time I saw it, Apple only sells one plastic computer the Polycaronate Macbook, and it is by no means lacking quality. All PC's in the similar price range, look god awful compared to it. If you knew your Apple history, you'd no that in the good old days a Mac clone had to use a Macintoshes ROM chips for it to run its system software. I was just simply quoting it.

Can I ask why are you even on Mac rumors if your an Apple hater, I honestly don't get it. I'd never dream joining a windows forum, because I hate Microsoft, so why is it PC's users always try and cause arguments. Go use your PC whilst its not crashing!!
 
*LTD* said:
Apple's service and support runs much deeper than that. Offhand, you can drop into Any Apple Store.
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Yeah I agree, I read an article recently that Apple's support was leading the way. i've always been Amazing with my Apple purchases & care and support at the retail Apple stores. As have 92% of other Apple users. According to statistics.

i think the list ran in this order
1. Apple
2. HP
3. Acer
4. Sony
5. Dell
 
Macminiintel said:
Yeah I agree, I read an article recently that Apple's support was leading the way. i've always been Amazing with my Apple purchases & care and support at the retail Apple stores. As have 92% of other Apple users. According to statistics.

i think the list ran in this order
1. Apple
2. HP
3. Acer
4. Sony
5. Dell
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Well they consistently rate highest in customer satisfaction - year after year, and just recently the Consumer Reports numbers bear this out.
 
Macminiintel said:
I hope sometime in the future Apple goes back to RISC, rather than X86, As much as I love intel for speed and compatibility, it haunts me to think that PC users can cheaply and easily build a Hackintosh rig

Buy a proper mac.
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Imagine the horror of the unwashed masses being able to use OS X on cheap hardware. It's unbearable. Mac faithful need to man the baricades and fight these barbarians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMK6lzmSk2o
 
*LTD* said:
Are you kidding?

New iPods, new iPhones, new notebooks, a new Shuffle . . . all Apple does is keep a blistering pace in terms of development. iMacs and the Mini were recent exceptions, granted, but Apple has a very wide product line and most of it gets refreshed regularly. That's a helluva lot more than what can be said about others.
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So music players and cell phones are where cutting edge tech for Apple is...


oh please, what a pitiful end to a great computer company. Reduced to making MP3 players and cell phones. To brag about it is just laughable.

Your whole boast is so laughable... I can find new stuff from a plethora of manufactures each and every month. See the convenient fact you leave out is that I am not reliant on Dell to update each month or HP or whomever, I have a choice of many manufactures and many ideas to pick from and one of them always has something new.


Cellphones and MP3 players oh my! I guess when the desktop offerings suck its best to look behind a different curtain. (actually their best desktop offerings are clamshelling the macbooks)
 
I'm all for setting OS X free for a vast number of reasons (and none of them include "I want to spend less"), but this just doesn't work. No idiot in their right mind would purchase a Psystar.
 
Has anyone bought a computer from Psystar?

How do they hold up in the long term? It seems like a bit of a risk, but then I've heard some people say great things about them as well. I'd hate to buy something that could end up being bricked though.
 
sneeks said:
No trouble at all, everything works and I even have 2 finger scrolling :)
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i purchased a Dell 9 just to put OSX on it, as it is the easiest to get running, and it uses a legit retail copy of OS X Leopard, not a hacked one from a torrent site, so apple gets it money for a copy of leopard.

It for the most part has been flawless. It works great for general web surfing and email (keyboard layout sucks.) I even have some older games running on it. All OSX updates work fine, so does iPhoto, iWork, iTunes.

Everything works using the Dell EFI method with threee exceptions, Hibernate (save state to hard disc) and the external mic plug. To turn off the bluetooth wireless, you have to go into the bios (or just leave it off and use a USB bluetooth and remove it instead.) Everything else works, including sleep, wireless, system updates, etc.

An improved two finger scrolling is in alpha right now, I think it will go into beta software in a couple of weeks. Many people are using the alpha software without issues. (I'm waiting for the official release with DellEFI1.2)

A Dell 9 does have a couple of issues I have noticed however. First of all, some windows that can't be resized open too big. This can be mitigated with a program called scaleres however.

The second isssue is that the CPU lacks power for 720p video (even if played in a window). (I did do some dvd video converted with handbrake, it ran that fine.) Hulu plays choppy, I would assume because the flash version on OS X has always been a resource hog. Movie trailers played from the build in frontrow work great however.

The keyboard is odd on that machine, it can be replaced with an international english keyboard that is suppose to be better, but I haven't done that.

My setup is a Dell Mini 9, 2 gig memory bought from Newegg, and a stock 32gig SSD drive, with bluetooth & 1.3MP camera. I paid $350 total for it, excluding a copy of leopard.

Would I give one of these machines to a nontechie? Nope, too much chance a system update might break it, or some other issue. I think anyone who is reading these forums would do just fine with the Dell 9 OS X however.

Would it be a great day computer, just to throw into a backpack, a student to take to class, etc? That's my plan. I am hoping to travel with it instead of the heavier macbook. My macbook gets trashed with all the travel in my job, I would prefer to risk a much less expensive computer instead.

If you buy one of these when you need a full laptop instead you will be disappointed. If you want something greater than an iPhone, but less than a full size laptop, this computer running OS X is great for that job.

Oh, if anyone is interested in specific steps needed for running os X on the Dell 9, here is the forum that will help you: http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-os-x-f23.html
 
Shivetya said:
Cellphones and MP3 players oh my! I guess when the desktop offerings suck its best to look behind a different curtain. (actually their best desktop offerings are clamshelling the macbooks)
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I honestly can't recommend Apple's desktop computers either. You get a deal with a refurbished WhiteBook 9400M G at US$849.
 
I don't see any reason to wait for a Psystar.

Seems better to have a dual boot Dell Mini 9 for $300.

and if you don't need XP, save a few bucks and dual boot it with Ubuntu.
 
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