If your idea of cheap is $500 or more.
See attachment below. It tells you how to install OS X on any Intel thing. It's easy, IMO. And no illegal download of Leopard; It uses a retail disk.
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Want to buy $100-$300 Laptop/Netbook from Apple
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If your idea of cheap is $500 or more.
See attachment below. It tells you how to install OS X on any Intel thing. It's easy, IMO. And no illegal download of Leopard; It uses a retail disk.
OP, you need to make sure that the netbook you're about to purchase is known to be compatible with Leopard. Not all PC's are born the same when it comes to hackintosh projects.
I recently dumped my 12" Powerbook G4 (1.33) for $300, it had a small dent but I doubt it would've gone for more than $350 without the dent. Avoid the PPC macs (iBook and PowerBook) if possible. They may be sufficiently powerful to run leopard, but the power management on PPC computers are so outdated that I'd take a Atom over G4 any day. PPC G4 generates a lot of heat compared to today's processors, and you may get 2 hours of usable time on a new battery.
And the lightest PowerBook (12") is a good 4.5lb, double that of many netbooks today.
I recently dumped my 12" Powerbook G4 (1.33) for $300, it had a small dent but I doubt it would've gone for more than $350 without the dent. Avoid the PPC macs (iBook and PowerBook) if possible. They may be sufficiently powerful to run leopard, but the power management on PPC computers are so outdated that I'd take a Atom over G4 any day. PPC G4 generates a lot of heat compared to today's processors, and you may get 2 hours of usable time on a new battery.
And the lightest PowerBook (12") is a good 4.5lb, double that of many netbooks today.
But if you're going with a Dell Mini, it'll work perfectly. You can even use Apple Software Update.
Most Dells are great Hackintosh candidates.
Dell Mini 9 OS X forum
OS X runs well on the Dell Mini 9/Vostro A90 (same computer internally; slightly different case). Everything works. You can install from a retail OS X (Leopard disk), which you will need to purchase.
The Mini 10 (not 10v) has an unsupported video card, and so is not a good idea. The 10v works reasonably well.
All the info you need is here:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-os-x/
OS X runs well on the Dell Mini 9/Vostro A90 (same computer internally; slightly different case). Everything works. You can install from a retail OS X (Leopard disk), which you will need to purchase.
The Mini 10 (not 10v) has an unsupported video card, and so is not a good idea. The 10v works reasonably well.
All the info you need is here:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-os-x/
Thanks everyone! Looks like I'll be making a hackintosh for my mum's computer then
But the real question is: would you really want to?
I have an iBook 1.33Ghz, and it barely runs Tiger adequately. I can't imagine installing Leopard on that thing. It would be really pokey. I even thought my Powermac G5 1.6 was too pokey with Leopard on it.
If you go with a G4, do yourself a favor and stick with Tiger.
dont hackintosh why do that when you can go on craigslist and find a 1st gen macbook for around 300 dollars easily just check it out yourself
Yes...define better. As much as I love the PB G4, it is old and slow. BUT IT WILL BE MISSED
I would disagree with your comment. I had OSX running just fine on my MSI Wind netbook. The only thing that didn't work was the mic which wasn't an issue for me. Then again, getting it to run isn't for a novice. I also have a $200.00 MSI Desktop running as a media server using OSX and haven't had any problems.
I should have been more clear ... I don't think it would run well enough to give to my mom, but then again, I don't know how tech savvy the OP's mother is.
The OP's mom won't necessarily face technical issues.
The Mini 9 supports everything, AFAIK. Take a look at the Boing Boing Compatibility Chart.
How do you think a Vostro 2.4 GHz with 9400M would work? Sounds like it would be fine to me.
On Saturday, Gizmodo's Don Nosovitz published Boing Boing's updated chart and the comments following are perhaps enlightening for problems,etc.
Good luck!
let us know what you do
Good luck!
let us know what you do
I don't think your mom really needs a computer right now, so hold your breath. Especially if you want an Apple computer, this price is way too low.
Try looking over eBay. Here's what I found, maybe you can do better: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-14-iBook-...tops?hash=item3ca4317e55&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
My advice would be, while on eBay, to check the user's rating, see if he's got lots of photos (like this one), and overall, do some research. You definitely don't want a $300 scam.
Try looking over eBay. Here's what I found, maybe you can do better: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-14-iBook-...tops?hash=item3ca4317e55&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
My advice would be, while on eBay, to check the user's rating, see if he's got lots of photos (like this one), and overall, do some research. You definitely don't want a $300 scam.
Apple is never going to release a product at that price point, ever. Tell your mum to save or buy a PC, or of course buy used. Any product at that price point would be a slightly larger iPod Touch, running the iPhone OS, no physical keyboard, small screen etc. And considering a 32gb iPod Touch costs $399, you are looking at $599 at least for that device.
Considering the OP's mom wants a mac for less than $300, I'm going to say she's about as tech savvy as a rock.