Building a Hackintosh? There's a netbook compatibility chart for that

http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/building-a-hackintosh-theres-a-netbook-compatibility-chart-for-that-20100325/

by rglullis • 16 years ago

24 23 16 years ago

davi• 16 years ago

direct link: http://www.mymacnetbook.com/compatibility-chart/

For going to RailsConf 2009 I "hackintoshed" an Eee PC 1000HE. It was the first Eee PC with insane battery life (realistically around 9-10 hours in Windows). I had to dismantle the entire machine to put in a new wifi card (the only stock piece not compatible with OS X) but it ran OS X well and got 6.5 hours of practical battery life with no problems.

That said, after I got back, I bought a 17" MBP and never used the Eee again. The keys on these 9/10" machines make them a nightmare to type on for more than a few minutes (and the Eee's was particularly good) and not being entirely legit just makes them feel a little icky and undependable. I don't know anyone who hackintoshed a machine and stuck with it for more than a few months (not to say there aren't any - I just don't know them!)

brk• 16 years ago

Interesting comment.

This reminds me of all the "build your own PIX firewall" hacks that were going around about 10 years ago. I seem to remember that the general outcome of those was that people were doing it to try out the concept cheaply, and then when satisfied purchased the actual product (or, realized it wasn't the right product for them).

semanticist• 16 years ago

I have a Hackintosh Samsung NC10, which I've been using for over a year. I use it as my main workstation in the office in preference to a HP box running Ubuntu (with a second monitor and using the Linux box's keyboard/mouse using synergy).

I use it extensively at home and when out and about, for general internet use and for software development - I wrote a VoIP Twitter mash-up on it. I've got a perfectly good Ruby development environment, and I've even got Asterisk installed on it.

It did require some abuse to get going, and it's still on 10.5. It has... personality. But I do use it every single day, far more than my 24" iMac.

djcapelis• 16 years ago

I imagine the release of the iPad has put a damper on the enthusiasm for hackintosh netbooks. Which isn't to say no one wants one anymore ever, but this hacky solution to Apple's unfilled niche is less necessary now that Apple produces a product closer to this area.

rglullis• 16 years ago

The only reason I'm looking to get a Hackinstosh is because I want a cheap computer that would allow me to develop for the iPhone/iPad. if the iPad came with a SDK and you were able to develop in itself, you would be absolutely right.

ronnier• 16 years ago

FYI, I'm running Snow Leopard in a VMWare virtual machine on windows 7. Works great and allows you to write iPhone apps.

fierarul2• 16 years ago

How cheap do you want that computer ? Because pretty sure you could get an older Mac.

Also -- HTML5 and Javascript-level frameworks such as phonegap.com seems to gather some following. You might want to look into that.

I've written a few apps and even published a few but, in retrospect, none were so complex that I really needed to use Objective-C. As long as you have access to all the features (ie. camera, accelerometer, etc) Javascript might be the way to go. The only situation I think you really need Objective-C is for the Open GL ES part but rumor has it that the canvas on Mobile Safari uses that.

In conclusion, I think using a Hackintosh to develop for the iPhone/iPad might be just a way to find yourself a challenge, unless you plan on using your existing PC-hardware. Buying new PC-hardware instead of a mac isn't logic. But the side conclusion is that using the SDK itself might be unneeded for most of the common apps.

tvon• 16 years ago

Note that if you want it for iPad development you should look for a screen bigger than the iPad simulator.

I'd suggest either getting a Mini off of eBay or the Apple Store's refurbished section (when they're there, usually aren't any), or building a desktop Hackintosh.

mgcross• 16 years ago

Good point, but the iPad is still a far cry from an OS X netbook in terms of extensibility. I still think Apple would have a market for a small, cheaper-than-macbook laptop. That said, I pretty much only use my Eeepc as an "internet appliance" anyway...

enterneo3• 16 years ago

I am a Software Engineer. I love Mac OS X, but I cannot afford to even buy a $999 MB. Even if I buy a $499 iPad, I would still need a device for my programming needs.

dujkan• 16 years ago

i'm looking to hackintosh a real notebook, not a crampy netbook

pibefision• 16 years ago

macbooks are real hackingtosh notebook

Zev2• 16 years ago

Ack. Didn't mean to downvote you, sorry.

And agreed, if you want a Mac, just buy one. Refurb or second hand, if there's too much of a sticker shock.

hkuo• 16 years ago

From personal experience, I highly highly recommend hackintoshing a standard laptop and not a netbook. The netbook screen size is just too small to do anything productive in it. Just try imagine coding in a window a quarter the size of the laptop you're looking at right now. Fun, huh?

Hackintoshing a netbook is really just for fun and novelty.

bitwize• 16 years ago

Just try imagine coding in a window a quarter the size of the laptop you're looking at right now. Fun, huh?

I do this on an OLPC and a "normal" MSI Wind netbook.

It's not bad, if you have a large crisp font.

liedra• 16 years ago

Also good for work travel when all you want to do is show a couple of presentations & take some notes, but don't want to lug around a couple of thousand euro MBP with you. :)

fierarul2• 16 years ago

I was planning on getting a Dell Mini 10 to put OSX on it but literally a day before paying for it Apple release some update that killed support on Atom CPUs. Nowadays I think it's working again but it showed me that perhaps it won't be as streamlined as I though.

The iPad might be a good replacement for an OSX-capable netbook, even if it's just running iPhoneOS.

enterneo3• 16 years ago

I have a Dell Mini 10v running 10.6.2 currently and everything works out of the box, but the screen is NOT 1366x800 and does NOT have an integrated GPU (like IoN)

enterneo3• 16 years ago

HP Mini 311 would be the best netbook to hackintosh.

Building a Hackintosh? There's a netbook compatibility chart for that

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