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Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

tonymacx86.com

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Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#81

Post by analog31 »

sounds wrote: post #3

The Hackintosh movement is still going strong. One would think Apple would make their life difficult but quite the opposite appears to be the case: there are a few well-understood workarounds to get OS X working on an off-the-shelf PC, mostly just audio and networking. Be careful if you choose not to follow the guides, though! There's a reason most Hackintoshes use Gigabyte motherboards, Atheros wireless, etc. - Just…

Apple may benefit from what amounts to a two tiered price structure. They make their money from their mainstream customers who pay full fare for Apple hardware and software. Meanwhile, giving OSX away for use on cheaper hardware supports their app developers while taking business away from potential competitors or innovators.

To be fair, I also suspect that widespread piracy in the early days of personal computers actually contributed to Microsoft's monopoly by creating a price point that nobody could compete with.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#82

Post by Gracana »

obviouslygreen wrote: post #71

There are two fairly consistent benefits to running OS X: 1. It usually comes installed on great hardware. 2. It's less vulnerable to most things than Windows. Beyond that, if you choose to build a Hackintosh, in my opinion you (for whatever reason) enjoy OS X enough to depend on it but don't like Apple enough to run their OS without paying their hardware premium (entirely understandable from the price perspective bu…

The benefit I get from running OS X is "a unix-y system that is beautiful and maintenance-free." No worrying about drivers, sound systems, display managers, fonts and hinting systems. People who write software for this system tend to care deeply about adhering to the HIG. All of the ugly problems I run into with linux distributions are taken care of in OS X.

If I had money, I'd buy a real mac. But I don't, and this option is as easy as (and way more appealing than) running something like Ubuntu.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#83

Post by zaphoyd »

oe wrote: post #79
obviouslygreen wrote: post #71

There are two fairly consistent benefits to running OS X: 1. It usually comes installed on great hardware. 2. It's less vulnerable to most things than Windows. Beyond that, if you choose to build a Hackintosh, in my opinion you (for whatever reason) enjoy OS X enough to depend on it but don't like Apple enough to run their OS without paying their hardware premium (entirely understandable from the price perspective bu…

First, I don't think Apple hardware is expensive when you compare it to other machines with similar specs. The reason for building my own Hackintosh was mostly getting a machine that was good for gaming (a powerful GPU). It wasn't about saving money, as the same money would have bought a decent iMac, but using that money better.

I'd second this. In general, Apple hardware is not terribly expensive for what you get (assuming that you don't value things like software, industrial design, power efficiency, noise, compactness at zero because you personally are not interested in them).

A Hackintosh lets you get combinations of hardware that Apple doesn't sell. It also lets you add or remove features that Apple doesn't offer on any model such as replaceable components and large/loud/inefficient machines. In many cases this does end up being cheaper because you are purposely choosing to use fewer or lower quality components.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#84

Post by judk »

tinco wrote: post #56
judk wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't walk into the Atheros Store at the mall to get warranty service.

Eh, that makes no sense. You can't go to the AMD store in your mall to get your Mac Pro fixed either. You can however, if you buy your HackPro all together at one store, go to that stores service desk and have any component replaced, they might even give you a loaner to work on while your HackPro is being repaired. Most computer stores have better support than Apple too.

You can walk into an Apple Store on most cities.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#85

Post by FromStoneage »

zaphoyd wrote: post #23
presumeaway wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once it's set up and working the way you want, how often do you find yourself dealing with small issues?

There are a few different kinds of issues that come up. Software updates are a pain. Most of the time they work fine (especially now that Apple has more commodity hardware and public OS betas). Sometimes there are issues though and it is just always smart to wait a few months while they are figured out. If you are the sort that always wants to be running the latest OS version you'll find this frustrating or you'll sp…

Ultimately comes down to the trouble of building your own Hackintosn vs Organic Mac with smooth future upgrades ...

Worth to note that the latest Mac mini has dropped to $499, that makes Hackintosh even more unattractive

http://www.nextofwindows.com/buying-a-cheap-mac-mini-vs-buil...

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#86

Post by mbell »

obviouslygreen wrote: post #71

There are two fairly consistent benefits to running OS X: 1. It usually comes installed on great hardware. 2. It's less vulnerable to most things than Windows. Beyond that, if you choose to build a Hackintosh, in my opinion you (for whatever reason) enjoy OS X enough to depend on it but don't like Apple enough to run their OS without paying their hardware premium (entirely understandable from the price perspective bu…

> Frankly, I can't see any reason for the Hackintosh middle ground other than people who can't cope without the OS but can't afford the hardware.

I have several Mac laptops that cost more than most desktops (from apple or otherwise) but use a hackintosh desktop. Price isn't the issue, Apple simply doesn't make a desktop Mac with the specs I want, specifically there is no Mac with a desktop class GPU. You can choose between an iMac with a mobile GPU or a Mac Pro with a compute optimized GPU, I don't need nor want either. If Apple made a desktop with a desktop class GPU, I'd buy it.

> The software is little more than a neutered and compromised version of BSD that lets you part way into a walled garden (cue It's a trap! meme).

It's the best user experience available on a POSIX compliant OS. I used linux as my only OS for 6-7 years, I will never go back to fighting to get basic functionality to work.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#87

Post by FireBeyond »

DanBC wrote: post #55
FireBeyond wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you acquired the software legally, what then do you think? Now ask yourself this question if you legally purchased Oracle or MSSQL, and were evaluating for an application, testing, etc - and now I inform you that that's unauthorized, and Oracle's license forbids you from doing any form of benchmarking related to the database. Do you feel that you are being immoral to test your application?

Oracle licensing allows you to benchmark the software. You're not allowed to disclose the results without permission. http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/pricing/olsa-uk-v111003-0... You may not: • remove or modify any program markings or any notice of Oracle’s proprietary rights; • make the programs or materials resulting from the services available in any manner to any third party for use in the third party’s busine…

Disclose to whom, though? It doesn't specify 'externally' to your company, 'publish' or 'to any other person'.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#88

Post by hapless »

bjackman wrote: post #72
cowsandmilk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are both violating licenses authored by Apple to protect their copyright. In one case, the APSL, in the other, an EULA.

MatekCopatek's point is that just because you are breaking Apple's bullshit licenses agreement, doesn't mean you are breaking the law.

You are making an unauthorized copy of their copyrighted software.

Copyright infringement is illegal.

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#89

Post by shoegumfoot »

FromStoneage wrote: post #85
zaphoyd wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few different kinds of issues that come up. Software updates are a pain. Most of the time they work fine (especially now that Apple has more commodity hardware and public OS betas). Sometimes there are issues though and it is just always smart to wait a few months while they are figured out. If you are the sort that always wants to be running the latest OS version you'll find this frustrating or you'll sp…

Ultimately comes down to the trouble of building your own Hackintosn vs Organic Mac with smooth future upgrades ... Worth to note that the latest Mac mini has dropped to $499, that makes Hackintosh even more unattractive http://www.nextofwindows.com/buying-a-cheap-mac-mini-vs-buil...

Yup, and the CPU in that one is slower than the CPU in a (base-model) Mid-2011 Mini. What a deal!

Re: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

#90

Post by calimac »

Tonymacx86 = a glorified Amazon Affiliate blog.

Dude is all about driving traffic to his amazon affiliate account. brilliant.

I can't complain because the site has helped me from time to time.

Tonymac has been good for the overall main streaming of the hackintosh movement. Back when OSx was $20 he forced the app store purchase (good i guess)

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