Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh; $200 Today Only
If you're into hackintoshes, today may be the final day to pick up a truly OS X ready netbook--the Dell Mini 9.
The little road warrior from Dell has been available for some time already. Most recently, Dell reduced the price of the Mini 9 down to $250. But just for today only, Dell is selling the Mini 9 for a stealing deal of $200.
But what makes the Mini 9 the perfect hackintosh platform? The hardware. All the hardware that's included in the Mini 9 works natively with Apple's OS X Leopard. Everything from graphics acceleration, sound, Ethernet, WiFi works--heck, even the webcam works. The standard hardware that comes with the $200 base build of the Mini 9 include the following:
- Obsidian black color (any other color choices will tack on a minimum of $30)
- Intel Atom N270 (1.6 GHz with 512 KB cache)
- 512 MB of DDR 2 (upgradeable to a single 2 GB SO-DIMM)
- 4 GB SSD (you need at least the 16 GB option to properly install and use OS X, although we recommend 32 GB or the 64 GB option)
You'll have to pick up an external DVD drive too, unless you plan to use a big USB stick to install Leopard (Gizmodo has an excellent guide on this).
You will also need a retail copy of the Leopard installation DVD. No patching of the OS is required, and everything works, so you'll be able to perform system updates without worrying about hosing your Mini 9.
As a side note, Dell's 3G option for the Mini 9 works with OS X just fine, making the Mini 9 a really good travel companion. For those who don't like the Mini 9, consider possibly the Lenovo S10. The only issue with the S10 is that Ethernet doesn't work properly, but WiFi and everything else works. Check out the netbook OS X compatibility guide from BoingBoing.
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ahslan i must admit, for $200, thats a great deal!....i dont even care about the hackintosh compatibility...lolReply -
joebob2000 Is there something about this machine in particular that makes it legal? Just curious, don't worry I won't tell Steve Jobs on you guys. But, as my memory serves, the EULA you are presented with is impassable since you agree to only use your copy of Leopard on a piece of hardware you purchased from Apple. Are you advocating violation of the shrinkwrap license?Reply -
jerreece And why would I wish to pay $200 for a 9 inch laptop with no CD/DVD drive, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB hard disk?!?Reply
Once you install your OS, you've barely got any room left for much else. It was a tempting prospect before I realized it needed an immediate RAM upgrade, and hard drive size upgrade (which I'm sure they charge a bundle for). Not to mention, I don't see much use in a laptop without CD/DVD support. Becomes much less convenient in my mind. -
jawshoeaw It quickly becomes $400 device with memory, SSD upgrade. But if you just want mozilla in your pocket, $200 does buy you that.Reply -
Unfortunately it's probably just before the release of their improved netbooks. so I won't buy one..Reply
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scryer_360 @joebob:Reply
The thing is, its illegal for manufacturers (thats the key word) to pre-install OSX on a computer unless the manufacturer is Mac. The EULA doesn't prevent YOU, the consumer from doing it. If you want to build a PC yourself and put Mac OSX on it, more power to you (just realize hardware support means you have to use Intel chips, and be selective with motherboard and video card buying).
I've installed OSX lots of different PC's, I just can't do that if I happen to make and sell PC's for a living. -
tayb joebob2000Is there something about this machine in particular that makes it legal? Just curious, don't worry I won't tell Steve Jobs on you guys. But, as my memory serves, the EULA you are presented with is impassable since you agree to only use your copy of Leopard on a piece of hardware you purchased from Apple. Are you advocating violation of the shrinkwrap license?Reply
If I own an OS X license I will install it on whatever computer I want to. I could honestly care less if it violates the Apple EULA. They can't enforce how their product is used after I swipe my credit card. If I was buying Dell Mini-9's, installing OS X, and re-selling them I might see a legal issue but installing a legal copy of OS X on a Mini-9? Couldn't imagine how that would be considered illegal.
Who am I kidding though... 99% of people who do this find a kalyway hacked copy of OS X on bit torrent. Doing something like THAT is illegal. -
drnoobfragger Yes the Mini 10 Comes Out in a few weeks so they are trying to get rid of the mini 9 PartsReply