Franzy Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Since the beginning of the Mac Projects, everyone's been on a mission to build their own cheap beige mac box. Since September, I have put Mac OS X on about 20 different computers (mostly laptops). These people are now choosing to go ahead and buy an intel mac - macbooks for the most part. Unlike these folks, I am loyal to my OS X for x86, and refuse to buy a mac, when Mac is running smooth and stable on my dell inspiron 5150. I decided I should make a statement for the school. While those people are paying 1200+ on a macbook, why don't I build a macbook of my own? Here's my idea: - Buy the macbook shell exterior w/ monitor from somewhere (ebay perhaps) - Get an intel motherboard w/ integrated intel GMA 950, integrated sound - 1gb of RAM - 80 gb hard drive - an apple superdrive It's a rough idea, but I think i can make it work. I am most worried about power compatibilities - will I be able to obtain a motherboard that would be compatible to the apple power cord and battery. Anyways, i think I can make this work. If anyone has any ideas about where I could get the macbook (or any mac laptop exterior), or anything in general they would like to say, please feel free to post. I am open to suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampTK Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 you just cant buy a intel motherboard and stick it on a macbook. laptops motherboards aren't standard, and are higly configured for the laptop model, especially apple's just take a look at any pic of a dismanteled macbook, and you will see it for yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwprod12 Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Not to mention that a laptop motherboard is like 10 times smaller and 10 times lighter than a atx motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedragon1971 Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 There's also the fact that you'd probably spend more trying to build one yourself than simply buying a MacBook to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INFNITE Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 you do realize that Apple crams more stuff into a given unit of space than other laptopo manufacturers right? MacBook and MBP's are both approximately 1" thick, and you're not gonna find logic boards that will fit into these enclosures easily. What's wrong with spending $1000 for a MacBook? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shimms Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Especially when you can click Software Update, or buy Leopard when it comes out and just install it, etc. MacBooks are cheap, and they are supported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franzy Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 lol ok, i get it, it was a stupid idea. But a guy can dream can't he? I'd like a macbook (pro perhaps) to mess around with though. I'm thinking about using the same site that Mashugly used to get his MBP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipodman Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 couldn't he just get a dell laptop and put the insides into a macbook case and if u r gonna try it get dedicated graphics, intel intergrated graphics are terrible compared to ati graphics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 just go ahead and buy a real mac book before buying things and damage them by putting them together i think the core duo is mutch faster then a pentium m or pentium 4 or even a pentium d cant wait for the core 2 duo. i've read in a german magazine that it beats the athlon fx-60 about miles (with same clock speed)! a mac pro (ex Power Macintosh) with core 2 duo or maybe quad would be amazing... just think about mac book pros with core 2 duo. maybe you should wait with your "portable mac" until the core 2 duo or the mac pro is released and the intel switch is full done. i do so an my first and next notebook will be a real mac book (hopely with core 2 duo) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsubakiSama Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 just go ahead and buy a real mac book before buying things and damage them by putting them together i think the core duo is mutch faster then a pentium m or pentium 4 or even a pentium d cant wait for the core 2 duo. i've read in a german magazine that it beats the athlon fx-60 about miles (with same clock speed)! a mac pro (ex Power Macintosh) with core 2 duo or maybe quad would be amazing... just think about mac book pros with core 2 duo. maybe you should wait with your "portable mac" until the core 2 duo or the mac pro is released and the intel switch is full done. i do so an my first and next notebook will be a real mac book (hopely with core 2 duo) Dude that's almost like saying "I don't want to buy milk today because if I buy tomorrow I will get a better expire date" If you need one so just buy one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Dude that's almost like saying "I don't want to buy milk today because if I buy tomorrow I will get a better expire date" If you need one so just buy one yea but the core duo is the first of the "new intels" its like once the first pentium... it was socket 6 i think and you only got 60,66 and i think 75 Mhz. the first pentiums were also hard to overclock - nearly impossible. first with the socket 7 there were clockspeets over 100 and then came mmx and so on. i think it would really be right to wait for core 2 duo. i wouldnt buy a core duo yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigboss Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Dude that's almost like saying "I don't want to buy milk today because if I buy tomorrow I will get a better expire date" If you need one so just buy one ha even if merom came out, id probably grab the yonah line because the price of a chip would decrease tremendously. about performance, i dont think too many people can complain about a t2500/t2600 chip failing to deliver. sure the merom will be better but who cares? what makes you think you will make use of all that power? also, the 64 bit feature is kind of dumb since i doubt the industry will make the transition for atleast 2 - 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INFNITE Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Unless you're a serious pro-user, Core Duo really is sufficient for anything you may want to do. My MacBook Pro is lightning fast, and my only complaints is due to lack of Universal Binary support for Office and Adobe apps. When Merom comes out, yeah, your computer isn't gonna be the fastest, but it is still pretty damn fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franzy Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 Eh. If i were to get a macbook (which i don't think i will - osx864life), I would wait for the core 2 duo. I think apple plans on releasing their hits at the same time, or around the same time - which includes OS X Leopard, the core 2 duo, and boot camp (full version) which will be included with Leopard. Students - just wait till September. You really are better off waiting. Not only will the kinks be worked out in the intel processors, but you will get better hardware, new software, boot camp (full version), and more included universal apps. Back to the original topic - does anyone know if it would be possible for me to transfer the parts from a dell laptop, into a mac laptop case of appropriate size as ipodman suggested. I have the dell laptop so im halfway there . + its not about the struggle puttn' it together. I just want to rub it into my friends' face that i am better than them and can make a mac laptop of equal beauty for much less. . the only thing i would be concerned about is the motherboard slots, and the isight camera. It would be soooo cool to do this and not spend the 1100 minimum on an inferior laptop by apple. The only thing I like is the design and exterior of apple's laptops, since i can now match apple's mac on my dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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