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Best Laptops With Full Hardware Support and Acceleration

jacob019

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evanrodge
evanrodge
Posted
Posted

I'm going to buy an Acer 3680 tomorrow (god I hope they still have them...) and I need to know if PCMCIA works. I really need firewire, and I have a mac compatible cardbus adapter. Can anyone definitively tell me if they got PCMCIA to work? I would really appreciate this.

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osxonmylaptop
osxonmylaptop
Posted
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I think Power Management is an important issue on laptops, my Acer Travelmate 4220 has full sound and graphics, I can see DVD movies, even played PowerPC (rosetta) games smoothly.

Wireless doesn't work but I connect the ethernet at the office so as you said it's not critical.

The power management hacks didn't work either so mostly I have to be plugged in, otherwise I don't know how much battery I have left, and when it dies the hackintosh suddendly shuts down.

Thanks.

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evanrodge
evanrodge
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Good news guys. The Aspire 3680 thats $399 is working in almost EVERY WAY. I've got:

 

Sound: works

Graphics (QE/CI): Works

PCMCIA (!): WORKS!!

Wifi: Works

powermanagement: works

 

This laptop works so well its almost unbelievable.

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Synaesthesia
Synaesthesia
Posted
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Great laptop! Yeah but you can really find it for $399 anywhere these days. If you do see one, let me know!

 

Otherwise I have my heart set on an Aspire 5570 for $700 that seems to work just as well, but has a dual core processor, 1gig ram and a DVD writer, WOOT!

 

Great laptop! Yeah but you can really find it for $399 anywhere these days. If you do see one, let me know!

 

Otherwise I have my heart set on an Aspire 5570 for $700 that seems to work just as well, but has a dual core processor, 1gig ram and a DVD writer, WOOT!

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slicemaster102
slicemaster102
Posted
Posted

well,

i was wondering if acer has made any new notbooks that are rediditly available that have the same fully compatible status as the Travelmate 4202WLMi? it seems to be pretty hard to get a hold of but works great as a hacked mac. i am looking for a core duo. will the newer travelmate core duo notebooks work just as well as the 4202 as far as compatibility? any brand would be ok, but preferably acer or hp. but i need the same functionality as with the 4202....

 

these are the Acer models i can get here:

TravelMate 8210 Travelmate 6292 TravelMate 4280 TravelMate 4230 TravelMate 6460 TravelMate 6410 Travelmate 6292 TravelMate 3040Travelmate 6292 TravelMate 4280 TravelMate 4230 TravelMate 3270

 

thanks,

Slice :hysterical:

 

P.S. I am in Lithuania

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gritmaster
gritmaster
Posted
Posted
Good news guys. The Aspire 3680 thats $399 is working in almost EVERY WAY. I've got:

 

Sound: works

Graphics (QE/CI): Works

PCMCIA (!): WORKS!!

Wifi: Works

powermanagement: works

 

This laptop works so well its almost unbelievable.

 

Hi evanrodge - glad to hear you picked one up.

 

Which release of OS X are you using? I am using Jas [sSE2/SSE3 with PPDF1] 10.4.8 - My PCMICA does not appear to work - I tried installing Solu's driver (http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=29583&hl=3680) but have not messed around with the memory ranges.

 

With respect to power management, although Battery Life indicator works fine, sleep does not work for me - does Sleep work for you?

 

 

By the way, is yours advertised as CD-RW/DVD-read only but actually also burns DVDs? It was a nice suprise to find that it also burns DVDs.

 

All in all, a very nice notebook for $399.

 

Edit: Sleep works in Jas 10.4.7 but not 10.4.8. Anyone have an idea why 10.4.7 works?

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Synaesthesia
Synaesthesia
Posted
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Hey Slicemaster,

 

I recommend checking the wiki for more info.

 

As long as the specifications are in order a few things should work well. If it has a 945 chipset by intel (many laptops do), and an SSE3 processor, then it's already quite compatible. (Graphics, usb,the basics) Then it just depends on whether it has atheros wireless or not. If not you need to get a minipci or usb dongle to get it working

 

well,

i was wondering if acer has made any new notbooks that are rediditly available that have the same fully compatible status as the Travelmate 4202WLMi? it seems to be pretty hard to get a hold of but works great as a hacked mac. i am looking for a core duo. will the newer travelmate core duo notebooks work just as well as the 4202 as far as compatibility? any brand would be ok, but preferably acer or hp. but i need the same functionality as with the 4202....

 

these are the Acer models i can get here:

TravelMate 8210 Travelmate 6292 TravelMate 4280 TravelMate 4230 TravelMate 6460 TravelMate 6410 Travelmate 6292 TravelMate 3040Travelmate 6292 TravelMate 4280 TravelMate 4230 TravelMate 3270

 

thanks,

Slice :)

 

P.S. I am in Lithuania

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myborderland
myborderland
Posted
Posted

i got an acer 5672AWLMI, with x1600 Mobility . i got all workin except wireless (but i use an usb dongle) and support for internal lcd . i can only use external monitor but with all working. i tried really a lot of ways... but all of 'em failed. does anyone knows a method for this amazing lap with bad compatibility ? please :D

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evanrodge
evanrodge
Posted
Posted
Hi evanrodge - glad to hear you picked one up.

 

Which release of OS X are you using? I am using Jas [sSE2/SSE3 with PPDF1] 10.4.8 - My PCMICA does not appear to work - I tried installing Solu's driver (http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=29583&hl=3680) but have not messed around with the memory ranges.

 

With respect to power management, although Battery Life indicator works fine, sleep does not work for me - does Sleep work for you?

By the way, is yours advertised as CD-RW/DVD-read only but actually also burns DVDs? It was a nice suprise to find that it also burns DVDs.

 

All in all, a very nice notebook for $399.

 

Edit: Sleep works in Jas 10.4.7 but not 10.4.8. Anyone have an idea why 10.4.7 works?

 

Well, I'm using 10.4.9. Read the PCMCIA thread about 11 pages in it tells you how to enable PCMCIA on 10.4.8 (and it works when upgrading to 10.4.9). But I really need sleep, so I might go down to 10.4.7. And yes, mine writes DVD's 0_o? Strange, but awsome. I NEED SLEEP.

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Naitek7954
Naitek7954
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I have been trying to get my kernel to 8.8.1 now, but i have had no luck. keep getting messages on the verbose method that it failed to load extension com.apple.IOKIT.Scsi ,etc .

 

Then it sits there trying to find the hard drive.

 

Change boot to mach_kernel.old and it boots happily . I am using Jas 10.4.8 intel sse2 with 8.4.1 kernel.

 

Any way to upgrade this kernel without having to install everything over completely?

 

thanks,

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phsource
phsource
Posted
Posted

I have an Acer Aspire 9420-6775.

 

Core 2 Duo T5500

Geforce Go7300

 

Works right out of the box with Uphuck drivers and the latest included Intel SSE3 driver. Only thing that doesn't work (as it's the case for many computers) is sleep.

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Synaesthesia
Synaesthesia
Posted
Posted

Well, I just installed OS X on two laptops, the Acer 2480 and 3680. They are almost identical, the 3680 has a glossy screen, and a webcam, and atheros wireless, while the 2480 uses broadcom.

 

Both work very well in OS X, as mentioned before. Sleep works on 10.4.7 but not in later versions. Sound in/out is available in 10.4.8 with the alc882 patcher, which is nice so try get that.

 

They make very satisfactory hackintoshes and are even faster than G4's!

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blix3
blix3
Posted
Posted

A $399 sale price and favorable posts earlier on this thread persuaded me to buy an Acer 3680 a couple of months ago.

 

I've been very pleased with the way it runs OS X (JAS 10.4.8). This has to be the best value going. It does almost everything my daughter's $1100 Macbook 13" does, and it has a bigger screen (14") and hard drive (came with 120GB although the specs say it should have 80GB). The main deficits are the lack of a built-in camera and my inability to get the sleep mode to work. Also, I don't know if I will be able to upgrade the OS.

 

If anyone's interested, I just did a Google search for it today and found it on sale for $399 at Radio Shack.

 

 

Well, I just installed OS X on two laptops, the Acer 2480 and 3680. They are almost identical, the 3680 has a glossy screen, and a webcam, and atheros wireless, while the 2480 uses broadcom. Both work very well in OS X, as mentioned before. Sleep works on 10.4.7 but not in later versions. Sound in/out is available in 10.4.8 with the alc882 patcher, which is nice so try get that. They make very satisfactory hackintoshes and are even faster than G4's!
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nyjets12
nyjets12
Posted
Posted
The problem with those laptops is that they don't work unless you start them with an external monitor plugged in. There is no fix for the problem and I consider it big enough to call those laptops non-working.

My Lenovo T60 with Intel GMA 950 works right out of the shoot...

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NewNoise
NewNoise
Posted
Posted

Helloo all.. I have a report on a working Toshiba M70 that runs OSx86 effectively.. here are the specs when its first install

 

Jas 10.4.8 Installer

Intel Pentium M 760 1.86Ghz

1.5 G DDR2 PC2-4200 (read as 2 Ghz on the hardware profile box)

ATI M-Radeon X700 @256Mb (driver patched with Callisto B003 with QE, CI, and FIXED resolution @1024x768)

100G SATA HITACHI HDD

Sound, LAN, Firewire link is working out of the box

Keyboards are working fine incl. Fn keys

 

Except: (and untill now)

 

Wifi 2200, Modem, built in Card reader (Not Working)

Touchpad (not working)

Battery's are weak when im working on OSx86, its only 1/2 an hour from normal 2 hours working under Windows.

 

And The Problem is:

I still cant find out which Callisto patch that fit my X700 for changing my screen resolution at 1280x800. The last time i've tried, it got awfuly blank. But fortunately, i received a script from a friend to restore my VGA, and its normal again. Oyeah, X700 has a bad MOUSE TEARING and its so annoying. but its solved (in my humble opinion) with GioFX mouse locator. Does anyone can help me with changing resolution on Mobility X700.

 

All the app's are running fine including FCP.. Games also running well like Call of Duty 2, Warcraft, and others.

 

Thats it.. i hope this one can be on the list. Thanx.

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dankasfuk
dankasfuk
Posted
Posted

I've got an Inspiron 8600 (old, but cheap). I've got everything working so far. Wireless works w/ Dell truemobile 1450 (ebay $12). Nvidia go5200 works with native resolution (1200x800) QE, Q2E and CI using Nvidia EFI (macvidia). Sound works (even +/- and mute buttons), mic works, USB works, ethernet works and power management works using powermangement.bundle. Only thing I cannot get to work is wake after sleep, and that's because I cant use the SSE3 kernel. Other than that, it is literally almost perfect.

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Friar
Friar
Posted
Posted
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDeta...p;cm_keycode=92

 

is this the same Acer 3680?

cuz its called Acer Aspire 3680-2682

the 2682 is what im wondering.

 

im going to buy this if i can get it working.

 

ps. how do you get graphics to work?

 

Yeah, same question here. The Circuit City down the road has some permutation of the 3680 that looks like it *should* work pretty decent based on the components, but it seems like Acer's fond of making a gajillion different versions of each model of their laptops. I just checked on Radio Shack's site, and the one they have listed doesn't have a webcam (which I think Syn mentioned). The one at Circuit City doesn't either. So evanrodge and Synaesthesia... what was the second part of the model number on the 3680s that worked out so well for you? And/or do you have a link to where you bought yours from?

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Stoney3K
Stoney3K
Posted
Posted

I picked up a little gem of a powerhouse this week, since my old laptop broke down:

 

Acer Aspire 7720G

 

Specs:

 

Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology (Santa Rosa chipset)

Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (Codename: Merom, 65nm) @ 2x2,0GHz, FSB800

Chipset: Intel PM965 north, ICH8 south

2 x 1GB DDR667 (latencies currently unknown, still got to bench the sucker!)

2 x WD 1600BEVS (160GB, SATA2, 5400rpm)

ATI Radeon HD2300 with 256MB dedicated video memory (R600, DX9)

Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN (802.11a/b/g/draft-n)

Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet, IEE1394

Broadcom USB2.0 Bluetooth dongle (built-in)

Optiarc DVD-RW Multistandard dual-layer DVD drive (European models, American -G models ship with HD-DVD ROM drive)

 

According to the Santa Rosa specifications, the chipset should even support EFI out of the box. Which makes sense, since the new iMacs and MacBooks will also ship with Santa Rosa as of Q3 2007.

 

As far as specs go, this baby is between the regular MB and the MB Pro, with some specs superseding the MB but just on par with the Pro. The upside is the price tag -- I paid as much for this notebook as I would have paid for a regular MB.

 

I'm getting my hands on the OSX86 disc right now. I'm suspecting most things will work as expected, possibly some Acer-specific hardware might not work straight out. Most of the laptop's specs are right up there with Apple's design choices though.

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Stoney3K
Stoney3K
Posted
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I didn't buy my 7720 in the US (I'm from the Netherlands). It's one of the first Santa Rosa models on the market and it only hit retail this week.

 

Burning an OSx86 disc today, I'll see how it works out. If I can install it succesfully, I've got a dedicated disk for OSX and one for XP64. VMWare Fusion should make switching between the two a snap (as it should be able to boot directly from either physical disk)

 

Update on OSX on the 7720:

 

Got the JaS 10.4.8 and first installed with some tweaks, but the GFX wouldn't boot. It booted fine straight off the DVD, so I knew OSX would be able to boot off the HDD as well.

 

SATA support was completely transparent, and I used Disk Utility to rebuild my second 160GB as a dedicated Mac OSX disk, no problems there.

 

USB and 1394 -- out of the box.

 

First attempt got the GFX stuck at the login screen, next I tried with NO custom drivers and kernel. That resulted in Darwin not recognizing my ACPI hardware, and instantly rebooting at the kernel startup.

 

Third try, bingo -- JaS with nothing except the custom kernel (the rest as stock Apple). It boots as expected, and got a neat login screen and registration details.

 

Bad bits for now though: The Broadcom Gigabit networking controller isn't recognised in 10.4.8 and 10.4.9, so getting files off the Internet still requires me to shovel files around through Vista and a shared NTFS partition. Same with the wireless controller.

 

Web cam was recognised but OSX wouldn't activate it (only showing a black screen). As I haven't installed any custom video drivers yet, I'm stuck with the default VESA driver. The CPU is fast enough, so all the GUI and animations are perfectly smooth, but CG and QE are pretty essential when you're doing video editing.

 

I will be tweaking the installation in the course of a few days. The disk is completely independent of my Windows installation, so there is little that can go wrong. If I screw up, I can boot Vista and wipe it straight clean, and do a reinstall.

 

(For the record: Vista will be replaced with XP64 in the near future, but I still have to scramble together all of the drivers)

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