13 replies to this topic

[Alien1959]

Hey guys,

lately there has been much hype about the new ultrabooks offered, powered by Intel Processors.

Ya Know, the Acer Aspire S3, Asus Zenbook, Lenovo U300s and more....

I'm surprised that after about a month, I find no thread mentioning any of this.

The fact that these laptops look much alike the MacBook Air, except some cheaper.

So I'm gonna start one here, do you guys think that these ultrabooks can run on Mac OSX Lion?

It be really cool.

Some info on ultrabooks, in case you've been living under a rock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook

Hardware wise, is it do-able?

[terramir]

Alien1959, on Nov 21 2011, 07:35 PM, said:

Hey guys,

lately there has been much hype about the new ultrabooks offered, powered by Intel Processors.

Ya Know, the Acer Aspire S3, Asus Zenbook, Lenovo U300s and more....

I'm surprised that after about a month, I find no thread mentioning any of this.

The fact that these laptops look much alike the MacBook Air, except some cheaper.

So I'm gonna start one here, do you guys think that these ultrabooks can run on Mac OSX Lion?

It be really cool.

Some info on ultrabooks, in case you've been living under a rock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook

Hardware wise, is it do-able?

Well yes and no, the hd 3000 graphics seem to work fine pretty much ootb with the newer boot loaders as long as the processor has hd3000 you got qe/ci, but then the catches and the long road begins. With multi beast/iboot you should be able to get it installed however be ready for kernel panics screen brightness and screen issues audio and networking issues. and be ready to swap the wireless care and maybe even loose your bluetooth.
but there are ways to minimize your problems .
I have a samsung 300U 11.6" with an i3 2357M. Not quite an ultra book but pretty close.
Here's a list of my hardware and my problems
wifi card = intel 130 card (needed swap for dw1510 (branded as airport))
sleep needs fixing but I dunno how yet because it's and s4/s5 kind of laptop like the new air
audio alc269 Guess what using voodoo audio crp right now (can cause kernel panics)
can't adjust brightness up like in windows when it's unplugged still visible but if I was outside I'd be in trouble though.
Also hmmm two other things for some reason during load it detects 16cpu's even though there are only 2 core w hyper threading. I dunno but I still need to learn several things to adjust this machine to perfection.
So it's gonna be a process.
terramir

[Alien1959]

I see. Thanks for your reply and sorry for my late one. very insightful indeed. So i guess I'll be choosing one based on what I need, not whether if hackintosh works. THanks you! (esp the fact you're the only one that replied)

[rchapoteau]

I haven't been able to get the QE/CI working on my samsung series 9, but a lot of other things work.

[CooSee]

Why spend 1000 bucks for a non-OSX Hardware and wasting time to get it run ?

go and buy a MacBook Air and you can run W7 on it, too.

just my 2 cents.

CooSee ' Ya

[whizkid515]

CooSee, on 12 December 2011 - 07:22 PM, said:

Why spend 1000 bucks for a non-OSX Hardware and wasting time to get it run ?

go and buy a MacBook Air and you can run W7 on it, too.

just my 2 cents.

CooSee ' Ya

The $999 MacBook Air only has 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD. The ASUS Zenbook UX21 has double of both for the same price.

[CooSee]

whizkid515, on 13 December 2011 - 03:15 AM, said:

The $999 MacBook Air only has 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD. The ASUS Zenbook UX21 has double of both for the same price.

no offence, but the ASUS Zenbook sucks, they tried to copy and failed.

did you ever tested a MacBook Air ?

i bought one 13" inch for my little Niece and it's freakin awesome.

the reviews about the Zenbook are all disappointing, comparable to MacBook Air !

like i said before, no offence, this is just my opinion


CooSee ' Ya

[Alien1959]

well simply windows laptops have more compatibility though less stable and efficient at times, but the hardware is also double as he said.

[Vinnymac]

I would like to see Lion on my laptop, I will probably give this a shot. I have SL on my M1530, and even that isn't 100% compatible after all these years of improvements. It is very close though.

I have a ASUS Zenbook UX31E, and I love it. I think it is a great Ultrabook. I read a lot of reviews for all sorts of Ultrabooks. Folio 13, Macbook Air, Zenbook, XPS 13, etc. The Zenbook has the second highest battery life, just under the Folio 13. The ASUS is much nicer than the Folio plus it has a beautiful screen and design. I went to purchase a Ultrabook and tested out the Macbook Air. The 13" is nice, the 11" is not so nice. The 13" is MUCH more expensive. And what you're paying for in the long run is the "apple look". Spec-wise it doesn't beat out the Zen or others. So I decided to go with the Zen. Plus I realized it was even a tiny bit smaller too.

My ASUS also came with a bag to carry it in, adapters for usb-ethernet and vga out, a bag for them, LCD cloth, and cable ties. The Packaging was also quite nice and impressive.

I spent $1000, and the macbook air 13" is $1299.00 so I definitely think I made the right decision.
Basically if you are a fan of apple products, and have money to blow, get the air. If you don't mind trying something new, and don't care about what OS you use, go for the Zen.

Final Note: This year a lot of Ultrabooks are coming out, so keep your eyes open for what is new and improved

[bigvalboa]

I just got the XPS 13, would be curious to know if anyone has gotten it or similiar hardware to work.

[tom_m]

Uh bro, ASUS didn't fail when copying the Air. I got one when it came out for my wife OVER the Air. It rocks. It wrecks the first gen Air and is just as good as the newer ones all except thunderbolt. The trackpad has a few issues, but other than that it's just as good as the Mac. Trust me, I use both. Though I agree with the point that for the hundred or two you're saving, you might as well get an Air to run OS X and then put Windows 7 on it. It's not worth it for that small difference. IF the Ultrabooks were more like $700 or $800 then yea...it would be great to put OS X on there.

[cryptic unix]

As I was just looking for Ultrabook threads I'd like to throw in my 2 cent.

I personally would love to see the Samsung Series 5 Ultrabooks running OS X and would prefere them over a MacBook Air any time. Surely the MacBook Air is a nicely built notebook but it would never fulfill my demands in a notebook. I already thougth about buying a MacBook but I would never buy a PC with a glossy display. And that's the point where Apple is out of the game for me (only 15" models are available and I don't want a notebook that big). Besides this the Air is not offering the connectivity I need. I often use 3 USB ports and sometimes RJ45 so again the Air is out of the game. Hardwarewise Apple is simply not able to fulfill my demands. But on the other hand most of the available hackbooks can't fulfill my demands as well, as they offer glossy displays and are kind of bulky (I want <= 13.3"and 2 kg max). I guess I've to keep looking for a PC that's right for me.

[crashnburn_in]

tom_m, on 14 April 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Uh bro, ASUS didn't fail when copying the Air. I got one when it came out for my wife OVER the Air. It rocks. It wrecks the first gen Air and is just as good as the newer ones all except thunderbolt. The trackpad has a few issues, but other than that it's just as good as the Mac. Trust me, I use both. Though I agree with the point that for the hundred or two you're saving, you might as well get an Air to run OS X and then put Windows 7 on it. It's not worth it for that small difference. IF the Ultrabooks were more like $700 or $800 then yea...it would be great to put OS X on there.

Interesting experience tom. Your ZenBook w Windows 7 beat the experience of MB Air with OSX? Nice. I'd really like to see the High Res Zenbook go lower in price and become completely Hackintosh-able.

Maybe we should send Asus & other Ultrabook makers a petition that says..
1) hey.. use chips & devices that are the same as MBA so that the drivers are compatible with OSX..
2) improve a bit on specs &
3) lower prices .

That way people would get the Zenbooks when they are in 2 minds about going with MBA vs Zenbook.

Vinnymac, on 01 February 2012 - 10:10 PM, said:

I would like to see Lion on my laptop, I will probably give this a shot. I have SL on my M1530, and even that isn't 100% compatible after all these years of improvements. It is very close though.

I have a ASUS Zenbook UX31E, and I love it. I think it is a great Ultrabook. I read a lot of reviews for all sorts of Ultrabooks. Folio 13, Macbook Air, Zenbook, XPS 13, etc. The Zenbook has the second highest battery life, just under the Folio 13. The ASUS is much nicer than the Folio plus it has a beautiful screen and design. I went to purchase a Ultrabook and tested out the Macbook Air. The 13" is nice, the 11" is not so nice. The 13" is MUCH more expensive. And what you're paying for in the long run is the "apple look". Spec-wise it doesn't beat out the Zen or others. So I decided to go with the Zen. Plus I realized it was even a tiny bit smaller too.

My ASUS also came with a bag to carry it in, adapters for usb-ethernet and vga out, a bag for them, LCD cloth, and cable ties. The Packaging was also quite nice and impressive.

I spent $1000, and the macbook air 13" is $1299.00 so I definitely think I made the right decision.
Basically if you are a fan of apple products, and have money to blow, get the air. If you don't mind trying something new, and don't care about what OS you use, go for the Zen.

Final Note: This year a lot of Ultrabooks are coming out, so keep your eyes open for what is new and improved

I agree with both of the above statements marked blue. The price is high for MBA HW & OSX with missing features. A lower price & OSX compatibility for Zenbook could make it a MBA killer. I wish Asus would realize this.. or someone else.. Lenovo?

[Alien1959]

I'm not an expert but I believe this can be done in ML. Just takes the compatible hardware.
Also, processor and graphics support are now much better since ML improved lots of support from them.
Just a matter of trackpad (I've not found ELANTECH drivers, ouch) , Ports, USB3 and audio right?

Just my 0.02 dollars Still stuck with an AMD 10.6.7 hehe with full QE/CI for HD 5750

also apologies again for the late reply. I've been away from hackintoshing