Free Qaz Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hello everyone, been a while since I've been on the forums. Gotta ask though, I will be getting a netbook for a christmas and I'm aiming for an Asus Eee 900ha (900 ha). It looks really nice, spec wise. Specs: General Brand ASUS Series Eee PC Model Eee PC 900HA XP - Shiny Black Color Shiny Black Operating System OS Provided Windows XP Home Processor CPU Type Intel Atom CPU Speed N270(1.60GHz) CPU FSB 533MHz CPU L2 Cache 512KB Display Screen Size 8.9" Widescreen Display Yes Display Type WSVGA Max Resolution 1024 x 600 Graphics Graphics Processor Integrated Graphics Video Memory Shared system memory Memory Memory 1GB Hard Drive HDD 160GB Dimension & Weight Dimension 8.86" x 6.69" x 0.79-1.33" Weight 2.49 lbs. Feature Feature Easy to Learn, Work, and Play Travel light, weighting only 2.49lbs Wireless connectivity Connect with friend with built-in Camera 10GB Internet Storage XP Home, MS Works, and Windows Live preloaded And Wide Touchpad for comfort and convenient Glossy IMR Fine Ebony color for elegant look ZBD Guaranteed for best quality LCD Protect your investment with sleeve case Netbook Camera Camera Type Built-in Camera Pixels 0.3 Megapixel Communications LAN 10/100Mbps WLAN 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Expansion / Connectivity USB 3 Video Ports 1 x VGA Audio Ports 1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack Audio Audio Hi-Definition Audio CODEC Internal Microphone Speaker Built-in stereo speakers Input Device Touchpad Yes Keyboard Standard Card Reader Card Reader MMC/SD(SDHC) Power AC Adapter 12V, 36W, 100-240V AC, 50-60Hz universal Battery Battery 4-cell lithium ion Battery Life 5.3 hours That's a paste from newegg, but to some it up: CPU: 1.6GHz Atom HDD: 160GB Sata GPU: Intel GMA950 Chipset: Intel 945 Screen: 1024x600 8.9" Wondering how well this runs. Anyone installed it before? The search box didn't come up with anything, so that's why I'm posting. I've installed on a 680i motherboard before so I've been through hell. I can get stuff to work. I'll be running an external CD drive, for those who are wondering. Should be nice. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I recommend a Dell Mini9, it's by far the most Leopard friendly netbook you can get. Check out the Mac OS section of the forums at www.MyDellMini.com Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1002302 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 I recommend a Dell Mini9 I don't know about that. They're more expensive AND they're Dell. That's a double killer for me. What are the specs on what I can get for 350$? That also needs to support a USB External drive. What are you using for your external? I have a Firewire external but that fails for my use, need something USB. Hoping for something Amazon for the netbook... What are the specs of yours? EDIT: DAMNIT YOURE AN SSD!!! Dell Mini 9 - Running 10.5.6 Retail on a 64gb SSD. The first Mini9 that slept properly! Now featuring a HD light! I need the 160GB drive, so are there any HDD models? Cheapest I can find: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-mini-P...494&sr=1-44 And still, still too expensive.. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1002309 Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Yeah, I value the fact that the machine makes ZERO noise, it doesn't even have a fan. SSD for me. There's a 20% off coupon for dell, which also works with their refurbished units. The code is: QQ3RLJFHCTTRBG Someone in the Mini9 forum said he got a base model for $207 with that code. Toss in 2gb of ram from Newegg for $30, and a larger SSD from MyDigitalDiscount, you can hit your price point. And yes, you can plug an external USB DVD drive into the Mini9, I prefer to use thumb drives, since they come in far larger size than DVD's do nowadays. As for the size of the SSD.. It's a netbook, not a NAS, I don't want 100+gb of data on my netbook. I upgraded from a laptop that had a 30gb HDD in it, so I'm livin large as is. Edit.. Oh yeah, it being a Dell.. Funny, I think of that as a good thing. It's got a big name company behind it. They had more money available to design it, so it doesn't have a flimsy feel to it. They are well known for providing easy to reach tech support via phone and they actually honor their warranties. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1002330 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 I've run a Toshiba laptop with a 30GB drive and a 2.8GHz P4 before. I have to say that I wanted something about 80GBs atleast, so theres one difference for us. The 160GB drive is a big turn on for me. The Dell just can't compete with that. I looked at http://www.mydellmini.com/dell-mini-9.html It just can't compete for the price for me. I'm gonna check the refurb though, with the code. See what I can throw around. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1002350 Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Yeah.. The 64gb drive from MyDigitalDiscount is another $220.. Since you want a lot of space, I assume you wouldn't be looking at the 32 or 16.. heh.. Me personally, if I had to have a HDD, I think I'd go for the Aspire One over the Eee.. The thing I don't like about the Eee is that there are soooo many completely different models.. It's confusing, and hard to really know what you're getting into when it comes to Hackintoshing it, because what works on one model doesn't apply to 3 other models, etc.. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1002382 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 I can tell you exactly what you need to know about the 900HA I stated the specs in the first post, and you can derive all the info you need out of it. For hackintoshing, it might need a modded BIOS. That's the only think that I could think wrong. I agree that Asus has a lot of models, but that's a good thing because it shows they have lots of experience. The first Eee was a PoS by todays standards, but the new ones are nice. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1002397 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 bump Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1003737 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Someone set up us the bomb. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1004744 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxygen_2 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I never post here - however i've been lurking for quite some time. since you've bumped this a few times, i figured i'd finally chime in. I was weighing in a lot of factors when i choose the MSI Wind U100 for my personal netbookinosh... my choices were narrowed down to the acer aspire one(forgot the model#) the eee 900ha, and the wind u100-420. The msiwind.net forum is full of good info - but here's the skinny: nearly all the components work out of the box now, with just a little adjustment here and there... I think the only things that don't work are the internal mic and line-in port. the included mini-pcie card is now supported via the proper kext and the RAlink wireless app. its within your budget - $350 at bestbuy.com, and if you happen to live near one you can just pick it up and save money on shipping. The only drawback IMHO is the lack of built-in bluetooth, which I remedied quickly with a cheapie USB adapter. i also wound up swapping my wifi card with a real airport-N card that i pulled from a waterlogged MacBook... but that was before the internal card's drivers were made available. Oh, and the MSI Wind, Dell Mini 9 and the HP mininote 2133 are all made by the same factory in taiwan according to wikipedia. HTH. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1004932 Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I already own a 900ha and am trying to get a vanilla install working on it. Can anyone offer help and suggestions? Kexts used, etc? Thanks Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1042907 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 Would you even be able to get the vanilla kernel working? Sorry to ask, bit noobish, but is the Atom SSE2/3? I know it's a mobile CPU, so I'd expect only SSE2. But then again, it isn't 2002 anymore. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1044693 Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I was able to get iDeneb v1.3 10.5.5 on my 900ha. However, like a good tinkerer I was not content with that and broke the install by removing the wrong kext. Doh! In any case, I thought I would post this to show it is 'possible' though very much a pain to do ....... When/If I get mine up and running again, I will post something with exact steps I have taken to get this working. Question: Has anyone else with a 900ha encountered EBIOS read error when attempting to use a boot-132 disc? Its all I get... and when I use the same files via USB bootloader I get the menu and nothing further. Weird? Indeed. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1044920 Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 And in the mean time, the Dell Mini9 has become 100% out of the box compatible with OS X. We use Boot132 and a retail disk, so our install is bullet proof. If you were to screw it up by deleting kexts as you did, you simply plug your Boot132 USB stick back in, boot off that (which has all the correct kexts still on it), re-run the install script and viola, you are back running. Now, more than ever, the Dell Mini9 is the best netbook option. And yes, the Atom CPU runs great on the vanilla kernel, Hyperthreading and all (System Monitor shows 2 CPU cores). It's even quite peppy, which is surprising given how poorly the CPU benchmarks. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1045082 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Is there anyway to integrate a SATA 2.5" hard drive into the Dell9? Because I do have a 500GB SATA 2.5" drive that I have in an external enclosure. The Dell would be fine if I could get a bigger disk into it, because even a 64GB SSD is too small compared to the 160GB HDD in the Aspire One/Eee/Wind. That's the only turn off. Working OTB is awesome! I would buy it right now if it had everything working AND an HDD option. My friend though, has gotten a 904ha. Awesome netbook. Keyboard is touch-typable for me. We're gonna put ubuntu on it later, see how that goes. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1045627 Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 No, no hard drive in the Mini9. Use a USB adapter for the hard drive if you want to turn the netbook into a desktop replacement. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1045706 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 But watchin' a movie off flash doesn't work. That's the main space hog I'd be using a netbook for. Carry 25 movies, few games, and school stuff in my backpack. Then when I'm at home I have my desktop for gaming. Play Crysis on High at a desk, watch movies in bed/car on the netbook. 1 movie = 1GB Dell9 w/ SSD = 10 movies Eee/Aspire/Wind w/ HDD = 100 Movies That's the killer for me. Guess the Eee 900ha or the Aspire One or the MSI Wind for me. xP On a side note though, what's the second most compatible netbook to the Dell9? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1047000 Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 1 movie is 1GB? So put 32 movies on an SDHC card and stick it in the slot. It will play JUST FINE off of that. The bitrate of a 1GB movie is rather low, well below the read speed of even a class 4 SD card. It's like you are looking for excuses to buy a less compatible machine. The second most compatible machine would be the Acer Aspire One. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1047044 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 I had an argument with my friend Joby. We were arguing the SSD vs HDD in netbooks. He said that a netbook with hard drive is trying to compete with full-style laptops. I argued that with him, but had to leave before we got to a conclusion. Thought his point was interesting though. You're kind of on the same side, so I find that interesting. The other reason I would be looking in the HDD for me would be the ability to have Linux, OSX, and Windows. I would probably wipe Windows for the most part, but I can say that I would like to have all 3 OS's on it for experimental purposes. I am a bit in a dilemma over what to choose though. The MSI Wind is looking more and more appealing to me though. But then again so is the Dell. Still think the Eee 900ha is the best buy, but not 100% on that anymore. I can say however, that the Aspire One's mouse is like the most horrid mouse next to the Evergreen netbook. Seriously, the right click is on the right, and the left is on the left side! That's like, if you EVER want to do anything like gaming or moderate clicking of the right mouse button it would be a complete pain. External mouse is needed. I've used the Aspire One since my friend has one, as well as I've used the display models are Radioshack and Costco. Sticky too, unlike the Eee 904ha. 904ha is nice except for the right shift key. That is something that the Aspire wins in. The Shift is full size because they sunk down the arrow keys. I'm using an iBook as I type this, and they just shrunk the arrow keys to keep the shift key full size. The dell looks good from your picture. Just scared of the SSD in it. Don't want to burn it out or have to lose >100GBs of space. I think I might whore some posts in Netbook forums, see what people there have to say. Prolly gonna guess that EeeUser.com is pro-eeePC, but then the DellMini9 forums are pro-Mini9. Should make for some interesting arguments. Thank you for the good argument so far UnaClocker! Opened my eyes. ^-^ Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1047131 Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnaClocker Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Glad I could help. Nobody is having any trouble with the SSD's "burning out" in the Mini9 forums. There have been a couple people who received "duds" from Dell, which died quickly, but that's under warranty and if they aren't DOA/dead right after new, they seem to go on for a good long time. You can dual boot with an SSD, it's not impossible. I've never been one for dual booting, I'm much happier keeping my programs running and just firing up Windows in a virtual machine. And one last point I think I skipped.. Most netbooks have a 1.8" HDD.. That'd be an iPod HDD.. The performance of those drives is atrocious. And SSD will definitely mop up the floor with them. Check out my boot time video. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1047139 Share on other sites More sharing options...
awsome Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Yeah I would go with the mini 9 or the aspire one. I have the aspire one and just getting a few more things to instal os x leopard on it. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1047510 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 can haz more coupon codes? Looking into the Dell. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1063339 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Qaz Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 Well, I've definitally been taking my sweet time deciding what laptop to get. I've just been saving up my cash for 2 months now, and I've got 800$ to buy with. Are you still crazy over the Dell Mini9 UnaClocker? I don't really want one because I know I'll be wanting the sexy hard drive that the other netbooks have. Really been looking at the IdeaPad S10 and the MSI Wind a lot. But still got the Eee 900ha in my head, maybe the 904ha though. Is the sound working on any of these models yet? I saw that the Aspire One had mic working, so I was wondering if that's the same audio chip as the other netbooks. In hope that I could get skype working 100% without booting Windows. Thanks, -Free P.S. Found an Eee 900ha for 214$ online. *drool* really want it. only if I get sound Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/141416-leopard-on-an-asus-eee-900ha/#findComment-1079942 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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