Jump to content

Best netbook for OSX?

iamtheWALRUS

By iamtheWALRUS,
in OSx86 10.5 (Leopard)

 Share
51 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted

Internal mic works on the Dell, line in can work, has worked, but is disabled in our current drivers because it causes static noise when it's enabled. It's also mono only, so it's kind of lame.

You can get up to a 64gb SSD for the Mini9, it's $229, that's not end of the world kind of pricing, I sold my old laptop to pay for the SSD.

You can run OSX on an 8gb SSD, I've done it, several guys have on the Mini9. It's hard to do updates, but it can be done. 16gb is comfortable, you can actually install several apps, including office without running out of space. With my 64gb, I've stuck with the slimming tricks I used on the 8gb SSD, and I have all sorts of stuff installed, including XCode, Parallels with a 7gb WinXP drive image, OpenOffice, several games, some of iLife '09, and I'm not even using 32gb yet.

I love being able to lay in bed at night watching Hulu on this thing with my headphones in, and my wife sleeping next to me hears NOTHING.. The fans in my old laptop used drive her nuts, I just couldn't use the thing in bed.. No more problem now.. :) And that was a quiet fan.. The fan in the AspireOne is CRAZY LOUD..

Coolin93
Coolin93
Posted
Posted

So lets put it this way

 

If you want no fan and don't need that much space the Mini 9 is perfect for you

 

If you don't mind the fan and need more space the Wind is perfect for you

 

I'd mention the Asus but I haven't looked into how well it runs and how easy it is to get it working with Leo.

 

EDIT: Btw Una I love your avy! I'm gonna go and do the same thing when I get my Wind!

UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted

hehe, thanks.. Took that about a week after I got my Mini9, first time I was at Starbucks and realized that my coffee was towering over the machine.. heh.. Really gives you a sense of how small these machines are. I love it. B)

The problem with Asus is that they have like 20 different models out, all at the same time. Some of them are awesome, some of them are turds.. Most of them are just about identical to each other. I think it's just damned confusing and makes it very hard to purchase because you have to do a ton of research to decide which model you want. Also makes OS X support a PITA.. It was very nice being able to know that all Dell Mini9's are totally identical short of some minor hardware options (WAN, Bluetooth, and Webcam) so once we decided on one install method, we were really well able to play seek and destroy with the bugs and non working hardware. Writing the SD slot drivers from scratch was just freakin sweet. And the AspireOne guys benefitted from that effort as well, because their slot uses the same chip. :)

boosted23
boosted23
Posted
Posted

Wind is definitely the way to go. I have OSX running on mine and the only thing that doesn't work is the mic and the switch from speakers to headphones sort of (you have to install a workaround where you press a key combo to swtich from speakers to headphones and back). There's a fix being worked on supposedly for both of these, so they work natively. But honestly I dont use the mic and the fix for speakers to headphones and back works perfectly.

Free Qaz
Free Qaz
Posted
Posted

Dell9 may be better, but SSD man. Too small for practical use, and it dies after a few months of use according to most reviews. :) Only reason I wouldn't buy the Dell.

 

If they added an HDD I'd buy it, I don't care if they have to add a fan to keep it cool. I'll be overclocking my MSI Wind... So...

 

Thank you UnaClocker. I might pester you some more later. :D

bluedragon1971
bluedragon1971
Posted
Posted

I just bought an AA1 partly for the price and partly because to me, it gives a much better value than the Dell mini 9. I just couldn't bear to be without a decent sized hard drive (especially since they are now shipping with 160GB drives, even if they are labeled as 120 on the box!). I have a bluetooth dongle and an Apple Airport Extreme N card on order to replace the original, and then I'll have my system working just about perfectly. Another part of my reason for going with the Acer was the fact that I work at Walmart and was able to pick one up there and use my 10% discount on it, so it only ended up costing $286 after tax (and didn't have to wait on it to be shipped). The 1.5GB RAM limit really doesn't bother me that much (from previous experience with OS X, there isn't that much performance difference between 1.5 and 2GB), and my previous HackBook only had that much RAM anyway.

UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted

You can't take the Aspire 1 to 2gb of ram.. That's a pretty serious blunder. And it uses 1.8" drives which are CRAZY slow..

 

As for SSD's going bad.. They don't. They'll outlive a normal hard drive at this point, the technology has come a LONG LONG ways in a very short time. And they're far faster than a 1.8" HDD, I go from the bios splash to a usable desktop in 29seconds. 64gb isn't too small, it's rather roomy really, as I've explained over and over and over in this thread. I don't understand why everyone wants their netbook to be a network server with hundreds of gigabytes of media on it. You can't watch that much media in a month, and you could always just toss that kind of media onto a small collection of 32gb SDHC cards and use the internal SD slot to read them. A movie at DVD res is what, 1gb a pop? That's 30 movies per SDHC card.. That's 45 hours of movie easily.. 5 of those and you have more movie storage than you'd get with a spinning HDD in the A1 or Wind..

Free Qaz
Free Qaz
Posted
Posted

2.5" in the Aspire: http://www.laptopmag.com/advice/how-to/aspire-one-hdd.aspx

 

Only the Dell 12" has the native 1.8" drive. You can mod all SSD based models to fit a 1.8" HDD in place of an SSD of the Acers though, maybe you're thinking of that.

 

SD cards are inconvinient for most of us. I have a 500GB HDD sitting in my bag right now, but I hate pulling it out and tethering it to the thing. When I get a Wind I'll just swap my 160GB from the Wind with the 500GB from my external (my external is a 2.5". Thethers via 1USB and no external power)

 

The few things I gotta ask about the Mini9 before I fully and completely eliminate it.

 

What's the viewing angle?

What's the read/write on your upgraded SSD?

What's the wireless range?

What's the battery life and cell size?

 

Other than that, if those turn out well I might buy one. Keep 10 movies on the drive, and copy off anything from my external when I need to watch it. Everyone that I have talked to has wished that they got the Eee 900 over the Mini9. Always had to go with the dell because of their parents, because a lot of people prefer Dell for some reason... I think Dells suck. I'm typing from an Inspiron 6000 right now (my ghetto laptop) and this thing has just been a {censored} run for me. The hinges has destroyed the upper plastic shell multiple times, the motherboards charging plug has died, and worst of all I've gone through 7 wall chargers because the damn things just short and die. Had to pull out a fire extinguisher on 2 of them. Gah, over working with that. Guessing the Mini9 doesn't have that problem because of the 30w wall pull. Where as this thing is closer to 90w.

 

Main reasons for Wind being suppirior in my eyes:

 

-Large, built in HDD that, despite how you look at it, kicks the Dell Mini9s stock SSDs ass in read/write tests. 65MB read 60MB writes. Dell gets like 65MB read 8MB write.

-6 Cell battery (from what I see, the Dell has a 4 cell. Though I don't know if all models have that)

-Overclockable out of the box (New BIOS is all that's needed for the old models to have this function)

-Kick ass firm button keyboard. With a REAL shift key!

 

That's the overview from what I've read around. Dell 9 has some good stuff though. Like being silent. For me... I live in Hawaii. Have 3 fans in my room, with my case on my computer an Antec Nine Hundred for my desktop. http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/1056.jpg

Here's what I've read about the Mini9

 

-Completely Silent.

-Alphanumeric Keys are big and nice

-Glossy Screen (pro mainly... for me)

-Very Bright

-Front Mounted Speakers (Not under the laptop, like AAO)

-Awesome Mic (No fan helps)

-9" screen (smaller footprint, my eyes are young)

 

Pretty basic pros. Not sure if they outweigh the cons. I'm not talking software here, cause the biggest pro would be the OSX86 compatibility. Biggest con for me would be that I would have to live with my friends teasing me about buying Dell. :P

 

EDIT: Holy {censored} that's long. Wow this class period leaves me bored, sorry to bear you reading that whole thing.

xjairusx
xjairusx
Posted
Posted
I'm buying a netbook on saturday, and I intend on installing OSX on it pronto. Which is the most compatible, and gives best overall experience? I did a search but new models seem to come out on a weekly basis. Also is photoshop work useable on a netbook?

 

Would also like to know this, what has the most functionality and compatibility on the cheap side of things?

Free Qaz
Free Qaz
Posted
Posted
You know if I'd give money for laptop I'd give a lil more and buy a mac. That would solve your all issues. But I guess I'm not helping at all am I?

For one, this is a netbook thread. AKA, a price range of 300-400$. Macbooks are STILL 600$ for a 1st generation one. Wayyyyy too heavy.

 

9" screen, 2lb form factor. MacBook cannot compete.

 

Mainly, netbooks. not full size laptops

 

Whats the simplest way to get an MSI Wind up and running with 10.5.6?

Head over to (1)THE (3)BAY of (2)PIRATE. and lookup msiwindosx86.iso

popophobia
popophobia
Posted
Posted

Just a quick question for UnaClocker, can you try running Plex with Mini9? I want to see how well it performs. Also, do they load up Flash quickly? I've seen Asus 7" load flash and I do not want to use that.

 

Anyway, here's plex link: http://www.plexapp.com/

It's a nice alternative for Front Row if you don't know it yet

UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted
Just a quick question for UnaClocker, can you try running Plex with Mini9? I want to see how well it performs. Also, do they load up Flash quickly? I've seen Asus 7" load flash and I do not want to use that.

 

Anyway, here's plex link: http://www.plexapp.com/

It's a nice alternative for Front Row if you don't know it yet

 

Yeah, flash plays fine, Hulu, YouTube, etc..

Downloaded that program, it's a rip off of XBox Media Center.. So yeah, it plays just fine on this machine, it's a helluvalot more machine than an XBox classic.. ;)

rschultz101
rschultz101
Posted
Posted

Dell, Lenovo , MSI

 

unaclocker, can you post a full list of what's working, what's not,... it be nice,....

 

still haven't flipped a coin, here a some thought

 

1 - dell mini 9 , most complete, support, and no noise

...10" screen be nice, no 2.5" disk port, no bigger battery,

... not really availabe local,...

2 - lenovo S10, or S10e,....

easy hardware upgrade, sata, memory, + express slot

for the price of 32gb ssd for the dell, I could get a 64gb 2.5 ssd,....

with the express slot, can add a SD reader, or a firewire port,.... ( for backupm or networking, to macbook)

3 - MSI,... don't know much, think ipc and ideneb have some support too,

since it's the first, should be a lot more support ,....

 

for the final today, still would think the dell mini 9, is the best choice,...

then again, I'am still contemplating, with the S10, since I could pop out the 2.5" drive and install it,

while on the dell mini , you got to do it over usb, ...

 

future,.... well, there sould be a lot's of news down the road, maybe even a mac,...

the new sony looks great ,... but the graphics issue, is pita,...

 

an idea for dell mini 9 replacement,.... I'd say, a litle bigger screen, 10" min or 11-12 wide,

higher rez,... that would also give a bigger keyboard, and an nvidia graphics, since it's for osx,...

like a mini adamo,... for half the price,..... oops, not even out yet,...

 

please post , what's the most compatible netbook,... aka vanilla working,

must sleep/wake , shutdown,...... come on, don't want to hear, everything working , but,....

it's a netbook,... you dont want to wait for boot,...

wifi,...

sound, at least sound output,... volume control, and headphone jack,.... usb dongle is a crutch ,

fan controll,..... no yet engines, or burned up engines, due lack of fan,...

 

so who is Number 2 !!!! how about 3 or 4,... samsung NC10 ?

AdidasAddict
AdidasAddict
Posted
Posted

I have a real soft spot for the Lenovo and think it makes quite a nice OSX Netbook especially as it now has a 6cell option. I guess it would be between the Wind and Lenovo for me. A lot of people say the Lenovo S10 has over exciteable fans which would be a pain, anyone know how the wind compares with its fans? I am used to nice quiet computers and not sure I could cope with noisy fans all the time. I know the dell is silent but need more storage.

 

As a side note, the methods using a retail disc. Will this work with an official Leopard upgrade disc from apple, or does it need to be an actual retail copy?

UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted

EVERYTHING works on the Dell Mini9, there is no "what works and what doesn't list". There was 6 months ago, but we used that as a to-do list and it's done. You use a retail DVD to do the install, you use Apple Updates to do updates, it works perfectly.

As for your dream machine.. Maybe the next generation of Netbooks, with the nVidia Ion chipset will fit that, but the current generation won't. Nobody that I'm aware of has announced a Netbook that will have the Ion in it yet. So it's a long ways off still.

rschultz101
rschultz101
Posted
Posted

dell mini 10 , gma500 -> dead in the water

 

anything under $600 with a better screen, would be top pick,

but the lack of gma500, spoils it,...

 

unless, I'd resort to linux,.... what , with gma500 support is still questiable,....

and the whole sleep wake on linux,....

 

back to reality,..... dell mini 9, 32gb ssd, and 16gb sd, should , hold up for 2009.

 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...