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I just saw advertised on TV the Philips X56 laptop. It's light, compact and has good spec. Does anyone know whether its hardware will work with OSX?

 

http://www.pcworld.co.uk:80/martprd/store/...&tabIndex=1

 

Features for this PHILIPS X56

 

- Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 Processor 1.83GHz

- 667 MHz FSB

- 2 MB Cache

- 1024 MB RAM

- 80 GB Hard Drive

- Dual Layer DVD ReWriter MultiDrive

- 12.1" Widescreen Display

- Microsoft Windows Media Center

- 224MB Intel GMA950 integrated graphics

- 1 year FREE warranty

 

Specification for this PHILIPS X56

 

Processor Type T5600

Processor speed 1.83 mhz

Memory Size 1024 mb

Memory Type DDR II

Hard Drive Capacity 80 Gb

Optical Drives DVDRW Dual Layer

CD-ROM Speed 24 x

CD-RW Speed. 24 x

DVD-ROM Speed 8 x

DVD-RW Speed 6 x

Floppy Disk Drive No

Screen Size/Type 12.1 WXGA

Graphics Card Type Intel GMA950

Graphics Memory Up to 224 MB mb

TV-out No

Sound Type AC97 16bit

Modem Type 56k

Wireless Enabled Yes

No. of USB Connections 3

No. of Firewire Connections 1

Infrared Port Included No

Other Interfaces RJ-11, RJ-45

Battery Type LI-ION

Battery life (up to) 4 hours

Software Titles Included Works 8.5

Operating system MCE 2005

Weight 1.85 kg

Height 36.5 mm

Width 297 mm

Depth 213 mm

Colour SILVER

It's a rebadged one of these: http://www.twinhead.com.tw/product_notebook/H12Y.asp

 

I think you'll find it works very nicely, especially if you replace the wireless card with a Broadcom/Atheros one (it uses a Mini-PCI express card, b.t.w.)

 

This is one of the few 945/GMA950 chipsetted laptops on which the internal display works out of the box, incidentally.

I had a look at the MacBook and wasn't impressed. I found the keyboard to be odd. It's a personal thing and personally I didn't like it. Plus as a Windows user for (lets just say a long time) I'm wasn't sure about making the switch to Mac OS. So for me it made more sense to buy a decent Windows laptop and have a play with Mac OS. Than buy a MacBook and try and install Windows.

 

I can always switch to a "proper" MacBook Pro later down the line it I click with Mac OS.

I've tried a couple of hacks to fix the sound, with no joy. I'm not sure what the Sound chip is, Windows reports it as High Definintion Audio. Which isn't all that useful. To be honest since I installed Mac OS I've not been back into Windows to get any more info. May do later though.

 

The wireless uses the Intel 3945 chipset. This will not work (search the forums and you'll find loads of posts about it). I've just purchased a Belkin USB adaptor that is known to be working with the Railink drivers.

 

The other wireless option is to replace the internal card, but I'm a little reluctant to start taking apart my week old laptop.

 

The battery life is pretty good. From full charge I get about 4 hours of normal use (Mac OS or Windows).

I've recently upgraded to the Philips X53 model (which appears to be identical except for a T2050 Core Duo processor) and am very impressed. The size is much smaller than a MacBook, which for me was the main consideration, and the build quality is good: not as good as the Thinkpad X31 that it's replaced, but as a Hackintosh it's a better system:

 

1. Sleep works perfectly and the battery gives me between 90 and 180 minutes depending upon load

2. The SATA HDD is nice and speedy

3. The GMA950 gives you all the Core Image eye-candy

4. DVD-RW works beautifully with Toast

5. Audio supported with the Azalia kext

6. ExpressCard 37/54

7. Hard switch for turning wireless card on and off :D

8. The processor is socketed for easy upgrade >8D

 

There are a few negatives:

1. Only one SO-DIMM slot, so it's limited to 1GB for now

2. Unsupported Intel a/b/g Mini-PCIe (not Mini-PCI) wireless so you'll either need a new adaptor

3. JaS 10.4.8 crashes before launching the installer so I'm running JaS 10.4.7

4. Disk Utility crashes when trying to burn disks

5. Unsupported firewire controller

6. Unsupported MMC card reader

7. No video mirroring

 

I'm currently looking into the firewire controller and video mirroring.

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