Need a OSx86-compatible laptop recommendation

[ChairoNoMe]

My school is requiring me to get a Mac laptop. I am upset about this, but the blow will not be as severe if I instead get a PC laptop running OSx86. I want to do this for three reasons, (1) Apple Mac laptops are overpriced for what you get (you can't spend less than $1999 to get a standard 15.4" monitor), (2) I personally hate Apple's design, lack of essential keys (like insert and delete), lack of a right mouse button, and (3) I hate the Mac OS and am only going to use it when my instructor requires me and I will dualboot into Vista the rest of the time.

 

What I need is a laptop having an Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.0Ghz or faster, and 2GB of ram. Screen needs to be at least 15 inches. Hard drive size doesn't matter. Graphics card doesn't matter. I need one bundled with Vista Ultimate. Also, this might be a nitpicky thing but I would like the Ctrl Key to be in the bottom left corner of the keyboard. On keyboards that don't do this I always end up hitting Fn+C instead of Ctrl+C to copy.

 

Most important of all, it needs to absolutely work with OSx86 (most laptop return policies are inflexible) and I need to be able to run major OSX applications like Photoshop and Final Cut Pro without much hassle. I've tried installing OSx86 twice, once on my AMD laptop, and once on my Pentium 4 desktop. On the laptop, it wouldn't fully boot into the installation no matter what I tried. On the desktop, I got as far as picking the hard drive to install to but it didn't see any of my hard drives. So far it doesn't look promising at all, but I know some of you have gotten OSx86 to work on certain hardware and I need a laptop that OSx86 doesn't have problems with.

 

Lastly, I need to know which version of OSx86 to use. I'm familiar with JaS and uphuck releases.

 

I'd appreciate any help I could get. If someone has managed to get their laptop working with OSx86, and can offer some advice, I'd like to hear from them.

[ChairoNoMe]

after spending some time looking at different notebook configurations, it seems the Dell Inspiron 1520 is closest to my needs.

 

The configuration:

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM:Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition

SYSTEM COLOR:Jet Black

DISPLAY:Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)

VIDEO CARD:Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

MEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz

HARD DRIVE: 80GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)

OPTICAL DRIVE: CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)

WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card

BLUETOOTH OPTIONS: Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)

INTEGRATED WEBCAM: No Webcam Option

BATTERY OPTIONS: 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)

SOUND OPTIONS: High Definition Audio 2.0

I can configure it with a 128MB or 256MB Nvidia card. Do you think it will be more compatible with that?

[SDRacer48]

One Recommendation,

 

Do not say you hate apple and everything about it on this board. 95% of users on here are Apple FanBoys that would burn a copy of Vista in a heartbeat. I personally like all operating systems (Windows, Linux, and OS X).

 

The Dell Inspiron 1520 you listed looks good. I would just make sure on your WIRELESS NETWORK CARD is compatiable (check it against the HCL), and yes you should configure it with a NVIDIA card. It would make it more compatiable. Just make sure you check the card against the HCL. Having QE and CI enable will affect your system performance greatly.

 

If all else fails, and you do not wish to go the OSx86 route. Actually, no nevermind. I was going to tell you to look for MacBooks on eBay, but I will stick to my non-Apple hardware policy. Good Luck with OSx86.

 

Keep us updated,

 

Cody Griffin

 

Keep on macKIN'

[BJMoose]

I doubt if you'll find much support for that X3100 gfx card for OSX86. Laptops often have off the wall audio that doesn't match up with OSX drivers. Also, as Cody says, there are a lot of threads that talk about the nightmares with getting some wireless ethernet controllers to work. That kind of defeats the purpose of the laptop as far as connectivity goes. If I might ask, is there some proprietary Mac only software this school uses that requires a Mac computer? I guess if you're learning FCS2, that's a good reason.

[rschultz101]

if you need one for school, that's it, grab your school discount, and get a macbook. period.

certainly , don;t want to miss classes, because you where busy fiddling with your osx86 machine,...

 

the dell you mentioned runs X3100, and the 8-series are not supported,

don't expect video to work, severe tearing, and no gpu support,...

desktop ok, laptop no ok

 

let me know , what you come up with,...

[malefactor]

I'd appreciate any help I could get. If someone has managed to get their laptop working with OSx86, and can offer some advice, I'd like to hear from them.

 

 

I second the reply that said buy a macbook. Just do it. Trust me. I'm a very techincal person that tinkers with lots of things, and let me tell you - you don't want to be messing with this. I'm playing with uphuck's 10.4.9 1.3 dvd, and I can't get to install on any of 3 different systems (1 amd, 1 intel with vmware, 1 laptop).

 

This is a gigantic waste of time for anyone that isn't doing it for hobbyist reasons (at this point).

[Dark_Elf]

The best solution would be a notebook with an Intel 945P/G chipset, Intel GMA945 or nVidia VGA (6 or 7, not 8). Probably you will have troubles with wireless, but you can replace the wireless adapter with a working one (like a Dell 1390).

However I join the others in suggesting you to buy a MacBook if you don't want to spend too much for a MacBook Pro.

[ChairoNoMe]

Tell me this, if the osx86 software installs, how does it run? Are there any problems with software compatibility?

 

Essentially, what I was wanting to try is go into the store, boot off an OSx86 DVD on one of the laptops on display, and if I can see the harddrive to install to, I know it's going to work. Is that a good strategy?

 

Again, does anyone have a laptop similar to the one I described that works? If so, tell me what laptop it is, where I can get it, and what version of OSx86 you are using.

[zam]

Interesting thread here. I also have been observing the laptop OSX86 possibilities lately, and I have quite much experience about desktop machines. This was already mentioned, but I feel that it needs to be underlined once again: the laptop you listed had an Intel X3100 graphics card, which is NOT AT ALL supported. If you want to use Apple's pro software like Aperture and Final Cut you will WILL NEED a fully supported (with QE & CI) graphics card, which limits your choice to 6 or 7 series Nvidia and some of the ATI cards (must be checked individually). Otherwise the laptop seemed very promising indeed, I think that even the wireless lan will be ok.

 

Booting with a known working install DVD is about all you can do in the store, but if it boots to the hard disk selection and you can see the hard disks, things are looking pretty good in my opinion. Audio can be a problem at first, but this board is full of solutions for different audio chipsets (might be worth taking a look at this point).

 

When your hardware is supported, the OSX86 will not differ from real macs in any other way than it's upgradeability. Major OS upgrades (like 10.4.9 -> 10.4.10) must be done manually with patching. Other upgrades work fine.

[und3rgr0undz3r0]

I know this thread is getting close to two years old but....

 

the HP DV 6226 US works perfect with OSX86! NO issues, Even wireless!