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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 Creating your own Apple Mac Netbook

Install OS X Leopard on a 9-inch Dell netbook? It's fun but the trackpad and keyboard stink

Dan Frakes, Macworld.com

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Enough Macworld readers have told us that an Apple Mac netbook is the device Apple should be making (mind you, enough agree with Apple that they're junk).

And only last week a survey said that only 58 per cent of people who bought netbooks were satisfied with them. And given how many have been sold, that's an awful lot of unsatisfied customers.

With Apple steadfastly refusing to make an OS X netbook, there's only one way to find out if Mac OS X on a netbook would change matters. And that's to do it yourself.

There’s an old saying, widely attributed to Will Rogers, that describes three types of people: “The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” In matters of technology, I'm a proud member of the third group. As a perfect example, I’m writing this article from the smallest Mac OS X laptop I’ve ever used: It weighs just under 2.4 pounds, and is only 9 inches wide, 6.7 inches deep, and 1.3 inches thick.

That’s right, I bought a netbook and installed Mac OS X on it. Even though Peter Cohen already spent some time with an Asus Eee PC. Even though Jason Snell already installed Leopard on an MSI Wind. I just needed to try out the whole “Hackintosh” thing for myself (though since it’s a laptop we’re talking about, I prefer the term HackBook). Just don't tell Apple.

Hardware bargain

My HackBook is a Dell Vostro A90, the “business” version of Dell’s now-discontinued Mini 9. It has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, an 8.9-inch LCD screen, 802.11g WiFi, 100Base-T Ethernet, a 0.3MP Webcam with an LED light, three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, VGA video output, and an SD memory-card reader. I chose this model for two reasons: First, the Mini 9/Vostro A90 is the most OS X-compatible netbook on the market—once you get Mac OS X installed, most things just work. Second, and just as important, was the price: During one of Dell’s many sales, I purchased the A90, which came with 1GB RAM and an 8GB SSD, for just $199—a price so low I couldn’t resist.

[Editor's Note: The Astro A90 is not on sale in the UK store, although the Dell Mini 10v (£156 VAT & Shipping excluded) is a Dell alternative that is capable of being hacked to run Mac OS X.]

Unfortunately, 8GB of storage was utterly insufficient. Even with the stock OS, Ubuntu, I had little room for media or additional apps. So I upgraded the A90’s SSD to a RunCore Pro 64GB model for $220 (yes, the drive cost more than the computer itself). Although less-expensive options are available—for example, Crucial’s 64GB SSD for $170—the RunCore has a reputation for considerably better performance.

As an aside, I went with 64GB because, having owned a MacBook Air with an 80GB hard drive, I was concerned that a 32GB SSD wouldn’t be spacious enough. But now that I've used the HackBook for a while, I’ve realized that, due to screen and performance limitations, I don’t use the A90 for many of the storage-hungry tasks I'd use a "real" laptop for, so a 32GB drive may have been adequate. (Crucial charges only $80 for a 32GB SSD, and a RunCore Pro version is just $120, so I could have saved quite a bit of money. Lesson learned.) On the other hand, I had planned to upgrade the A90 to 2GB of RAM, a $28 expense, but at least I was smart enough to wait on that upgrade—1GB has turned out to be enough for most of the things I use the HackBook for.

I'm not going to get into the process of installing Mac OS X on the A90. Suffice it to say that the Dell Mini community has really embraced OS X, and the procedure seems to get easier every month.

NEXT: The experience of a Mac OS X netbook

Continued...
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Comments received


Drew said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

You've talked me into it.... Ordering one now.

Kevin Rosewell said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

Would have been an interesting read if the 9 inch model was available in the UK. The Mini 10 is just that much bigger that it isn't an attractive choice.

Danny Kelly said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

MadAxeMan stop moaning - all IDG titles share content - this is a very interesting read - not everyone looks at MW US everyday. MW UK has included info about the Dell Mini 10v which wasn't in the original story and I wasn't aware of. For that price it is worth trying. The MB Air is still out of my price range, although I have a iPod touch which is great for email on the move.

@Mad****Man said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

Boil your head.

JayJay said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

My Dell mini 9 has been sitting in a drawer gathering dust for months, now I have an excuse to use it :)

Brian said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

I hacked an Acer Aspire One which was given to me as the original owner hated the Linux OS! Increased the ram, put in a Mac accessible wirless card and I have a MacOne or MacNano or whatever you like to call it. Of course it has limitations but I have OsX running happily on the original 8gb SSD. The left hand SD slot gives me up to 16Gb extra memory for files and I'll eventually put in a 16Gb SSD hopefully to make it run a little better.
Everything works. It's a delightful machine well built and nt badly designed. Apple couldn't/wouldn't be able to sell it because it just wouldn't compete. Running OsX on a mchine this size is great as long as you don't expect big machine performance on a little machine. it's actually more powerful than my first 13" iBook so I am not grumbling.
Access the internet, read my emails while I watch the tv, play games, write the occasional notes, update my Google calender. What more do I need?

Charlie said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

I hope it stays cooler than the iPhone 3G$

www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/overheating-iphones/

macevangelist said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

What a Pointless article, it dosn't exist in real life - so why waste our/your time mocking it up? how about some reviews (possibly ones that are not ALL about iphones...)

Ken Ward said on Tue, 30 Jun 2009

Surely the reason such a product doesn't exist is *exactly* the reason to mock it up? To see if OS X would work within the restrictions of a netbook.

Apple always claimed they weren't interested in creating phones, and look what happened there. My money is on there one day being an OS X netbook from Apple, but not any day soon.

And as for wasting our time, well, if it's not the sort of article you're interested in, the answer's simple. Just dont read it!

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