[patrickmacworld]

trip1ex said:

I don't think that's the case. The Mini is $599.

what you're really saying is your friend wanted what a specific configuration that Apple doesn't make.

Your friend would rather have a bunch of parts of his choosing in a generic box under the desk than have a nice looking piece of hardware with the fewer choices Apple offers.

Yes and no. No because budget was his main concern. We are in Canada, and the price is not as attractive as in the US. Yes, because he did not want to get a Mini because he felt that the Mini was not good enough for him. For example, the lack of webcam was a deal killer for him since he would like to use it to show his kids to their grandparents.

[hillstones]

patrickmacworld said:

>To be honest, I have no idea what anyone sees in the product.

Some people want to try OS X badly, but cannot afford a Mac or don't want to spend too much on a Mac especially when they are not sure that they'll like it or not.

A friend of mine was in that situation. He was looking into getting a Hackintosh system.

Patrick, the used market is the best way to go if someone just wants to test drive a Mac. They don't need to buy a new one. If they already have a PC, they can buy a used Intel Mini and use their existing monitor, kb, and mouse. Then if they prefer Windows, they can sell the Mini. As you suggested, your friend may get the wrong impression with a Hackintosh, considering that raises the stakes for system crashes, configuration issues.

[patrickmacworld]

hillstones said:

Patrick, the used market is the best way to go if someone just wants to test drive a Mac. They don't need to buy a new one. If they already have a PC, they can buy a used Intel Mini and use their existing monitor, kb, and mouse. Then if they prefer Windows, they can sell the Mini. As you suggested, your friend may get the wrong impression with a Hackintosh, considering that raises the stakes for system crashes, configuration issues.

Yep. I told him that a Hackintosh system increases the risk of system crashes. I think he started to look into a refurb, if he has not bought one by now.

[trip1ex]

[quote name='patrickmacworld']
>

trip1ex said:

> I don't think that's the case. The Mini is $599.
>
> what you're really saying is your friend wanted what a specific configuration that Apple doesn't make.
>
> Your friend would rather have a bunch of parts of his choosing in a generic box under the desk than have a nice looking piece of hardware with the fewer choices Apple offers.

Yes and no. No because budget was his main concern. We are in Canada, and the price is not as attractive as in the US. Yes, because he did not want to get a Mini because he felt that the Mini was not good enough for him. For example, the lack of webcam was a deal killer for him since he would like to use it to show his kids to their grandparents.

So he can get a webcam working on a Hackintosh, but not on a Mini??? Does not compute. :)

But yeah refurbs are the way to go for those on a budget. There's been 3 imac models in and out of stock lately between $849 and $799. Hard to beat that. A prestige product compared to anything in that price range on the pc side.

[hillstones]

trip1ex said:

As others have said Apple used to have many more models and they almost went bankrupt.

They also tried to license out their O/S back in the day and that was a failed experiment as well.

Well said. I think most people today that think it's easy to license the OS, are PC users that started gaining an interest in Apple once they switched to Intel three years ago. I don't think they paid any attention to Apple in 1995 when they licensed the OS and it was a failure. The clone boxes were poorly made and there were compatibility issues with some of them and they couldn't even run certain updates to System 7, even though they were licensed to do so. They also did nothing to improve Mac sales.

People that want a customizable computer, are the ones that enjoy building one themselves. If they decide to run OS X on it, they want to do it and then show off what they have done. They don't want to buy a clone from some startup company and then brag about it.

[patrickmacworld]

trip1ex said:

So he can get a webcam working on a Hackintosh, but not on a Mini??? Does not compute. :)

I don't know :-) Maybe he thought he could. I'm not a big fan of the Hackintosh remember? So, I never looked into it. If I want a BMW, I'll buy a BMW if I can afford it. If I can't, I'll buy a cheaper car. But, what I will not do is put a BMW engine in a cheap car, and say it's like driving a BMW :-)

[hillstones]

patrickmacworld said:

>
Yep. I told him that a Hackintosh system increases the risk of system crashes. I think he started to look into a refurb, if he has not bought one by now.

You can get a refurb MacBook Air 1.8 GHz with 80 GB HD for $1,099. A nice $700 savings. Of course he is probably looking for something more economical, but an example of how much could be saved depending on what you are looking for.

[hillstones]

patrickmacworld said:

>If I want a BMW, I'll buy a BMW if I can afford it. If I can't, I'll buy a cheaper car. But, what I will not do is put a BMW engine in a cheap car, and say it's like driving a BMW :-)

LMAO! I can see it now..."Dude, nice Ford Pinto." "Yes, but it has a BMW engine in it and I put a BMW sticker on the back."

[Wondercow]

[quote name='hillstones']
> [quote name='smax013']
> >

patrickmacworld said:

> > Psystar is not stealing the OS, it's buying legal retail copies.
>
> Technically, I don't believe that is true. To my knowledge, Apple does NOT sell a "retail" license of their OS. They sell "retail UPGRADE" licenses, which would require the purchaser to have a previous version of the OS to use the "new" one that they bought. The only other way to get a license for the Mac OS is to by a Mac from Apple or a used Mac with the OS from someone else. Unlike Micro$oft, Apple is NOT in the retail OS market and as such they don't sell OEM or regular retail licenses...they only sell "upgrade" licenses.

You are incorrect. When you buy a retail copy of Mac OS X, it doesn't require any prior version of the OS to be installed or verified. It is not an upgrade.

Just because Apple chooses not to employ verification does not mean that it isn't an upgrade. One requirement is the existence of a Mac which came with an OS, said OS is being upgraded by the "boxed" copy.

[jman3001]

It's always interesting to me that the only ones in America that are allowed to "steal" are the Banks and other large corporations like Apple.

Apple is in litigation on a regular basis for "stealing". And yet, if the average Joe goes out and finds a better deal than what Apple offers, he is a thief. Let's make this a level playing field. If Apple sells a computer desktop, that's upgradable, for under $1000, I'll honor their EULA. If they don't, then sorry Apple, I'll buy or build my own Mac and you can eat the lost sale.

Sounds fair to me.

[patrickmacworld]

hillstones said:

LMAO! I can see it now..."Dude, nice Ford Pinto." "Yes, but it has a BMW engine in it and I put a BMW sticker on the back."

That's a good one, especially the BMW sticker.

[Wondercow]

patrickmacworld said:

>To be honest, I have no idea what anyone sees in the product.


Some people want to try OS X badly, but cannot afford a Mac or don't want to spend too much on a Mac especially when they are not sure that they'll like it or not.


A friend of mine was in that situation. He was looking into getting a Hackintosh system.

Just because people want doesn't mean people have a right to get; not everything is "try before you buy".

Edit:
After reading through the other posts I see I misconstrued your point
Message was edited by: Wondercow

[mdawson]

So once again you need to have the proper use of terminology explained to you. Future-proofing is not about just being able to upgrade a processor. That is one possible route of expansion not the end all, be all of going that route. If you cannot understand why anyone would want such a system, then you are not in the market for such a Mac and should not make puerile statements such as a computer cannot be future-proofed simply because the processor cannot be replaced; which by the way, is probably untrue in the case of the Mac Pro.

[patrickmacworld]

> Just because people want doesn't mean people have a right to get; not everything is "try before you buy".
[/quote]
Well, when I was going out with my girlfriend (now wife), I told her father that I was "trying before buying" and that if I'm not satisfied, I will return his daughter. Just kidding...