No New Mac mini. What are you gonna do now? (poll)

[Cave Man]

Have they solved the Software Update problem?

You mean where I just update to 10.5.6? Already done.

My other problem with this scenario is that you are willing to pay for PC hardware, but download an unauthorized copy of the OS in order to get this to work. Yes, you might be willing to pay for OS X too, and even if you do, it's not a legal copy on your hackintosh. You would be buying a copy of OS X and then shelving it, and then downloading a hacked version and installing that.

Now you're just not being truthful. You can install directly from the retail Installer DVD that you get from Apple. The only thing you have to do is install a downloadable bootloader that allows the computer to boot Darwin. And there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[bplein]

No where in your post did you mention the Mac Mini.

Look at the thread... person is waiting for a new Mini, needs a Mini substitute...

A used Mac Mini over a new computer? You not serious, are you?

Look at the thread... person is waiting for a new Mini, needs a Mini substitute...

Like I said, my copy of Leopard is perfectly legal. I bought it, it resides on only one computer, and that computer is "Apple labeled."

I'm happy that you paid for a copy. You can rationalize it all you want (I did so at one time too), but you are not using the software legally. I'm not a stickler for intellectual property rights, but what you are doing is in violation of a license agreement. I'm sure that if you sold software that had specific licensing you'd have a different feeling about this.

I got tired of waiting for Apple to get off their proverbial @$$e$. I had waited for a year for a Mini revision before I built my hackintosh. It's now served me well for 8 months and counting.

Perhaps you should keep that in mind when you post.

You're the one who uses Mac Pro pricing justifications to justify a hackintosh replacement for a Mac mini... Do the math on a 1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Mac mini equivalent. You are limited to 6.5"d x 6.5"w x 2"h, twenty watts at idle, and rock bottom decibels at 1m measured.

Also, where'd you get the quad core Xeon so cheap? Oh... it's not a XEON.... never mind... so it's not even a Mac Pro equivalent.

 

[bplein]

You mean where I just update to 10.5.6? Already done.

So Software Update works, you just let it go automatically? Cool, back when I tried this out you would need to log on to a forum to figure out what was safe or not (or be willing to trash your system and put it all back together again). OK for someone playing around with it, but definitely has a low WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor... i.e. can I put this in place and hand it to someone who doesn't know anything about anything?)

Now you're just not being truthful. You can install directly from the retail Installer DVD that you get from Apple. The only thing you have to do is install a downloadable bootloader that allows the computer to boot Darwin. And there's nothing wrong with that.

OK, so my tech details are out of date. You used to download whole DVD images from various sites in order to do this install.

What you are saying IS wrong, though. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the OS X Software License Agreement, which prohibits installation on a non-Apple labled computer. And it's not just OK to put the words "Apple" on it as the other poster suggested with a wink and a nudge.

Again, I'm not a stickler on these things, but waving the hands around and saying that it's OK does not make it OK. We can disagree with the civil laws surrounding license rights, but just ignoring them doesn't make them go away.

 

[Cave Man]

Look at the thread... person is waiting for a new Mini, needs a Mini substitute...

Look at the thread... person is waiting for a new Mini, needs a Mini substitute...

Really? Then why all these poll options from the OP?

Buy a Mac mini as it is
Buy a MacBook (any model)
Buy an iMac or Mac Pro
Buy a non-Apple computer
Keep waiting for a new update
Not sure
Other

I'm happy that you paid for a copy. You can rationalize it all you want (I did so at one time too), but you are not using the software legally.

So you're a lawyer and you know about the laws in all the different countries of the world?

I'm not a stickler for intellectual property rights, but what you are doing is in violation of a license agreement.

No, I'm not. The license clearly says "Apple Labeled", which my computer is.

I'm sure that if you sold software that had specific licensing you'd have a different feeling about this.

I paid for my copy of Leopard. If I wrote software and put a price on it and someone bought that software, I'd be happy as can be.

You're the one who uses Mac Pro pricing justifications to justify a hackintosh replacement for a Mac mini...

No, you're the one who is confused. The OP is asking what to do in the absence of a new Mini. Quit making things up.

Do the math on a 1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Mac mini equivalent. You are limited to 6.5"d x 6.5"w x 2"h, twenty watts at idle, and rock bottom decibels at 1m measured.

Well I guess that eliminates:

Buy a MacBook (any model)
Buy an iMac or Mac Pro
Buy a non-Apple computer

Maybe you should send a PM to the OP to straighten him out.

Also, where'd you get the quad core Xeon so cheap? Oh... it's not a XEON.... never mind... so it's not even a Mac Pro equivalent.

Who the fsk needs a Xeon-based Mac? Only 10% of those who actually buy a Mac Pro. I sure don't. But I do like the fact that my quad core is faster than Apple's quad core. And for less than half the price.

 

[bplein]

Who the fsk needs a Xeon-based Mac? Only 10% of those who actually buy a Mac Pro. I sure don't. But I do like the fact that my quad core is faster than Apple's quad core. And for less than half the price.

I'm sure you didn't pass a logic course in university.

You can't say that your system is a true replacement for a mini OR a Mac Pro, because it doesn't satisfy the requirements of either. It may satisfy YOUR requirements, which are the non-existent upgradeable mid-range Mac. But it isn't a replacement for the high end or the low end. Your solution certainly wouldn't satisfy ~my~ needs for a Mac mini.

Based on your logic, a proper poll response would have been "I'm going to paint my bedroom". Interesting, but not applicable...

 

[Cave Man]

I'm sure you didn't pass a logic course in university.

Wow, now you're a college professor. You're quite the jack of all trades.

You can't say that your system is a true replacement for a mini OR a Mac Pro, because it doesn't satisfy the requirements of either.

Dude, where did I ever say my hackintosh was a Mac Mini or Mac Pro? Nowhere. All I did was give you two things - its geekbench score and its price.

It may satisfy YOUR requirements, which are the non-existent upgradeable mid-range Mac. But it isn't a replacement for the high end or the low end.

I'm just responding to the OP's query - unlike you.

Your solution certainly wouldn't satisfy ~my~ needs for a Mac mini.

I'm not interested in satisfying you. But I am interested in correcting you where you've been wrong.

Based on your logic, a proper poll response would have been "I'm going to paint my bedroom". Interesting, but not applicable...

You make no sense at all. I suspect you didn't get far enough in college to have even taken a course in logic.

 

[bplein]

Wow, now you're a college professor. You're quite the jack of all trades.

Not what I said, troll.

Dude, where did I ever say my hackintosh was a Mac Mini or Mac Pro?

You compared the price of your system to a Mac Pro. But it clearly doesn't match the Mac Pro feature set.

You make no sense at all. I suspect you didn't get far enough in college to have even taken a course in logic.

Took logic both in Math and in Philosophy.

Glad there's an ignore feature in VB. https://forums.macrumors.com/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=98379

 

[Cave Man]

Not what I said, troll.

Troll? Wow, that really hurts, junior.

You compared the price of your system to a Mac Pro. But it clearly doesn't match the Mac Pro feature set.

It beats it in price and geekbench. That's all I said, and that's all I meant. You seem to read into things that aren't there.

Took logic both in Math and in Philosophy.

Well, that explains everything.

Glad there's an ignore feature in VB. https://forums.macrumors.com/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=98379

Suits you well.

 

[Hellhammer]

Cave_Man is owning you guys

 

[Icaras]

Cave_Man is owning you guys

Agreed! Also, quite the fun and informative read i might add.

 

[Wikinerd]

Depends on what your time is worth to you. If you don't spend time researching the right hardware to buy, then you spend time playing with kexts and overcoming issues. Then you spend time downloading and doing it all over again when you need to go to a major update which would otherwise break your hackintosh.

So, if you ~like~ playing around and making stuff work, or your time has little to no value, then you can "save your money" by going hackintosh.

If you want to get on and do real work or real play on your Mac, and you value your spare time, then a Hackintosh does NOT save you money. It only saves you Capital Expenditure, but your Operational Expense will be high.

True costs are CapEx plus OpEx. Hackintoshes have high OpEx.

Go the easy way then, EFI-X it is for you.

 

[bplein]

Cave_Man is owning you guys

Cave_Man is on my ignore list. I can't argue with a guy who says he saved money compared to a Mac Pro when he didn't build a Mac Pro equivalent. You know, I saved soooo much money on my wife's Ferrari purchase by getting her a Mercury Sable. But it's like a Ferrari. Trust me.

 

[robeddie]

... and now back to your regularly scheduled forum ...

Wow, it didn't take long for this thread to dissolve into a two person conversation of combatants. Usually that happens around page 14 or so of most other threads.

Anyway, I too voted for 'wait for an update' in the poll, but good lord, this is REALLY getting frustrating.

IF Apple does finally come out with an update ... and they didn't decide to just kill the Mini, you've got to wonder why the F they took so long!

 

[bplein]

Go the easy way then, EFI-X it is for you.

Oh, that may help someone else who wants a non-mini, but it doesn't help me get a mini for cheaper than a mini.

I'm still trying to figure out how spending $170 for EFI-X, plus a couple of hundred or more for for a small form factor motherboard and CPU, and a small case, beats the smaller, just as quiet (or quieter), and cheaper used Mac mini. EFI-X is great if you want to build a midrange desktop. That may be what you want, but it's not what I want.

So EFI-X is not for me.

 

[Wild-Bill]

I was contemplating purchasing a Mac Mini for a home theater PC solution.

As I am not completely out of my gord, there is no way I'm going to fork over $599 for the Mini in its current, completely outdated featureset.

So, I'll probably go the Hackint0sh route and build one into a nice, slick HTPC chassis. Having a Leopard-based HTPC would better integrate it with my Mac Pro and Powerbook. The wiki has a pretty large list of compatible hardware. I wouldn't need a powerhouse motherboard, just something that can output 1080p and maybe have firewire so I can hook into the comcast DVR box.

 

[Courtaj]

My money's on Cave Man. Now slug it out, lads.

 

[ale500]

I wanted a Mini back Feb last year, so I built myself a Hackint0sh . With a Quad core AMD. It worked really fast that was speed!. But it had some quirks. For sound I ended up buying a USB soundcard and getting an extra networkcard. I leave my machine on 24/7 and sleep wouldn't work and had some other problems (It will freeze from time to time...). I ended going back to Linux. Sleep does not work but it is rock solid.
I hope they put out something worth buying. I have 2 big monitors (A 26" and a 20") so I do not need an iMac. If not, may be a Macbook will be a good route, I hope it does not freeze when too hot like my current Macbook! (Nov '06)

 

[Tallest Skil]

Cave_Man is on my ignore list. I can't argue with a guy who says he saved money compared to a Mac Pro when he didn't build a Mac Pro equivalent. You know, I saved soooo much money on my wife's Ferrari purchase by getting her a Mercury Sable. But it's like a Ferrari. Trust me.

If it is equally or more powerful than the Mac Pro in benchmarks, it is a Mac Pro equivalent.

What, we have to build our Hackintoshes with exactly the same hardware as an Apple computer for them to be relevant to you?

I don't believe you understand what a Hackintosh is.

 

[Hellhammer]

If it is equally or more powerful than the Mac Pro in benchmarks, it is a Mac Pro equivalent.

What, we have to build our Hackintoshes with exactly the same hardware as an Apple computer for them to be relevant to you?

I don't believe you understand what a Hackintosh is.

Yea, no matter what hardware is inside. All computers can be turned to Hackintosh (correct me if I'm wrong)

Tallest Skil always hits the point and owns you all

 

[mo-ca]

Yea, no matter what hardware is inside. All computers can be turned to Hackintosh (correct me if I'm wrong)

Let me correct you
Not every hardware is Hackintosh-compatible ... especially older one or laptops. If youre planning to use osx86, then you should take a look into the database _before_ buying.

 

[TrapOx]

There is no such thing as a mac-comparable Hackintrash. Compatible they may be; but they will never meet the quality, reliability, support or value of a genuine Apple Macintosh.

 

[bplein]

If it is equally or more powerful than the Mac Pro in benchmarks, it is a Mac Pro equivalent.

What benchmarks are we talking about here? I haven't seen any decent benchmarking tools for OS X. They may be the only benchmarks we have, so they have some purpose, but they are far from thorough.

But the missing midrange desktop IS a gap that is being filled for some people by the Hackintosh. That's for sure, and if it meets YOUR needs, then that is great. I'm suggesting that "build a hackintosh" is not a good answer for many people. Especially when they aren't trying to build the midrange desktop solution, but rather want to build the mini itself.

 

[CharlesX]

It's not really a big deal. My other Mini works fine. On the one hand, the longer they take the more mature the product.

No, the Mini was using outdated hardware even when it was last updated. Ever since they got rid of the discrete graphics chip. The 9400M is fine, though, so I don't know what they're waiting for. I can't think of any good reason.

Whoever made the decision not to update the Mini for 18 months is simply an ass. There can be no other serious explanation.