I'm looking for a new notebook. Nothing too fancy, mainly for surfing, tweeting, and chatting when I'm away from home base (and to while away the deadest of the dead hours on the overnight shifts).
The main thing I want to attempt with one is to hackintosh it. No way in hell am I going to spend an extra $500-$1000 on Apple hardware because some Steve Jobs fairy dust was sprinkled on it.
The prime candidates are a couple of Dell netbooks. The Mini 9 and the Mini 10v are said to be the easiest and most compatible to hackintosh. They are both discontinued by Dell, but are still available elsewhere.
Beyond that, I'm trying to set a limit of around $500 for a full notebook. Any suggestions from the HF hive mind as to the likeliest of candidates to start with?
#2
drifter
Not for hackintosh, but a pretty good deal on a decent laptop is available here. Main thing to me is it has good battery life (advertised as 12 hrs, but realistically more like 9), but some people hate the keyboard due to the numeric keypad.
Specs for ASUS UL50AG-RSTBK:
Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3GHz Processor
3MB Level 2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
4GB DDR2 800MHz SDRAM
320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
15.6″ 16:9 1366×768 LED Backlight Display
Integrated 0.3MP Webcamera
DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Drive
Intel GMA X4500MHD
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
10/100 Base-T Ethernet LAN
SRS Premium Sound Altec Lansing Built-in speakers and microphone
5-in-1 Card Reader SD, MMC, xD, MS, MS-PRO
Ports: 3 x USB 2.0, RJ-45 (LAN), Headphone-out, Microphone-in, VGA, HDMI
Dimensions (WxDxH): 15.4 x 10.4 x 0.6-1.05 inches
Weight: 5.07 pounds
#3
PatrThom
I wish I could help you reach your stated goal. But I can't.
This'll have to wait a while. Funds need to be diverted for a replacement desktop. Mine died as I was installing the Kalyway 10.5.2 OSX disc. Just enough works to make you think it's recoverable, but in the end no keyboard, mouse, or working video card (I get the blue hp screen right before boot, but I can't get to the bios).
#8
DarkAudit
Well smurf. I was able to get a great deal of an Acer Aspire 5780 for nearly $200 off list, but it was just in time for my manager to have all she could take of the other two kids ignoring their duties in favor of laptop playing and TV watching, so she's banned laptops for everyone. Once those two are gone she may relax the ban. I get my work done *first*.