[TitanJeff]

I've not had the opportunity to use a 10v hackintosh yet and have the opportunity to purchase one for $275. My goal with this would be to watch video, listen to music, browse the web and maybe read a book. I am looking for this to basically be a ipod with a keyboard.

As a long-time mac user, will this give me the experience I'm used to with my macbook pro? I'm no techie so would appreciate any feedback before making a decision. Thanks.

[Aristizzle]

Haven't tried to watch a movie through iTunes or stream one via Netflix, but I've been using mac since 2000 and am heavily dependent on iTunes. I migrated my 80GB music library and it loads and runs as snappy on my 10v as my iMac and I speedstep and throttle my cpu. iTunes sounds great through my headphones on the 10v. In addition, I do a lot of writing and adobe pdf viewing of scholarly articles and a couple of books on the 10v and it is again snappy. You'lll probably want to do some color calibration for the display. Out of box, the apple blues were a bit too purplish.

[TitanJeff]

The streaming (I'm cable) for Netflix would be good to know.

The guy sent me this spec sheet:
Dell - System Information

Lots of info I can't understand but wanted to make sure there was enough so the Mac OS runs well.

Thanks.

[canada eh]

I wouldn't say im a ling time mac user, ive been using them since August 2009, but compared to my macbook pro is it isn't that bad. Obviously there will be some problems with the slower processor, and multitasking is sketchy but if you wanted to listen to music through itunes, and read an ebook, it can do that. Also it may be a bit buggier than a real mac but for the most part, its solid. There is also a slower start up time as well.

once you get realize its a netbook and not a 15" MBP, you will be fine.

[wiwa]

Originally Posted by Aristizzle

You'lll probably want to do some color calibration for the display. Out of box, the apple blues were a bit too purplish.

Try using the Acer1/Dell Mini profile in System Preferences/Display/Color. Works great for me.

[PacificUser]

I'm not exactly a long-time Mac user, but bought the last of the PowerPC iBook's in 2006 and a 24" iMac in 2008. Decided to go the Hackintosh route after being disappointed by the iPad.

I set mine up a couple of weeks ago and am very pleased. Setup was a breeze; a couple of minor glitches easily fixed. That said, I don't think it can match your experience with your MacBook Pro. Unless your MacBook is pretty old, I can't imagine the processor and graphics card in the 10v can match its power.

I don't use mine for music. Regarding video, my experience with YouTube has been that the graphics card can't handle resolutions above 480. At resolutions of 720 and above, the playback freezes up or gets choppy. If the video experience is important to you, this might be a deal-breaker.

I was looking for a lightweight, cheap device for email, Web browsing and maybe some occasional word processing with GoogleDocs or OpenOffice. The 10v fit that bill nicely. "Readability" helps cut down on some of the scrolling on Web pages with lots of text.

Wiwa, thanks for the tip on color. That helped, but it still could be better. Ari, how exactly did you do your color calibration?

[TitanJeff]

I'm thinking the specs on this is 1GB and I need 2. Any ideas on how much it should cost to do that? Thanks.

---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:50 AM ----------

Originally Posted by PacificUser

At resolutions of 720 and above, the playback freezes up or gets choppy. If the video experience is important to you, this might be a deal-breaker.

Would adding more ram help in this regard or is this a processor issue?

I am wanting to watch video as large on the monitor as will fit.

[w7ox]

Originally Posted by TitanJeff

I am wanting to watch video as large on the monitor as will fit.

Using an external monitor with a 10v running OS X can be problematic. Some report success, some not. My limited attempts were not successful, but my interests were more to see if I could do it vs. a real need.

Phil

[TitanJeff]

Originally Posted by w7ox

Using an external monitor with a 10v running OS X can be problematic. Some report success, some not. My limited attempts were not successful, but my interests were more to see if I could do it vs. a real need.

Phil

Hey Phil,

I'm meaning watching it, full screen, on the Dell itself.

[w7ox]

Got it! I misread (or mis-interpreted your message). Just waking up :-)

Phil