[Cube] Confession...

[Fred Terry]

On 3/6/09 3:36 AM, "Riba" <riba at ml1.net> wrote:

>> I know the market these days is in mobile form factors, but I still
>> think there is room for a desktop solution between the Mini and the
>> Mac Pro in terms of upgradable component systems, but Apple doesn't
>> think so, so I guess I must be wrong.  I've just never been attracted
>> to the iMac and my romance with the Mini didn't work out (Story of my
>> life. LOL!).
> 
> Has anyone ever seriously considered a hackintosh? It is possible to
> build a silent fanless one, picking the right components for the task.
> However, coupled with the EFI-X dongle, this thing *will not be cheap*.
> Not to mention that the choice of small form factor PC cases is almost
> nonexistant...

That's exactly what I did, though I got carried away and made something much
bigger than my Cube (which still occupies the central spot on my desk though
I only TB2 into it these days). I needed USB 2.0 but I wanted an upgradeable
machine, so the Mini wasn't the right choice. I didn't want a tower as large
as the G5, but--as others have noted--Apple didn't provide another option.

I was able to build a hackintosh that cost less than $700 without the EFI-X
dongle and from a pretty standard set of parts. I found that some of the
work being done by the hackintosh crowd assembles all of the drivers you
could possibly need on a single CD, and their compatibility database shows
you which drivers you need for the various video, network, and sound cards
and motherboards. It only took a weekend to build, and a few weeks to tweak.
Not the route for most, but it doesn't require as much skill as you might
think. As for small form factor, the Shuttle cases can be combined with
passive cooling components for a near-Cube experience.

pf