Alternative to a Macbook

kkreiger

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Hi guys!

I am planning to pursue my Ms in U.S.A and would like to purchase a laptop for that purpose.

i have zeroed in on an Apple Macbook 1.8 Ghz core duo as it is sleek ,stylish and the best value for money Mac yet 8) ( its bundled with a ipod nano but i dont require it).I plan to dual boot with windows. :wink:

The only draw back is the crappy integrated graphics :?

i Have never owned a mac but have tinkered with my friends ibook, is this a good deal or can i get a better deal by going with the DELL's and HP's .

i cannot really afford anything above $1,000 and i require one by september. i am open to refurbs with a good warrenty.

thanks in advance for all your help
 

killernotebooks

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Thanks to Maxxus who cracked the OS X security, you can put OS X on almost any notebook.

Google "Maxxus + OS X crack" and you will find everything you need to do it. You really don't need to have a dual boot anymore there are several programs (my friend has a MAC and the name escapes me - because he starts talking in the MAC-Speak and all I hear is blah, blah, blah) that do a really nice job of running windows within a MAC.

I was actually thinking of offering OSX on my Wakazachi notebook, but it is a little out of your price range even stripped down.

 

kkreiger

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hi killer!

thanx for the quick reply.

i have sufficient funds ,$ 30,000 ,saved for my education and can easily afford to purchase a high end laptop .But i have relatively little idea about the expenditure i will incur for my education and hence am playing it safe.

i have checked out your site , mann... you sell some Killer rigs :twisted:

whats the most practical rig you would recommend for my use and please Quote the price too...

And killer :?: do you think apple will take it lying down if you install OS-X on your rigs.

no mann.. they whip the ass of jurnos who post about their products so there is little chance they will spare those who pirate OS x.
 

killernotebooks

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The Wakazachi is a really really nice machine.
Core Duo, DDR2, SATA Hard Drive, Beautiful 15.4" glossy widescreen, x1600 with 256 MB, speakers are nice (thing is downstairs right now playing some MP3 and I can hear it over the jet engine fan I have on my 4400+ X2 desktop).

What I would do with OS X is install it, make sure it is 100% working, then image the hard drive onto a dual layer DVD. Wipe the hard drive. Sell a notebook with nothing on the hard drive, a boxed copy of OSX and the system restore DVD. To restore the disk image would take 15 minutes tops, point and click interface... a monkey could do it.

That way nothing is pirated, no machine is sold with OS X on it. First thing I have to do is put OSX on a machine and that means finding the time to do it. When are you looking at this machine.

I don't know what Apple's license is as far as putting it on your own machine. I think they would have a hard time coming after anyone in court since they are selling copies of the OS in full version seperate from the notebooks themselves. I mean if you bought a MAC off Ebay and the new OS then installed it, how is that any different than what you are doing here? Still bought a notebook from a 3rd party and installed an OS. I personally think Apple droped the ball when they went to Intel, but time will tell.

Tiger itself is only about $115. You can configure a Wakazachi system right on the page.
 

kkreiger

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Yes almost all the products exceed my budget , i think i will have to increase my budget to get a no compromise note book .

the NanoBot 12" looked good , do you think it will come in my price range of 1 grand.

And the most important question, will the core duo be upgradable to a conroe ( core duo 2) ie . will they be pin compatible and user servicable.

if it is upgradable i think i can allot $1,500 fot the puchase
 

killernotebooks

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Well, no. The NanoBot pre-configured with X2 TL-50, 512 MB, 80 hard 5,400 drive is like $1,299. For a system that will make you happy with 1 Gig, 7,200 rpm hard drive etc. it's more like $1,499

I don't really fall in the $1,000 price range. I'll tell you who does $1,000 systems to perfection. DELL.

30% off $1,499+ - Dell Coupon 2ZT4G81K9BLPD2
30% off $999+ - Dell Coupon DL6QX6MSHQV03B

With those codes you can get @ a $1,400 system for about a grand.
You can get a a system there within your budget. There was just a guy this weekend on the forum that saved like $336 with a coupon code; he was pretty pumped.
 

kkreiger

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THANKS for the help i will take a second look at dell.

actually i decided against dell because they are bulky and the construction quality is poor but they do have the best goddam monitors in their note books.

the apples are sleeker and more stylish but have a smaller screen which results in a more portable system , so according to me apple is a better deal as i already have a copy of win XP.

byeee...killer , hope to purchase one of your rigs in the future.
 

killernotebooks

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I think the monitor quality in DELL's notebooks has gone down on their Inspiron line. I had a guy contact me saying he got a DELL system and he was unhappy with the screen, and that it had dead pixels, and wanted to know my dead pixel policy.

"Simple", I said, "If I get a machine that has dead pixels I contact you, tell you there is going to be a delay because of it, I go to my list of people that have said, I want a gaming machine but don't have the money, and if there is a dead pixel on it I don't care.' I sell it to them and you get another machine."

Needless to say, DELL's sent back, and he placed an order with me.

My grandmother who is 83 got a DELL 1705 or whatever it is, I was so unimpressed, like you said with the cheap flimsyness of the case on it and the screen wasn't all that. BUT, I also realize that we are talking about a sub-1,000 $ machine, and DELL definately does a good job in that arena. I would also look into ACER if I were you. Check out that Maxxus thing to put OS X on your notebook and let me know how it goes.

I look forward to dealing with you in the future, and if you need anything else you can pretty much find me here for questions or whatever.
 

blue68f100

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If you are still going to school, you may want to see what the school recomends. As Most of the work will be with MS not Apple.
 

killernotebooks

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KILLER, do you think apple will take it lying down if you install OS-X on your rigs.
I actually looked into the legality of this issue and came up with this case law: Softman vs. Adobe
"The Court understands fully why licensing has many advantages for software publishers. However, this preference does not alter the Court's analysis that the substance of the transaction at issue here is a sale and not a license," Judge Pregerson writes. If you put your money down and walked away with a CD, you bought that copy, EULA or no EULA.

So does this mean Linux users can break up a hardware/software bundle, keep the hardware to run Linux on and sell the software? Yes, says attorney Wendy Seltzer, Fellow of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. "It makes a strong case that the licenses purporting to restrict resale in this manner are not valid licenses--so the transactions are in fact sales, and the buyers are not subject to the "license" conditions. It helped that Softman hadn't even had to click a clickwrap", Seltzer said in an e-mail interview.

So we are one step closer to a legitamate alternative. From what I see, if I buy a copy of OSX, I can put it on any machine I want.