Hackintosh - Dell Mini 9

As a little 'project' - I ordered a little Dell Mini 9 - Netbook computer. Then proceeded to load a purchased licensed copy of Apple Macintosh OSX 10.5.6 on the little guy!The Dell Mini is a cute little netbook with the following specs. I ordered a copy with

• 2GB RAM
• Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU
• 64GB SSD (Solid State Drive)
• Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024 pixels x 600 pixels)
• 802.11g WiFi Card
• 10/100 Ethernet
• Bluetooth
• 3 - USB 2.0 Ports
• Built-in Webcam
• Ubuntu 8.04 OS
• Only 2.3 lbs

I got the extra RAM and big SSD drive so this would be fast enough and have enough HD space to be useful as a 'DVD Player' as well as do most of the things I do with my larger Macbook 13".

Following the directions and processes from this web site - I was able to use a couple of USB drives to copy, install, and then configure this to work just like my Macbook.

After loading the applications, I setup the Sync to my Mobile Me account, and thus the little guy is now working just like my main machine. A nice 'spare' Macintosh. Running Mail, Firefox, MS Office, iTunes, iPhoto, Things, Tweetdeck, and the AT&T 3G connection as well.

It's about 1/2 the size of my Macbook 13" Unibody laptop

I'm pretty proud of myself in getting a totally different OS loaded on this Dell. It works great!

OK - now for the things that I miss.

1. the keyboard is a bit cramped and the ' key is in a weird place.
2. two finger right click - doesn't work, so I have to go back to the right clicker, or use the CTRL Click
3. two finger scrolling - not available (bummer)
4. Screen is only 1024 x 600...
   

Sometimes when screens need more vertical screen-space, I use a program called 'Scale Resolution' to go to a 80% view, but that is very seldom. Additionally I use a Bluetooth mouse and all's good.

I highly recommend this - go get one!