15 years ago, Macs were still sort of luxury goods. Even a low-cost model called LCII cost more than US$3,000 with a 13-inch monitor. iMacs are relatively affordable these days. You can find an iMac 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo like ours for US$1,500 to 1,600 at online stores.
How about Mac Pro? Or why would you want Mac Pro as opposed to iMac in the first place? One good reason is that you want to extend your machine with a better video card and additional internal hard disk drives. Mac Pro isn’t so cheap, though. According to Apple Store, an entry Mac Pro machine equipped with two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon chips, one 2 GB DDR2 memory card, a 320 GB 7200 rpm hard disk drive, an ATI Radeon HD 26000 XT 256 MB video card and more costs US$2,799.
So some Mac users assemble computers on their own in the name of saving money. I’m sure there are many local custom build shops where they can put parts including a Mac-compatible logic board from ASUS, Gigabye or others, a power supply box, a cooling fan and more together for you. But they are unlikely to install Mac OS on your custom machine with your request. So you will be on your own to customize BIOS (ROM) settings and go underground to obtain revised Mac OS installation discs.
Or get an Open Computer from Psystar Corporation (hereafter, Psystar)? Southernmost Florida-based Psystar is one of the first companies officially accepting orders online for Mac OS-running PCs with Intel processor. According to its website (http://www.psystar.com), Psystar says
The Open Computer is a PC that works just like a Mac with Apple’s latest operating system OS X 10.5 a.k.a. Leopard. With the Open Computer you can run OS X natively as if you had purchased an expensive Apple computer except that, while paying less, you receive more. (See Screenshot 01.)
Actually, the company doesn’t necessarily guarantee that their computers can run all software programs intended for Mac OS, by stating
… Psystar does not guarantee that each and every program and feature will operate correctly as the Open Computer and/or OpenPro is not supported by Apple Computers. … Psystar does not guarantee that any of your peripherals, Apple-related or not, will function correctly. Psystar will not be responsible for your usage of the Open Computer and/or OpenPro in any way. (See Screenshot 02.)
Screenshot 01- Source: Psystar |
Screenshot 02- Source: Psystar |
Screenshot 03- Source: Psystar |
Psystar’s name first went around several months ago. So their selling Mac clones is not a new story. We are aware that Apple, Inc. sued Psystar at the beginning of the last month in the federal district court for copyright infringement and other charges. Now, according to CNET News, Psystar has filed a counter-lawsuit against Apple partly for violations of antitrust law. Interestingly, the company has created a page under Company titled Litigation possibly to document their court battles with Apple although the page itself is empty for now. (Screenshot 03.) Continue reading →
