Posted by David in Comment.
My luvverly Dell Mini 9 running OS X. Click pic for more images in the gallery
I’m snatching a quick ten minutes during a busy weekend to start writing this week’s column.
The sunny weather and Mother’s Day have collaborated to ensure I’m getting less desk time than I could normally rely on but thanks to my latest acquisition that doesn’t mean I have to be away from a computer.
I’ve been a serious laptop user for over a decade now. iMac aside, all my computers are portable, although I admit to buying laptops primarily for their smaller footprint. My endless quest to maintain a clutter free home office means I have neither the floor or desk space for desktop machines. My work laptop goes to and from the office and my bulky Alienware gaming laptop is just about luggable to friends’ houses but I’ve never had a truly portable machine that I could be comfortable carrying around with me.
Actually, that’s not strictly true as I bought into the mini ‘netbook’ trend with the first model Asus EeePC which made headline news for being the smallest, cheapest computer on the market, but found its build quality and stripped down operating system made it feel like something manfactured by Fisher-Price toys. The tiny keyboard necessitated an index finger ‘pecking’ style of typing that I found too slow and uncomfortable so it’s now on permanent loan with my sister-in-law and her far more dainty digits.
For months I’ve been coveting the Dell Mini 9, a dinky little netbook with a larger keyboard than the EeePC. A few weeks ago two things happened simultaneously that were to seal its fate and ensure I would end up owning one. Firstly I actually tried one out in PC World and secondly I read an article about how to turn one into a ‘Hackintosh’ by installing Apple’s Mac OS X on it.
Adopting my general principal of using PC World to look at stuff and then buying it 25% cheaper online, I ordered a Mini 9 from Dell which turned up at the weekend. A couple of hours later it was sporting a fully fledged Mac OS X in all its glory.
There are a number of online guides about how to install OS X on a Dell Mini 9. Be advised that the Mini 9 is apparently particularly straightforward for this process and that other laptops and netbooks are different and require a difference procedure (even the Dell Mini 10 and 12). I followed the guide I found at Gizmodo which was easy to follow, although I did have to go through every stage as the external DVD drive I borrowed for the purpose wouldn’t boot OS X and so I had to go the whole way and make a bootable installation on a USB Flash drive. This wasn’t tricky (if you follow the guide) but you do need a) a decent size flash drive (mine is 8GB which is the minimum) and b) plenty of patience because it takes more than an hour just for the one copying stage.
Another great source for all things Dell Mini (including the 9) – http://mydellmini.com/.
I’ve taken a few more snaps of the Mini 9 which you can see on my gallery.
I absolutely love this thing and at barely 7 x 9 inches, I can take it with me wherever I go. Apple’s apparent reluctance to bring out an affordable mini netbook running OS X has cost them dear.
Posted by David in Apple, Music.
That’s the question anyone purchasing Apple’s latest redesign of its iPod Shuffle should be asking themselves.
Quietly released last week, the new device removes all controls from the player itself, leaving it as a tiny stick, smaller and thinner than most of the USB flash drives many of us carry around.
On the back of the Shuffle is a clip for safely fastening it to your clothing – and presumably to help you to remember where it is.
The controls now form a little plastic nodule that is part of the headphone cable, meaning you will have to use Apple’s notoriously substandard earbuds in order to operate the iPod.
The final innovation, which will no doubt be introduced to other models very soon, is that your player now speaks the name of the song or playlist – quite an elaborate workaround for not having a screen to look at.
I think Apple has a problem here.
You can only go on tweaking and reinventing a product for so long before eventually reaching an optimum design. This is clearly starting to happen with not just the iPod Shuffle but with other devices that Apple puts out, too.
For a company whose selling point is often the aesthetics and elegance of its products, this is a marketing headache.
The truth is that the previous iPod Shuffle was pretty much perfect for a low capacity, screenless MP3 player. It was light and small but big enough to feature controls and clipped unnoticed to your clothing. It didn’t need to be made any smaller and take backward steps in usability just for the sake of it.
iMacs also appear to have reached their optimum design. I’m writing this on one now and it’s compact, has a small footprint on the desk but is nearly all screen and nothing else. Apple has released further updates to the model in the two years since I’ve had mine, but the actual look of the thing hasn’t changed at all – it really can’t.
Don’t get me wrong. Looks are certainly not everything and I love Macs more for their ease of use than anything else but we the fickle public are drawn more instantly to visual changes – particularly with Apple products.
Let’s hope the Shuffle’s needless redesign doesn’t become a trend.
I heart my new Hackintosh March 23, 2009
Posted by David in Comment.add a comment
My luvverly Dell Mini 9 running OS X. Click pic for more images in the gallery
I’m snatching a quick ten minutes during a busy weekend to start writing this week’s column.
The sunny weather and Mother’s Day have collaborated to ensure I’m getting less desk time than I could normally rely on but thanks to my latest acquisition that doesn’t mean I have to be away from a computer.
I’ve been a serious laptop user for over a decade now. iMac aside, all my computers are portable, although I admit to buying laptops primarily for their smaller footprint. My endless quest to maintain a clutter free home office means I have neither the floor or desk space for desktop machines. My work laptop goes to and from the office and my bulky Alienware gaming laptop is just about luggable to friends’ houses but I’ve never had a truly portable machine that I could be comfortable carrying around with me.
Actually, that’s not strictly true as I bought into the mini ‘netbook’ trend with the first model Asus EeePC which made headline news for being the smallest, cheapest computer on the market, but found its build quality and stripped down operating system made it feel like something manfactured by Fisher-Price toys. The tiny keyboard necessitated an index finger ‘pecking’ style of typing that I found too slow and uncomfortable so it’s now on permanent loan with my sister-in-law and her far more dainty digits.
For months I’ve been coveting the Dell Mini 9, a dinky little netbook with a larger keyboard than the EeePC. A few weeks ago two things happened simultaneously that were to seal its fate and ensure I would end up owning one. Firstly I actually tried one out in PC World and secondly I read an article about how to turn one into a ‘Hackintosh’ by installing Apple’s Mac OS X on it.
Adopting my general principal of using PC World to look at stuff and then buying it 25% cheaper online, I ordered a Mini 9 from Dell which turned up at the weekend. A couple of hours later it was sporting a fully fledged Mac OS X in all its glory.
There are a number of online guides about how to install OS X on a Dell Mini 9. Be advised that the Mini 9 is apparently particularly straightforward for this process and that other laptops and netbooks are different and require a difference procedure (even the Dell Mini 10 and 12). I followed the guide I found at Gizmodo which was easy to follow, although I did have to go through every stage as the external DVD drive I borrowed for the purpose wouldn’t boot OS X and so I had to go the whole way and make a bootable installation on a USB Flash drive. This wasn’t tricky (if you follow the guide) but you do need a) a decent size flash drive (mine is 8GB which is the minimum) and b) plenty of patience because it takes more than an hour just for the one copying stage.
Another great source for all things Dell Mini (including the 9) – http://mydellmini.com/.
I’ve taken a few more snaps of the Mini 9 which you can see on my gallery.
I absolutely love this thing and at barely 7 x 9 inches, I can take it with me wherever I go. Apple’s apparent reluctance to bring out an affordable mini netbook running OS X has cost them dear.