Psystar Corporation - Reinventing The Wheel: Open Computing:
I’ve been looking at this Psystar story now for the last couple of days. For those of you that aren’t aware, on Monday, they announced the Open Computer (OC). A PC that’s been designed to run a hacked version of Mac OS X.
Suffice it to say, I think Steve Jobs is going to wait this deal out, possibly buy an OC to check it out, then land the full force of Apple Legal right down on their heads. To say this is one of the stupidest moves in computer history is an understatement.
My problem with this is their question, “Why doesn’t Apple offer a stripped down Mac that is more affordable?” They do; the Mac Mini. Core 2 Duo processor, decent hard drive, not great, but good video, RAM and HD upgradable by the user if you know how to open it, etc. It’s a perfect Mac for surfing the ‘net, writing some documents, paying the bills, email, etc.
I don’t know what components they are using, but they price the basic OC at $399. Realizing that they are already a builder, they probably get builder pricing. In order for them to get Leopard, a.k.a. Mac OS X 10.5.x for each machine, they are paying full pop. They have to, because they say this:
If you purchase Leopard with your Open Computer we will not only include the actual Leopard retail package with genuine installation disc, but we also preinstall Leopard for free so you can begin to use your computer right out of the box.
The key word there is “if.” In other words you are buying a plain vanilla PC for $399, plus the $155 it’s going to cost you to have Psystar install Leopard. That’s $129 for Leopard (did you bring up Calculator, kids?) plus $26 to install (this either goes to the kids who install it, or Psystar’s retainer at Jacoby & Meyers). This makes your grand total before shipping, $554; viola, a Mac Mini. However, your Leopard disc is more likely not used to do the actual installation. They talk about the OSx86 project; if you don’t know, that’s a group of cheaptards who’ve hacked the Mac OS since Tiger for Intel (OS X 10.4.6, I believe) came out. I’ve even gotten it to work on my former Toshiba laptop. My take is, a) they have a custom installer hacked up and ready to go for every OC they sell, or, b) (and this is more likely) they install from a custom disk image to make it really quick. That’s probably why it’s only $26 more.
Let’s look at the tale of the tape on their claim of Mac Mini parity:
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor
2GB of DDR2 667 memory
250GB Serial ATA, 7200 rpm Hard Disk
Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
20x DVD+/-R SATA drive that is Lightscribe-capable
4 rear USB Ports
I assume Built-in Gigabit Ethernet
No OS
No Remote
I assume a keyboard and mouse, but they don’t say
No monitor
$399 for that. Following is the base Mac Mini for $599:
1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB DDR2 667 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor
Slot-loading optical drive (the only Mac left that ships with a combo drive)
80GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm Hard Disk
Built-in Gigabit Ethernet
Analog and digital audio
Expansion via USB and FireWire
iLife ’08, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
Apple Remote with Front Row
BYODKM (bring your own display, keyboard and mouse)
OK, granted, the Mini is not, spec wise, totally up to the OC. At least the Mini has a Firewire 400 port. This is a separate purchase on the base OC. Let’s try it again. When you add the FW card ($50) and Leopard ($155), we now have a grand total of $604, $5 MORE than the Mac Mini. iLife ‘08 does not come on the Leopard retail release, so you would have to add that as well to get feature parity, so that’s another $79, now you’re into it $683. To get remote functionality, you’ll have to go to the Keyspan Express Remote, but you’ll have to use this guide to get it to work with Front Row. $59 more. Grand total, $742. The OC is now $57 away from the high end Mac Mini, which has these specs:
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB DDR2 667 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor
Slot-loading SuperDrive (8x DVD+/-R SATA drive)
120 GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm Hard Disk
Built-in Gigabit Ethernet
Analog and digital audio
Expansion via USB and FireWire
iLife ’08, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
Apple Remote with Front Row
BYODKM (bring your own display, keyboard and mouse)
To be fair to the Mini, it’s really just a Mac Book in a squat cube. It has a laptop hard disc and slot loading laptop optical drive. First off, buy the high end Mini, and if you’re willing to crack it open (to add memory and drives it does not void the warranty, are you listening FUDtards?), Newegg has the Seagate Momentus 200 GB 7200 rpm SATA Notebook Hard Drive for $149. You would also need two 1 GB sticks of RAM to max it out. For that, turn to Newegg again and pick up the Corsair 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) RAM kit for $54. We’ve now hit $1,002. These are not proprietary or Apple devices, they are just solid components. We’re now about $250 over the OC, but we have one thing they haven’t got, Scarecrow.
Apple support.
From Psystar’s FAQ:
Can I update my Open/OpenPro with the Leopard OS using the Apple web site or the Leopard Automatic Update Feature?
We do not support that feature of the operating system. Supported updates will be listed under support on the Psystar website. Future operating system updates may cause severe system problems. Only install updates that have been tested and posted to the Psystar support website.
Severe system problems? Hopefully, Psystar is a certified Apple developer. This means they can get seeds to the latest updates before they ship from Apple, cuz that’s the only way I can see an owner with an OC computer keeping up with his poor, Apple buying neighbor who spent so much on his “underpowered” Mac Mini. They think they’ll challenge Apple? Apple Legal eats punks like this for brekkers.
Again, from the FAQ:
If I purchase a system with no OS and change my mind and want Leopard can I purchase it from you and install it myself?
The answer is “404, page not found.”
Apparently, the answer fairy is on a break.
As I said about the iPhone 1.1.1 update. There is nothing stopping a person from doing whatever he or she personally wants with the hardware or software they buy, as long as they don’t attempt to drag the manufacturer of said items into their self created quagmire. Again, Apple has no obligation to support you when you go beyond the terms of the end user license agreement you tacitly said yes to when you plunked down your money at Fry’s. Enough said, bottom line, it’s probably a decent computer, go ahead and get it with Ubuntu Linux. No extra charge.
Technorati Tags: apple, marketing, Psystar, bad idea, sell, technology
Filed under: Apple, Hardware, Legal, Products, Stupidity, Tech | 3 Comments »
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