MSI Wind Netbook

[KeriJane]

Hello.

Here I am, always on the go and I gave away my laptop! It was a tired Thinkpad T23 anyhow.

Next I go and spend a lot of the money I was putting aside for a MacBook Air on Adobe CS4.

So what did I get instead? An on-sale black MSI Wind without Bluetooth.
It's a bunch smaller, lighter and better looking than the T23.
Its teenie tiny 2.5w Intel Atom CPU does a fine job of running XP SP3 and surfing the net while the tiny 3-cell battery lasts a good couple of hours.

In short, it's a really nice mini laptop. More handy than a whole bucket full of Handymen.

So here I am clunking around XP and found out....

The MSI Wind is the Netbook of choice for Hackintosh addicts!
It seems that the Wind is similar enough to a MacBook that Leopard can be made to work on it easily though Apple doesn't like the idea much.

Darn.
I really want to run Leopard on this thing but don't want to snub Apple.
Maybe there's a version of Linux that emulates Leopard?

Wishing I had spent a little more for one with Bluetooth and maybe in White, Pink or Red,
Keri

[jpdoe]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

It's quite likely there's a linux UI that imitates a Mac, but I doubdt your Mac apps will run on linux.
If you're interested in trying linux on your MSI wind, I know a guy at work that uses ubuntu on it.

http://wiki.msiwind.net/index.php/Ub...unty_Jackalope

[dood]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

Chuck a SSD in there for better battery life

My bro has one running Windows 7. It's actually quite snappy.

[Scenic]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

installing a "hacked" osx isn't a problem.
the Graphics card (intel GMA950) is the same as in some apple laptops, and the sound"card" is the same too..
so compatibility is no problem.

and (at least here) apple can't do much against that, because it's prohibited to bind an OS to a specific computer. even OEM Windows CDs can be sold seperately if they can be installed on a different PC..

if you've got some questions about the hackintosh stuff: just ask ;D

i've got a hackintosh running here.. (aswell as 2 Powermac G4 400 (Gigabit & Sawtooth))
(Celeron S420, 2x512MB DDRII-667, 40GB HDD, FX5200 ... cheapo sys, but everything works fine )

edit: pretty much any PC with a CPU that supports at least SSE2 is able to run OS X..

but with SSE2 only, you're limited to OS X 10.4

reason for this:
there's a .kext (kernel extension) that emulates SSE3 on a SSE2-only CPU..
so OS X 10.4 "thinks" it's installed on a SSE3 CPU.
but that driver doesn't work anymore in 10.5.
and running Leo on an old CPU that only supports SSE2 (older P4's for example) isn't much fun anyways..

SSE2 -> OS X 10.4 only
SSE3 -> 10.4 (Tiger) & 10.5 (Leo) up to 10.5.6 ATM

[acstech]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

I currently have an MSI Wind U100 running 3 operating systems. XP, OS-X 10.5.6, and Fedora Linux.

These are great little machines. It's actually faster than one of my customer's i-Mac's, although I upgraded mine to 2GB ram and a 500GB hard drive.

Installing OS-X on these things is so simple. See here:

http://forums.msiwind.net/

http://forums.msiwind.net/osx-installing/

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?act=idx

http://hackint0sh.org/forum/index.php?

You'll want to go find the msiwindosx86 iso file in the usual places. Think torrent and something that rhymes with birate pay. Burn it to a DVD. Then (the way I did it) was use an external DVD drive to install it. Ask if you need more specific instructions for dual or triple booting.

[NxB]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

>>Next I go and spend a lot of the money I was putting aside for >>a MacBook Air on Adobe CS4.

My god, you paid adobe's ransom for it? I have photoshop CS4 and dreamweaver CS4 and I paid nothing. If you are going to torrent OSX and spend the time installing it on a netbook you can torrent CS4 and buy an X61. I wouldn't worry about "snubbing" apple. Apple acts snobby and pretentious more times than I can count. If anyone DESERVES to be snubbed its them.

I wanted an Assus eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeePC until a customer brought one in for repair. I got to see its tiny keyboard, its tiny screen and its tiny 2gb SSD that wouldn't fit windows updates without turning off virtual memory. My shitty X21 is about as fast and costs less. Its also more of a real computer. Maybe linux and a storage card would have helped it along but it was still too tiny to be functional. Is the MSI wind slightly bigger?

[willawake]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

agree on the tiny keyboard although this is improved in later versions along with the tiny screen also

prefer my hp 2510p http://www.techmati.com/reviews/2510p/index.htm
with full size keyboard although would like ssd for it then i would have no probs using it in moving vehicles. also 3g card and then i am totally mobile office

[i4004]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

Battery
3-cell, 2200 mA·h: 2.5 hours or 6-cell, 5200 mA·h: 5.5 hours (in some areas 4400 mA·h)

better get that bigger battery...

as 2.5hrs after a year of usage means 1 or 1.5hrs, and that's nothing....

oh yeah, kerijane; what do you like best when it comes to osx gui, in comparison to windows?

[acstech]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

Is the MSI wind slightly bigger?

Yes, the MSI Wind has a 10" screen, and a very good keyboard. In fact, I can type full speed on it no problem. And I have big hands.

[KeriJane]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

Hello...I pay Adobe's ransom simply becaue I use CS2, CS4 and Premeire Pro to make commercial websites and media such as DVDs. I don't much care for peeps ripping my work without paying and I'm sure Adobe's not crazy about it either.
Not to mention the fines and prison time if one is caught.... especially if a profit is involved. better to pay the ransom.

Why do I like Mac OS better than Windows?
Reason Number One with a capital O:
No Activation. Not even a Serial Number. I resent being treated like a criminal by my computer. I return trust with good faith and therefore do not wish to break Apple's EULA. If I were to put Leopard on this Wind, I'm the sort that would at least buy a copy.

Other reasons include the relative lack of malware, quick booting, the highly secure file system, Time Machine, the Dock, built-in spellcheck, the ability to copy the system drive from within the OS, Finder, the disk utility that allows highly secure erases, it reads NTFS, it's both 32 and 64 bit seamlessly, the ability to uninstall porgrams completely, and.... it just works.

The Mac Pro that I use it on is the most astounding computer I've used yet...and now there's an even better one!

However, I don't like the wallpaper. Vista has much better Wallpaper. So I snagged the golden mountain pic from my Vista box.

MacGirl,
Keri

[yanz]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

Interesting. Currently i'm looking for one that small but with comfortable keyboard..

[i4004]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

>No Activation. Not even a Serial Number. I resent being treated like a criminal by my computer.

fair enough.

i also dislike the notion ms is pushing: it says that they essentially just lease the os to you...
that's crap.

otoh, apple doesn't worry about piracy too much, as they sell soft+hard package...

and, boy oh boy do they charge for it...

other things you mention can be had in win too, either via built in functionality, or by external programs...

what i would like to know about leopard is how it performs when copying large files (ie is ut usable in that situation).
my biggest problem with win is heavy reliance on pagefile(harddisk).
sometimes this just slows the system unacceptably..

[willawake]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

likely they will go to full leasing eventually its the only way to stop piracy

[i4004]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

yeah, we'll have os on their servers, and things will be...hehe..SLOOOOWWW....
huh...

which kinda reminds me when i have pdf attachment in email; how much time to dload it and open it, AND how much for google docs to load it?

about leasing one can view it from another perspective; tools(os, programs etc.) change, but we get to keep the documents....
and that is what matters...

we can also go back to older versions of os(via older hardware or via emulators) so it's not so grim...
so i dislike that concept, but it's not something that would make me throw bags of money just for apple badge...

[KeriJane]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

>
what i would like to know about leopard is how it performs when copying large files (ie is ut usable in that situation).
my biggest problem with win is heavy reliance on pagefile(harddisk).
sometimes this just slows the system unacceptably..

Hi i4004

Oh, that's easy! I took 2 big files and shoved them around my Mac Pro just for you.... both files are in Mac OS Extended format. All transfers done with Mail and Safari running and many Finder windows open.

File "a" is a 4.34GB .iso file.
Time to transfer from Internal 2-disk RAID0 to Internal System drive (a WD Caviar Black) : 45 seconds.
Time to transfer from Internal RAID to External FW800 drive: 63 seconds.

File "b" is a 26.06GB .mov file.
Time to transfer from Internal RAID0 array to Internal System disk: 4 minutes, 50 seconds

Time to transfer from Internal System disk to external FireWire800 drive: 8 minutes, 10 seconds
But Time Machine kicked in during this transfer and may have slowed it down some.

Are those files big enough? There were no awkward pauses or apparent slowdowns.


Have Fun,
Keri

[NxB]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

>>what i would like to know about leopard is how it performs when copying large files (ie is ut usable in that situation).

Probably much like BSD. I ran mac os for the few mac things I needed in a VM and I didn't notice anything especially good about it vs Ubuntu or BSD.

As for piracy, I hope you make that money back from adobe. If you run a large CO then you buy software. Its a fact of life. If you make a few websites for people and turn out some media, even commercially you probably won't get caught. You don't sound like you make enough from it anyway since it cleans out your bank account. They actually somewhat WANT you to pirate it since that will means people learn it and then go work at companies that have to buy it. That's why they don't crack down on it so hard.
In short you are wasting money.

[i4004]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

>Are those files big enough? There were no awkward pauses or apparent slowdowns.

big enough but it's not about time to copy them, but how does os act while you're doing this, ie is it as snappy as when you're not doing it?

ie do you have same speed of other applications (turning on the browser, surfing, playing back videos and jumping on its timeline, and anything else you use computer for) WHILE you're copying these big files...

so, for exampel takek that file "b" and while it's being copied try to use the machine...is it at all slower?

windows is, and a lot...sometimes to the point of being unusable...
another instance is when one inserts dvd into drive...it takes much time to initialize disc and slowdowns happen while it's initializing it...

those are my 2 biggest problems with windows...i just don't like to wait for the fuckin' machine...

[kc8adu]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

likely they will go to full leasing eventually its the only way to stop piracy

if micro$not is even relevant at that time!
many of us are telling them to fsck themselves as we move to linux.pun intended.

[KeriJane]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

>

otoh, apple doesn't worry about piracy too much, as they sell soft+hard package...

and, boy oh boy do they charge for it...

other things you mention can be had in win too, either via built in functionality, or by external programs...

..

Hi again i4004

Apple prices aren't as outrageous as many like to believe.....
If you compare Apples to Apples......

Small Form Factor:
The New Mac Mini with the GeForce 9400M, 2GB RAM and the 320GB hard drive runs $799....
Other makers have Small Form Factor systems with better processor, worse graphics, same memory and a smaller drive for around the same price, HP has one at $739....

The iMac?
Well others have tried the iMac concept like Sony and Gateway, but they seem to have dropped those models! The only thing out there (at the Egg anyway) seems to be the HP touchscreen models which is a cool feature... but lets see...

HP- Wait! they're all "Recertified"! That's bad... it means they can't give them away!
But here's a nice one that's NOT "Recertified" 22" touch screen, 2.0 ghz Core2Duo, ONBOARD Intel graphics, 500gb HD, 2GB ram,
Full price=$1299

iMac- 20" non touch screen, 2.66ghz Core2Duo, 2.0gb ram, GeForce 9600M graphics, 320GB drive,
Full price= $1199
Seems roughly comparable as HP has that bigger touch screen, slower CPU, worse graphics and bigger hard drive.

Dual-XEON Server type systems

Lets see... A Dual XEON Nehalem system is a little tough to find... Oh! HP makes them... an XW6600 with 2x 2.66 XEON with a low-end Nvidia Quattro NVS290 and 8gb ram--- $4185!

A Dual-XEON Mac Pro with 2x 2.66 Nehalem XEON, 8GB RAM and a GeForce 120.... $3399! How much extra is that Quattro NVS290 worth?
Oh dear, the NVS290 goes for about $10 LESS than the GeForce 120.

Doesn't seem way out of line to me....


And trying to get Windows to do stuff with add-ons? No Thank You.


Sticking to Mac,
Keri

[KeriJane]

Re: MSI Wind Netbook

OK....

Transferring a 7GB file from RAID array to external via FW800
5 Safari Windows open
Total of 16 Safari Tabs open
5 Finder Windows Open
Mail running
Time Machine running, not active.
Last reboot over 2 weeks.
Put DVD in drive, watched movie full screen with no ill effects. Went doink when file transfer completed.

Mac Pro 1.1, 2x2.66 Dual Core XEON (4 core total)
8GB RAM
ATI 2600HD
4 internal drives, 1 Mac OS, 1 Windows OS, 2 in RAID0.
1 External FW800 drive, LaCie 2BigTriple.


The Big Mac Attack,
Keri