I’m not sure what “Notintosh” means. Sorry.
I’ve been an Apple customer for around eight years now. I’m sure I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I bought an iMac after using my brother-in-law’s iBook. Since then I’ve bought a new iMac, 3 iPods (not all for me), 3 iPhones (ditto), a Mac Mini and 20″ Cinema screen and an iPad. Not forgetting the iSight video cameras (bizarrely I own two), four Apple keyboards, three Apple mice, licensed accessories and so on…
In short, they’ve had a shitload of my money!
In return I’ve had eight years of hassle free computing, phones that sync nicely with my computers and more than a few envious glances and comments from friends, colleagues and clients.
However, I now find myself at a crossroads. My four-year old iMac is starting to show its age and some simple jobs are taking much longer than they should. My once lightening-quick and beautifully constructed desktop is struggling to keep up with the MacBooks on campus; and I need to be far more considerate with my money these days…
I first heard about the Hackintosh years ago, in fact probably only a few weeks after Apple announced that they were moving away from the Power PC processors in favour of Intel chips. Now Apple were using the same processors as a whole tonne of PCs it was only a matter of time before a few smart guys n’ gals figured out how to get OS X running on PC hardware.
So to my dilemma…
I can buy another iMac for roughly £1700 if I factor in my preferred upgrades and student discount. The machine I could get would be beautifully designed and constructed and I’m more than certain I’d get another four years of hassle free computing.
However, it’s been on my mind for some time now that I could quite easily buy an off-the-shelf PC with similar or better specs for much less money. My only complaint would be the operating system and even that is only because I’m no longer familiar with Windows after several years using OS X. Considering that the majority of my work would be in Photoshop, Lightroom and MS Office; it would be sensible to put my preferences aside and make a sensible decision.
Years ago I read an article by photographer Ken Rockwell which said:
The Poor Man Pays Twice
If you really want something, buy it, or wait until you can.
Don’t buy something that isn’t what you really want. If you do, you’ll keep dreaming about what you really wanted, and eventually get it. When you do, you’ve just paid twice.
Worse, as mentioned at the top, if you have a job done by the lowest bidder, you’re going to need to pay the highest bidder double to fix the damage done by the first guy.
That’s stayed with me for quite a while and though it’s probably cost me a little more in the short-term, I’m damn sure it’s saved me a fortune in the long-term. However it’s time to move on Ken, sorry.
So what does this have to do with Macs, PCs and the Hackintosh?
If you’d asked me a couple of years ago I would probably tell you that it was an ambition of mine to own a Mac Pro. It’s a beautiful hunk of machine and it’s a Mac. The extortionate price was part of the appeal – these machines were for the serious and seriously rich!
I grew up. I got married. I bought a house.
I couldn’t, and still can’t, justify that kind of money on a machine that will need replacing in four or five years time. So my compromise is to build my own Mac Pro. Of course it wont look as sleek and it won’t be made by the coolest company out there, but as I’ve gotten older my loyalties have shifted somewhat. My money is worth less and it needs to go further.
So to Hackintosh I shall go. I shall learn of the PC and of the components. I shall read, I shall plan and I shall build. I shall build a computer that will grow as my business (and hopefully bank balance) grows.
Coming soon: Getting Started – Hackintosh Part 1
Until next time.
