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Build Your Own Mac
DaytonCIM writes "TechTV has a great article by Kevin Rose on how to build your own Mac: 'When it comes to PCs, geeks usually make a decision between buying a prebuilt computer or building one, component by component. This isn't true when it comes to Macintoshes. You're stuck with whatever Apple has to offer, with only a few measly dollars differentiating the products from retailer to retailer.' It will be broadcast on The Screen Savers today."
prebuilt, or open building isn't holding me back from using a Mac, the lack of software(*coughgamescough*) is. Geez, get it right. :)
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I did what this article describes. In an effort to minimize my investment, I bought the components individually from ebay and online stores, put it all together, and had a custom PowerMac. The problem is that some of those components aren't brand new, and they may very well fail. Then you're left with a cheap-ass PowerMac that needs a new power supply. And one of the PCI slots is a little flakey. And...
It's easier to just buy a used PowerMac on ebay (or from a friend), which is what I ended up doing after I pieced together the parts individually. I still play around with that Frankenstein Mac, but it's not as useful as the used PowerMac.
However, if you invest in newer parts, I think you'll have better success than me. The stuff I bought was pretty old (and damn cheap).
dual 1GHz, internal dvd, internal zip, heavy on the ram, some Mac OsX, printer and scanner on the side. Oh, and a large tower to go with that! Thank you! Seriously, is this going to save anybody money? No. If it's for internal component, I like external ones better. Why not just buy the external components, they're SCSI right. Portable computer to computer. The only benefit I see is the possibility of making one computer out of two broken ones or something similiar. Can you even by PPC chips seperately?
As both a Mac and PC owner :
One of the main points (beside price) of building your own computer is to be able to choose your components, which you dont really have when it comes down to building a Mac since the supported hardware list is so small. _Drivers_ are the biggest hurdle to putting your own Mac together. Unless you want to run Yellow Dog Linux on it, but then it's not a Mac anymore, is it?
You cannot even use standard PC video cards on a Mac, since the Mac architecture expects extension cards to have OpenFirmware compliant firmware. Hence, nice Mac-specific NVidia AGP cards that wont fit anywhere else. Again, there are ways around that, but reliabiality suffers.
-- Home is where you eat your heart out.
also of note, a $399 PC is a piece of junk compared to any Mac
Your price reference is for the processor alone (my original intention). For that money one can purchase a high quality AMD processor and motherboard of your choice. When looking at total cost of the PC vs homemade Mac, you can get far nicer, all brand new, components for the PC. And it will be the latest generation.
Note that the motherboard referred to in the article was $199 and it was a refurbished unit. High quality or not, for that much scratch, I want new stuff.
Gigabit ethernet is useless for 99% of Mac users, other than for bragging rights. A Gigabit solution is just now getting to the point of being affordable. It is still useless if you are mainly concerned with internet usage.
The 970's, if they do come down the pipeline, sound really cool.
In reality, the Macintosh market is not one of customization, it is one of reliability and ease of use. Something the PC still can't do.
I think this is more for the enthusiast than the bargain hunter with no time to spare. Someone who is into piecing computers together will have the tools allready. It isn't that much different than building your own PC...there are only 3 or 4 proprietary parts.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Oh please. You know perfectly well what people mean when they say they built their PC "from scratch," they mean they didn't buy a pre-assembled package from a retailer. They mean they chose each part and then assembled it.
Whenever someone comes to me claiming to have built their PC, I ask them to describe their technique for etching multi-layer circuit boards.
How enlightened you are. You must also ask your mother her technique for grinding flour and raising chickens when she bakes your birthday cake "from scratch."
Just like car enthusiasts:
Some people buy from a dealer. Some buy parts from JC Whittney. Some hand polish the cylinder walls themselves.
If I buy a video card and then rip off the heatsink to replace it with another, then I have done more work than most. If I spend days looking at charts and graphs to decide which MoBo is the best, I have done more work than most. If I take the time to tiewrap power cables and ensure good airflow, then I have done more work than most.
Like sex, there is a lot more to "building a PC" than "insert tab A into slot B". Or at least there can be if you do it right.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
Hah! But it wouldn't be a MAC. ;) We must remember that Macs are the bestest things in the world, and worth the additional $1k for a slower machine. =]
;)
It's the EXPERIENCE, man. The experience!
-Sara