• Welcome to Operation Photo Rescue's Online Community.
 

My 10" Mini MacBook... only $200!

Started by John, December 20, 2008, 06:17:13 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

John

I recently got a Black Friday deal on a 10" MSI Wind 'netbook' notebook, after discounts and rebates my final price was just over $200.  The great thing about this netbook I found out is that it can run Apple's OS X.  So after some online research and a couple of simple tweaks, I now have a mini MacBook!  I was pretty impressed with my ability to make this work, so I wanted to share some pics.  If anyone is looking for a mini MacBook solution and doesn't want to spend $1000, I highly recommend the MSI Wind.  It's very snappy and dual boots both Windows XP/Vista and OS X.   Only update I have left is to ugprade from the standard 3 cell battery to the 6 cell which will give me almost 6 hours of battery life between charges.   

Specs:
1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
10" WSVGA (1024 x 600) LED Backlit LCD
Windows XP Home Operating System
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
2GB 667 MHz DDR2 Memory
120GB 2.5" SATA Hard Drive
Wireless: 802.11b/g
3-Cell 11.1v 2200 mAh Battery (2 hours with this, upgrading to 5800mAh 6 cell)
Size: 10.2" x 7" x 1.3"
Weight: 2 lbs 8.6 oz







Tess (Tassie D)

Nice laptop John! I've seen these in the stores and thought they looked rather small but nice and functional. Sounds like you got a great deal but I have to ask about the last photo, Wallace & Grommit???  ;D
Tess Cameron
Distribution Coordinator
[email protected]

Hannie

That is quite a bargain John, congratulations.
You might consider the 9 cell battery for this netbook, can you imagine how long you will be able to keep going?  :D

Even though it is only 10 inch the keyboard is laid out so well that it actually is 80% of a standard size keyboard, not bad.  The monitor is very good too, if you pres F11 the size of screen doesn't seem so small.  The inside of this netbook is something else, everything is laid out really well and very easy to replace, high quality manufacturing.
(I own the Medion Akoya Mini E1210 Netbook which really is the MSI wind, I paid about $300 when I bought it.)

Photoshop CS2 runs really well on this little computer, some people I've talked to say it runs better on this netbook then on the Mini MacBook.


Hannie Scheltema
Distribution Coordinator
[email protected]

John

Quote from: Tassie D on December 20, 2008, 06:42:54 PM
Nice laptop John! I've seen these in the stores and thought they looked rather small but nice and functional. Sounds like you got a great deal but I have to ask about the last photo, Wallace & Grommit???  ;D

lol.  Yes, I'm a Wallace and Gromit fan.  And Hannie, the keyboard is actually 92% of a normal keyboard, so touchtyping is pretty easy.   The smaller screen is great, but I'm still getting used to the reduced size.  F11 is definitely a must to squeeze the most out of it.

Mhayes

Wow John! What a great price and I'm impressed with all that you got on it! I hate to sound really dumb, but I don't understand the dual function: Windows and Mac?

Margie
"carpe diem"

Margie Hayes
OPR President
[email protected]

John

Quote from: MarCat on December 21, 2008, 12:42:19 AM
Wow John! What a great price and I'm impressed with all that you got on it! I hate to sound really dumb, but I don't understand the dual function: Windows and Mac?

Margie

Basically when you power on the computer you can either choose to start in Windows or OS X.  Basically two operating systems on the same computer.  I've never been a Mac guy, so this was a cheap way for me to have a Mac experience without shelling out a lot of money.