Funny, More unofficial Mac clones up for sale on eBay, and Case for Sale!

WinLinMac01 · #1 05-06-2008, 11:57 PM

Below you can bid for a case for your Mac system, lol.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HACKINTOSH-OSx86...dZp1638Q2em124

Now for the suspense---

More unofficial Mac clones up for sale on eBay

By Slash Lane
Published: 12:00 PM EST

A recent move by a little-known Florida-based solutions provider to openly challenge Apple on its Mac OS X licensing terms and begin selling an unauthorized Mac clone appears to have spawned a copycat.

A seller by the name of "chris555" is now offering on eBay a $549 "Non Apple Mac OS X" system that comes "pre-loaded with genuine Mac OS X 10.5." Two such systems are currently available for direct purchase, the seller says.

"Run the award winning Mac OS 10.5 on this custom-built desktop computer for hundreds less than a computer direct from Apple," reads a description of the product. "This desktop comes preloaded with Mac OS X Leopard with all the latest features. Finally, the power of Mac OS X at a fraction of the price."

Constructed in a generic beige and black enclosure, they system sports a 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Dual-core processor, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive, Intel Integrated 3D Graphics, DVD burner, Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet, and three USB 2.0 ports.

The offering is similar to one announced last month by Psystar Corporation, which also ships with Mac OS X Leopard and includes a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessor, 2GB of DDR2 667 RAM, an integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics card, 20x DVD+/-R drive, 4 USB ports, and a 250GB 7200RPM drive.

Although the integrity of Psystar has come under considerable scrutiny, at least one customer claims the company has made good on its promise to fulfill orders for the $400 Mac clone.

Apple, which has historically been quick to thwart attempts on the part of grey marketers to distribute imitations products, has been uncharacteristically silent on the matter. This despite Psystar's open invitation to the Mac maker to formally charge it with a violation of the Mac OS X licensing terms in a court of law.

Those terms, Psystar argues, are in violation of antitrust laws -- an argument for which the clone maker may have a precedent working in its favor. According to TechNewsWorld, a 1984 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that a software publisher can't require consumers to run an operating system on a specific type of hardware.

The Supreme Court reportedly refused to review the case.

naquaada · #2 05-07-2008, 01:09 AM

@ WinLinMac:

Why lol about the case? I use two of them for long:

If you fix some stuff and solder a firewire jack in at the bottom the case is really good. Up to 8 HDs fit in, and it's great if you want to carry it.
Due to the holes in the front there's an excellent air ventilation, my 4000+ is nearly always <35 °C, with the standard AMD fan (only two types are quiet).
The fixed price in Germany was 47 Euro, including a very quiet (19dB) 500W power supply with combined power of 230W. A greally great thing.

The pdf for the apple logos is here.

Print them on self-adhesive matte transparent foil, best with a laser printer or in a copy shop. They're designed for DIN A4 format, so don't scale them.
The background will be transparent, so they don't need to be cut-out so exactly, and they have a gradient from grey to the computer cases's color.
The infos are on the page again

But, nevertheless, it's really a bit crazy to sell a 'hackintosh' directly on ebay. After I bought some things on I ebay I mailed with the seller and we came up to OSx86 - now he's a is real Mac-fan, but I'll never sell one directly.

WinLinMac01 · #3 05-07-2008, 03:07 AM

I have those Logos too. Pretty sweet systems you got there. Beautiful! Is this aluminum or steel?

naquaada · #4 05-07-2008, 10:36 AM

Case is aluminium, front and handles are plastic. But's very stable at all.

WinLinMac01 · #5 05-07-2008, 04:00 PM

How would you compare these to the original Apple cases? I can't take my eyes of that picture you have there. =))

naquaada · #6 05-07-2008, 04:25 PM

How about compare? Stability? Looks? Well, the front is differnt 'cause there's a slot for disk drive and so on and it's not aluminium. But it's easier to modify the ting, nobody would rework an original Apple case. The pic is photographed with a flash, normally they look better. My modifications.

- Mounting up to 3 HDs in the two 5,25" slots which you can't access from the front
- 92 mm fan at the same place for perfect ventilation
- inside covered with air-permeable black material to avoid that dust is sucked into the computer
- 80 mm Sharkoon fan at the back side
- silver 3,5" floppy drive
- left side's holes are covered with a air-permeable light grey material, otherwise they look black (you can see this a bit on the right case)
- soldered a front Firewire jack at the bottom (behind the lower flap)
- Apple logos at both sides

And I have created a experimental electronics that reduces the normal power and drive LEDs to a single blue LED. Beneath the floppy drive you have another front 3,5"-slot f.e. for a cardreader. You can also use black or white DVD drives 'cause they are covered. But you can't see the drive LEDs now, but I also have an idea how to fix this.

WinLinMac01 · #7 05-08-2008, 05:38 AM

Cool to know mate. =))