On the Dell Mini 9 as a Hackintosh, and the Things That Define ‘Netbooks’

As someone who has put OS X on two netbooks – a HP Mini 1000 and a Dell Mini 9, I feel pretty comfortable with the ramifications (and frustrations) of taking Apple’s software (and EULA) into my own hands.

As I discussed in the posts those links point to, the HP Mini 1000 is just about the perfect netbook, but Dell Mini 9 is just about the perfect netbook for OS X. That said, both units (and the other dozens and dozens of netbooks on the market) all suffer the same issues: cramped keyboards, little screens, and oddball hardware. Of course, those issues define machines as netbooks, so I’ll keep from calling these characteristics problems.

It seems that Steven Sande over at TUAW doesn’t agree that the compromises made on a netbook are necessary:

To begin with, I’m accustomed to using the trackpad on my MacBook Air with multi-touch gestures. After reading how some other hackb00k users had been able to get multi-touch gestures working, I applied the appropriate patches and gave it a try. Sure, it worked for a little bit, and then began to irritate me when the gestures would fail. I decided to use a cheap micro-mouse instead, which meant that two of the USB ports were now filled – one with the cable for the mouse, and the other for the Sprint wireless broadband dongle that I use when I’m on the road. I suppose I could have used the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse instead, but it just didn’t seem right spending $79 for a mouse for a $499 computer.

Next, I found the keyboard almost unusable. I have relatively small hands, and even my little mitts had difficulty typing on the cramped keyboard of the mini 9*. One problem I kept having over and over was trying to type an apostrophe (single quote). Every keyboard I’ve ever used to touch-type has the apostrophe in the same place – just to the left of the return key in the home row (ASDF…) of the keyboard. On the mini 9, it was located down two rows near the space bar. Since I have been touch-typing for about 40 years, my finger kept hitting the Dell’s enter key every time I wanted to type an apostrophe.

I agree that the placement of the apostrophe key on the Dell Mini 9 was a mistake on Dell’s part, but Steven is comparing a machine that costs $1799 to a machine that costs $499. That’s like saying my Honda Element isn’t a real car because my boss’s Corvette will smoke it off the line. Indeed it will (without a doubt), but I can get to work and haul my bikes and my family around with no problems – because the Element is just as much a car as the Corvette is. If you want to go fast, buy a Corvette – it’s that simple.

Steven also complains about OS X on the Mini 9:

When I ordered the Dell mini 9, I debated whether or not I wanted to get the solid-state disk option. I finally decided to give it a try for a few reasons. First, it allegedly provided even more battery life than a mini 9 with a standard hard disk. Second, it was supposed to boot faster, and third, I thought it was kind of a cool thing to try! Well, the only option available from Dell was a 16GB SSD (they now offer a 32GB model).

[…]

Next, the limited screen resolution (1024 x 600) of the mini 9 made it virtually impossible to use some Mac apps that have default minimized screen sizes that are larger than that. Those apps simply had to be removed from the device, and I was stuck with a somewhat crippled hackb00k that didn’t have the software tools I normally use.

16 GB is simply too small for Leopard. A little bit of research could have told him that on the front end. (In fact, I opted for the 32 GB SSD) The complaint about the display can be lumped in with the complaints about the keyboard – small computers have small screens. Granted, OS X wasn’t designed for screens this small, so some frustrations is to be expected, but I find it usable for what I do on my netbook.

This whole thing comes down to this: a netbook isn’t designed to be used as a primary machine. Steven Sande being mad about that just comes across as silly. And yes, the Dell Mini 9 makes a freaking awesome Hackintosh, but as with all hacked systems, it isn’t always a walk in the park. Problems come up – another reason not to rely on the Dell Mini 9 as a daily machine. But for taking to a coffee shop or using laying on the couch, it’s great.

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* I’m not sure why TUAW doesn’t capitalize the m in “mini 9.”
Dell refers to the machine as the “Dell Inspiron Mini 9” with
a capital M.