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Is It An Xbox or Mac?

Cory Bohon — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:38:15 -0600

A new hackintosh might make some Mac users--and Xbox users--jealous.

Engadget reports on a hackintosh system built by Will Urbina that has an interesting case design. It is the power of a $4,500 Mac Pro in an Xbox case.

This hackintosh features a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550s, NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT card, 8GB of RAM, an 16GB SSD, and four traditional hard drives and was built for only $1,500 plus the many hours required for achieving this awesome mod.

Check out Will's website where you can find more information about this mod. You can also see a video below of the building magic happening.

Podcast #64: MacBook nano, Apple Laptops Over the Years and Ray Buys an eMate While Podcasting

Roberto Baldwin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:31:54 -0600

This week we marvel at the workmanship of a Hackintosh netbook, share our thoughts on the best, and worst, Apple laptops and peer pressure Ray into buying an eMate off of eBay. Plus, we wish we all had a sweet name like Papermaster, we just don't want to be sued by Big Blue because of it.

An Irish band is chosen for our weekly, "Keep or Delete." Each week we download and review the free iTunes song of the week and decide whether we're going to keep or delete the file. This week's artist:

The Script - Before the Worst

Don't forget, the Mac|Life staff would love to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas for the new podcast. Just leave a message on the Mac|Live question/comment line: (877) 404-1337, extension 622. Please limit the length of your messages to 1 minute max. We'll review these calls each week and feature our favorites, along with responses, on that week's podcast.

To subscribe to the Mac|Live podcast series through an RSS feed, click here; if you want to subscribe through the iTunes Store, click here.

MacBook nano Hackintosh

Danny Estrada — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:27:44 -0600

We're considering selling all our stuff and moving to Asia. They have robot iPhones, iPhones with keyboards, and now they're creating tiny Hackintoshes. Take a gander at these baby MacBooks, or as they are so lovingly called in never-never land, MacBook nanos. Even though this isn't the first time this idea has been thought up (our apologies for the horrible James Blunt background music), it is the first time we have seen a physical production of one.

Click to embiggen

The MacBook nanos are actually custom retrofits of MSi laptops lovingly handcrafted to look, and function, like actual MacBooks. Running hacked versions of OS X on them. They have that oh-so Mac sleek design to them. It's pretty safe to say that if you get your hands on one of these little guys you will definitely be the talk of the town... until some one shows you up by flashing their 24-carat gold and diamond MacBook Pro. At that point you should just realize that you will always be second best... especially next to that guy.

Check out Mickphoto's photostream of the Hackintosh process. Right now we're giving him a virtual high five for his mod skills.

Steve Bobblehead: Cool and Creepy at the Same Time

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:11:14 -0500

The iPhone dock prides itself in its minimalism. The sleek white design works for a lot of people. For some though, you need a dock that shows just how much you appreciate the man responsible for the iPhone.

Mii sculptures decided that no desktop is complete without Steve Jobs staring at you and emitting a tiny bit of RDF while you work. The sculpted bobblehead Steve iPhone dock isn't just a one-off product. You can actually buy your own iPhone dock from Mii Sculptures.

Now Steve can keep an eye on you, at all times. Yeah, we're a little creeped out now.

PowerBook Sit-Down Arcade Cabinet

Lisa Weddle — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:21:51 -0500

A broken PowerBook, an IKEA cabinet, and a guy with an Allen wrench walk into a bar…

Spruce up your next cocktail party by giving your guests the full cocktail bar experience. Blogger Frederic Sebton describes how he turned a regular glass-top IKEA RAMVIK sideboard into a full-blown cocktail arcade cabinet using a busted PowerBook and a bit of elbow grease.

So call up your friends on that new iPhone, turn the lights down low, and plug in Galaga… it’s time to party!

Macintosh DS

Cooper Parsons — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:29:13 -0500

Ken Fager posted the mod of the week on his Flickr stream with his Nintendo DS running Mac System Software 6.

Ken gave TUAW the gritty details of how he achieved the mod.

"First, grab a DS flash card and install MiniVMacDS onto its root directory.

Once that's done, place the Mac Plus ROM into the "vmac" folder along with a System 6/7 install disk (you can make a blank disk image using Disk Utility).

Finally, turn on the DS and select MiniVMacDS. It will boot the disk images. From there, install (minimal) System 6 onto the blank disk image."

Well played Ken, well played.

I Shall Call Him, Mini Mod

Roberto Baldwin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:06:13 -0500

Case modder, Hideo Takano, placed his Mac mini into a custom built case that resembles the Mac Pro tower. The side of the case even opens to reveal the enclosed hard drive. Takano also added a USB port and power button to the front of his mini tower.

If you think you have the mad skills to recreate this masterpiece, Takano has posted a how-to to create your own. The original directions are in Japanese, but the power of Google Translate could get a few brave souls on their way.

Our favorite translated step: And this is part of the hole in the earth and many offer a table in the front part.