best hacktintosh laptop - hands down - not mini

[Nvidiaguy07]

Buying a new laptop to primarily use windows on. I would like the option to use osx occasionally though.

My last current laptop is almost fully compatible, but always had problems with a few things.

Im willing to pay up to $1000, but i want something that is FULLY compatible, and will probably continue to receive support in the future.

Build quality is pretty important to me. So i want something apple-ish, not bulky or cheap looking.

 

[bteeter]

Buy a refurbished Macbook Pro. I got an i5 unit not too long ago for under $1000. There are always deals on the Apple store.

 

[Sid59]

buy a mac and install Win7.

 

[Ka0t1x]

In laptop form factor the best option is the real thing. There are too many variables that you cannot control.

You're going to want a real MBP in the first place.. Why spend the money twice? The MBP will easily run Win7 via BootCamp.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I've considerd, but really my only reason is this: i'm going to be using windows probably 90 percent of the time.

I feel like it will mostly work perfect, but there's probably a few things that will be buggy/not work right by running windows on a Mac vs windows on a pc that was meant for it.

Am I right or have any issues been resolved and i'm worrying about nothing.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Nope, there is no issue. The only problem with Windows is you get less battery life than OSX, but other than that, you still get a full-fledge Windows machine.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Nope, there is no issue. The only problem with Windows is you get less battery life than OSX, but other than that, you still get a full-fledge Windows machine.

Absolutely no difference and no problems at all?

What's the difference in battery life? I'm only getting like 1.5-2 hours on my laptop anyway right now, so even if its 50% of what a mbp gets running osx, it'll be fine.

lastly, is using a mac keyboard for windows difficult? Is it a big difference and should I factor that in when buying this?

I'm really considering a refurb mbp. Any reason I should get an i7 over an i5?

 

[TheStu]

Absolutely no difference and no problems at all?

What's the difference in battery life? I'm only getting like 1.5-2 hours on my laptop anyway right now, so even if its 50% of what a mbp gets running osx, it'll be fine.

lastly, is using a mac keyboard for windows difficult? Is it a big difference and should I factor that in when buying this?

I'm really considering a refurb mbp. Any reason I should get an i7 over an i5?

CTRL is in a different place compared to most other Windows laptops, there is no dedicated Delete key, and some other quirks as well. Boot Camp software has come a very long way from the beginning though, and most issues have been worked out (from my brief time with 7 on my MBA).

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

CTRL is in a different place compared to most other Windows laptops, there is no dedicated Delete key, and some other quirks as well. Boot Camp software has come a very long way from the beginning though, and most issues have been worked out (from my brief time with 7 on my MBA).

What's the work around for the delete key? And how's the learning curve?

What other quirks have u experienced?

 

[mike2fix]

I am a long time Windows guy and really wanted to go Mac, bought an iMac and love the hardware but saying running Win 7 in bootcamp is 100% the same, it's not. I would run into some odd quirks now and then, iMac randomly would not recognize flash drives and other external devices plugged in. The other strange thing was burning DVD's on the Mac in Windows/Bootcamp, I would put the disk in a Windows PC and the drive would/could not read the disk. Few other quirks came up but those stick out in my mind. The iMac running Bootcamp worked pretty well overall but did have some minor issues at times running Windows. I also tried all the various VMs, Parallels, Fusion, etc. and again it just wasn't the same as running on a Windows PC.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I am a long time Windows guy and really wanted to go Mac, bought an iMac and love the hardware but saying running Win 7 in bootcamp is 100% the same, it's not. I would run into some odd quirks now and then, iMac randomly would not recognize flash drives and other external devices plugged in. The other strange thing was burning DVD's on the Mac in Windows/Bootcamp, I would put the disk in a Windows PC and the drive would/could not read the disk. Few other quirks came up but those stick out in my mind. The iMac running Bootcamp worked pretty well overall but did have some minor issues at times running Windows. I also tried all the various VMs, Parallels, Fusion, etc. and again it just wasn't the same as running on a Windows PC.

Ayeee this is what I was afraid of, and ultimately what I kinda figured what would happen.

I remember using windows on my boss' mbp and I remember similar issues happening.

Too bad because the design of it is absolutely perfect, and I would like to see if I used osx more if i would like it better. Right now though when it comes down to it, i'm just much more productive in windows then I am in osx or Linux.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I guess i'm back to my original idea. To get a similar pc laptop, and one that has the best compatibility with osx.

I guess this makes more sense considering that I'll be using windows the majority of the time.

 

[slackerinabox]

I guess i'm back to my original idea. To get a similar pc laptop, and one that has the best compatibility with osx.

I guess this makes more sense considering that I'll be using windows the majority of the time.

Get a mac - my best windows machine is my iMac, bootcamp works 100% fine, and the mac build quality is just better than most windows pcs. Lenovo's great, but the price is similar. Get a macbook or a macbook pro refurb or from the edu store and install bootcamp.

 

[alfa147x]

I am a long time Windows guy and really wanted to go Mac, bought an iMac and love the hardware but saying running Win 7 in bootcamp is 100% the same, it's not. I would run into some odd quirks now and then, iMac randomly would not recognize flash drives and other external devices plugged in. The other strange thing was burning DVD's on the Mac in Windows/Bootcamp, I would put the disk in a Windows PC and the drive would/could not read the disk. Few other quirks came up but those stick out in my mind. The iMac running Bootcamp worked pretty well overall but did have some minor issues at times running Windows. I also tried all the various VMs, Parallels, Fusion, etc. and again it just wasn't the same as running on a Windows PC.

I have not had any of these issues running win7 under bootcamp on a 2011 13 inch MacBook Pro.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Absolutely no difference and no problems at all?

What's the difference in battery life? I'm only getting like 1.5-2 hours on my laptop anyway right now, so even if its 50% of what a mbp gets running osx, it'll be fine.

lastly, is using a mac keyboard for windows difficult? Is it a big difference and should I factor that in when buying this?

I'm really considering a refurb mbp. Any reason I should get an i7 over an i5?

It's about 3-5 hours on a Macbook Pro, or at least it is on my own Macbook Pro.

Mac keyboard for Windows is not difficult, but it really depends on what you do. As mentioned, Delete is absent. It's not an issue if you do right click a lot, but in some applications, the Delete key is more or less essential, simply because there isn't an option anywhere else to do what it does. The next thing you might notice is how the function keys may not work as they should at first, instead you have to hold down the fn key each time. There is thanksfully an option to change that in Bootcamp settings pane, but it's still a pain on first boot, and especially if you use softwares that rely heavily on shortcuts.

But otherwise, it's just a standard computer keyboard.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Is there an option to map another key as the delete button? What do you when you have to cntrl alt delete?

Lastly, I appreciate all the good information on MacBooks, but does anyone have any recommendations for a good laptop that can run osx. Still not completely decided on a mbp or a pc, but I'd at least like to know what options I have.

 

[alfa147x]

Is there an option to map another key as the delete button? What do you when you have to cntrl alt delete?

Lastly, I appreciate all the good information on MacBooks, but does anyone have any recommendations for a good laptop that can run osx. Still not completely decided on a mbp or a pc, but I'd at least like to know what options I have.

The default keypad like in OSX.
fn+Left Click = Right Click
fn+Backspace = Delete
fn+Eject = PrintScreen
fn+F1 = Decrease Brightness
fn+F2 = Increase Brightness
fn+F3 = Toggle Mute
fn+F4 = Decrease Volume
fn+F5 = Increase Volume
fn+F6 = Toggle Num-Lock
fn+Up = Page Up
fn+Down = Page Down
fn+Left = Home
fn+Right = End
Eject = Eject all optical discs
Enter = Right mouse button

Hope that helps

 

[secretanchitman]

the 13" macbook pro at micro center is $999, and would be perfect for you...but i dont think there is a micro center in connecticut. i believe there is one in boston though!

 

[TheStu]

Hope that helps

I don't know if they changed it, but isn't it CTRL+Click for right click?

And 2 finger right clicking works too.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

the 13" macbook pro at micro center is $999, and would be perfect for you...but i dont think there is a micro center in connecticut. i believe there is one in boston though!

is that the same as the 1200 dollar one on the macstore site? I was considering that.

One more thing, how much of a performance hit would i take if I got a MacBook air instead of a pro. I remember reading somewhere that for most people, the air is more than enough now with the new I core processors. Any truth to that?

 

[TheStu]

is that the same as the 1200 dollar one on the macstore site? I was considering that.

One more thing, how much of a performance hit would i take if I got a MacBook air instead of a pro. I remember reading somewhere that for most people, the air is more than enough now with the new I core processors. Any truth to that?

The Pro has a bigger battery, firewire, ethernet and an optical drive. That is about the extent of the differences. The CPU differences in the base models are not so extreme as to warrant much discussion.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

The Pro has a bigger battery, firewire, ethernet and an optical drive. That is about the extent of the differences. The CPU differences in the base models are not so extreme as to warrant much discussion.

Hmmm battery isn't a huge issue, don't need firewire out optical drive. I guess I could really do without ethernet.

What about screen res?

I would probably get the pro either way, because for the size, they're like the same price, but I'd just like to know.

 

[TheStu]

Hmmm battery isn't a huge issue, don't need firewire out optical drive. I guess I could really do without ethernet.

What about screen res?

I would probably get the pro either way, because for the size, they're like the same price, but I'd just like to know.

The 11" Air has a 1366*768 screen which is more pixels, but shorter than the 1280*800 on the 13" Pro. It is also the highest DPI display on any Mac sold. The 13" Air has a 1440*900 display, which is more pixels in every way compared to the 13" Pro.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

bump for a good hackintoshable laptop.

 

[Patranus]

I think you got the answer. There is no substitute for the real thing.
(Also run Windows 7 on 5+ Macs and never ran into any of the issue.)