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PC Users - Want Mac for Testing - Cheap

2

21stHermit

Senior member
I create a low volume software product for PC's which can also be used on a Mac. However, I've not been able to test the Mac version. Because the Mac version sells at 10-15% of the low volume PC version, don't want to spend much $$$.

Wants:
Is their a dual-boot option, I have an i3-530 PC running XP SP3, it has two HDD's?
If not dual boot, a small box with a VGA output to my existing monitor?
Cheap, prefer not to spend over $100.

Confusion:
Mouse and keyboard, will I need anything special?
What did I forget?

Thanks
 
21stHermit said:
I create a low volume software product for PC's which can also be used on a Mac. However, I've not been able to test the Mac version. Because the Mac version sells at 10-15% of the low volume PC version, don't want to spend much $$$.

Wants:
Is their a dual-boot option, I have an i3-530 PC running XP SP3, it has two HDD's?
If not dual boot, a small box with a VGA output to my existing monitor?
Cheap, prefer not to spend over $100.

Confusion:
Mouse and keyboard, will I need anything special?
What did I forget?

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you have supported hardware then you can simply Hackintosh it on that second drive.
http://www.hackintosh.com/

If not, then you could always buy a cheap supported motherboard (which shouldn't run you more than $100) and video card (if yours isn't supported).

Any USB mouse and keyboard should work.. you just won't have the CMD key mapping where it is normally on Mac keyboards.
 
Haha, can you go the poor man's route and just put the app on a thumb drive and bring to an Apple Store? 🙂
 
sjwaste said:
Haha, can you go the poor man's route and just put the app on a thumb drive and bring to an Apple Store? 🙂
Click to expand...
While the nearest Apple store is likely 100-miles away, a Mac of some form should be a good deal closer.

You've given me an idea. 🙂
 
21stHermit said:
While the nearest Apple store is likely 100-miles away, a Mac of some form should be a good deal closer.

You've given me an idea. 🙂
Click to expand...

Haha, well, I was being somewhat sarcastic but I suppose it works if you need to test just once.

Quite honestly, getting a used Mac Mini (intel) would be a good choice. Even if you don't sell much for the mac, it's a new dev platform for you, and you might even like it.

I bought my MacBook for development, and it's my every day computer now. You don't need to spend that much, though, just a used mini to plug into your existing keyboard, monitor, and mouse is fine.
 
sjwaste said:
Haha, well, I was being somewhat sarcastic but I suppose it works if you need to test just once.

Quite honestly, getting a used Mac Mini (intel) would be a good choice. Even if you don't sell much for the mac, it's a new dev platform for you, and you might even like it.

I bought my MacBook for development, and it's my every day computer now. You don't need to spend that much, though, just a used mini to plug into your existing keyboard, monitor, and mouse is fine.
Click to expand...

FYI, on the Los Angeles Craig's List, you cannot get an Intel Mac Mini for less than $300 with most costing at least $400. (In the last 6-9 months I bought three Intel and two G5 Minis. It takes at least a solid two weeks to find a suitable $300 Intel model.)

MotionMan
 
I am one to second for an actual Mac Mini rather than a hackintosh. If anything, it's a good second computer to have and you can always bootcamp it if you want a second Windows computer.

It's going to cost you either way. Hackintosh in man-hours or an actual Mac in $.
 
I also second an actual Mac or at least buy a real mac keyboard to test with, there are other keys you might want to test for if you are developing software on OSX that doesn't exist on windows.
 
good luck finding a working Intel Mac for $100.

G5s (sucky compared to Core 2 Duo) still sell for more than that.
so do some G4s.

only way you're gonna do it that cheap is steal Leopard/Snow Leopard and build a Hackintosh.
 
I looked at used Macs and the prices that people want for them are crazy high for a used computer a couple years old. I ended up buying a MacBook for $799 brand new from Microcenter. Some people were trying to sell MacBooks several years old for not much less than that. Compared to PCs, they are sticker shock.
 
spacelord said:
I looked at used Macs and the prices that people want for them are crazy high for a used computer a couple years old. I ended up buying a MacBook for $799 brand new from Microcenter. Some people were trying to sell MacBooks several years old for not much less than that. Compared to PCs, they are sticker shock.
Click to expand...

The small number of them compared to PCs in combination with the fact that many of the users are insistent upon using OS X means that the sellers can get a higher price for their goods. Plus, there is the fact that a 3-4 year old MacBook is still a fine system for everything but the most intensive tasks, unfortunately Flash qualifies as an intensive task, which is more than a little lame.
 
i coulda swore i saw a vmware image of osx somewhere. maybe it runs in vmware or parallels or you can buy a hosted osx
 
you can find used Intel Macs for a good price - but not easily or quickly.

Minis hover around $300+ ... you can snag a refurb (full warranty) low end model for $429 once in a while.

iMacs you can find for $400 or so. Avoid the G5s - lots of failures. Even a Core Duo is better.

Macbooks, sometimes as low as $400-$500. Often something's broken (dead battery, optical drive, etc.)
 
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