mcbeen.com

So far this project has been a complete success. I have a very stable machine now. Here was my final parts list:

ASUS P7P55D EVO
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz (Overclocked to 3.9 Ghz Stable, ~50C)
Thermaltake Ultra Extreme Rev C
120mm noctua cooling fan
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870
LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50
ASUS USB-BT21 USB 2.0 Mini Bluetooth Dongle
Intel X25-M 80gb SSD drive

I don’t use onboard audio for my machines. I instead use an USB audio adaptor for my headsets. I may work on getting the onboard system working in the future, but for now I don’t have a use for it.

The machine is wicked fast, just as I hoped, and the video card appears to be working very well. All my games are playing great. Video transcodes are wonderfully fast.

I’ve been experimenting off and on for some time now with OS X on alternative hardware. My experiences has been somewhat mixed, as I generally don’t pick middle of the road hardware for the systems I build.

But since I have extra time on my hands these days, I have pushed further into it than before. I have been met with moderate success, although I would never recommend this process to anyone. Its cheaper to buy a real mac.

Here’s my config:
ASUS P7P55D EVO motherboard running 915 firmware.
ATI 4770 Family Graphics

Noteworthy sites for reference:
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=199411
http://osx86.sojugarden.com/installer/
http://netkas.org/?p=315

Tips so far: Watch your security settings. Repair permissions before every boot while building. PFix can help tons with this (found on the second site). Don’t burn media, its not worth the money or time.

I’m currently wrestling with my graphic card, as its not fully supported.

I got my iPhone for work back in june for a few reasons.

• I really wanted a touch screen ipod.
• I wanted a video ipod with a larger screen.
• I wanted portable email on my phone.
• I wanted a phone that didn't suck.
• I needed to test out our new external mail system at work.

You can see that none of these issues were related to cost. Good PDAs cost tons. My last ipaq was almost $700.00. A 400 dollar iPhone was no big deal to me. Imagine my surprise when I  went over the phone bills with my boss, and discovered that comparable service through verizon on our Q's was almost $120.00! I currently pay around $70.00 for my service.  Over the lifetime of the service, this really adds up and more than covers the added cost of the device it self.

I'm really confused now about why people are claiming the iphone plans are expensive. Maybe they should double check their overages.