OS X on the HP Mini-Note the easy way
Kevin's dabbling with OS X on his Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium got me hankering to see the great OS running on the HP Mini-Note but I don't have the guts to do it the hard way like he did. This past weekend I got to experimenting and found the easiest way to get it running on the HP Mini-Note. I wanted to have the smallest MacBook around and I was able to do it very easily using LogMeIn. It turned my MacBook Pro into a host for any PC with a web browser and the HP Mini sure has one of those so in just a few minutes I was running OS X on the Mini:
The speed was quite acceptable and this is using the free version of LogMeIn. I was very surprised to find that the HP Mini runs this better than the Fujitsu P1620. The screen updating is fluid on the Mini but choppy on the Fuji. I even ran a Quicktime video on the Mini pretty well.
... and this will be the only way as OSX can't be installed to VIA based dvices.
http://bp2.blogger.com/_ZKlSQm2j7TI/R6pNWHkqw7I/AAAAAAAAB94/BXV3EGhkPYc/s1600-h/cloudbookhacks6.jpg
Posted by: jkkmobile | April 21, 2008 at 07:03 AM
James what you are doing is old news.. How about giving us some good news? I have been following JK for a while now and recently it seems as you guys are just always admiring each other... Please don't take this the wrong way but enough is enough.
Posted by: Paul | April 21, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Paul, what exactly do you want us to do here? This was not proposed to be news but our readers have made it clear they like to hear about things we are doing and trying. This experiment using LogMeIn proved to me conclusively how useful a 9" notebook would be from Apple, something they aren't prepared to make so we have to do it any way we can. Again, what would you have us do here?
Posted by: James Kendrick | April 21, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Don't sweat it, James. I never understood people who complain about seeing something posted because for some reason it's "old news" to them.
Posted by: Aaron | April 21, 2008 at 09:22 AM
Kendrick, your fienditry truly knows no limits!!
Do you EVER wake up and NOT start the day by asking, "What can I do torment Mike Cane today?"
Posted by: Mike Cane | April 21, 2008 at 10:02 AM
You can't hide now, fiend! I've revealed you to the world!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/james-kendrick-starts-his-day-as-usual/
Protestors will soon be assembling outside your compound.
Posted by: Mike Cane | April 21, 2008 at 10:12 AM
I dunno James. You can run OSX with Logmein but, especially for a Mac-to-Mac remote connection, I found it a far less satisfactory experience than gotomypc. I rate Logmeinfree on the Mac as "it'll do in a pinch" but not much better. Whereas I actually do a lot of work on gotomypc remotely. You can connect to a PC from a Mac with GotoMyPC but not the other way sadly.
Posted by: Taxman | April 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Taxman, PC to Mac works pretty well with GoToMyPC.
Mike, tormenting you is so easy to do that it's lost it's challenge. :)
Posted by: James Kendrick | April 21, 2008 at 10:32 AM
>>>Mike, tormenting you is so easy to do that it's lost it's challenge. :)
You won't always have Dick Nixon to kick around!
Uh... who just typed THAT?
Posted by: Mike Cane | April 21, 2008 at 10:48 AM
When I say connect to a PC from a Mac with GoToMyPC I really mean connect to Windows running on Parallels on a Mac that's at the office. James, I'm not aware of a way to connect to OSX with GoToMyPC. Did I misunderstand you? With Logmeinfree there is a latency between my two computers that I find unacceptable. I am now using Back-to-My Mac a lot but mainly just to move files between computers. The screen sharing is a bit maddening for me because of the screen refresh. Plus it is difficult to rely on B2MM because it doesn't seem to consistently work.
Posted by: Taxman | April 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
FYI James, VNC is built into OS X... I assume it's possible to use a PC client to connect. Might have less overhead than LogMeIn, though it'll also have fewer bells and whistles.
Posted by: Dave Zatz | April 21, 2008 at 12:28 PM
James, would you consider trying to put XP on the Mini Note to see how well that works? I am concerned about some of the performance issues that are reported with apps like Skype or video playback, plus the general perception that XP is less taxiing on mobile devices' battery. Since HP doesn't ship with XP yet, I think it would be interesting to see what difference it would make.
Posted by: Oliver | April 21, 2008 at 01:04 PM
Dave - I'm amazed that folks put up with Vista environment on an underpowered mobile device. When I was watching JK's demo on this HP-mini, it took about 90 seconds to come out of hibernation. That's an eternity! I've evaluated and returned two different umpcs that try to run Vista. They make nice handwarmers, but that's about all you get for a minute or two after turning them on.
This is a fiasco that's very likely to kill a potentially useful market segment.
Posted by: Matt Chroust | April 21, 2008 at 01:22 PM
@Oliver: XP is apparently the OS it should have shipped with. One person has gotten it on and working:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/printthread.php?t=241040&pp=50
Posted by: Mike Cane | April 21, 2008 at 05:04 PM
Thanks, Mike. That sounds promising. Would be nice if HP were to release the necessary drivers officially on their site that are needed for the various devices on the machine.
Posted by: Oliver | April 21, 2008 at 06:33 PM
sweet! i'm not really a mac fan, but i have to admit that thats still pretty dang cool. osx is definitely preferable to vista.
Posted by: chi | April 22, 2008 at 12:21 AM