If the Psystar Open Computer is of any interest to you at all, you might want to know that Macworld has now tested one of these things and published the results, as promised. To lend the benchmarks a little bit of perspective, it has been compared to the Mac mini, the newest 20-inch iMac and Rob Griffiths’s infamous Frankenmac.
Overall, the Psystar’s performance was somewhere between the Mac mini and the low end 20-inch, 2.4GHz core 2 Duo 20 iMac. Speedmark 5 results show the Psystar to be 28 percent faster than the high-end Mac mini and 8 percent slower than the low end iMac.
And that’s pretty much it. Macworld has an elaborate chart detailing all the numbers in comparison to the other three contenders and analysis about its performance in various departments, but we all know they’re just doing it because its their job.
If we had our way, and the honkin’ huge machine could fit inside one of those blenders, we’d have been describing a very different type of test right now and it would have been accompanied by an amusing YouTube video.
In any case, if you’ve had enough of the Psystar coverage to last you a while, we assure you that we share your pain, so we’re hoping there won’t be any more Psystar stories from here on out—unless something really important happens, of course, like someone puts it in a blender.
I think what matters is that someone's actually making a serious attempt. Who's not to say that other better organized financed outfits wouldn't make tries on Mac cloning? I don't think this story is over yet.
Apple, hurry and put these hacks out of business already. It's a slap in the face to your customers who paid their hard-earned cash for the real thing.
I propose a new viral video:
Will it Crush?
Corporate sycophants give me the willies.
Hey Aayush & MacUser,
Why all the hate towards the Psystar Mac? What's so wrong with someone trying to come out with a reasonably priced Mac substitute?
As a person who has to watch every penny he spends when it comes to computers and peripherals: I think some competition to drive down Mac computer prices would be, and is, a great thing.
Have you drunk the Apple Corp. Kool-Aid to such a gluttonous degree that you can't see the hugely positive possibilities that this could bring to consumers? Or, is it just that both you and MacUser are so in the back pocket of Apple that you are obligated to talk-down any product that effects their bottom-line?
I guess that's a question that we, the loyal readers of MacUser, may never know the answer. Or, do we already know... ???
From a loyal Mac user since 1988.
Aayush, do you by any chance know what Macworld will be doing with the machine after it has done all its test? I would be glad to take it after and put it to good use. I know a friend who would do well with a PC right now.
ThemCloners,
I have my reasons to want a machine configurable to my wants but the issue here is whether or not its allowable. Cloning really hurt Apple financially in the early 90's.
If someone want to send one to us, we'll do a bullet durability test on this stupid machine and shoot some great video while tests are conducted.
Eric
@krye
Oh you poor poor Apple customer, you are so right, Apple had better put them out of business because otherwise it might make Apple, Inc. look bad and we simply can't have that, can we? I mean how dare they control their hardware and software stack while Microsoft is so obviously making more money selling software, as a customer myself, I am pained by this, not because Open Computer has any real impact on my life, no, never a clone! No, I am pained because it is my duty as a loyal Apple customer, I must show the world the light, come, join me my brethren as we march upon the world and strike down anyone who dares to make it possible to install Mac OS X on their hardware when their name is not even Apple, Inc. Together, under our lord the Steve, and together under his guidance, his vision, and his light, we shall rule the world!
[Meanwhile, back at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, Apple is busy not crying themselves to sleep over an average midtower computer that can't match their resources for product development, design, or marketing.]
Sebastian
All you Psystar lovers are missing the big picture here. Cloning didn't hurt only Apple, it put IBM out of the PC business. The reason Psystar (and anyone who follows) is a problem is because they are not paying for the development of the systems they are distributing. Buying a Psystar is the same as buying a DVD player that "fell off a truck."
There is a bigger picture that perhaps Dave-O overlooked. Most industry copies their competition and improves on their designs (I'm in oilfied manufacturing). However when I build F-16's we copied and did better engineering than other aerospace firms. Back to Psystar. They exist only because Apple left a hole in their product line. Apple also has such a large margin, the little guys see it as an opportunity. This is what business is about, good engineering, cost effective manufacturing and quality, and response to the expectations of their customers. Apple has not done that, otherwise there would not be a Psystar in Miami.
I am absolutely happy to have Psystar or anyone else demonstrate that a market exists for a midrange OS X desktop system, since Apple consistently refuses to respond to customer desire for such a product.