Psystar says it's shipping Open Computers, anyone get a tracking number?

It's been a pretty hectic few days for wannabe Mac cloner Psystar -- its former credit card processor shut off its account when it learned what it was trying to sell, no one could figure out the company's true address, and company president Rudy Pedraza still has the disconcerting habit of not answering any questions and promising to call everyone back with a formal statement that's never arrived. Still, the company posted up a blurb today saying it's gotten a new credit card processor and that Open Computers are now being shipped in the order purchases were made. Of course, Rudy's been promising us a test machine since day one, so we're curious to see if he follows through -- has anyone gotten a tracking number? Anyone have their credit cards charged? Let us know.

Read - Psystar: "Store up and running"
Read - News.com article about Psystar's former credit card processor
Read - ZDNet article on Psystar's address

[Ben @ Apr 21st 2008 9:21PM]

ME ME!!!


UHHU FIRST!!!

[AJ in the East Bay @ Apr 21st 2008 9:28PM]

Your credit card deserves to be charged by Psystar so you can be "first" in getting ripped off.

[Anthony H. @ Apr 21st 2008 9:28PM]

Wow, he got low ranked fast..

[kodey @ Apr 21st 2008 9:29PM]

Honestly, is your life this pathetic?

[Seth @ Apr 21st 2008 9:37PM]

Anyone can be first as long as you have that refresh button.

[Nick Soapes @ Apr 21st 2008 10:32PM]

i'd like to have one to run XP for my wife...she's not a big mac fan

the specs aren't bad, especially when you consider the price.

[Ben @ Apr 21st 2008 10:06PM]

gezz u guys...sorry.....I think mabye someone is a little jeulous...jk

[mortis2600 @ Apr 22nd 2008 1:05AM]

Absolutely. We're jealous of your "first post" ability.

Really, we're all bored and you're an easy target.

[Wisam @ Apr 22nd 2008 9:46AM]

About the Open Mac. Does it play Doom?

[Arcanum @ Apr 21st 2008 9:28PM]

Congrats. Somebody get this guy a medal.

[Drew @ Apr 21st 2008 9:37PM]

I own two iMacs, and a Macbook Pro. I gotta say, I would LOVE to have a cheap and fully upgradable Mac. But I seriously doubt it will happen. Apple puts emphasis on stability rather than cheap prices. With a hackintosh, you run the risk of parts being incompatible.

I'm happy now though.

[austin @ Apr 21st 2008 9:42PM]

cheap - mac mini

fully upgradeable - mac pro

reliable - all apple macs.

cant have all three. unfortunately

[Matt @ Apr 21st 2008 9:47PM]

Austin, I like macs, but you can hardly call the mac pro "fully upgradeable".

[Seth @ Apr 21st 2008 9:48PM]

You can't call any Apple product "fully upgradable" unless you pay Apple-bloated prices to upgrade them.

[ZeroCorpse @ Apr 21st 2008 10:12PM]

What the hell do you need to upgrade, anyway?

Seriously. Aside from the video card, what do you need to put in your Mac to make it more suited to your needs? I really wanna know!

Video card is pointless--- An advanced video card is a waste because the only play you'll be able to use it to play Crysis or whatever the new graphicswank-of-the-month is would be Boot Camp. Otherwise, it's more graphics card than you need for 95% of the Mac apps out there.

And if you're going to use Windows to play games anyway, you might as well just get a cheap gaming rig (or better yet, a console) instead of compromising your Mac to play a game or two.

So what else do you need? Hard drive? You CAN upgrade it. RAM? You CAN upgrade it! CPU? You can do it on a Mini, and that's the cheapest Mac they make. Optical drive? USB/Firewire takes care of that and most other upgrades.

Tell me what you need to put in your Mac, that you can't achieve with USB, firewire, or the already-removable hard drive, memory and cpu?

What else is there to add?

[N30 G30 @ Apr 21st 2008 11:04PM]

@ZeroCorpse,

Not all applications need that much power, but it would be nice for 3d rendering or even for RAM hoggging apps.

[mabhatter @ Apr 21st 2008 11:38PM]

the video card thing is big. The best cards Apple includes are woefully inadequate for the price they charge. Witness the whole Mac Pro upgrade problems with APPLE parts!!!

The thing Apple is missing out on is embedded applications. (http://www.xkcd.com/413/) Many people would love to buy the mini as a kiosk PC but Apple's snobbiness gets in the way. For embedded projects a slightly bigger (just) Mac that could take a video card and PCI card or two would do wonders and bring back the market of guys like Woz that like to play. There could be good fun putting motion controller cards in one of those and using something like automator to build your robot apps.

[pfromg @ Apr 22nd 2008 12:09AM]

>Apple puts emphasis on stability rather than cheap prices

er , you mean apple puts emphasis on maximizing its profit margins.Don't ever make the mistake of confusing this with a fantasy motive, like stability.

[clak @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:56AM]

Let me address some common misconceptions I keep reading from people that have never been to Apple's web site and priced out a Mac Pro.

First of all, Apple doesn't overcharge for the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB or any of the other video cards for that matter. It's priced at $150, the same price you would buy it on NewEgg.com. The $280 price people complain about is for the upgrade kit for OLDER Mac Pros, not the current models.

The second point I would like to make. If you price out a competing computer at exactly the same specs as a Mac Pro, usually the PC will be more expensive. However, sometimes companies like Dell will offer a computer comparable to a Mac Pro with a coupon, which provides you with a huge discount.

You can also get a discount on a Mac Pro by joining ADC (http://developer.apple.com/products/). You will save around $1000 by going this route. Considering an ADC membership will cost you up to $500, you are actually only saving $500, but it's still a lot cheaper.

The lowest you can buy a Mac Pro is for $2,299, not $2,799. The Apple site will default to a 2.8 Eight Core processor, but it you can also configure it for a 2.8 Quad Core, making it $2,299. If you get the ADC discount, that knocks the price down to $1,839.

Here's a link to the Developer Store, for anyone interested. The ticket for this link won't last more than a day however:

http://store.apple.com/AppleStore/WebObjects/ADC.woa/91104006/wo/C7gVespaziGe369o8mI17mIWWIo/2.?p=0

You can upgrade the Mac Pro with ANY SATA drive, although if you look on Apple's web site, Apple doesn't really charge a high premium for their hard drives. I think the last time I checked, a comparable hard drive on NewEgg was going for $20 less.

You can get cheaper RAM for your Mac Pro from sites like this: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory , which lists a 2 GB module of RAM at $112.99.

You can also upgrade your processor for a Mac Pro, although the process is time consuming (You have remove a lot of parts to get to it) and the act will undoubtedly void your warranty, but if you're upgrading a Mac Pro to put in a processor that wasn't available when you bought it, the warranty probably has already expired anyway.

Have a nice day, azzholes.

[clak @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:04AM]

Oh, and by the way, Apple also provides ADC memberships for students, which will set you back $99. As a result, you are also eligible for the one-time discount on hardware. Now whether it's the same $1000 discount you get for the regular membership, I don't know, but there doesn't seem to be any difference at the present time.

[Teetdogs @ Apr 22nd 2008 11:14AM]

you almost had me convinced until you called everyone azzholes, azzhole.

[lumstar @ Apr 28th 2008 11:16AM]

@ZeroCorpse

How does playing games in Windows on a Mac compromise the Mac?

[Frank Furter @ Apr 21st 2008 9:50PM]

I think the bigger issue is that this is going to degrade the overall perception of Macs when these weirdo open mac computers start having all sorts of issues.

One thing nice about Macs is the general assumption that you can go to macworld, apple, whatever, and get help with your Mac, especially for the non-techies. I can't wait for the first person to show up on the forums complaining that their motherboard is fried or something like that.

[Yevon @ Apr 21st 2008 9:57PM]

Yeah, it would be like a computer or something. Weird.

[Juaquin @ Apr 21st 2008 11:18PM]

And Mac motherboards don't fry? Odd, cus I've seen quite a few fried boards at work.

[Eh @ Apr 22nd 2008 12:15AM]

Because grandma's and computer illiterate people browse sites like Engadget where they learn that the openmac even exists?

People who buy the openmac know exactly what they are buying. Its impossible for them to mistakenly come across this machine without knowing its not a real mac or supported by apple.

[08azt @ Apr 21st 2008 9:55PM]

I got my tracking today

[Yevon @ Apr 21st 2008 10:37PM]

UPS of FedEx? Send us some pics when you get it!

[GreezyG @ Apr 21st 2008 9:52PM]

I'd -really- like to get one of these...to bad its fake!

[Tyler @ Apr 21st 2008 10:19PM]

Still, I hope it shows Apple to get their heads out of their cash cow's intestines and get their stuff out to those of us that don't have thousands to blow on computers with average specs.

[ethana2 @ Apr 22nd 2008 12:27AM]

I'm getting an $800 Ubuntu Dell this month. Everything I ever wanted 'cept the touchscreen, SSD, and fingerprint scanner.
C2D, 1 GB of RAM, nVidia GeForce Go 8400 GS (I think), 1440x900 LCD...

...now that we're getting out of the windows tax, that's /another/ hundred dollars a mac is overpriced by. ...and /now/, they don't have anything on us 'cept Adobe CS3. CS2 runs in WINE. iTunes runs in WINE. Safari runs in WINE.

Microsoft has had theirs coming for quite some time now, but it's apple that's really going to get owned in the next two years if they don't let their cat out of its shiny branded cage into the real world.

[Schmoove @ Apr 21st 2008 9:56PM]

im guessing apple is going to slam these guys when or if these mac wannabees even get out. we all know its steve's world and we just live in it, but hey, i wouldn't trade my shiney macbook for nothing. not even a low priced $400 clone

[(01) @ Apr 21st 2008 9:58PM]

Arguments about OS X on non-Apple hardware aside, this is totally fake. What purchasers will actually get is questionable, but I seriously doubt anyone is going to be happily rocking Leopard on one of these anytime soon.

[Sabi @ Apr 21st 2008 10:55PM]

i don't see why not its a good idea by the company.
I have gotten over 10 computers to run Leopard stable that aren't built by Apple but rather Laptops by HP, Dell, Acer... and also desktops that are from Dell and my own built one..
I run updates perfectly fine and i benchmark higher than Mac Pros that use Quad Cores. (I have a q66000)

So why not PSystar save people the trouble and commotion? Great business idea with the risk of low consumer knowledge of the product and the amount of care needed...

[John Bailey @ Apr 21st 2008 11:18PM]

Anybody remember that Linux laptop that never was? Smells the same to me.

[Stephen @ Apr 21st 2008 10:01PM]

Wow I didn't realize so many people were against the free market economy.

[Jimmy Jones @ Apr 21st 2008 10:10PM]

.....................humm.. well now you do...

[Brian Z Jones @ Apr 21st 2008 10:46PM]

No crap. Buncha MacZealots. Ridiculous. Same ppl who'd be first in line to bash MS' 'monopoly.'

I would like one of these, so I could play with OSX, w/saving for twice as long as I do for my main rig.

-bZj

[zshift @ Apr 21st 2008 10:40PM]

this has nothing to do with the free market.....it's about a company "selling" computers that go against another company's licensing policies...
please don't flip out and call me an anarchist now.. :P

[dvdivx @ Apr 21st 2008 11:43PM]

Free as in open to compete with or free like a five fingered discount?

[Poke4Christ @ Apr 21st 2008 10:15PM]

Am I the only one who's been thinking that this is good price on a small basic PC? Heck, you'd be hard pressed to build one with any specs at that price. I'm tempted to buy one to load linux or XP on to, not just OSX.

Let's just sit back and let this play out though. I really would like to see Apple's restrictions challenged a little bit.

[Will @ Apr 21st 2008 10:18PM]

Stephen:

This isn't a "free market" issue. Sorry.

[NG @ Apr 21st 2008 10:15PM]

I will just wait and see.

[Anthony H. @ Apr 21st 2008 10:22PM]

WTF?

[Schmoove @ Apr 21st 2008 10:22PM]

ummmm...... im more of dog guy and my mom is allergic to cats

[Kenny @ Apr 21st 2008 10:27PM]

Psystar, rhymes with Shyster, no?

[chris @ Apr 21st 2008 10:33PM]

no, pystar rhymes with shystar

shyster rhymes with pyster ;)

[mike @ Apr 21st 2008 10:37PM]

Not really but it is close...

[Taylor Wilson @ Apr 21st 2008 10:57PM]

I pulled the trigger on the open computer last Tuesday, was promptly charged and issued an invoice-- no tracking #, but "I'm sure its on its way"... Well, we'll see soon enough. I have a mac book, mac mini and a 24" iMac, so this next one is more a utility computer-- so getting just a little usefulness out of it is all I'll need. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[grjohnston @ Apr 21st 2008 10:34PM]

[H]as anyone gotten a tracking number? Anyone have their credit cards charged?

... Has anyone bought it?