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Is a Hackintosh practical and reliable for Work?

Is a Hackintosh practical and reliable for Work?

  • Definitely

    Votes: 65 55.1%
  • Yes

    Votes: 44 37.3%
  • No

    Votes: 9 7.6%

  • Total voters
    118
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Is a Hackintosh practical and reliable for Work?

Does anyone use one for work or in a home studio?
Can you count on it?
 
If you look through the forum here you will see people who use their hacks for all sorts of stuff.

Browse through the system usage and you will see a lot of people who use their hacks for audio work and even movie editing and animation, not even mentioning how many of use our systems to create websites or the like.

or just play dig dug lol
 
It is practical if you choose all the right parts, and your willing to spend some time messing around with it. If you understand this, then it can be a great fit and be even better then a Mac. However I'm not sure if you would want to use a hackintosh at work due to legal reasons... I dont think Apple really cares that much (or is willing to put in the effort) if just a home user is running a hackintosh. But if a whole business is running hackintoshes Apple is being cheated out of thousands of dollars.

The truth is Apple is yet to really crack down on hackintoshes, but that doesn't mean they wont. For now it is relatively safe to run hackintoshes (even at work), but it's very possible as hackinotshes continue to gain more popularity that the near future could be a little more dangerous. Apple could easily implement more hardware checks into the os to make sure its running on a genuine mac, or in extreme cases take legal action against hackintoshers. Just keep this in mind before you make a decision.
 
Yes, it's practical, yes reliable. Requires user knowledge though to setup properly and maintain, but once a person embraces the ways a Hackintosh is different from a real Mac, and works with it accordingly, it works extremely well.

Ethical for business? As stated, that's a tougher call. If the business is going to be relying on tech support from Apple, then absolutely not. If the business has a self-contained IT staff that literally handle all computer servicing in house and can handle a Hackintosh, then it can certainly work out. I personally know of several businesses (from small to global conglomerate huge) that have a few Hackintoshes here and there doing all sorts of custom tasks. I won't get into the legalities of it, but so long as the OS and all software they use is legit, I don't see any real problem with it.

I myself use my Hackintosh to produce animation for major productions (when I work at home, NOT in the studio itself, where I use a legit MacPro provided by the studio.) So long as it's possible to do and no legit Mac makes as much sense for my use as a custom-built rig, I'll continue to as it works out beautifully. The bang-for-buck ratio of a good Hack that's built/maintained/operated correctly is unmatched.
 
Yes, it's practical, yes reliable. Requires user knowledge though to setup properly and maintain, but once a person embraces the ways a Hackintosh is different from a real Mac, and works with it accordingly, it works extremely well.

Ethical for business? As stated, that's a tougher call. If the business is going to be relying on tech support from Apple, then absolutely not. If the business has a self-contained IT staff that literally handle all computer servicing in house and can handle a Hackintosh, then it can certainly work out. I personally know of several businesses (from small to global conglomerate huge) that have a few Hackintoshes here and there doing all sorts of custom tasks. I won't get into the legalities of it, but so long as the OS and all software they use is legit, I don't see any real problem with it.

I myself use my Hackintosh to produce animation for major productions (when I work at home, NOT in the studio itself, where I use a legit MacPro provided by the studio.) So long as it's possible to do and no legit Mac makes as much sense for my use as a custom-built rig, I'll continue to as it works out beautifully. The bang-for-buck ratio of a good Hack that's built/maintained/operated correctly is unmatched.


Hi would you say once setup correctly that Hackintoshes are stable and mostly worry free? I do animation myself and would like to setup a system then not have to worry about it once setup.
 
Hi would you say once setup correctly that Hackintoshes are stable and mostly worry free?
Absolutely, as I say, if one follows instructions, uses supported hardware, and keeps their system/data cloned/backed up.

I do animation myself and would like to setup a system then not have to worry about it once setup. Would you be able to recommend a good monitor for animation to, that displays OSX well?
What monitor to use is such a broad subject, it's purely up to your own preference. First off, choose a video card that's as powerful as you can afford and of course OSX-compatible. The worst case is a non-compatible card without full hardware accell and native resolution on a monitor. This would be totally unsuitable for any video/animation work. My recommendation: any supported nvidia 6xx card, and proper setup.

Monitor choice should be based on your needs: size, type, and features needed.

IPS screens are best for color accuracy, but since animation work relies of frame-accuracy, one should be careful not to settle for a screen with a low response time. (Measured in miliseconds.) For example: an IPS display with 5ms response time would be great for producing motion graphics and video. RT of 7ms, 8ms or higher? Great for photo work, but less so for animation and video.

Standard LED monitors are less color-accurate, but have very high response times like 2ms which is excellent for video and motion graphics. Your choice should revolve around a balance of need for color accuracy (for broadcast if doing professionally) or the best possible video response time for viewing your animation. A monitor that does both stellar, is going to be pricer than one that offers a balance of one or the other, so base it on your level of professional need.

If using more than one, look for screens with a thin outer bezel and no controls/ports on the sides.

The larger the screen(s), higher the res, then go for as beefy a video card as possible and also note the type of ports you need (HDMI, DVI, Display Port, Thunderbolt, etc.) I'd avoid analog like VGA and stick with all digital.
 
Absolutely, as I say, if one follows instructions, uses supported hardware, and keeps their system/data cloned/backed up.


What monitor to use is such a broad subject, it's purely up to your own preference. First off, choose a video card that's as powerful as you can afford and of course OSX-compatible. The worst case is a non-compatible card without full hardware accell and native resolution on a monitor. This would be totally unsuitable for any video/animation work. My recommendation: any supported nvidia 6xx card, and proper setup.

Monitor choice should be based on your needs: size, type, and features needed.

IPS screens are best for color accuracy, but since animation work relies of frame-accuracy, one should be careful not to settle for a screen with a low response time. (Measured in miliseconds.) For example: an IPS display with 5ms response time would be great for producing motion graphics and video. RT of 7ms, 8ms or higher? Great for photo work, but less so for animation and video.

Standard LED monitors are less color-accurate, but have very high response times like 2ms which is excellent for video and motion graphics. Your choice should revolve around a balance of need for color accuracy (for broadcast if doing professionally) or the best possible video response time for viewing your animation. A monitor that does both stellar, is going to be pricer than one that offers a balance of one or the other, so base it on your level of professional need.

If using more than one, look for screens with a thin outer bezel and no controls/ports on the sides.

The larger the screen(s), higher the res, then go for as beefy a video card as possible and also note the type of ports you need (HDMI, DVI, Display Port, Thunderbolt, etc.) I'd avoid analog like VGA and stick with all digital.


HI thanks for the info didn't know about response times before :)
Am I right in thinking Zaptoons is the name of your animations and website?

Thanks again :)
 
The only thing Hackintoshers would need it for is developing
 
Yes it is definitely!

I use it on my work laptop with Windows as VM on it and it work like a charm. Never had problems with it, except of a display issue on external display which is possible to fix with opening the lid shortly.

So I can say from my side it is doing very well.
 
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