So this is what I’m starting with – a Dell Vostro A90. It’s basically the business class version of the Dell Mini 9 which Gizmodo and Boing Boing Gadgets rate has a highly successful platform for creating your own Mac. If you buy refurbished, you can get them pretty cheap. I wanted a larger solid state drive – and the company that provides really nice aftermarket drives were out-of-stock, so I decided on a new Dell with a larger drive. Specs:

Vostro A90N

• Intel Atom processor N270, 1.6GHz, 533Mhz, 512K L2 Cache
• 1GB DDR2 533MHz
• 8.9 inch Wide Screen WSVGA TLLCD
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
• 32GB Solid State Drive Vostro $0.00
• Obsidian Black Color with Gloss Finish
• UBUNTU 8.0.4
• Bluetooth 2.1 module via USB I/F
• Wireless 802.11g Mini Card
• Integrated 0.3M Pixel Webcam

The OS really doesn’t matter for this project – whatever is cheaper, because you’re going to overwrite it with Leopard.

To this I’m going to add/replace the following:

• OS X Leopard (replace Unbuntu)
• 2GB Ram (replaces 1GB RAM)
• 8 Cell Battery (for long flights – up to 10.5 hours).