Your total? At least $474.

The allure of converting a sweet little Dell Mini 9 into a micro MacBook is undeniably huge. But if you went with the least expensive options I've outlined, you'd have spent almost $500 on your Mac netbook, without any guarantees it will work properly. In this economy--in any economy--that doesn't seem like money well spent.

Besides, I wouldn't be shocked to see Apple launch some version of a netbook--one that's infinitely cooler than its competitors--sometime this year. In fact, I'll leave you with this tantalizing report about a possible .