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Getting My First Mac Pro

#1
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6/27/09 at 10:56am
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I have been wanting (lusting) over the new Mac Pro for quite a while now and it looks like this is the week. I am getting the dual quad with 6 gigs of RAM. I am also getting the upgraded Video Card. I plan on getting a lot more RAM but welcome any suggestions from other Mac Pro users.
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#2
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6/27/09 at 11:03am
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

Don,

I got a Mac Pro 2.5-3 years ago and had it loaded with
ram since (7 gigs).

The great thing about buying these monstrosities is that
they will last you for years.

Love my Mac Pro and the fact that unlike my PC I am not
needing an upgrade after two years.

Good luck with yours. Keep us posted once you get it.
Ronald J Epstein
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Email me at: repstein@hometheaterforum.com 
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#3
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6/27/09 at 11:16am
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

Longevity is one of the main reasons I am getting it. while doing my research I kept hearing the same thing over and over. It was Mac Pro users that have had their machines for years and still love them. They would talk about a couple of upgrades but all in all they bought such a good product that they were able to keep it and grow into it. I hate having to buy things twice so I figure I will get a beast, keep it for a long time and grow with it. Now we just need Snow Leopard to ship!!!!
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#4
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6/28/09 at 12:37pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

Don, I only just "retired" (still using it as a second computer) my 9 year old G4 Mac desktop. That's longevity. In that time I have done some upgrades, including a new processor, an Ultra ATA card and USB 2, neither of which existed when it was made. There's some perspective. After much thought, I was quite surprised to find myself going for a Mini, rather than a full-size model. It is a great little machine and does all I need, plus you can get 4 of them for the price on an intro Pro.

Anyway, the old G4 is not going away. It is now for browsing in the living area of the house, and a second portal for my wireless music system.


They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
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#5
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6/28/09 at 5:18pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

That is exactly what I am talking about. I want to keep this PC for a long time. The 4th of July weekend will be very exciting. I also ordered a WACOM Intuos 4 medium tablet for my Photoshop and Design work.

I'm not real happy about the video card options. Both cards are just 512 mb's. My PC is running a 1 Gig and looks awesome on my 30 inch screen. I am looking to order the EVGA GeForce GTX 285.
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#6
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6/28/09 at 6:34pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

i just did the same thing, replaced my quicksilver 7 year old g4 with a mini and i love this thing.

don have you ever used a wacom pen and tablet before?
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#7
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6/28/09 at 6:52pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

Which upgraded video card are you getting, the 285? Thats a BADASS card if so, I am jealous, I will upgrade mine when someone starts selling for less than full retail. I love my consumer macbook but on the desktop I will never go back to a non pro Mac!

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#8
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6/28/09 at 7:04pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

Shane, I have never used a WACOM tablet before but I have used tablets in the past. I saw the tutorials online and thought it was fantastic.

Sam, Yes that is the card. I have done a lot of research and found 2 things. 1. This is the best card available for a Mac Pro.
2. It costs a lot more when you own a Mac.

But in the end it is well worth it.
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#9
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6/28/09 at 7:08pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

ok you know what your getting into then.
when i started using mine at work i had to the mouse completely away and just do everything with the pen for a week straight before i got any good at it.
now i can't do any photoshop work with a mouse, it just feels wierd.
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#10
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6/28/09 at 7:40pm
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Re: Getting My First Mac Pro

I know what you mean. There is definitely a learning curve with the pens. I subscribe to Kelby Training and Corey Barker has an entire class just on using the Intuos 4. There are things you just can't do with a mouse. I hope I pick it up in a week like you. I was planning on a bit longer.
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#11
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6/30/09 at 9:20am
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I wish I had enough workspace for a Wacom!  And let us know how you like the 285.  I plan on saving up for next year and getting a 30" display and whatever the 285 or better equivalent is.  Expensive but should be totally badass.  Too bad I have other stuff to pay for in the mean time, like the mortgage!

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#12
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7/6/09 at 5:18am
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Well I have it all installed and it is fantastic!!!!!!  I ended up getting the Mac Pro 16 core machine last Tuesday.  Once I got it home I started loading it but kept getting interrupted so I didn't actually get it finished until yesterday.  The new video card arrived on Thursday. Man is it awesome.  So much better than the original card.  I found 1 TB hdd's on sale for $79 at at Fry's so I picked up 3. I have 1 for MAC data, I loaded Windows on another using Boot Camp and 1 for Windows data.  I just got the Wacom tablet installed Saturday as well.  It is really nice but will take a long time to master.

I am a little disappointed  about 1 thing though.  For the amount of money I paid for his computer you would think it would come with a lot better hardware.  For $3300.00 it really should come with wireless, a remote and a much better video card.  It didn't even come with a wireless mouse.  The wireless keyboard I can understand because not everyone wants the little one.  Just a small frustration but nothing to really worry about.  It just seems like Apple should go all out and package all it's best stuff when you buy their best system.  It is also strange that Apple only offers 512 meg video cards for this computer.  I would think since they offer the GTX 285 on their website, that is where I got mine, that it would be in their build options.  And why is it that I had to go with Logitech to get a wireless keyboard with a 10 key?  Don't get me wrong, I really love Apple, obviously, but some of their decisions leave me scratching my head.

Anyway, now I am really looking forward to Snow Leopard.  That OS should unlock all the potential of this computer!!!!!!!  16 cores baby!!

Don
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#13
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7/6/09 at 5:55am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by don monteith View Post

I am a little disappointed  about 1 thing though.  For the amount of money I paid for his computer you would think it would come with a lot better hardware.  For $3300.00 it really should come with wireless, a remote and a much better video card.  It didn't even come with a wireless mouse.  The wireless keyboard I can understand because not everyone wants the little one. 
Well, for $3349 it comes with a wireless mouse and wireless keyboard

I'm don't understand how you can buy a $3000+ computer and complain that it should come with "a lot better hardware". If it's not coming with "better hardware", why would you pay $3300 for it? Isn't this the top of the line system?

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#14
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7/6/09 at 4:35pm
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Real pros use wired peripherals!

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#15
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7/6/09 at 5:18pm
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 Why do real pros use wired peripherals?  I really hate wires.
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#16
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7/6/09 at 5:26pm
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I paid the money because I wanted the machine. And I love it!!  Yes, for a bit more you can get a wireless mouse etc.  My point was that for this amount of money, you shouldn't have to spend more.  It should just come with it.  Not complaining really, just an observation.  I didn't realize that real pros use wired peripherals and 512 meg video cards I guess.  So that must be why they include the same stuff with with everything from the mini to the pro.  Sorry, I didn't know. This is all rather new to me.
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#17
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7/6/09 at 5:33pm
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 Now that that's over with I do have a serious question.  I am trying to run 2 monitors off my GTX 285.  It will run the monitors just fine but when I try to run a video tutorial in full screen mode on either monitor it drops my dock from the other monitor.  I tried clicking back on the other monitor to get my dock back and it resizes my video back down to normal mode.  Some of these tutorials are very hard to see in normal mode.  I called Apple and they had no idea.  We tried different sites among other things and nothing fixed it.  I suggested adding another video card just to run the second monitor.  Apple said that would work.  However, I do not know if I can run the Nvidia GTX 285 with the Radeon 4870 at the same time.  Apple had no answer.  Any ideas? 
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#18
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7/6/09 at 8:00pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by don monteith View Post

 Why do real pros use wired peripherals?  I really hate wires.

Sorry Don, I meant to add a smilie!  Seriously tho, I'd rather have a wire and know with 100% certainty that my peripheral is rock solid than to deal with batteries, interference, incompatibility, signal loss,  or any other quirks of wireless.

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#19
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7/7/09 at 4:00am
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DP
Edited by DaveF - 7/7/2009 at 12:08 pm GMT
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#20
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7/7/09 at 4:04am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Posten View Post

Seriously tho, I'd rather have a wire and know with 100% certainty that my peripheral is rock solid than to deal with batteries, interference, incompatibility, signal loss,  or any other quirks of wireless.

How's life without a cellphone and no remote control for your home theater :)

Seriously, the good wireless devices are very good and don't suffer from those problems. A wireless mouse can be better than a wired one: it moves a touch more smoothly without a cord to drag, push or get snagged.


Edited by DaveF - 7/7/2009 at 12:09 pm GMT
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#21
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7/7/09 at 9:29am
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That simply hasn't matched my experiences.  I have tried multiple high end wireless devices, including bluetooth based ones, and have been consistently disappointed.  Actually funny that you mention Home Theater cause the one wireless device I DO rely on heavily is the PS3's Bluetooth remote, but even that has its limits and frustrations.

I'll stick with my wires and you kids can go have your fancy shmancy wireless ones, just stay off my lawn!  =)

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#22
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7/7/09 at 10:06am
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Maybe you're in a denser location, with interference. I've been using a Logitech MX Revolution for two years and it's an amazing mouse. Do you have problems with wireless network, bluetooth earpieces, and other wireless devices?
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#23
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7/11/09 at 4:32pm
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WOW, that was easy!  I splurged and spent $120 on a 1.5 TB drive.  Took 3 minutes to unplug the Mac Pro, another two two google how to open it up, 30 seconds to slap my head and curse how dumb I am for not seeing how easy it was, 15 seconds to pull the sled out, 4 minutes to FIND a phillips head screwdriver and install the rail, 5 seconds to plug in the drive, 2 minutes to close it back up, power it up and boot.  The drive was instantly recognized as not formated, Disk Utility popped up, I formatted it and renamed it in less than 2 minutes, and now I've moved 600GB to it in about 2 hours.  AMAZING.

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#24
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7/11/09 at 6:29pm
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 Pretty cool huh!?  I had a buddy over when I added 2 new hard drives to mine and he was really amazed at how easy it was. He kept asking  where all the wires were.
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