I Joined the Club!

[Stonebyte]

So, I realize this is a giant "so what?" to everyone here, but I'm super-excited so I'm sharing, anyway.

Last Wednesday evening, I bought a Mac Pro.

For quite some time, I've been rather derisive of Apple, feeling that any company with such rabid and devoted followers must surely be the epitome of all things evil. I still feel that way, in a sense, but sometimes it's easier and more satisfying to just succumb to the inevitable.

I've been a Windows user since version 3.0 back in the early 90s, and I'm one of the rare individuals who not only had no trouble with Vista but (gasp) actually liked it. I even used the 64-bit version, if you can imagine!

So, despite almost 20 years of loyalty to Windows, jumping ship was surprisingly painless. After just three days with the Mac Pro, I decided to sell my "old" PC (which I built myself just 5 months ago) on Craigslist. It sold very fast; I obviously priced it too low.

The point is, my diving into the Mac so quickly and thoroughly is a strong testament to the product. Don't get me wrong: I still resent the Draconian control Apple maintains over its hardware and software, but I totally feel like one of the cool kids now. Besides... now I'm less of a hypocrite for having owned an iPhone for the past 13 months.

This is how thoroughly I've crossed over to what I considered "the dark side" only a couple weeks ago: you know those two white Apple stickers that come with the computer? I'm seriously considering putting one on the rear window of my car.

An Apple sticker on a VW... how cliché. :rolleyes:

P.S. I installed the Airport Extreme card myself. That was the biggest pain in the ass I've ever encountered with a hardware installation.

P.P.S. Is Macsales.com a good place to buy additional memory? Mine only has 2GB, but Apple's price is obscene.

[Tallest Skil]

Welcome; very much so.

You're correct: NEVER buy RAM or HDDs from Apple if you can avoid it.

Direct any troubles, questions, or concerns to us. Great bunch of people here.

[Osarkon]

Club? I wasn't aware there was one...

And yes, macsales is a much better idea than getting RAM direct from Apple. Or possibly crucial, which is what I always seem to end up using.

[soberbrain]

Congrats on your Mac Pro!

Here's a link to the Buying RAM (http://guides.macrumors.com/Buying_RAM) sticky in the Buying Tips... forum

I have bought from Crucial before with no problems.

BTW, I've got an Apple sticker on my car and I like seeing other Mac users on the road :)

Though, I've seen 1 guy over do it with about 2 dozen apple stickers on the front and back bumpers.

[OlBlueHair]

All that stuff about an elite club of cool kids...that's all coming from the windows side. I have never met a single mac user who thinks that way.

Enjoy your new Mac Pro. I love mine! I bet you'll find OS X particularly enjoyable.

[kahine]

I know exactly where you are coming from , got rid of my gaming rig right at a month ago and went the Mac Pro route myself - now have Macbook Pro for work , Imac in the living room , and Mac Pro for my work/rec/gaming and love it -

Still use Fusion and bootcamp for gaming but much prefer OS X

Got my RAM from Macsales and worked great - basically the newegg for Macs from what I have seen - did have to cancel my 3870 orders from there and go directly to ATI but that was easy and they were cool about that also with all the delays they had

[Firefly2002]

I've been a Windows user since version 3.0 back in the early 90s, and I'm one of the rare individuals who not only had no trouble with Vista but (gasp) actually liked it. I even used the 64-bit version, if you can imagine!

*Hisses* Windows 3.0 instead of System 6? Windows 95 instead of System 7?! You blaspheme! I mistrust you, sir.

Kidding, but Seriously, Windows 95 is was head and shoulder above Win 3.0, and that was a (poor) imitation of Apple's OS. I can't quite understand your loyalty.... ;)

Congrats though. Glad you like it. And yeah, as noted you can get about four times as much RAM from other sellers as you can from Apple for a similar price.

You can get cheaper monitors, too. Of course, Apple does tend to use rather high-quality monitors, so it's not a total gyp...

[rockinrocker]

All that stuff about an elite club of cool kids...that's all coming from the windows side. I have never met a single mac user who thinks that way.

i have, they're called "logic users".
:D

[Sun Baked]

Club? I wasn't aware there was one...

Yes, dammit they said it was a cult when I joined.

[m1stake]

Yes, dammit they said it was a cult when I joined.

Your cult has been mainstreamed! :p To the OP, would you mind "helping" me join the club? Donations appreciated. ;)

[hms84]

I got my RAM from newegg.com it is a Kingston it's very nice and cheap (comparing to prices in my country)

P.S I don't usually trust other manufacturer with memory I only buy Kingston.

[Siron]

I bought an iPhone when they first came out and was working out in Ontario, CA at the time. They had an Apple store at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga where I lurked at the weekends. I was sort of curious of Apple products after loving my iPhone, so when I learned that you could run Windows in Boot Camp or Parallels (I still need the OS for some business apps and games :D) I started looking at the Mac Pro. Unfortunately in 2007 the rig was not suitable for gaming (crappy video card), so when I read about the new MP coming out in January I immediately ordered one when they were available in the Apple online store. While I was waiting for the BTO to arrive (I know - I was stupid to order the larger HD and extra 2 Gigs of RAM :o), along comes Macworld and the MBA announcement :eek:. I ordered one two days later.
I love the Mac. The OS is so well integrated with the other "i" apps it's a joy to use. As you can see from my sig I added an Apple TV to the family.

[Apple Ink]

Welcome to the Brotherhood!:D

Its great to hear that you're enjoying! And that too to the extent of leaving your beloved Vista:p Sorry

Hope you have a great time!

MacSales is fine. Crucial.com is excellent and so is Newegg and TigerDirect!:)

[nanofrog]

MacSales is fine. Crucial.com is excellent and so is Newegg and TigerDirect!:)

Great. :rolleyes: Now someone tells us! :p

[Apple Ink]

Great. :rolleyes: Now someone tells us! :p

LOL.... Yes, members do get carried away a bit!:D

[Stonebyte]

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm positively giddy. About a computer. You'd think I'd never seen one before.

I just can't get over how quiet it is. And how elegant the OS is. And how I actually get thumbnail previews of PSD files and, more impressively, RAW files from my SLR. And how much it actually makes sense to have the minimize, maximize and close window buttons on the left side. And how quickly it wakes up from sleeping. And how it tells me what time it is every hour. And how I wish my work computer were a Mac.

Which is not to say there aren't a few things I miss about my old box. Like streaming video and audio to my Xbox 360. Or being able to play Age of Conan (there's no Mac version). Or... hmm, actually, that may be about it.

A few months ago, I got a 24" iMac. I returned it after about two days. I just didn't love it, and I think the reason may have been the integrated display. I've got a 30" Dell monitor, and I hated giving that up. The iMac, though gorgeous, also seemed slower (less responsive in applications like Photoshop) than the Windows machine it was replacing, so I was underwhelmed. The Mac Pro, obviously, was a different story... plus I still get to use my monitor, which I heart.

By the way, regarding the "upgrading memory" component to this thread, a lot of folks are recommending Crucial. I noticed that for an 8GB kit (4 x 2GB), the cost would be about $460 before shipping/tax. Compared with MacSales, which is $335. That's a pretty large price difference... so is there a compelling reason to shell out the extra $125 for Crucial (i.e. either Crucial offers better quality... or MacSales is shady)? Just curious. I'm about to go on vacation, so I'm not going to order anything until after I'm back, at which point prices may have shifted anyway.

In the meantime, I brought my Apple logo stickers with to work. I'm going to put one on the window next to my office door... and see about working up the nerve to put the other on my car. I've never had anything even remotely resembling a bumper sticker. Just not sure I can do it. But, man, I'm just REALLY digging this whole Mac thing.

[rhett7660]

Did you have to give blood when you bought. I did...... Something about blood brothers/sisters till the end. I still don't know what that means.... :D

congrats.. I was super excited and I still am till this day. Love my Mac Pro......... My baby.... :)

[kahine]

Stone I play AoC fine , although about to quit and switch to WAR - bootcamp with Vista64 and two 3870's = around 75 fps at 1920x1200 in AoC with details and draw distance on high

Only thing I changed was sold my single 30" and went to three 24" monitors to ease the fps hit at trying to game the latest games at 2560 like I was on my PC

But at 1920x1200 you can play anything out there plenty well with two 3870's

Agree with you on the OS X thing - the only time I boot into windows is for AoC or WAR only atm but I like my mmorpg's enough for that to be worth it

Otherwise I run OS X and have about 10 windows open at a time doing work/gaming/recreation (OS X does multi-windows multi monitors so much smoother than Vista)

So dont give up on your gaming - if you really want to you can have it all and considering the total cost of the Mac Pro - adding a couple 3870's to make it crank in gaming really isnt too bad pricewise

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/xdaishanx/IMG_0787.jpg

[nanofrog]

Nice set-up kahine. Now I'm jealous! :p

[kahine]

Nice set-up kahine. Now I'm jealous! :p

The wife is giving the evil eye though so I'll be banned from technical purchases for a while :P


(although I am damn tempted to get a 360 to hook up on that far left monitor with HDMI input so can switch over to it and have that going at times- that might get be in big trouble though :P)

[tobyg]

The wife is giving the evil eye though so I'll be banned from technical purchases for a while :P


(although I am damn tempted to get a 360 to hook up on that far left monitor with HDMI input so can switch over to it and have that going at times- that might get be in big trouble though :P)

Do it.

Just don't let her print this and bring this to the divorce proceedings. :)

Oh and might I suggest a PS3 instead. That way you can watch Blu-ray movies.

[Apple Ink]

Do it.

Just don't let her print this and bring this to the divorce proceedings. :)

Oh and might I suggest a PS3 instead. That way you can watch Blu-ray movies.

LOL! And what if she strangles him!:eek:

Also agreed! 360 is previous gen and PS3 is current! Your choice now..

[kjs862]

Congrats on the purchase. I'm sure your MacPro will serve you for many years to come. I've been using my PowerMac G5 for about 5 years now and no serious problems.

[hughden]

Thanks for the welcome!



Which is not to say there aren't a few things I miss about my old box. Like streaming video and audio to my Xbox 360. Or being able to play Age of Conan (there's no Mac version). Or... hmm, actually, that may be about it.



A piece of software called Connect360 will stream from your Mac to the Xbox. Very elegant solution, much better than Media player.

[CharlieKirk]

Congrats to the op!

Well done my friend, it takes some bottle. For me it was the whole psyche thing, then butterflys, then "what the hell, i'll take it", then it was relief from then on.

Have fun with your new toy :)

[canadianpj]

Congrats and I cannot wait to join the club myself. I'm thinking in the next few weeks I will plunk down the money to get my Mac Pro.

One thing I was unhappy about was that as I wanted to modify the stock version of the Mac Pro I could not order it from the local Apple Store. They told me I cannot even order it, then pick it up later when it arrives.

[Mackilroy]

Also agreed! 360 is previous gen and PS3 is current! Your choice now..

Someone has their head on backwards... ;) (yes, I have both. 360 is a superb games machine, the PS3 is not)

Congratulations, though. :) It's real nice having a Mac Pro, though if I ever get another tower machine it'll probably be a hackintosh that I build myself.

[Apple Ink]

Someone has their head on backwards... ;) (yes, I have both. 360 is a superb games machine, the PS3 is not)

Congratulations, though. :) It's real nice having a Mac Pro, though if I ever get another tower machine it'll probably be a hackintosh that I build myself.

360 has a lot of games because its mature and about to retire (MSFT has already previewed the Xbox720). PS3 is quite new and has huge power. It'll take time for it to settle!
Coclusion: At the moment 360: 5/5, PS3: 3/5
Futureproof index 360: 2/5, PS3: 4/5

Nothing personal. Just my .02

[kahine]

Could care less about Blu-Ray atm- I just download and watch movies on the Mac Pro anyway so its not a bonus there

I do like the overall tech of PS3 - but after researching several boards the past week even most PS3 owners have told me that for what I want the 360 is better atm - could care less about a year or two from now

I want to play NCAA 2008 online , GTA IV , and occasional RPG/shooter -

I've seen overwhelming folks on shacknews and other sites say that if I dont care about blu-ray and want to game online much and specifically for my games that the 360 would be better choice overall -

I'd have gone with either one as not a fan/supporter of either , but it seems for the next year the 360 would be better for me for games overall ,

[zmttoxics]

Congrats and I cannot wait to join the club myself. I'm thinking in the next few weeks I will plunk down the money to get my Mac Pro.

One thing I was unhappy about was that as I wanted to modify the stock version of the Mac Pro I could not order it from the local Apple Store. They told me I cannot even order it, then pick it up later when it arrives.

You can only get build to order machines directly from apples website. If you are the store, your only option is to by the baseline and have the store techs upgrade it.

[crazzyeddie]

A piece of software called Connect360 will stream from your Mac to the Xbox. Very elegant solution, much better than Media player.

I second this. Connect360 is an excellent app for streaming to the 360, and it just runs in the background... no fuss at all.