Help me choose the right Mac Pro

[kpritcha13]

Hey guys! I plan to get a Cannon HV20 to record about 15 minutes of podcasts. Right now I have a 15" 2.2 Core2Duo MBP but I'm looking for something more powerful to edit the video. I want to buy a refurbished/used Mac Pro to run Final Cut and be able to edit the HD video smoothly. My budget is $2200. Can you recommend a system?

Open Box Factory Refurbished Mac Pro 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors

Would this one work for me after installing more ram and maybe another hard drive?

Also which of these refurbished systems from Apple would be best for my needs?

Refurbished Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz Intel Xeon
Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors
1GB (2 x 512MB) memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200 rpm hard drive
16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory
$1999

Refurbished Mac Pro with One 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
One 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
2GB (2 x 1GB) of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive
16x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB (two dual-link DVI ports)
$1999

 

[iToaster]

Go with the second system. As well, while the HV20 is awesome (loving mine), for 15 minute podcasts you can get by with a MacBook Pro though. The reason I sold my MBP and got my MP is due to exporting hour or two long segments of HD (which it rocks at). But if you're going to go with one, get the more recent Mac Pro for that added boost of power.

 

[ktbubster]

yeah, second one from apple is probably your best bet. Newest architecture and a quad 2.8 on one chip vs a quad on 2 chips with the 2.66 will run faster (or so i heard) and you get an extra gig of ram more with it... the video card may be better too. Not to mention, i'm pretty sure they decided it was possible to add another processor/heatsink in there down the line as well in the single 2.8 if one chooses.

Either way, go with the second one from apple's website for sure... add harddrives and ram as needed

 

[brand]

i'm pretty sure they decided it was possible to add another processor/heatsink in there down the line as well in the single 2.8 if one chooses.

"they" does not sound real reliable. Just because someone decides something does not mean that it it can be done. Is there proof of anyone doing it yet?

 

[kpritcha13]

thanks!

Go with the second system. As well, while the HV20 is awesome (loving mine), for 15 minute podcasts you can get by with a MacBook Pro though. The reason I sold my MBP and got my MP is due to exporting hour or two long segments of HD (which it rocks at). But if you're going to go with one, get the more recent Mac Pro for that added boost of power.

Thanks for your help. Yes I know I could probably get by with the MBP but I've been wanting a desktop anyways that I could expand as I needed. I only have 120 gb of harddrive space on my MBP and most is used. I bring it everyday to work so its not viable to leave connected to an external drive and use it as a desktop replacement. I'm not sure either if these podcasts might expand into something more.

Does anyone know if these refurbished prices will go down in the summer? Also I am a student, will I get the free iPod deal with a refurbished model?