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Mac pro-vs-macbook pro

N

new-Mac-owner

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 29, 2008
130
0
For a couple months I have been waiting for my pc desktop to Die YAAAA.. and it did.....I heard reports of a macbook pro update but I HAVE a mbp. Now should I buy a stock Macbook pro in june or buy a new mac pro stock now any big updates for either that would effect buying one.-Thanks

1. What would you buy?:apple:
 
If you already have a MBP, get a Mac Pro!

1) Get a stock 2.8.. possibly update to a 8800GT graphics card
2) Buy 3rd party RAM and HDD's
3) Be happy like me :)
 
Get the mac pro, you will never look back! Its so freakishly fast, even the 2.66ghz 4 core is freakin fast.
 
It really comes down to what you do and what do you need. I thought about getting a Mac Pro, just got a nice new job so I could have afforded it, but I realized I did not need that much, I had a Power Mac G4, but for what I was doing which was using it as a DVR with EyeTV 3, it was getting wayyyy to slow for editing out commericals.

So I got a used Power Mac G5 Dual 1.8 Ghz, the model with 8 ram slots, not the more common 4 slot one, for 600 bucks. *Side Note* Interesting enough right after I got my Power Mac G5, I found a program that could mark commericals in EyeTV3 automatically! *End Side Note* That Power Mac does everything I want and more. Yeah it is older equipment, and that model you can only put 2 hard drives in unless you get something like the Sonnet Jive, but coming from a video perspective, I love my Power Mac G5, I can be recording a tv show, marking commericals in a recording, encoding an edited video AND watching a finished video in iTunes all at the same time without skipping a beat. The only thing I did was add 2gb of ram so now I have 2.5gb total, and a 500gb Seagate SATA hard drive. I spent about 770 bucks and this computer can do everything I want.

Now compare that to the Mac Pro. If I bought one the cheapest I could right now it would cost 2299.00. I am not saying its a bad computer or anything. My Dad bought one last year! HAHAHA it was so funny, he went from a Power Mac Dual G4 450Mhz to a 2x Dual Core Xeon Processor Mac Pro. It was so funny, my dad said "I can't go make a pot of coffee anymore waiting for photoshop to open . . . " that one still cracks me up.

Anyways, I degress, if you have the money and the need for the Mac Pro, then get it, however if a good used Power Mac G5 will do what you want it to get a used Power Mac G5 instead. Same thing goes for the MacBook Pro, see if you get a deal on eBay or something instead of buying on brand new.

As a general rule, I never buy a computer brand new, I did twice, but hey I don't think I will do it again, I could have saided money if I had waited a few months and gotten on used.

Even with all that said, it really comes down to personal preference. My Dad spent big bucks on a Mac Pro to upgrade from his Power Mac Dual G4 450Mhz which he desperately needed being an Profressional Photographer. I tried to get him a used Power Mac G5, like the Dual 2.7Ghz, but he just refused to buy a used Mac.

Thats my two cents . . . well alot of two cents!

-iGrant
 
iGrant said:
It really comes down to what you do and what do you need. I thought about getting a Mac Pro, just got a nice new job so I could have afforded it, but I realized I did not need that much, I had a Power Mac G4, but for what I was doing which was using it as a DVR with EyeTV 3, it was getting wayyyy to slow for editing out commericals.

So I got a used Power Mac G5 Dual 1.8 Ghz, the model with 8 ram slots, not the more common 4 slot one, for 600 bucks. *Side Note* Interesting enough right after I got my Power Mac G5, I found a program that could mark commericals in EyeTV3 automatically! *End Side Note* That Power Mac does everything I want and more. Yeah it is older equipment, and that model you can only put 2 hard drives in unless you get something like the Sonnet Jive, but coming from a video perspective, I love my Power Mac G5, I can be recording a tv show, marking commericals in a recording, encoding an edited video AND watching a finished video in iTunes all at the same time without skipping a beat. The only thing I did was add 2gb of ram so now I have 2.5gb total, and a 500gb Seagate SATA hard drive. I spent about 770 bucks and this computer can do everything I want.

Now compare that to the Mac Pro. If I bought one the cheapest I could right now it would cost 2299.00. I am not saying its a bad computer or anything. My Dad bought one last year! HAHAHA it was so funny, he went from a Power Mac Dual G4 450Mhz to a 2x Dual Core Xeon Processor Mac Pro. It was so funny, my dad said "I can't go make a pot of coffee anymore waiting for photoshop to open . . . " that one still cracks me up.

Anyways, I degress, if you have the money and the need for the Mac Pro, then get it, however if a good used Power Mac G5 will do what you want it to get a used Power Mac G5 instead. Same thing goes for the MacBook Pro, see if you get a deal on eBay or something instead of buying on brand new.

As a general rule, I never buy a computer brand new, I did twice, but hey I don't think I will do it again, I could have saided money if I had waited a few months and gotten on used.

Even with all that said, it really comes down to personal preference. My Dad spent big bucks on a Mac Pro to upgrade from his Power Mac Dual G4 450Mhz which he desperately needed being an Profressional Photographer. I tried to get him a used Power Mac G5, like the Dual 2.7Ghz, but he just refused to buy a used Mac.

Thats my two cents . . . well alot of two cents!

-iGrant
Click to expand...

I agree with your dad, I like new macs =D And if you think about it the newer macs will last alot longer in the long run than the older mac that was cheaper. Older macs could last long but I'm scared of the logic board failure that occurs alot on the g4/g5's that I've seen after 5+ years, not to mention the liquid cooling leak problems on the g5's as well.

So basically to me your father's mac pro will last another 8-10 years and by then I'm sure his pot of coffee will be done before the CS8 is done loading, unless coffee makers in the future will brew coffee alot faster. :D
 
jjahshik32 said:
I agree with your dad, I like new macs =D And if you think about it the newer macs will last alot longer in the long run than the older mac that was cheaper. Older macs could last long but I'm scared of the logic board failure that occurs alot on the g4/g5's that I've seen after 5+ years, not to mention the liquid cooling leak problems on the g5's as well.

So basically to me your father's mac pro will last another 8-10 years and by then I'm sure his pot of coffee will be done before the CS8 is done loading, unless coffee makers in the future will brew coffee alot faster. :D
Click to expand...

Hey thats fine, I understand that perspective also. I also did not mention that I have been building/modifying pcs/macs for about 8 years now. If something breaks in mine computer, it is not that difficult for me to fix, where as for my dad, it would be a little more challenging. I guess another part of it is I like finding a Mac that can do what I want for a really good price . . . I don't know I just have always loved older hardware, there something special about it to me! Great example, my Power Mac G4 Cube, that computer is now completely out of date, but is my favorite machine to use. I like using that machine more than my Power Mac G5 or my Rev A MacBook Core Duo. So who knows!

-iGrant
 
iGrant said:
Hey thats fine, I understand that perspective also. I also did not mention that I have been building/modifying pcs/macs for about 8 years now. If something breaks in mine computer, it is not that difficult for me to fix, where as for my dad, it would be a little more challenging. I guess another part of it is I like finding a Mac that can do what I want for a really good price . . . I don't know I just have always loved older hardware, there something special about it to me! Great example, my Power Mac G4 Cube, that computer is now completely out of date, but is my favorite machine to use. I like using that machine more than my Power Mac G5 or my Rev A MacBook Core Duo. So who knows!

-iGrant
Click to expand...

I like old hardware as well, I love the powerbook 17" last gen 1.67ghz, just something about its build quality seems superior than today's mbp, I dont know why either. But like I said I do prefer newer since its intel and intels are miles ahead of the already aged g4/g5 even at its prime.

Anyway, that's cool that your trying to save money and I'm sure the g5 you bought will keep on ticking for another several years, as I do know alot of people who still have g3/g4's for 9+ years and still working fine. But if the g5's logic board dies, you can probably find places/ebay that sells the logic board for $400-600 and just do it yourself kind of thing.

But I guess as for your dad I'm sure he bought applecare so he should be good for another 3-4 years. And I do notice that components as to 4-5 years ago these days have better quality/efficiency and much better and lasts several years longer, pretty much buying warranty on electronics these days are a bit of a rip off. That also applies to hdtv's, computers, stereo equipment, monitors, etc...
 
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