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Ok so I really need a Mac Pro

P

peejack

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 7, 2007
700
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I need a Mac Pro asap to get on with some projects. I could wait for the new one but if it doesn't arrive in March then it may be a few more months and just go on and on.

If I buy the standard 8 core shortly for just under £1500 with full applecare and the new one comes out in a few months I wouldn't lose much on it would i? and would I even need the new one? Im mainly running it for music with Logic Pro.

I knoe the best thing is always to wait but it could just go on for ever and ever.

Advice?

Cheers
 
The right thing is not to wait. Buy what you need for right now.
Otherwise you will end up waiting for the rest of your life, for the next best thing.
 
Trip.Tucker said:
The right thing is not to wait. Buy what you need for right now.
Otherwise you will end up waiting for the rest of your life, for the next best thing.
Click to expand...

Yeh your right, it's just it's so close, but then again no one really knows that. I don't want to go for the next few months (however many it is) not being productive.
 
mac pro's, and macs in general, have really high resale value. if you buy now and sell it to get a new one, you probably won't end up losing too much money.
 
bozz2006 said:
mac pro's, and macs in general, have really high resale value. if you buy now and sell it to get a new one, you probably won't end up losing too much money.
Click to expand...

Bingo. Also, here's a good idea:

Buy now.

In June or thereabouts, the Gainestown Mac Pro will be out. Wait about a month after that and Snow Leopard will be out.

Buy Snow Leopard, install it on your current Mac Pro, and then sell it for Gainestown.

You'll get more money for having Snow Leopard on there. I guarantee it.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Bingo. Also, here's a good idea:

Buy now.

In June or thereabouts, the Gainestown Mac Pro will be out. Wait about a month after that and Snow Leopard will be out.

Buy Snow Leopard, install it on your current Mac Pro, and then sell it for Gainestown.

You'll get more money for having Snow Leopard on there. I guarantee it.
Click to expand...

Very good idea. I will also have applecare too so that will keep the price too I think I will do that :)
 
you can also look out for refurb mac pro at a lower price. get applecare for that too
 
I was also in this predicament and weighed heavily about buying or waiting. I also had projects to get done so waiting was going to be very difficult. I went ahead and got my Quad Core 2.8 GHz system three weeks ago with an extra 8 GB of RAM and I'm thrilled (a very big understatement) to have my Mac now. With Snow Leopard on the horizon, if the rumors are correct about speed gains, my Mac Pro will even be speedier by 10-15% when finally upgraded to the new version of the OS.
 
In the same boat

I have needed a Mac Pro for several months, I was about to buy one and then found this site, I have been waiting, reading, waiting, hoping.. I hate to buy something that going to be outdated in a few months. If it will come out in March I can wait if June or September- I just can't wait that long. OK so all those looking at this thread, what do you think, March, June later??
 
carolhayes said:
I have needed a Mac Pro for several months, I was about to buy one and then found this site, I have been waiting, reading, waiting, hoping.. I hate to buy something that going to be outdated in a few months. If it will come out in March I can wait if June or September- I just can't wait that long. OK so all those looking at this thread, what do you think, March, June later??
Click to expand...

June. Any later would be imbecilic.
 
Get it now. The true power of this Mac Pro, or even computers today, haven't reached their peak yet. The reason for this is because most software isn't 64-bit yet, and even OS X isn't completely 64-bit yet. Snow Leopard will change this (64-bit kernel), and I'm sure most software developers are moving to the 64-bit bandwagon for the next year. Plus, most software isn't multi-threaded either. Really, the Mac Pro is overkill for most tasks!

Once the software catches up with the hardware, then will you see the true power of these machines. So get it now! I've had my Mac Pro for over a year now, and I've not regretted the decision I made getting it. :D
 
Tallest Skil said:
Bingo. Also, here's a good idea:

Buy now.

In June or thereabouts, the Gainestown Mac Pro will be out. Wait about a month after that and Snow Leopard will be out.

Buy Snow Leopard, install it on your current Mac Pro, and then sell it for Gainestown.

You'll get more money for having Snow Leopard on there. I guarantee it.
Click to expand...

Will he? On the conservative side, let's say the machine drops $300 in price. Add a $129 copy of SL. I don't think he'd be able to make that $129 back.
 
Any chances on March?

Though that sounds like a good idea, I hate to deal with selling. Plus I would think prices on the 2.8 will drop a little. I am an educator and I think I only get the discount once a year.
 
carolhayes said:
Your post (everything we know about the mac pro) was so helpful- I really value your opinion. You think closer to June- would you wait if it was you?
Click to expand...

As with everyone, it depends on what you need.

I can wait (I don't even know if the money I had saved for it can go to one, though), but some people can't.

Will you lose money in your work if you do not buy now? If so, buy now and don't look back. You can sell when the new one comes out if you feel like it, but as I said before, put Snow Leopard on it before you sell it.

If you won't lose money by waiting, go ahead and wait.
 
I won't loose money by waiting til March. BUT I have a lot of work and my computer is so slow. I will be tortured to wait until june. I have 3 weddings in may and my computer doesn't have the processor or the space to handle the batch editing.

It sounds like you are holding out..
 
Well I ordered one. :)

I think this is the best thing I could of done. Ill wait for SL and the new Mac Pro, that will also give me a few months incase there are any problems with the new one. Then if I see the advantages ill buy a new one and sell if not ill already be set :)

I also brought a 27" Monitor wooohooo :)
 
If you need it now, buy it now. I know the OP has already bought one, but to Carol Hayes. I have one that is now a year old - the base 8 core version - and I don't think I've ever really pushed hard yet. I do Photoshop work, on files that can get bigger than 2Gb on occasion.

You will be happy with it. It flies. And if you do bog it down, then there is lots of power left for you to open another application and do some more work. That was the big workflow lesson for me - I could now do serious multi-tasking. Put Snow Leopard on when it comes out (after the first few updates) and I think we'll see a speed bump. Add RAM as you need it - you will see more benefit there than a "faster" system. Put a couple of fast 7200rpm HDDs as needed. If you do Photoshop work (your comments about weddings allow that assumption) then understand how scratch disks work. You will see a huge improvement in speed if you haven't optimized that yet (I know I did).

With Snow Leopard coming, and then the incremental speed bumps as more applications get better at multithreading, I think we'll see the Mac Pros get faster each year, incrementally. I'm planning on keeping this system for at least 4 or 5 years - I'm hoping for about 7.

Shop the Refurb store..... good deals come up every-once-in-awhile.
 
snberk103 said:
If you need it now, buy it now. I know the OP has already bought one, but to Carol Hayes. I have one that is now a year old - the base 8 core version - and I don't think I've ever really pushed hard yet. I do Photoshop work, on files that can get bigger than 2Gb on occasion.

You will be happy with it. It flies. And if you do bog it down, then there is lots of power left for you to open another application and do some more work. That was the big workflow lesson for me - I could now do serious multi-tasking. Put Snow Leopard on when it comes out (after the first few updates) and I think we'll see a speed bump. Add RAM as you need it - you will see more benefit there than a "faster" system. Put a couple of fast 7200rpm HDDs as needed. If you do Photoshop work (your comments about weddings allow that assumption) then understand how scratch disks work. You will see a huge improvement in speed if you haven't optimized that yet (I know I did).

With Snow Leopard coming, and then the incremental speed bumps as more applications get better at multithreading, I think we'll see the Mac Pros get faster each year, incrementally. I'm planning on keeping this system for at least 4 or 5 years - I'm hoping for about 7.

Shop the Refurb store..... good deals come up every-once-in-awhile.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this post- I have spent the last hour looking up info about scratch disks. In your opinion should I just get the base model and them upgrade by adding hard drives and ram aftermarket? I did not get apple care on my last machine 6 years ago and I never needed it. I plan on buying a display at the same time but I cannot decide between the 2 20 inch or one 30 inch and the guy at the mac store said that it is 100% necessary to get the apple care with the apple displays any opinions before I drain my savings
 
get the base model. add 3rd party hard drives and RAM. I would get the 2x20" displays, if it were me. 30" displays seem way too big unless you can sit really far away from them.

if you want to purchase the apple displays and have the applecare for the mac pro apply to it, they must be purchased at the same time. i think that might be what the apple employee was saying. in my opinion, you can get better displays for less money. right now the apple displays are way outdated and overpriced. so if saving money is important to you, i'd check out other monitors.
 
I really don't, to be honest. It depends on how color-accurate you need your displays to be. their are lots of folks on this forum that can point you in the right direction. just search for "display recommendations", "display suggestions", etc.
 
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