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OMG! She got me a Mac Pro! What to do?
- Thread starter netdog
- Start date
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don't turn it in. I believe she spend her time researching the mac if she is not a mac girl. If u turn it in and well that's probably going to make her feel stupid and feel like she wasted her
time. Be careful with that. Sweeet present btw!
I would seriously worry if someone who I am not already married to (or at least someone who I wasn't absolutely sure I wanted to marry) gave me a gift like this.
OP should ask himself: do I want to marry this girl? If the answer is no, then he should return the computer (but not to the Apple store, to her).
We have no clue as to the financial position of the OP and his girlfriend. While unlikely, it's possible they're both millionaires and the Mac Pro's monetary value is insignificant.
I would keep the thing, the January update will not be a dramatic change to the Mac Pro. The only real gripe are the video cards and you can swap that out when Apple gets their GPU act together.
it's an amazing gift. if you're really crazy about having the best all the time, then keep it in the box, and wait to see if there's something new. do not listen to the famous music producer, because if you want a mac pro, you can have one. congrats. enjoy it.
I have to agree with this.
My husband didn't buy me anything. I bought myself my gifts then said he could wrap them and say they were his own, hoping that I would get something as a surprise on the day. didn't get anything from him though. I would of died if he would of even considered this or anything like this for me. Enjoy it.
WTF Dude.
His Mac Pro is basically the same specs you can buy now. 2x 2.66Ghz Dual Core Xeons with an X1900 XT card... Yes it may be 'old', but you can still buy his machine today brand new from the Apple store.
My Opinion(tm): Keep it. I have a Rev A Mac Pro that I am not selling anytime soon. It still runs circles around the machines provided at work, and will continue to do so for another year or two. When that happens, hopefully the Clovertown procs will have dropped to low enough pricing that a couple of those will perk it right back up, maybe a GPU upgrade if I still game on it, etc. You can make these suckers last nearly 8 years without replacing it wholesale. Enjoy it.
I would seriously worry if someone who I am not already married to (or at least someone who I wasn't absolutely sure I wanted to marry) gave me a gift like this.
OP should ask himself: do I want to marry this girl? If the answer is no, then he should return the computer (but not to the Apple store, to her).
Good Point.
Next Mac Pro Will Be A Lot More Powerful Than Today's Model
I didn't read the thread creator's first post. But I agree with Network 23's advice that returning the gift for a refund then adding your own money to buy the new one January 15th and making sure your girlfriend knows that you still consider the new one as her gift to you, she should have enough self esteeme to not be offended at all.
I think you are mistaken.
- 8 cores - Dual Harpertown Penryn - vs 4 cores Dual Woodcrest Merom
- Staokley-Seaburg chipset on the logicboard
- the new multimedia instruction set 10.5.2 will support
- way better video cards
- faster FSB - 1600MHz vs 1333MHz
- faster RAM - 800MHz vs 667MHz
I didn't read the thread creator's first post. But I agree with Network 23's advice that returning the gift for a refund then adding your own money to buy the new one January 15th and making sure your girlfriend knows that you still consider the new one as her gift to you, she should have enough self esteeme to not be offended at all.
I think you can return it for a refund set aside to buy the new one January 15th without it being a problem for her at all. Just make sure you lavish all the gratitude you can on her continually for her extreme thoughtfulness. Next time she'll know to buy you an Apple Gift Card for Christmas. Make sure you tell her about January MacWorld being a reason not to buy new Macs on Christmas - ever, also telling her how much you appreciate her extremely thoughtful gift.
When she gets home, I tend to log out and shut it down.
Niiiice.
So your girlfriend is Mac literate and is fully aware that an update is forthcoming?
You know her best - if you really know that she won't be even slightly taken aback, then go for it. But if there is an ounce of doubt - don't.
That's the best I can do. The rest is up to you. Good luck!
irmongoose
But in Graphic Design when you do something, you need it to happen immediately. When there are wait times it reduces creative ability and incentive while increasing the time passed toward deadline. I'd say about 90% of my vector-based print projects lag on my Mac Pro with 8GB of RAM.
Crazyness. And I thought things would be so much better after CS3...
There should be a reading comprehension / verification test before the reply button becomes accessible.
This is a good idea! Maybe even built into the power-on button of every computer?
....and some, all, or none of what you posted above may come true, as it is pure conjecture and speculation, none of which will be confirmed until it gets announced by Apple.
netdog, one in the hand is worth two i the bush any day of the week, in addition to not taken a chance on scorning the giver.
Names and numbers... NO specs, NO benchmarks, NO software optimized for it. So no real world, just hyperventilating on these boards, equals not dramatic/unknown, if your a jerk, give it back. That machine will do everything you need.
I would ABSOLUTELY return it and get the new one when available. I got a $2499(!!) 500MHz G4 "Sawtooth" as a Christmas gift in January '01, just before they updated the model line...my friend bought around the same time and got the dual 500MHz. I was completely Mac ignorant at the time, but knowing that my friend got the latest revision while I had gotten the "old" version....it took me a long time to get over that, considering the money that was spent, even though it was a gift.
In fact, as of right now I'm waiting for the new Mac Pro to replace that trusty - and heavily upgraded - G4. Won't make that same mistake again!
Should also point out that the $2499 spent on that G4 was quite possibly the best $2500 that anyone has ever spent on me, or on myself. The amount of creativity I was able to harness using that machine...and continue to do...is immeasurable. Changed my life.
In fact, as of right now I'm waiting for the new Mac Pro to replace that trusty - and heavily upgraded - G4. Won't make that same mistake again!
Should also point out that the $2499 spent on that G4 was quite possibly the best $2500 that anyone has ever spent on me, or on myself. The amount of creativity I was able to harness using that machine...and continue to do...is immeasurable. Changed my life.
Today's ( 12/26/07 ) Adam@Home comic strip sums the situation up nicely ( roles reversed ).
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ad/2007/ad071226.gif
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ad/2007/ad071226.gif
Most of the posters have missed the point of the question. He wants to know if waiting for the MacPro revision would be worth it... not whether his girlfriend would be mad or not about him doing the trade in. I think I have the answer to both.
First off, we are on the end of the cycle for the latest MacPro. If we were a few months out to Apples annual event, I'd say keep the machine. However, since we are close to Macworld, I think it's worth waiting a few weeks to see what Steve has to say. You will know what to do once he walks off the stage. But... do you need 8 cores or any of the newest technology that may (or may not be offered)? That depends on how you work and how long you want your machine to be current. If you have a tendency to work in several applications at once and you see your needs expanding over the next few years, then you definitely want the best money can buy. 8 cores is not going to be that much faster (per application), just more efficient handling multiple tasks at the same time. The real benefits are in applications that utilize multi-cores (such as 3d and some video products; expect future version of FinalCut Studio to use all cores for rendering). However, if most of your work is pushing around 72dpi pixels, surfing the web, or doing the occasional iMovie edit, then the current MacPro is more computer than you need... unless your needs expand later. There is no guarantee that Apple will release anything better than what is currently offered, but it has been a long time since a major revision and it's highly likely that is going to happen very soon. Personally, I can't see them going until summer with the current technology. I actually think that the long period of of no major revisions is due to a pending redesign... but that's just my personal opinion.
As for the girlfriend... sounds like you have a great relationship, so the "problem" of returning your machine can be solved by open communication. Since she knows that an update might be pending, you should just ask her opinion about what to do. Make her part of the decision so that she won't hold it against you later. If you get that she is reluctant (watch for the not so subtle eye roll), then you keep the machine. However, if you enlist her into the problem by simply asking, "what should we do to protect the investment?," you might find that she will recommend waiting. If she loves you enough to buy such a great computer, surely she will want you to have the BEST?! If you keep the computer because you are afraid of offending her... how do you think she is going to feel IF Apple releases a brand new redesign that is faster than the one she bought? Since she stays on top of Apple product news, my guess is that she is going to feel stupid for buying an end-of-life cycle product. True, there is no guarantee that a better, faster machine is going to be released... but this close to Macworld is a bad time to be spending that much money. It's not greedy to want a better machine... it's just darn good practical sense.
First off, we are on the end of the cycle for the latest MacPro. If we were a few months out to Apples annual event, I'd say keep the machine. However, since we are close to Macworld, I think it's worth waiting a few weeks to see what Steve has to say. You will know what to do once he walks off the stage. But... do you need 8 cores or any of the newest technology that may (or may not be offered)? That depends on how you work and how long you want your machine to be current. If you have a tendency to work in several applications at once and you see your needs expanding over the next few years, then you definitely want the best money can buy. 8 cores is not going to be that much faster (per application), just more efficient handling multiple tasks at the same time. The real benefits are in applications that utilize multi-cores (such as 3d and some video products; expect future version of FinalCut Studio to use all cores for rendering). However, if most of your work is pushing around 72dpi pixels, surfing the web, or doing the occasional iMovie edit, then the current MacPro is more computer than you need... unless your needs expand later. There is no guarantee that Apple will release anything better than what is currently offered, but it has been a long time since a major revision and it's highly likely that is going to happen very soon. Personally, I can't see them going until summer with the current technology. I actually think that the long period of of no major revisions is due to a pending redesign... but that's just my personal opinion.
As for the girlfriend... sounds like you have a great relationship, so the "problem" of returning your machine can be solved by open communication. Since she knows that an update might be pending, you should just ask her opinion about what to do. Make her part of the decision so that she won't hold it against you later. If you get that she is reluctant (watch for the not so subtle eye roll), then you keep the machine. However, if you enlist her into the problem by simply asking, "what should we do to protect the investment?," you might find that she will recommend waiting. If she loves you enough to buy such a great computer, surely she will want you to have the BEST?! If you keep the computer because you are afraid of offending her... how do you think she is going to feel IF Apple releases a brand new redesign that is faster than the one she bought? Since she stays on top of Apple product news, my guess is that she is going to feel stupid for buying an end-of-life cycle product. True, there is no guarantee that a better, faster machine is going to be released... but this close to Macworld is a bad time to be spending that much money. It's not greedy to want a better machine... it's just darn good practical sense.
Isn't one of the paradoxes the partner is being portrayed as being on top of Apple product news vs. possibly not knowing the current position of the Mac Pro's product cycle? ... Emotional responses might not follow strict logic also.