Unboxed: 2009 MP 2.66 dual quad

[the dubshow]

First MP, First Post, Long time reader.

Super impressed with the new MP. Coming from a Late 2006 MBP, that was really taxed, this is a HUGE leap. Got an good price using my ADC membership too! Also got a 23" Samsung 2343 to replace my 20" Acer I used as dual on the MBP. That Acer's color was wack. I just didn't cut it for print and graphic work! I haven't had enough time to fully use all the power of the MP, mainly using Photoshop, Illustrator, CAD, rendering programs. Love the 16 cores!

The Specs:

Two 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xe
8GB (4X2GB)
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
640GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/
One 18x SuperDrive
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card
Apple Display DVI Adapter
Apple Mighty Mouse
APPLE KB (NUM)& USER GD
Country Kit Mac Pro

The Bench:

I havent used Cinebench yet, just Geekbench. I find xbench random so havent redownloaded it.

16366

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/126663

I also got 2x 640gb WD drives to run raid0, just no physical time right now with tons of work to do on the new MP!

The Pics:

Also made the switch to a trackball. My wrist/arm started locking up over the week during a 4 day all-nighter [graduating architecture student]. We shall see how that goes.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Very cool, man! Enjoy your new machine.

 

[cmaier]

If you don't like the trackball, you might find a wacom comfortable. I had a similar problem and switched to pen for a few years - just rotating my wrist made a big difference.

 

[jons]

If you don't like the trackball, you might find a wacom comfortable. I had a similar problem and switched to pen for a few years - just rotating my wrist made a big difference.

Same here. I hate mice, and a Wacom solved many of my wrist problems.

 

[Boneoh]

Cool stuff! Congrats on the new machine

 

[the dubshow]

If you don't like the trackball, you might find a wacom comfortable. I had a similar problem and switched to pen for a few years - just rotating my wrist made a big difference.

I ALMOST went ahead and ordered the pen/pad for the graphics work. The best value for a basic pad I found was about $70. Any model recommendations? I do lots of architectural drawing, cad based, and photoshoping/rendering. I made it through my first day on all track ball but no finite brushing yet. My hand still isn't super steady. Here is some stuff I'm trying to get out before Tuesday.

 

[cmaier]

I ALMOST went ahead and ordered the pen/pad for the graphics work. The best value for a basic pad I found was about $70. Any model recommendations? I do lots of architectural drawing, cad based, and photoshoping/rendering. I made it through my first day on all track ball but no finite brushing yet. My hand still isn't super steady. Here is some stuff I'm trying to get out before Tuesday.

Oh, for the stuff you're doing you should definitely go for a tablet. I haven't kept track of the latest stuff from Wacom, but I think you can't go wrong sticking with that brand (though they aren't the cheapest by any means). I recommend figuring out what size you want, and going from there. The bigger, the more precise. Wacom is also pressure sensitive, and you can flip the pen and use the "eraser" for alternate tools, etc.

And after about a day or two, you wonder why you dealt with a mouse for so long. The cursor jumps immediately to where you want it to go.

 

[HotPink]

Congratulations!!! Very nice.

 

[the dubshow]

Do work.

 

[osin]

why do you keep those laptops next to you? Mac Pro should multithread...

check out new Wacom Intuos4 tablet http://www.wacom.com/intuos/. Very nice design and innovative. They were just introduced couple weeks ago which means that previous version should be sold cheaper now. Checkout some academic online stores where you can get a student discount