Lets say I was to hand everyone $4000 and said buy what ever you want! who would purchase the new mac pro?
I wouldn't! anyone else?
So what would you buy?
Sounds like there are many here with a need for this powerhouse workstation...I think a Quad is enough for me with a 24 LED.
You're not going to find those who are merely interested in iPods on this thread, so its a self-selected sample.
i would only buy the 8 core version. The quad core would be a downgrade for me no matter what Apple says on their website.
Unfortunately, the 8 core is now pretty much too expensive for me at this time.
This 4 vs 8 core is the dilemma for me as well. Either one would be an upgrade from what I have now (2003 G5 SP 1.8GHz), but I'm also looking for a machine that will go another 5+ years. And since it appears likely that GHz will matter more than cores for Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom, the cheaper machine has the potential to be faster ... BUT ... it will also be more RAM limited. Considering that I'm using 3GB in Photoshop now when playing with 8MP images, I can see it very easy to hit this 8GB wall when I upgun the camera to 21MP.
Already placed an order on one with the following specs:
Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core (would like faster but too expensive), ATI Radeon HD 4870, stock 640GB HD, Two 18x SuperDrives, AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card, IWORK '09 PREINSTALLED, keyboard with num pad, wired mighty mouse, and an iPod dock...it's a big upgrade.
I'm along the same lines, except I'd skip the second superdrive, WiFi and iWork. I made the effort and spent the time to wire up Ethernet in my house, and I always prefer to have my own install media.
If you were to hand me out $4000.00 I would probably sit on it for a month or two and think about what I needed most, guitar stuff or new Mac etc.
So a maybe maybe not.
That's the more realistic perspective for anyone: if a bucket of money falls in your lap, you'll look at your entire "Toy Wish List".
For example, my desire for a new Mac (which I'll probably end up with a Mac Pro anyway...its mostly just a matter of time) is on the list, but in no small part because of what I do with my Mac to support my photography.
Of course, with the photography bug thus on the list, new camera gear is always a factor. Here, I need to finally convert from film to digital for my last major system, which is my underwater Nikonos rig (see it
here) and the problem is that that's around a $4K expense if I go cheap, to roughly $8K if I upgrade to a Full-Frame dSLR.
-hh
