Why I'm not getting a Mac Pro
Now, I personally hate flamers, so I have to say: The Mac Pro, if it fits your requirements, is an excellent machine, and good value to boot. However, I'm surprised with a few things, which are enough to make me not get it as the future-proof home machine which I had hoped for.
1. No 2.33Ghz option - we all know that Intel makes them, and it would be a good value point.
2. Graphics no better than the iMac, unless you pay a very large amount for a top of the line option.
3. Airport and Bluetooth are BTO - no biggie, but a bit poor since every other much cheaper mac has it standard.
4. No Front Row and remote - yet again, a feature all other macs have, and I'd expect it to be available on the flagship, even if it isn't exactly for the core market.
5. Though the standard config is good, all options seem to be pretty steep.
So there I go: vent over. It's left me wishing either that I could build my own conroe box and get OSX for it, or I'm going to have to wait and hope that the iMac bump comes soon and is significant.
David
1. No 2.33Ghz option - we all know that Intel makes them, and it would be a good value point.
2. Graphics no better than the iMac, unless you pay a very large amount for a top of the line option.
3. Airport and Bluetooth are BTO - no biggie, but a bit poor since every other much cheaper mac has it standard.
4. No Front Row and remote - yet again, a feature all other macs have, and I'd expect it to be available on the flagship, even if it isn't exactly for the core market.
5. Though the standard config is good, all options seem to be pretty steep.
So there I go: vent over. It's left me wishing either that I could build my own conroe box and get OSX for it, or I'm going to have to wait and hope that the iMac bump comes soon and is significant.
David
Comments
I am not buying it just because Adobe is not universal and I have the Quad G5. I rather wait for the next generation machines and Adobe.
2. Lots of people don't need high end graphics cards in powermacs, actually. A lot of the processing I do (biosci) is very processor-intensive, and the graphics card doesn't even enter into the equation. I'm not a video editing guy, but I think the same hold true there as well. In any case, I'm still hoping that third party video cards will be more accessible than in times past.
3. Yeah, you'd think that Apple would just swallow the $80 for the BT and airport. Oh well. Ref. #1 on this point I suppose.
4. The Front Row is aimed squarely at the home user. The powermac is not something I'm going to have sitting with the rest of my AV equipment, nor will I be sitting with friends and showing off my picture collection with it. It's a workhorse beast.
5. You must be new to the "Apple BTO Way"
And considering you can probably (to be confirmed) upgrade your CPU...getting the 2.0 GHz Xeons and upgrading them to 3.0 GHz in a year when they're cheaper could be the best deal you'll ever get.
The Mac Pro is probably the best deal ever in the history of computers...and some people still manage to complain? That's sad.
And considering you can probably (to be confirmed) upgrade your CPU...getting the 2.0 GHz Xeons and upgrading them to 3.0 GHz in a year when they're cheaper could be the best deal you'll ever get.
Absolutely agree! Smokin deal on a smokin machine. You can downgrade the processor to four 2.0 ghz cores for $2199 and $1999 education pricing. Dell can't come anywhere close to competing with these prices.
Now, I personally hate flamers, so I have to say: The Mac Pro, if it fits your requirements, is an excellent machine, and good value to boot. However, I'm surprised with a few things, which are enough to make me not get it as the future-proof home machine which I had hoped for.
1. No 2.33Ghz option - we all know that Intel makes them, and it would be a good value point.
2. Graphics no better than the iMac, unless you pay a very large amount for a top of the line option.
3. Airport and Bluetooth are BTO - no biggie, but a bit poor since every other much cheaper mac has it standard.
4. No Front Row and remote - yet again, a feature all other macs have, and I'd expect it to be available on the flagship, even if it isn't exactly for the core market.
5. Though the standard config is good, all options seem to be pretty steep.
So there I go: vent over. It's left me wishing either that I could build my own conroe box and get OSX for it, or I'm going to have to wait and hope that the iMac bump comes soon and is significant.
David
Graphics -- that is just like the ram, if you need the better graphics buy the upgrade. I have a quad with 4 monitors, both graphics cards are the standard one. I don't need anything better. The alternative would be to include the better card and increase the price for everybody, even people like me who don't need it.
Some people don't need wireless technology built into a desktop. Notebook yes, desktop no. I have a logitech keyboard/mouse combo and that is the only wireless item. I have it wired into my network and a direct connection to my backup connection. Why would someone access their network wirelessly when they can do it over GigE? Bluetooth might be needed if you want to use keyboard/mightmouse, if you do, they buy it.
FrontRow -- Like someone said, it is going to be standard in Leopard. I bet the next line of Cinema displays will have IR sensors built it and come with a remote--that solves that problem. The MacPro is a pro machine, most people won't use front row on it. I have macmini in my kitchen and car, front row / mediacentral is great for those, but I would never use it in my office.
Just my 2 cents on your complaints. If anyone has ever run a forum or any conference with a lot of people, you won't be able to please everyone. There are always those people out there that won't be happy do no matter what you do
Otherwise, out of the park, IMO.
Steve, now that you've knocked the ball out of the park with the Mac Pro, show the iMac some love.
Front Row? I'm not even miffed about the BT/Airport. Workstation are connected to LANs usually.
4 Drive Bays nice.
2 Optical Drive Bays nice.
I have little to complain about.
Kinda wanted Front Row, but it's kind of gimmicky and I doubt I would have really used it.
You can use Front Row without a remote. Arrow keys to navigate, enter to confirm. esc to exit.
Front Row is going to be bundled with Leopard anyway...
What I'd like to know (and this is an issue completely separate from the Mac Pro) is why after all this time Apple's keyboard still has USB 1.1 ports instead of USB 2.0 ports. USB 2.0 is damn cheap these days, why not update? USB 1.1 would be fine for IR control, but still, the back of my keyboard is a much more convenient place for me to plug in my digital camera or my iPod than the front or back of my Mac, and for those things I definitely want USB 2.0 speed.
I have no complaints at all, I just wish they would release a box in between the iMac and Mac Pro.
I don’t need 4 drives 2 are fine. I would however use 2 optical drive which I do regularly. I run 3 20" Cinema Displays, so I need slots.
I really don’t need Xeon processors or 64Bit.
So buying the Mac Pro is way more than I will ever use and an iMac is not enough.
I will be ordering the base Mac Pro in 2 or 3 months it is just more than I wanted to spend for power I will never use.
Like I said I am not complaining I love these specs, I just don’t see how I will really get a true return on my investment that’s all.
Now, I personally hate flamers, so I have to say: The Mac Pro, if it fits your requirements, is an excellent machine, and good value to boot. However, I'm surprised with a few things, which are enough to make me not get it as the future-proof home machine which I had hoped for.
1. No 2.33Ghz option - we all know that Intel makes them, and it would be a good value point.
2. Graphics no better than the iMac, unless you pay a very large amount for a top of the line option.
3. Airport and Bluetooth are BTO - no biggie, but a bit poor since every other much cheaper mac has it standard.
4. No Front Row and remote - yet again, a feature all other macs have, and I'd expect it to be available on the flagship, even if it isn't exactly for the core market.
5. Though the standard config is good, all options seem to be pretty steep.
So there I go: vent over. It's left me wishing either that I could build my own conroe box and get OSX for it, or I'm going to have to wait and hope that the iMac bump comes soon and is significant.
David
Pros dont care about stuff like consumer gimmicks such as Front Row remotes and Airport.
Why have a beefy Mac with dual Gigabit NICs andonly to use consumer-oriented 10 Mb (802.11b) or 53 Mb (802.11g) Wi-Fi to copy 100 MB+ art files on your LAN? Notice that the MacBook doesnt have dual NICs? Why? Consumers dont care (or need it)
Just because a tower is called PRO doesnt mean it should have every feature that a consumer model has.
64 bit CPUs, lots of storage options, tons of RAM slots and lots of I/O is what matters to most pros who have deadlines and need power.
Hilarious.