Hi all,

Well I am looking at again returning to the apple fold. I use to have a power mac dual G5 1.8. I sold this a while ago to a member here (sorry I forgot who, and I hope it is going well for you too) as I was moving around a lot and needed to use a PC at the time for development work I was doing.

Anyway I have missed the mac a lot and after having lots of dramas with the PC I have, I have decided it is he right time to go back to mac.

I am in 2 place in regards to which mac will be best for me. I was hoping for some help from the members here to make my descission.

I guess I should start by saying what I plan to do with the mac, well here it is:

• Web design and development work
• Design work
• Development work
• Photos
• Video editing

I have been looking at 2 options. These are:

1. Mac Pro
2. Imac 24""

Now With regards to my budget I am planning of around $4000.00 so the Mac pro only just squeezes into the budget.

I need it to last me for about 4 years if I can and feel that the Mac Pro might be better for that. I was looking at actually going with the 2.0ghz Xeons to save $499.00 and but that into memory and that. But I feel I might be better to go with the 2.66ghz and just use 1gig of Ram for now and upgrade the memory when I can. With Apples extended warranty can you get this with in the warranty period to allow you to extended it out to the 3yrs in total?

I should also mention I have a Dell 24" Display already so I will not need to get a ACD yet.

Now I was also think would I be better off getting a Imac and get it with the Graphics and Ram upgrade? Only issues I can see is getting 4 yrs out of it and also if I need to expand on resources like Ram or Hdd.

I guess the Mac Pro is looking a nice option but I would like to see your thoughs on the matter and also maybe point out anything that I might of missed.

Cheers...

P.S. Good to see that the site is going stronger then ever!

I have a 20" imac, and find it to be a wonderful machine. I think it would be easily powerful enough to handle the kinds of tasks you are doing. Obviously this would apply to the 24" too.

However, your requirement that it last for four years makes me think that a mac pro is probably the one you should go for. At least then you will have more options when it comes to extra drives, replacement drives, video cards, ram expansion and possibly even cpu upgrades. Though standards seem to change so often now, who can really say.

The iMac will tie you to the life of the LCD (which may well soldier on past 4 years, I don't know), and will also mean that you will need to go to an Apple service tech to upgrade or replace things like the harddisk or optical drive. Also the video card in the iMac is not upgradable.

I think the Mac Pro is probably overkill in terms of power for you, but the expandability and serviceability will add to its longevity.

Also, don't skimp on Ram. Get the 2GB. You don't have to buy it from Apple, so long as you buy decent quality ram with big heatsinks.

I am going to get more Ram for sure. I just have to look at my budget at present and what it will allow I guess. I can just afford to go for around $4000 but would not really like to spend over that initally as I am looking at getting more ram and maybe a monitor upgrade with in 6 - 12mnths. The Ram I might do straight up depending on cost.

Pray to God that Apple release a computer that sits between the iMac and MacPro range.
Personally, I'd go for the MacPro as the iMac is no go for me.

That's what I did.

Keep in mind that you can also swap the CPUs in 12 months (or whenever they're cheap) and upgrade to at least 2x quad 3ghz, which I think I'll be doing

You can buy Apple Care with the Mac Pro (or iMac) to give you 3 years total warranty (again, I did this).

Both the iMac and Mac Pro are great. I can't see you having any issues with either and what you're planning to do. Given that you already have the display, maybe you're better off with the Mac Pro?

jastormont,

Personally I would recommend you get a MacPro. The iMacs are great for your everyday work kind of stuff but in my opinion have serious limitations in regards to RAM, graphic card and hard drive expandability.

For design work I would say you need about 4 Gb of Ram to be comfortable and 6 Gb to really work without hickups.

For photos it really depends on your workflow... if you are shooting JPG or RAW and at what resolution you are shooting at. If it's mainly consumer level stuff in JPG an iMac would suffice. Any more than that and a Mac Pro will save you some grey hair

For editing in DV an 2 Gb of Ram are enough. For HDV or uncompressed editing try at least 4 Gb of Ram and as much processing power as you can afford. While you might be able to edit in realtime rendering out your final project is a different matter all together. This is where the MacPros fly in comparison.

In regards to the monitor I would stick with Dells if i'd be you. They essentially use the same LDC panel as Apple but a slightly different image processor. I use the Dells 24 inch extensively and find they have a slight more accurate color than the Apple screen. In the 30inch range both Apple and Dell seem to be identical. However, Dells are a lot cheaper (especially if you buy during a sale) and offer more i/o ports and adjustment options.

Lastly, wait 2 weeks before you buy! Apple will be upgrading both the MacPros and the iMac line with new mainboard architectures soon. On the iMac the improvements will probably be minor but on the MacPro side of things they will be going to DDR3 ram, PCI-express 2.0 and a different front side bus speed (as well as a number of other improvements). If this upgrade doesn't happen during the WWDC conference it will happen for the Leopard launch in October or possible in January during Mac World. I would wait until WWDC and buy just after that.

Also, Intel is revamping it's CPU architecture next year which should see some real performance gains. Don't expect this to appear in Mac Pros until June/ July '08... possibly later.

In any case using the machine for the next 4 years is fine as long as you don't upgrade any applications in the next 4 years. It's guaranteed that Adobe CS4 or what ever it will be called will be optimized for what ever is average hardware on the market then.

In my opinion if you use a computer to create an income you really need to upgrade every 2 1/2 to 3 years. The upgrade should include new desktop/ laptop as well as a complete upgrade of all application packages you are using.

Just my 5 cents.

Guys thank for all the fast and indepth replys. What a great lot of people we have here on this forum!

Well I think I have decided that the Mac Pro it will be. I am not looking at getting it for a month or so yet so will be fine for the WWDC in about 2 weeks time.

I am going to try and by through David Jones on there next 4 yrs intrest free plan with 1/3 deposit. This will be good for cash flow and I guess why I also said to try and get 4 yrs from it (I will probbly upgrade before this though).

One thing I did not really make clear in my first post was if you could get the Apple car for a Pro mac or what ever lets say 3 mnths after I purchase the mac.

I guess the big issue now is do I go with the 2.0ghz and save $499.00 or spend the extra and get (what will also probably be quicker to get) stand config of 2.66ghz. I guess this could be all diffrent in 2 weeks time though!

Once again thanks for all the replys.

Yes. You can buy AppleCare any time within the original 12 month warranty period.

have to agree if you want a computer that lasts, you need an upgradable computer so the mac pro is really your go. just a slight correction on a previous post. to edit uncompressed video one needs a more than a mac pro, you need a video capture card such as a cona card. uncompressed video can not be captured via firewire etc..

nicely spotted... but ofcourse to do uncompressed hd you also need a grunty hard drive raid and plenty of it. The capture card is the cheap option here.

Will be interesting to see how Apples new HD codec stands up in real world application.

...not sure I really agree with that 100%. I have 4gb here (previously 2gb on a G5) and it's rare for me to come close to maxing the 4gb. Right now I have 1.3gb free and 1.42gb inactive with 10 apps open (including Coda, CSS Edit, Photoshop, InDesign and Safari with 7 tabs). It's also been 14 days since my last restart.

When I use Logic Pro ram usage is even better.

Sure, 6gb is nice, but I doubt you'll use more than 4 for most tasks.

Maybe... maybe towards the very end of the 4 year cycle some of that would carry weight. A quick Mac Pro should be able to run the latest software easily for at least 3 years though. Keep in mind that OS X 10.4 is A LOT quicker than 10.2 and a bit quicker than 10.3. Newer doesn't always mean greedier. And even if it does, a Mac Pro should have enough head room to last quite a while.

I sold my G5 because it was too noisy, not because it was too slow!

what size graphics are you working with?

I regularly have to work with posters as big as 1.2x2.4m in size. At that size I find that once you start working with multiple layers minor things such as a quick safety save can take a long time to complete. I guess this wouldn't apply with smaller graphics. Hence my suggestion is 6 Gbyte... to have a bit of head room.

As I mentioned before if you make money with the box an extra $400 for a little ram can save you frustration later on.

try working with 16 megapixel raw files in Lightroom on a G5... I wouldn't call that zippy. Certainly doesn't make for a fast workflow. Much better on an Intel box with a decent amount of ram.

Ok had the opertunity to go to a Mac shop today and have a look and a think about all the if's and but's.

The Imac I feel (with 2 gig) would do everything I need right at the moment. Thing is I am starting to move into video and other media areas as well. I do not know if I will ever go pro in that area but I guess it is something to consider.

Now I am going to get this Apple through DJ's. I have decided to wait till they offer the next 4 yrs intrest free term with 1/3 deposit. Because of this I have worked out it will not cost me much more to go with a Mac pro over a well spec Imac 24".

Now since I have pritty well made up my mind that the Mac Pro is the way to go, it now comes down to the specs I wish to get for it.

I am not intrested in increasing Ram straight away as I plan to upgrade to 4 gig in the near future with ram from another retailer where I can save some $$$.

Now I am also considering getting the monitor as well prehaps depending on my saving's between now and when DJ's offer 4yrs intrest free. If I do not get it with the mac I will with in 6 mnths get a screen anyway. Question is if I was looking at running a dual display with my Dell 24"would you agree the 23"be the best option as it is also 1920x1200?

Also looking at the CPU side of things would I be better to go with 2.0ghz and save $500.00 or do you all feel that the 2.66Ghz are worth the extra $$$? The main attraction to the mac pro is having the buffer for memory growth plus 4xcpu's compared to the Imac. But if the Speed of the 2.66 is worth every penny I guess I will look into going with them.

Running dual screen I would try to get something that matches the size and model as much as possible.