buying computer

Re: Buying new computer
From: Michael Horton
To: jenvery
Date: 01/08/2008 12:28PM

Good question and you should post this on the Cafe. Basically I'd not get the top of the line (3.2) but you are best to hear more opinions. These machiines are expensive and what you get depends on what you do. And you want 4GBs of ram and dont buy the ram from Apple.





jenvery Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We are on a budget and want to buy a new computer
> this week and can't decide between 2.8 or 3.0 or
> 3.2 processor. We are limited in finance(three
> kids) and apple could not help us decide. We use
> G4 dual 1ghz processor now. Anything would be
> better but should I spend the extra 1600 to get
> the 3.2 Is 2 ram enough or should I buy more.
> Thanks

I'd go lower processor and more RAM. And don't buy Apple RAM or HDs - they're a rip off, especially considering they no longer use quality RAM (Hynix anyone??)

youre not going to see earth shattering differences from 2.8 to 3.2. differences? yes. just not dramatic.

if you were in a heavy duty production environment, the cost might be justifiable. but for a family/freelance situation. the 2.8 will be great. put that extra $1600 in a long term investment for the kids education and forget its there.

What they're saying. On those machines, 4GB of Ram is really a must for FCS2. That's a performance kick you will notice. A lot.

You definetly don't want a 3.2 with only 2GB's. And, you don't need more than 4GB Ram, because FCS still only runs with max 4GB. Some day that will change, maybe sooner than expected. Meantime, I'd bank the cash against future upgrades.

yes to above, but get more than 4 gigs of ram if you use "Motion", it makes a difference for me.
dual 2.7 ppc w 6 gigs of ram

kevin

I recommend purchasing a 3.0 dual-core with a x1900 graphics card and 4GB's of RAM.

IMHO the performance of the first 8 core's running Tiger were not worth the extra expense, non of the software was multi threaded in a way that took advantage of it. That might not be the case with an 8 core running leopard, but it doesn't appear that the FCS2 is not working all that well on OS 10.5.1.

We upgraded one FCP suite to Leopard and it there are several problems. All of the 2.66 and 3.0 woth x1900's are running very well.

I doubt the FCS is optimized to see the performance gains Apple is claiming for the 8 core's.

This is interesting for me cause I am a freelancer on a limited budget and have been told go lower on the processor go with 4-6 gigs ram and get the best video card and I will get more out of the machine. I still am having running debates over this method with some of my local mac buddies. I need the production for what I do just don't have the wallet for a huge computer.

6 gig is probably overkill, especially for what it costs. Up to 4 is plenty for most work. In fact right now I'm only running 2GB on my octocore and FCP, Motion and Color all run well.

We always say buy the best computer you can afford, but be realistic about what you need and what you can afford. Don't go into debt you can't quickly recover from to get a machine that you almost never use to its full capacity. Especially since it's all bells and whistles, really.

For one of my clients I still produce a broadcast TV show on a dual G4 with 768MB RAM, on OS 9, running FCP 2. Cuts and simple work only, but it gets out there and meets specs every time. If he was doing drama he might never need to upgrade, really.

I am also buying a new computer.

I know what I want (Mac Pro), but should I buy the Mac and FCS from the local Apple Store (San Fernando Valley) or from "somewhere else".

Jack

If you like paying full retail, sure. Otherwise buy online. Amazon usually has best prices. The lafcpug store has FCS2 for 1199. Apple Store is 1299. The new Macs arent availble yet other than Apple Store. Top End MacPro wont ship for 5 weeks or so.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Jack, the last three Mac Pros I've purchase from Mac Hollywood. They met or beat the best prices on all peripherals and software I could find. Its also the only way you can get the system loaded with Tiger, I believe Apple will only ship Leopard which I have found to be a bit quirky with FCS2.

I'd also recommend purchasing a 27" or 30" Dell monitor. Great monitors and you'll save hundreds.
The 30" is almost $800 less than the ACD.

Doesn't Apple fix the markup on Macs, so that the cost is very similar everywhere? I hear about cheap laptops on ebay and I wonder how it can be done legitimately.

If you find a too good to be true deal its usually the VAR taking a loss, at least with Apple products. Not sure if its legal to price fix a mark-up in US. I usually buy refurbished and AppleCare or buy from Amazon (Applecare is cheaper there too) to avoid sales tax. Never been burned.

Michael Horton
-------------------

I'm not sure I'd call it price fixing, but all VARs seem to sell the Mac's for about the same price. But the VAR's have more margin on the peripherals.

Whatecer the Mac's sell for is what they sell for. No doubt overpriced but what it is. The thing that annoyed me on my last purchase (Dec) was that if I purchased from Apple it had to be Leopard.

I'm not ready to upgrade.

That's interesting Mike, thanks. I need to top up my Applecare, so it might be a good place to start.