Apple Mac Pro Desktop (Two 3.0 GHz Quad Core Intel Xeon Processors, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, 16x SuperDrive)

The Appleheads are right: This is a great machine with a nice operating system. The Apple OS, though flawed, is better than MS, especially Vista.

The Appleheads are wrong: It is probably not worth double the price of a comparable PC. There are almost as many weird crashes & oddball things that don't work as with XP. One reason I got it was Vista is getting such a bad rap & XP will not be supported forever.

My bottom line: If prices were roughly equivalent (or if money is no object 4 you), I would recommend the Apple over the PC. As it is I am not so sure. I think Appleheads overstate the advantages. For the most part the advantages & disadvantages cancel each other, in my view, with a slight edge 2 Apple. Hopefully MS will get it together with Windows 7.

It would have been nice if Apple had licensed its operating system 2 other vendors. Their hardware is good, but not always the best out there. Most of their parts come from the same place as the PC parts. Some of their design concepts are useful & superior, others are just "look cool" nonsense. If other computer manufacturers could offer the Apple OS the competition would leave us all be better off.

I've decided 2 retire my second generation G4 (8.5 years old) as it has served its purpose. Never complaining or crashing unlike WinTurd machines I've used at work & home. But video wasn't great in a web browser & I couldn't upgrade 2 the latest OS or use the latest Adobe suite.

The new Mac arrived & in a few minutes I slapped in another 8 gigs of ram (4 x 2) & two 1TB drives. This machine SMOKES faster than anything I've ever used. Photoshop CS3 opens in like 2 seconds. I could start up & shut down 5 times before my Winturd machine will fully boot.

And what people say about silence is true. When you walk into a room there's virtually no sound, it's whisper silent. Of course when you use a DVD you can hear the drive spinning the disc.

This Mac ROCKS, just buy it.

I know how you always here how apple products are much more expensive then a like minded pc. well, when it comes 2 workstations, it just isn't true. If you look at the competition (dell) & look at a similarly specced Precision, the price of the dell is higher. Plus, with Apple, you get the option of running other OS as well as OS X. I run os x, windows xp, vista business, & ubuntu on my macbook pro & i couldn't ask 4 more flexiblity from a laptop that most people who aren't familiar with the real Apple experience would just say is some type of trend or status symbol.
There is no doubt this is the real deal when it comes 2 workstation use.
The only things about the Mac Pro i can find 2 criticize are the lack of a higher level video card in the stock machine. You can get it configured with an 8800gt from apple but the nvidia card just can't match the core performance. ATI now offers the hd3870 which is a big step above the 2600xt & a nice performer in os x & windows . i wish apple would have specced the HD a little higher, but the price you are paying 4 this machine is 4 the two cpus, the motherboard with a little profit 4 apple. If you are looking 4 a workhorse, this is it. Of all the pcs i have ever built 4 gaming, work, & everything else, i am much more happier with the Mac Pro. If you get this, i would highly recommend bumping the ram up 2 at least 8gb, the kits are fairly cheap these days, & you get 4x2gb sticks 2 give you the full output performance of the memory system (2 sticks just doesn't cut it).
oh, the only other thing is don't strain your back picking the box up, it's amazingly heavy 4 a computer.

I'm not going 2 tell you how wonderful this Mac is. If you've been around Macs 4 any length of time, you already know there will be no disappointment if you choose this model.

Instead, I want 2 address those who wonder if the Mac Pro is overkill. Listen, if you make your living on the Mac (or if you simply want the best) this machine is a terrific value. It is an engineering marvel, especially from the user's point of view. It is highly self-serviceable thanks 2 the designers at Apple. If you want 2 add RAM (cheap right now), a second optical drive, an expansion card, or an internal hard drive or three, its a snap. Oh yeah, & it's very fast & practically noiseless.

Each time I buy a new Mac, I remind myself that you don't buy the computer you need today, you buy the one you'll need tomorrow.

One more thing. If you can't pull the trigger on this Mac, consider the iMac. All my consumer-level Mac-using friends have one & without exception they love 'em. The only thing is, the iMac is an enclosed unit that you won't be able 2 service yourself in the event your hard drive or optical drive fails.

Self-installed another 8GB of RAM along with a 1TB drive.

This thing is so fast that I just keep looking 4 more tasks 2 throw at it but the Activity monitor keeps showing that it has tons of processing power & RAM 2 spare.

Wow. Nice machine, Apple.

# Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors; # Intel Core microarchitecture (4MB of shared L2 cache per processor (8MB total); 128-bit SSE3 vector engine; 64-bit data paths & registers; Energy efficiency optimization); # 1.33GHz, 64-bit dual independent frontside buses; # 667MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) memory; # 256-bit-wide memory architecture; # NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with 256MB of GDDR2 SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, & one dual-link DVI port; # Multiple graphics card configurations including two, three, or four NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT cards; # 300W 4 up 2 four PCI Express graphics cards; # Two independent 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45) interfaces with support 4 jumbo frames; # 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache; # 16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);

Boost your productivity with the Apple Mac Pro desktop PC--the fastest Mac Apple has ever made. Combining two of Intel's new 64-bit, 45-nanometer Quad-Core Xeon 5400 processors running at 3.0 GHz, the Mac Pro is an unbelievably powerful workstation that can handle even the most intensive graphics rendering. Its industrial-style enclosure offers improved functionality with a cable-free installation process & massive upgrade ability--up 2 32 GB of 800 MHz RAM & four hard drive bays 4 up 2 4 TB (that's right--terabytes) of storage under the hood. And while it comes standard with a 16x SuperDrive (compatible with burning DVD±R/RW & CD-R/RW discs), you can also add a second writing SuperDrive.

Additionally, the Mac Pro MA970LL/A features a 320 GB hard drive, 2 GB of installed RAM, & the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (two dual-link DVI ports) graphics card with 256 MB of video RAM, both FireWire 400 & 800 slots, optical digital audio input & output, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, & iLife '08. The Mac Pro also includes a DVI 2 VGA adapter & an Apple keyboard & Mighty Mouse.

Smart design makes installing massive amounts of memory, adding expansion cards, & increasing storage surprisingly simple.

Processor
Based on Intel's next-generation Core micro-architecture, the two 3.0 GHz 64-bit quad-core Intel Xeon 5400 processors are based on state-of-the-art 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture. With a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, 12 MB of L2 cache per processor (each pair of cores shares 6 MB), & dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses, the new Mac Pro achieves a 61 percent increase in memory throughput. These 64-bit buses give each processor a direct connection 2 the system controller & deliver improved processor bandwidth of up 2 25.6GB per second--20 percent greater than the previous Mac Pro. Every Intel Xeon processor features an enhanced SSE4 SIMD engine. Capable of completing 128-bit vector computations in a single cycle, SSE4 is ideal 4 transforming large sets of data, such as applying a filter 2 an image or rendering a video effect.

Because Intel designed this dual-core Xeon 2 be more efficient, it consumes less power than similar workstation-level processors, so your system fans don't have 2 work as hard 2 keep them cool. Working with Mac OS X Leopard, it also continues the tradition of enabling 64-bit computation. Ideal 4 scientific applications, the 64-bit Intel Xeon processors can express the extreme precision needed 4 floating-point mathematics & 2 express integers up 2 18 billion.

The Mac Pro incorporates a 256-bit-wide, fully buffered memory architecture with Error Correction Code (ECC), which corrects single-bit errors & detects multiple-bit errors automatically. These features are especially important in mission-critical or compute-intensive environments. Apple designed a more stringent thermal specification 4 the Mac Pro FB-DIMMs, so the internal fans spin at slower speeds & keep the system quiet.

Graphics
This Mac Pro comes standard with the new, high-performance ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, & two dual-link DVI ports. GDDR3 (Graphics Double Data Rate, version 3) is a graphics card-specific memory technology that's better able 2 deliver fluid frame rates 4 even the most advanced games & applications. It provides great performance 4 typical creative applications, & you get dual 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display support out of the box. With support 4 up 2 four graphics cards, the new Mac Pro can drive up 2 eight 30-inch displays at once 4 advanced visualization & large display walls.

Hard Drive
This Mac Pro (model MA970LL/A) comes loaded with a single 320 GB hard drive. It comes with four 3.5-inch internal hard drive bays 4 an enormous amount of internal storage--up 2 4 TB. These bays are direct-attach & cable free, so it's easy 2 add or remove drives. Just attach the drive carrier 2 either a Serial ATA 3Gb/s or Serial Attached SCSI 3Gb/s drive, & slide the drive into place. There are no connectors or cables 2 contend with. Lock the drives with the side door latch, & you're done.

You can also choose ultrafast 15,000-rpm Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 3Gb/s drives with 300GB of capacity 4 the highest in disk I/O performance. Together with the Mac Pro RAID Card, these drives provide 250MB/s of RAID 5 disk I/O performance. That's enough data 2 play back one stream of 10-bit uncompressed HD content. It's the ultimate storage solution 4 highly demanding data transfer situations like editing uncompressed HD video content or updating ultra-high-resolution images.

The Mac Pro is loaded with connectivity options.

Using Mac OS X, you can stripe two, three, or all four hard drives in a RAID 0 array 2 increase performance & create a massive volume 4 video editing; or create a RAID 1 mirror 4 protecting your critical digital media assets against a drive failure. For the ultimate in data protection & enhanced performance, add the optional Mac Pro RAID Card with 256MB of RAID cache, a 72-hour cache-protecting battery, & hardware RAID levels 0, 1, 5, & 0+1. Apple's RAID Utility software makes setting up & managing the RAID card easy.

Memory
While this Mac Pro comes loaded with just 1 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 RAM--which is satisfactory--this Mac Pro has two memory riser cards with four fully buffered DIMM slots each. Just slide out the riser cards & snap in the memory. You don't have 2 dig around inside the computer or wrestle with wires or cables. With a total of eight DIMM slots available, you can install up 2 32GB of 800MHz ECC fully buffered DIMM memory.

Expansion & Connectivity
The Mac Pro features four full-length expansion slots, including a high-performance PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot, with up 2 twice the bandwidth of PCI Express. The graphics slot is double-wide, so it doesn't cover up an adjacent slot. In addition, three available expansion slots, one PCI Express 2.0 & two PCI Express, provide room 2 grow. And thanks 2 a tool-less PCI bracket, you can take out cards as fast as you put them in.

• Two FireWire 800 ports (one on front panel, one on back panel)
• Two FireWire 400 ports (one on front panel, one on back panel)
• Five USB 2.0 ports (two on front panel, three on back panel)
• Two USB 1.1 ports on included keyboard
• Front-panel headphone minijack & speaker
• Optical digital audio input & output Toslink ports
• Analog stereo line-level input & output minijacks

Preloaded with Leopard, you'll enjoy enhanced productivity & a clutter-free desktop (thanks 2 the redesigned 3-D Dock with Stacks).

Preloaded with Leopard & iLife '08
The biggest Mac OS X upgrade ever, the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system features over 300 new features, including:

• Time Machine, an effortless way 2 automatically back up everything on a Mac
• A redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse & share files between multiple Macs
• Quick Look, a new way 2 instantly see files without opening an application
• Spaces, an intuitive new feature used 2 create groups of applications & instantly switch between them
• A brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way 2 easily access files from the Dock
• Major enhancements 2 Mail & iChat

Leopard's new desktop includes the redesigned 3-D Dock with Stacks, a new way 2 organize files 4 quick & easy access with just one click. Leopard automatically places web, e-mail & other downloads in a Downloads stack 2 maintain a clutter-free desktop, & you can instantly fan the contents of this & other Stacks into an elegant arc right from the Dock. The updated Finder includes Cover Flow & a new sidebar with a dramatically simplified way 2 search for, browse & copy content from any PC or Mac on a local network.

Time Machine lets you easily back up all of the data on your Mac, find lost files & even restore all of the software on their Mac. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac. In the event a file is lost, you can search back through time 2 find deleted files, applications, photos & other digital media & then instantly restore the file.

The Mac Pro also comes with the iLife '08 suite of applications that make it easy 2 live the digital life. Use iPhoto 2 share entire high-res photo albums with anyone who's got an e-mail address. Record your own songs & podcasts with GarageBand. Break into indie filmmaking with iMovie & iDVD. Then take all the stuff you made on your Mac & share it on the Web in one click with iWeb.

Dimensions
It measures 20.1 x 8.1 x 18.7 inches, & weighs 42.4 pounds.

What's in the Box
Mac Pro, Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse, DVI 2 VGA adapter, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs, printed & electronic documentation