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Author Topic: Macpro owners  (Read 4228 times)

Benny Profane

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Macpro owners
« on: April 25, 2016, 11:20:55 am »

I will be buying a new Mac soon. Starting to set up a studio at home in which I will retouch, do personal photography, and print. I am a somewhat retired professional retoucher, so I am familiar with powerful, state of the art Macs over the years, bought with other people's dimes. I may or may not make some income from this studio, so, I have go be prudent and assume I won't, therefore, I have to be careful with my cash outflow. I believe the stock market will be flat to downish for some years, and I really don't want to work hard at this point in my life. I am sure I will be spending a little over 2200 for a self calibrating Eizo monitor, that's a given, no less. The computer, though, is a conundrum. I have a hard time living with the thought of a Mini, although the most powerful available is quite a potent little package, and a good value. But, the adaptability to the future is severely limited. A potent Imac is a nice computer, but I'm forced to buy the 27 inch, which I don't want on my desk, since it will just get in the way, next to the Eizo. Nice monitor, but, kind of useless for serious printing. I have a cheap monitor to use as a second, for tools and palettes in Photoshop. So that leaves me with the Macpro. My question is, what does the collective feel are minimum requirements for a solid configuration? Four or six core? How much memory? Graphics? What are you working with, if you have one? Any issues?
I will using this Mac only for Photoshop, Lightroom, and printing on either a Canon or Epson. I have a 2011 Imac for the usual music/ internet junk. I hope to keep this computer for at least five years, maybe a little more - I believe that the rapid advancement of PCs we have witnessed over the last twenty years or so is rapidly slowing down, so obsolescence should be less of a problem these days. I hope.

Thanks.
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kers

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2016, 12:13:44 pm »

As it seems the imac 5K is faster than the Macpro ( even 8 core) and it has a beautiful monitor that shows about 14MP at once.
So you could use that to have a different view on your images and use the Eizo for getting the colors right.

The Macpro is bound to be updated- question is - when... could be another half year.

my source:

http://macperformanceguide.com/topics/topic-IMac.html
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Christopher Sanderson

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2016, 12:19:38 pm »

Honestly I would look at OWC's used MacPro page.

A used Mac Pro 5.1 tower with 32 GB ram and a good video card will give great value

Benny Profane

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2016, 02:06:25 pm »

Honestly I would look at OWC's used MacPro page.

A used Mac Pro 5.1 tower with 32 GB ram and a good video card will give great value

Yeah, wow, awfully cheap. But how long will something like that be functional?
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Christopher Sanderson

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2016, 05:43:06 pm »

Yeah, wow, awfully cheap. But how long will something like that be functional?
If you are happy with Apple's current OS and Adobe's & others' software, my guess is at least 5 years

BTW the current MacPro trashcan is at the foot of that page - also very good deals

Benny Profane

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2016, 06:26:54 pm »

Thanks. As I said, I just waited for the IT nerds to deliver the latest thing on my desk after the lease the accounting nerds negotiated ran out. Never had to think about spending my own money until now. This looks good.

I see little mention of warranties on their site, though. Do they have a product like AppleCare?
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Christopher Sanderson

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2016, 06:48:42 pm »

I see little mention of warranties on their site, though. Do they have a product like AppleCare?

The Trash Can has AppleCare; the older MacPros have an OWC 90 day warranty. It's a reputable outfit that I have used many times

BobShaw

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2016, 02:50:02 am »

I had a 2008 iMac that I was looking to replace when the new MacPro was being released. The rep told it would be the same price or less than the old MacPro. It wasn't. So I bought new iMac and haven't looked back. You get much better value. I have an Eizo attached also. The old 2008 and is still working also.
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graeme

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2016, 04:58:37 am »

I previously used a powermac & a 1st gen mac pro & was uneasy about buying an all in one but have been generally pleased with the 27" iMac I've been using for the last 10 months. You might find yourself won over by that 5K screen - great for working at 100%.

One thing to bear in mind: Unlike previous pro level macs the trashcan doesn't have the option of adding extra internal storage / backup drives so whether you choose the iMac, the mini or the pro you're going to have a load of crap ( external HD s, cables etc ) all over / under your desk.

Another thing: I believe that the iMacs & macbook pros actually have faster USB 3 transfer rates than the trashcan ( something to do with USB 3 not being native to the Xeon chipset ) so unless you want to shell out yet more cash for thunderbolt peripherals you may get better performance from the iMac. ( Any experts reading: Feel free to put me right on this & I'll edit it out ).

I'd give Chris's consideration of an older high spec mac pro serious consideration - I still kind of miss having everything in one nice big box with one power switch.

Graeme
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funfoto

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2016, 07:33:10 pm »

In regards to the monitor, you might have a look at the Eizo CX271.  It's $1000. cheaper than the CG277 and it basically the same display minus a few things you might not even need and can live without, depending on what you are editing on it.  Google CX271 vs CG277 and will come up with a lot of information on the slight differences. You could take the $1000. and put it toward the computer?
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Benny Profane

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Re: Macpro owners
« Reply #10 on: May 29, 2016, 08:36:18 am »

Thanks to Chris Sanderson above for suggesting OWC as a source.  Ordered a mid '10 Pro tower with a 3.46 6 core, 32 gig of memory, a 500 gig SS startup disc, a 2T storage drive,and a newer Sapphire video card. About 2250 dollars. I figured that I saved about 4000 dollars, compared to the trashcan I thought I needed. Got it on Thursday, and now it sits humming on my desk, with my new Eizo CG277, which is quite spectacular. I know I spent too much on the monitor, but, man, is it sweet. What the hell. Nicest monitor I have ever used. Even the last two retouching facilities I worked in gave me only a 24 inch model.  I'll just keep the old Subaru for another few years to make up for that extravagance.
Computer is pristine. It was listed as good condition, but, man, if not for a few big scratches on one side, it looks new, inside and out. Nice. I had to install the video card, because they didn't trust that to ship well in the computer, but that was easy. Now I just have to figure out an internal RAID configuration, and I'm good to go for, I hope, five years or more.

Thanks to Chris and the community.
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