Apple Mac Pro MA356LL/A Desktop (Two 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive) Meet Mac Pro, Apple’s new desktop computer geared for the business and graphics professional. Mac Pro not only completes the Mac transition to Intel processors but delivers advanced performance, workstation graphics, and up to 4.9 million possible configurations. Ushering in a new era of outstanding performance ? and completing the Mac transition to Intel processors at the same time ? the new Mac Pro introduces the 64-bit Dual-Core Intel Xeon ?Woodcrest? processor to the Mac lineup. At 2.66GHz, it’s a state-of-the-art processor that ? from day one ? makes the Mac Pro one of the faster desktop computers on the planet.
No matter what the format ? DV, SD, HDV, HD, or even film ? the Mac Pro gives film and video professionals the freedom and power to create studio-quality and award-winning projects. Innovative tools for the Mac platform ? such as Logic Pro, Logic Express, Soundtrack Pro, Digidesign Pro Tools, MOTU Digital Performer, and Steinberg Cubase SX and Nuendo ? provide composers and sound designers with a wealth of software for capturing every inspiration.
Customer Review: Mac Pro MA356LL - Still Astounding!
After using this Mac Pro for a few months now having come over from the PC world, here’s my initial impressions:

First and foremost, it’s a BARGAIN! There’s no way I could build a PC to these specs for the price I paid for this last-years model Quad-core Xeon. Please don’t think about comparing it to a Core2Quad system…. it isn’t one. This is a professional-class heavy duty Workstation, and if you don’t know the difference, you probably won’t buy one.

To keep the price low, Apple gives us only 1GB memory, a smaller Hard Drive and a relatively weak Video Card. These are easily upgraded when convenient. I’ve got 8GB iRAM, 4 HDDs and a hand-me-down ATI HD2600 from a 2008 8-core in mine.

Leopard has been easy to learn and very stable for me. It’s not as pretty as Vista, but is far more useful and secure. Fortunately, my video editing software has a Mac version that runs well on Leopard.

Boot Camp works well for me with one exception: Windows only seems to work with the front-panel Audio Port, completely ignoring any speakers plugged into the rear port.. Windows itself runs flawlessly and very fast.

Physically, the Mac Pro is a work of ART! The case is well-finished, the internal cabling is extremely tidy and well-thought out, the Hard Drive Caddies are flawless, everything runs cool and extremely quiet. The system is virtually SILENT in any normal room.

On the technical side, the Mac Pro uses the newer EFI system instead of the antiquated (mid 80’s) BIOS that most PCs use. The end result is more stability, faster boot up, shut down and sleep operations.

If you are looking for a powerful, well made, silent and well thought-out system that should last a long time, buy one of these or one of the new 8-core Mac Pros. If you absolutely must have Windows, this system runs it extremely well, though I use it less and less as I learn Leopard.

I just finished my first 2-hour video project on this machine. The Mac Pro is ALL ABOUT RENDER SPEED! I cannot believe how fast this thing rendered 2 hours of source DV to DVD (under Leopard). It’s roughly 4 times faster than my previous dual core PC workstation running XP. It makes no sense to me…. I must have done something wrong. Or maybe right?

Have Fun,
Keri
Customer Review: Mac Pro 266 GHz
I love it, very fast easy to up-grade hard drives and ram and is fairly priced!

Tags: Apple Desktop Computers, Apple Remote Desktop, Apple Desktop

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.