Advice Needed For New Mac User

[bkwon12]

Hello there, I have been a faithful PC user for 15+ years and am now starting to be lured over by Apple, The Ipad Mini is what piqued my interest. Anyway I find myself on the verge of purchasing an older Mac Pro and need advice. I want to purchase this machine to do 2.5K HD video editing and am wondering if this machine is up to the task. I'm fairly sure I would need to upgrade the video card, but hopefully not as the plan is to get used to the MAC OS and Final Cut Pro X to hold me over until I save enough money for the new Mac Pro Here are the specs as follows.

2008 Mac Pro January:

· 2 x Intel quad-core Xeon 2.8 GHz CPU
· 16GB DDR2 SDRAM, ECC, FB 667 MHz
· 1TB SATA 7200 - rpm hard drive
· DVD±RW (±R DL) superdrive optical
· ATI Radeon HD 2600 w/ 512MB VRAM
· Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, 801.11n WiFi
· Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, iLife11, Mac Office11

Seller wants $800Cdn firm About $740 U.S.

I think it is a good deal and would like to know what seasoned mac users think. Also would I be able to upgrade to the Mavericks OS free? Any helpful advice and opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[chscag]

I can't comment on whether or not the price is a good price - I'll let one of our more experienced Mac Pro guys answer that.

However, the software on that machine, specifically Mac Office 2011 and any other registered applications will not legally be yours unless the seller includes the original disk and serial number. Also, you will have to establish an Apple ID and purchase a copy of OS X under your own name and ID. The copy on that machine is his not yours and can not be updated by you. (or transferred to you)

If you buy the machine, you'll need to purchase a copy of Snow Leopard (10.6.X) from Apple for $19.99, update it, and that will give you access to the Mac App Store. Once you have access to the Mac App Store (and have your own Apple ID) you can download a copy of Mavericks (10.9.X) for free. You do not need to update to Lion or Mountain Lion first.

And yes (I almost forgot....) your machine can be updated to Mavericks.

 

[pigoo3]

2006 1st Gen. Mac Pro's with 4-cores and very little ram (2gig) can sell for $400 $500 US. So I would say that $740 US for a 2008 8-core Mac Pro with 16gig of ram is a decent deal. It still wouldn't stop me from trying to negotiate a lower price though.

- Nick