Mac Pro configuration

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Good morning everyone!

I'm finally taking the leap of faith and buying a mac. I have only ever used one in an Apple store and to be honest, I could've stayed there all night (but I kept getting nasty looks from the Mrs.).

As I am not too computer savvy I wanted to explain what I plan on using the mac for and tell you how I have my mac configured and I am hoping for some feedback on whether I should change anything before I purchase it.

I have 2 young children who play a few games on the computer from time to time. They are not so-called "gamers" by any means. Most of the usage is for storing family photos, storing/listening to music, browsing the web and using email.

I currently have a dell that is 4 years old. When purchased I bought a basic model and I have no more memory left. Too many photos and music files. I can't store anything else and it doesn't like to "walk and chew gum", i.e. very, very slow if I am playing music and want to jump onto ESPN.

Here is what I plan on buying:

Mac Pro

1 2.66 GHz
8 GB
1 TB 7200 rpm Serial ATA 3 Gb/s
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512mb
1 18x SuperDrive
24" Flat Panel
Keyboard/Mouse

I have no idea what a RAID card is or does. When I read about it on the Apple site, it didn't seem to apply.

Would this be a good setup?

Thank you all in advance.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.33 4GB: MacPro 8 Core 2.8, 16GB: MacMini 2.26 4GB: MacMin 2.53 4GB: iPhone3GS 32GB
Hi, welcome to the forums.

Based on your needs, your specs are fine. In some ways, the MacPro may be 'too much' of a machine for you. You could get all the functionality you want at a lower price point with the iMac. The MacPro is Apple's high end offering and is typically targeted to graphics/development/engineering professionals.

Of course, there is nothing to prevent you from getting a MacPro, but you may want to look at some other model. Also, you can typically find refurbished or used MacPro's from a variety of sources (Appple, eBay etc).

A RAID card allows you to configure hard disks to act together as a single unit. Typically you use a RAID card for performance, redundancy etc. Again, based on the needs you described you do not need a RAID card.
 
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bryan08252
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thanks

The one thing that pushed me away from looking at the iMac was it didn't appear to have a cd/dvd player.

Am I correct on that?
 
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MBP 2.33 4GB: MacPro 8 Core 2.8, 16GB: MacMini 2.26 4GB: MacMin 2.53 4GB: iPhone3GS 32GB
The names may be confusing at first. If you look at the iMac on the Apple store site you will see:

'8x double-layer SuperDrive'

This is Apple's DVD burner/player that comes with most Mac equipment (save for the Mac Air).
 
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nMP 6-core/32Gb/D700/512Gb: rMBP 15" 2.3GHz/16Gb/512Gb: iPhone 6 128Gb: iPad Air 2 128Gb: NEC PA322U
Yeah, definitely go with a iMac for what you're after.

The other plus is the monitor is thrown in free!
 
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bryan08252
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Lastly...

I want to see if I understand gb, mb etc.

My dell has 504 MB of RAM.

My "c" drive says it has 73 GB.

Does 73 GB = 504 MB? Or about that?

I am trying to wrap my head around how much 1 TB actually is... is it twice as big as my dell?

The reason I am asking is because I take a lot of family photos. On a recent trip to Florida, I took 1000 photos. I have about 5000 photos and 4500 songs on my dell right now. And it is full. If the 1 TB is double what I currently have, I may go with the Mac Pro since it appears I can upgrade to multiple 1 TB drives. Of course, I may be coming at this completely from the wrong premise.
 

pigoo3

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I want to see if I understand gb, mb etc.

My dell has 504 MB of RAM.

My "c" drive says it has 73 GB.

Does 73 GB = 504 MB? Or about that?

I am trying to wrap my head around how much 1 TB actually is... is it twice as big as my dell?

The reason I am asking is because I take a lot of family photos. On a recent trip to Florida, I took 1000 photos. I have about 5000 photos and 4500 songs on my dell right now. And it is full. If the 1 TB is double what I currently have, I may go with the Mac Pro since it appears I can upgrade to multiple 1 TB drives. Of course, I may be coming at this completely from the wrong premise.

You are very very confused my friend!:)

Don't confuse the amount of ram you have with the amount of storage space there is on your hard drive.

As far as size. If your hard drive (your "c" drive) on your Dell has 73 gigabyte...here's a comparison...1 terabyte = 1000 gigabyte...so your comparing your old Dell hard drive with 73 gigabyte to 1000 gigabyte (13.7 times larger)!!!:)

Also...it doesn't sound like you are even close to needing the computing power of a Mac Pro. Just because a Mac Pro can have multiple internal hard drives...doesn't mean you should pay $2500 bucks for that feature in a Mac Pro!

Just buy an iMac...and buy an external hard drive for less than $100 bucks.

Hope this helps,

- Nick
 

Raz0rEdge

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1000 MB = 1 GB
1000 GB = 1 TB

So, you're Dell has just under half a GB of memory. And with a terabyte (TB) drive, you're going to have a significantly more space than you have right now.

Regards
 
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And what's more if u looking for info this forum has heaps and then there is this and this as sources of info, plus others with a bit of google-ing. Perhaps not so much a leap of faith as embarking on a learning process - a rewarding one at that.
 
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2.4ghz MacBook Aluminum/ 16GB IPod Touch :D
The Mac Pro is a great computer, but for what you need it for it is just to much. It's mainly for people who really need a lot of power. For example its like saying you need to move a heavy table so instead of calling all you buddies to help out, you hire a crane. It is just overkill. Best way I can put it lol.

The iMac is your best choice. The iMac will let you play music, store tons of photos, surf the web, and do a lot more stuff at the same time. You should have no problems with the machine slowing down at all.

Just to give you a comparison, I use a 2.4ghz Macbook with 2gb's of ram and I am able to surf the web, edit movies (which takes a lot of "juice" from your computer), and listen to music without my computer slowing down at all. The iMac's are normally more powerful than the Macbook's so you would be able to do even more.

As far as hard drive space. Get whatever comes with your iMac and then invest in external hard drives. You can buy a 1TB external hard drive that will plug into your iMac via USB for about 100 dollars. To give you an idea, a 1TB hardrive will hold 200,000 digital photos.

Best fo luck with your future purchase! Let us know how you like it.
 
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bryan08252
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Thanks

for all the responses. I have a trip planned to the Apple store in a couple of days. I have a few questions regarding the iPod Touch (the kids are asking Santa to bring them one) so I am going to get a closer look at the iMacs. If I don't walk out with one in hand, I will be ordering one online. I will let everyone know how I make out.

Once again, gracias!
 

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