Buying Advice...Mac Pro 08 vs 09-10, or Imac Quad

New user and newish Mac user here!

With our Canon HD (AVCHD format) camcorder i am realizing my old desktop pc is needs replacing. We do have a MacBook Pro which i am currently using to convert and edit with but, for the my long term use and storage i want a desktop. I don't like the fact the imac quad-core is (kinda) non-expandable and i'd like to use 2 monitors. I am still considering a beefed up PC, but the Mac Pro does have me drooling a bit.

My video editing skills will be low, but AVCHD takes a ton of space and i really like the Mac Pro for expandable hard drives.

The only thing holding me back on the Mac Pro is price.....Apple has an 08 refurb for $3200, but how long before that needs replacing? For that money i'd like a computer to last for 5-6 years and still be rock solid. I know tech changes by the day and for around $2500 (w/monitor) I could get a pretty hunky PC.......choices....choices

Any thoughts would be very greatly appreciated.

-Jeff

I would get the new 27" iMac. It's cheaper than the mac pro and you get a great screen included in the price. As for storage, you could always get external hard drives.

vindivino said:

I don't like the fact the imac quad-core is (kinda) non-expandable and i'd like to use 2 monitors. I am still considering a beefed up PC, but the Mac Pro does have me drooling a bit.

The only thing holding me back on the Mac Pro is price.....Apple has an 08 refurb for $3200,

Click to expand...

Like anything...you get what you pay for. If you want more computing power, you gotta pay for it.

You said that you don't like the iMac because it is not expandable...which is true (to a degree)...but within the time that you own it...what would you want to expand? A quad-core iMac will definitely be a fine computer at least for 2-3 years...and probably longer. You can upgrade the internal hard drive...you could always add external hard drives, and the ram is upgradeable to 16gig!

You can run an external monitor in an iMac...so you would have 2 monitors..the iMac monitor & an external monitor.

Finally. The Mac Pro you're considering is $3200 dollars...a new quad-core iMac costs $1999. $1200 is a lot extra to pay for more expandability...especially if you don't need it.

Good luck,

- Nick

vindivino said:

I know tech changes by the day and for around $2500 (w/monitor) I could get a pretty hunky PC.......choices....choices

Any thoughts would be very greatly appreciated.

-Jeff

Click to expand...

When it comes to graphics and video, you CAN NOT beat a Mac. The "hunky" Windows machines you will see are all talk, so-to-speak. They have larger HDDs, crazy processor speeds, and more RAM, but can't hardly do anything with them because of their inferior structure. You want a Mac.

I agree with the 27" iMac quad-core suggestions. My mother-in-law bought a used Mac Pro (no idea of the specs) from a gentleman who made commercials and she uses it for professional video production. Even what she does could be done on a quad-core iMac. Of course, those weren't available 2 yrs ago when she got her Mac Pro. Too bad....