Older Mac Pro For Home Recording

[white-mountain-]

I have been looking at this on OWC OWC
Mercury Accelsior_E2
PCI Express SSD

Thoughts?

 

[pigoo3]

Four.....( yeah, I know what you are thinking

Yes…you probably do know what I'm thinking!

But I'm also thinking a 2nd thing…STOP BIDDING on it. All you're doing is jacking up the price too early. Anybody with any eBay experience knows…the winning bid almost always happens in the last 5-10 seconds (or the last 1-2 seconds).

So with about 5 minutes left in the auction…you need to be in front of your computer. If the price is still where you need it to be…you need to be prepared to place your max. bid with 5-10 seconds to go. This doesn't mean that someone else's max. bid isn't even higher than yours. But this gives you the best chance at getting the computer (within your now bigger budget).

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

Yes…you probably do know what I'm thinking!

But I'm also thinking a 2nd thing…STOP BIDDING on it. All you're doing is jacking up the price too early. Anybody with any eBay experience knows…the winning bid almost always happens in the last 5-10 seconds (or the last 1-2 seconds).

So with about 5 minutes left in the auction…you need to be in front of your computer. If the price is still where you need it to be…you need to be prepared to place your max. bid with 5-10 seconds to go. This doesn't mean that someone else's max. bid isn't even higher than yours. But this gives you the best chance at getting the computer (within your now bigger budget).

- Nick

Okay, Thanks!

 

[pigoo3]

I have been looking at this on OWC OWC
Mercury Accelsior_E2
PCI Express SSD

Thoughts?

Can you make it easy on us…and include a link?

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

Can you make it easy on us…and include a link?

- Nick

OWC Mercury Accelsior_E2 PCI Express SSD

I thought you knew exactly where to go....lol

 

[pigoo3]

I thought you knew exactly where to go....lol

I probably could have found it pretty easy (at macsales.com)...but I was feeling lazy!

As far as thoughts. It's a sort of neat gizmo...for example it's upgradeable ...it doesn't take up a hard drive slot...and its numbers look like it's pretty fast. But you do have to pay $144 up front just for the empty card.

- Nick

p.s. OWC also seems to have some sort of "rebate" program for this thing. If you decide to upgrade the storage...you can send the old flash memory back for a rebate. Of course you will probably get a lot less than was paid for it...especially since the prices of SSD's & flash memory are dropping all the time.

 

[white-mountain-]

Bid is at $401,,,,,,I had set my max bid at $400 before you had suggested I stop bidding for time being.......

 

[pigoo3]

Bid is at $401,,,,,,I had set my max bid at $400 before you had suggested I stop bidding for time being.......

I think that I may have found the eBay auction you are bidding on. I hope that I'm wrong…but did you happen to notice the little detail at the top of the auction that says…[size=+1]"Item condition:For parts or not working."[/size]

And after reading some of the item description…there is some REALLY "funky" wording being used by the seller regarding its condition. Unless the seller could make me feel better…I would have my concerns about this computer.

Of course this assumes that I'm looking at the correct auction.

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

Yeah, that's the one that I said was missing the hard drive. Then, by what I saw that was the only thing wrong with the system.

Maybe you see something I haven't......

I have been looking at plenty of websites with used Mac Pro's, so, I am getting the idea on going prices........

I remember johnodd4 said to get a 3.1 or better......So, I am looking at those possibilities...

 

[white-mountain-]

Apple Mac Pro 2 66MHZ Intel QC Xeon Nehalem 16GB RAM 750GB MB871LL A A1289 885909281015 | eBay

What do you think about this machine?

 

[pigoo3]

Yeah, that's the one that I said was missing the hard drive. Then, by what I saw that was the only thing wrong with the system.

Maybe you see something I haven't……

Ok…good to know I found the one you've been watching. If you scroll down the auction description…it says this:

"- Testing Completed With This Apple Mac Pro Quad Core – 2.8 GHz Computer: The seller has utilized a compatible Apple Power Supply (this power adapter is not included in this auction) in order to test this Apple System for its ability to power up. Once plugged in & activated, the Apple Mac Pro Quad Core – 2.8 GHz Computer did power up, with the Apple system amplifying a short musical note & its front indicator light illuminating brightly. The seller connected a Flat Panel LCD Video Monitor to its rear DVI Video Port in order to check on the video illumination coming from the Apple Mac Pro Quad Core – 2.8 GHz Computer’s rear video port. Unfortunately the LCD Screen of this connected flat panel monitor remained completely unilluminated. The Apple Mac Pro Quad Core – 2.8 GHz Computer only partially powered up as the front indicator light on the Apple System itself illuminated brightly, but the seller was never able to view a video feed from the Apple Mac Pro Computer. This Apple Mac Pro Quad Core – 2.8 GHz Computer has only been tested in this very simple manner & with partially negative results. This is the extent of the testing that has been completed with the Apple Mac Pro Quad Core – 2.8 GHz Computer."

I highlighted in bold what seems kind of "weird".

Bold #1: "compatible Apple Power Supply"…I have no idea what this is…other than a power cord.
Bold #2: "monitor remained completely unilluminated". When a monitor is connected to a desktop computer…it should still light up with a grey screen. No illumination means no signal from the video card.
Bold #3: "with partially negative results." I think that this is self-explanatory.

The part about the monitor not lighting up is the most concerning to me.

Any one of these three things would give me cause to be concerned. And would have to be explained by the seller before I would feel confident in the computer.

I remember johnodd4 said to get a 3.1 or better......So, I am looking at those possibilities...

Yes…since your budget has now gotten larger…a Mac Pro 3,1 or newer is what you want.

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

With the help from you guys, I have been educated on what to look for.

I have found some 4.1-5.1 Mac Pros within my budget and should be able to buy one this coming week.

Will keep you posted.....

Thanks!!!!

 

[white-mountain-]

Well, I have a bid up on a 5.1 Mac Pro and have a good idea how much it can go for on ebay and am ready to get that bad boy Let's see what happens...

Will be happy to give you the full rundown as soon as I win the bid It is ready to go with nothing needed to upgrade so that is a good thing!

 

[pigoo3]

Well, I have a bid up on a 5.1 Mac Pro and have a good idea how much it can go for on ebay and am ready to get that bad boy Let's see what happens...

Will be happy to give you the full rundown as soon as I win the bid It is ready to go with nothing needed to upgrade so that is a good thing!

Good to hear. Always great to do a bunch of research…and know exactly how far to go with the auction bidding.

I'm surprised you didn't say anything about the Mac Pro you were looking at (mentioned earlier in this thread)…and just ended a hour or so ago. I was watching it…curious to see where it was going to end up. I saw where it ended up…did you?

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

Are you talking about the one missing the hard drive? If so, no, I did not see the outcome, where did it end up?

As far as my research went, I just took all of what you had written and decided to be more informed and know exactly what I wanted and what it might cost to pick one up.

I have watched quite a few auctions on the Mac Pro from the beginning to the end and became more aware of how they can go. So, I am ready for this one as this machine is sweet........

There have been some good deals go by the board, so, hopefully I get a decent deal.;D

 

[johnodd4]

see the reason ebay is flooded with mac pro 1.1's is because they stop at mac os x lion and apple will be dropping the support for lion when yosemite comes out and only supporting 10.8,10.9,10.10 this is why people are unloading 1.1's this is why a 1.1 is a bad idea

keep looking though your doing great

 

[white-mountain-]

Yes, I am REAL glad I took your advice....Thanks so much;D Those 1.1 are a dime a dozen...lol The 5.1 I am looking at has Mavericks 10.9.5. already loaded.

 

[johnodd4]

awesome

 

[pigoo3]

Are you talking about the one missing the hard drive? If so, no, I did not see the outcome, where did it end up?

Yes that's the one. If you remember...it was missing the hard drive...but the bigger problem I noticed when I saw the auction was the seller was saying that when a monitor was plugged into it...it wouldn't light up (not even to a grey screen)...which it should. So this would mean a video card problem...or something more serious.

I also mentioned that if this Mac Pro 5,1 quad-core was 100% working...it would sell for $900+ on eBay (maybe more).

So final price on it was $560 + shipping. $560 is certainly a lot less than $900+. So other bidders were certainly being careful with the price as well (and what the seller wrote in the description). The problem may have been something very simple (and so @$560) someone got a great deal. Or it could have been a BIG problem...and the high bigger may have a "money pit" on their hands!

I have watched quite a few auctions on the Mac Pro from the beginning to the end and became more aware of how they can go. So, I am ready for this one as this machine is sweet........

In case you didn't know. eBay has a tool/function...where you can look at past completed recent auctions for an "item type"...without having to watch current auctions to end (a MUCH faster way to gather info). You can check out similar Mac Pro's sold over the last week, 2 weeks, etc.

Good luck,

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

Thanks.!

By watching an auction from start to finish I am trying to get a feel of when bids come in, like one I saw that within the last 10 sec three bids came in and pushed the price $125 higher.

Hey, I won't lie, the better the price the less I get killed by my wife... Well maybe she will kill me with less pain involved (weak laugh)