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| Apple Mac Pro MA970LL/A Desktop (Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, 16x SuperDrive) | 
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| Brand: Apple
Category: Personal Computer
List Price: $2,799.00
Buy New: $2,589.00
You Save: $210.00 (8%)
New (5) from $2,589.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 106
Media: Personal Computers
CPU Manufacturer: Intel
CPU Speed: 2.8
CPU Type: Intel Pentium II Xeon
Processors: 8
System Memory: 2000
Memory Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive Size: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 53.6
Dimensions (in): 27.8 x 23.1 x 12.6
MPN: MA970LL/A
Model: MA970LL/A
UPC: 718908999318
EAN: 0718908999318
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Fast & Quiet! April 6, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This computer replaces an Imac 24" Core 2 Duo. What a difference! Now I can edit my high definition videos with no hiccups. Great expandability options. Super fast and quiet. If you need processing power this is the computer to get. Highly recommended!
Superior Technology April 1, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I am a professional multimedia producer/artist/developer, who has been using both Wintel and Macintosh PC's for over 22 years.
I have always been happy with Apples quality products, and just smile when I listen to Wintel owners complain about their computer problems.
In over 22 years I have never had viruses or complete system meltdowns. I have done all the modifications to my system or hardware myself.
I bought my new Mac Pro mainly because all the new software is being written for Intel-based chips.
I have heard some Mac users complain that Apple has committed treason, but in fact Apple is (As always) looking ahead to "Open Systems". The first step was basing OSX on a Unix kernel, and now running with Intel-based chips. This means that you can now run Windows, natively, on a Mac. And OSX on Wintel machines.
You may be seeing "Universal" more and more on software boxes, and that IS the plan. Soon users will be able to pick the machine, and run whatever they want on it.
And when it comes to the machine, Apple rules the world with regard to seamless hardware integration, power and simplicity.
I still use my G5 Dual 2GHZ tower every day, and will continue, even after 5 years it is a workhorse.
My new Mac Pro is incredible!! The sheer power of this system is amazing! But Apple also continues to improve the simplicity of design. The RAM cards are now on easily accessible, pop-in cards. I was able to install 4GB of RAM in about 2 minutes. They have done a similar thing with the hard drive bays, I installed a 750GB hard drive in under 2 minutes!
It is quiet, powerful and easy to use.
When I bought my new router, my friends warned me about the long process of setting it up. I plugged it in and it worked perfectly, I didn't touch the Wintel install disk.
Only with Macintosh has the term "Plug & play" really had any real meaning.
I remember trying to add a new gfx card to my Wintel pc.... took hours to install and trouble shoot, and STILL the onboard card would over ride the new card.
Are Macintosh's more expensive? Sometimes, but when you compare feature-to-feature, not really. Macintoshes are by far the most powerful and easy to use, hassle-free computers on the market.
Best of both breeds (Mac&Win) in sleek thoroughbred -- fantastic support March 30, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Just a few months ago, I was a fed-up Windows user, tired of constant crashes, patches, and malware threats. The Vista fiasco convinced me that Microsoft had put more effort into polishing up the eye candy (and enriching its owners) than in beefing up consumer security or product usability; the time had come to switch to a more robust and less paranoid operating system. The thought had been brewing awhile, but with so many productivity tools written for Windows it seemed cumbersome to transfer financial and client data to the Mac. That is ... until Apple moved to Intel processors, and software like Boot Camp made it reality to run both OS-X and Windows on the same machine. At last, I can manage fancy graphics as well as plain business transactions on one computer.
This is a cutting-edge engineered, handsomely designed, and quality built machine with large efficient fans that run whisper quiet yet keep the components cool. Hardware expansion is incredibly simple: the four drive slots have direct contacts, so you can just slip in an extra hard drive without having to fuss with cables -- RAID configuration is a breeze. Adding more memory is simplicity itself (although the buffered fast DRAM is expensive) with 8 slots holding 1 to 4 GB sticks each. The one beef I have is with the measly 3 USB slots in the rear (plus 2 up front) that just aren't enough nowadays to accommodate all those ubiquitous printers, scanners, cameras, external drives and other gadgets. Four Firewire ports are generous (probably because Apple holds the patent), but aren't all that common yet on external devices to substitute for USB ports.
The ability to run Windows [stay with XP, if you possibly can] turns the MacPro into a truly all-purpose workstation. You can use either the operating system's Boot Camp, or 'virtualize' Windows (with "Fusion" or "Parallels") so that you can run Windows tasks within the Mac environment without rebooting. Great in theory, but a bit of a gamble with Microsoft's obnoxious 'Activation' procedure that detects reinstallation of the OS, yet seems incapable of concluding that you are reinstalling the software on the same machine ... required hours of hassling with distrustful off-shore call centers. Ugh.
I greatly appreciated the professional support team [after years of dealing with foreign accents rotely reciting the same crib sheet that I'd downloaded the week before] that had the decision-making authority to arrange for instant repair. I was stunned when walking out of the 'Genius Bar' with a brand new replacement MacPro (hardware and software transferred) because parts shipments were delayed by back orders. Dell, HP and their lesser brethren might wish to relook their business models - nothing beats satisfied customers, even if you have to add a modest premium. In this instance, you really get what you pay for; top quality product, outstanding service and support.
Worth the Expense March 28, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Have used this machine now for about a month. What an incredible job Apple has done to incorporate style and function into a complete package. There are the obvious attributes, like blazing speed and multitasking chores being handled in it's sleep thanks to 8 cores of Xeon power, but what really impressed me was the thought going in by Apple to create, from the ground up, a wonderful MACHINE. The design of the case is awesome, the airflow is remarkably simple, one wonders why no other manufacturer has done it this way. The result is practically noiseless operation, even under demanding conditions. ( I do video and audio rendering ). The ease of upgrading the memory is so simple, again, makes one wonder why no one else does it.
The peripheral connection options are great (look at their spec pages for details) on both back and FRONT.
All in all, a perfect computer for intense video and or audio professionals.
A word about virtual machines......
I did want to install XP Pro, too, as I do have some audio/video programs that are native only to Windows, and after purchasing this, I have no money left over for ProTools, etc. ! Ha!
So I installed Fusion. It works great, even is capable of using the multiprocessors available, except I found that the more intense programs running in Fusion became sluggish. My dual core Windows 64 bit system was quicker running those. That was discouraging. I'm sure it's fine running things like Office and such, but not REAL demanding applications. So I nixed Fusion and went ahead and installed Windows under Apple's own BootCamp. Much better. Windows sees all EIGHT processors and it is running at native speed. Remember, when Windows is running under Fusion (or Parallels, I think) Mac's OS is still running as well, therefore, not all resources are available. Under BootCamp, they are.
The only drawback, if you want to call it that, is that you have to reboot going from one OS to the other, and you can't drag and drop files from one OS to the other. Not a big deal for me!
And I like the ease of use of Leopard, too. Very nice OS.
If you have the money, and are on the fence in any way about what to get for yourself or business. just get it. You will NOT be disappointed.
Very nice machine March 25, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Like many Apple designs, the MacPro is one slick machine. I made the switch last year with a macmini to test out the Mac world. While the mini was impressive, it was underpowered for what I was pushing it to do. No lack of power with the MacPro! I upgraded to 6GRAM (recommend OWC memory), and a 1TB drive and it's taken everything that I throw at it. Encoding a movie on the mini was about four hours and about 40 minutes on the MacPro. WIth that much memory I can keep virtual machines (Vmware) for Windows and Linux up all the time, although suspending and resuming them now only takes a few seconds. BTW, I run Windows mostly for Picasa to manage my photos. I never liked iPhoto plus Picasa running in a virtual machine is still WAY faster than a native running iPhoto session.
One negative but couldn't justify taking a star away is the reboot from sleep issue. If you google it you will see that there are many MacPro customers out there that are complaining about it. I did contact Apple and even though they wouldn't acknowledge it, I am confident that they will fix it, but am disappointed that Apple won't admit the problem and let us know that a fix is coming.
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