| | Location: Home » Mac Pro » Desktop Computers » Apple Mac Pro MA970LL/A Desktop (Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, 16x SuperDrive) | |
|
|
| Apple Mac Pro MA970LL/A Desktop (Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, 16x SuperDrive) | 
 enlarge
| 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: 100
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
|
| Customer Reviews:
The Best March 15, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Very fast, very quiet. And it even runs the junk OS known as windows vista. I should have bought one of these things a long time ago.
This is my first Mac, so I do have a little learning curve. However, OS X is really easy to learn. I can't wait to finally rid myself of microsoft, once and for all. If you are looking at Mac Pro, do yourself a favor and Buy it.
The Beast Unleashed!!!!!!!!!!!! March 7, 2008
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I typically replace my main computer every two years. I waited 3+ years this time, so I was growing rather frustrated with my old computer. It was a nice powerful PC in it's time, but apps grow, memory requirements grow beyond the max of a machine etc....and an upgrade is needed. As my business needs evolved I started to listen more to the MAC option. There are alot of PC apps I can't get around using, so running them had to be a key requirement to be able to run those apps.
I actually started shopping for the previous version 2.66 GHZ dual core, dual processor model. By the time I was sure I wasn't going to have issues with the PC apps this beast came out. I call it a beast (it's a great thing) because I loaded it up with 4 1TB drives, 16 Gig of RAM and ordered it with the wireless (bluetooth?) keyboard and mouse. Ironically as I described it (separately)to some MAC and PC users I knew they called it a beast, how ironic the same name....It fits....
I had my PC setup inside a cavity in my desk to keep it quite as I actually use my computers in a recording studio environment. Unfortunately the beast is slightly bigger than the cavity in my desk. I sat it under the desk. It's so quiet, it actually makes less noise under the desk than my old PC did inside the cavity with the door closed. This is a definite plus with recording as sensitive mics pick up any noise.
I love the keyboard and mouse. No cables, low profile...I gave up my ergo keyboard and I love it.
I researched parallels and VMWare Fusion and ended up going with VMWare for my windows virtual machine. I installed XP Pro, not vista and love how it works. It is really weird seeing a windows screen with the mac icon doc at the bottom and the menu bar at the top, but I can go from one environment to the other.
It turns out we had to run our recording software on the mac side instead of windows even though it's technically available for both side. The issue was the VMWare recognized USB ports, but apparently only recognized firewire for drives, not our recording interface. This isn't a shortcoming of the machine, but a short coming of VMWare, which in fairness could be fixed with a future release or update.
I connected it to a 27" monitor (Olevia) and love it. I have a second monitor right beside it of the same size I plan to use as soon as I pick up the extra cable adaptor (the computer only came with one adaptor and I didn't have the other cable format). I was really impressed with the fact that the default video board acommodates two monitors.
Regarding the upgrades, the drives and RAM were super easy to upgrade. Pull the lever up on the back, pull the side off, pull the drive "cover" out, position the drive on it, tighten four screws, push the drive back in and close up. That is all is needed to install a single drive.....
Connecting to printers was easy as well on the MAC and Windows side. We use exclusively HP Printers so we just had to get drivers from their website as needed.
I will admit, the conversion to Apple had me a little concerned with any changes, but I am almost a week into it and no significant issues except finally having a computer that works faster than I can think again for the first time in a long time.
I will say this, if the Apple culture was applied to fixing government, it would be scary how well things would run.
This might sound like a loaded review, but the truth is easy and in this case extreme(ly) powerful and easy......
One Great Mac Power! March 3, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This Mac Pro offers a lot of power. The Quad-core Xeon processors saids it all. There isn't any application out there this machine can't handle. Not only is it powerful, it is super duper quiet with enough storage space to satisfy anyone, 320GB minimum and upgradable. The quality of the machine is very durable. Most of the outer case is made of metal and semi-metal products. The silver casing looks awesome and gives you a luxury feel. Overall, this is one machine to scream for if you love Macs and love powerful machines.
Review provided by: Reviewedia.com
Link to product review: [...]
Quiet, Fast, and Powerful March 3, 2008
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
Those three adjectives pretty much sum up my experience with the Mac Pro Dual 2.8 Quad-core desktop system. I waited a full 3 weeks before writing my review, to make sure I had a chance to thoroughly put the computer through its paces.
In that time, I've had the opportunity to open the case up and install additional hard drives. The case design for the tower units is still the metal "cheese-grater" look, and while I was hoping that Apple would have revamped its design, I'm amazed as to how well thought out the inside of the case really is. Installing those aforementioned drives was literally a snap to do. There are 4 internal SATA drive bays, and outside of using a Phillip's screwdriver to mount the drives into the MacPro's racks, the rest was a technical no-brainer.
The machine runs extremely quiet - so quiet that I sometimes have to look down at the power indicator light to verify that the unit is, in fact, on. The Mac Pro also has no issues in 'Sleep' mode. This was my biggest concern, having read sites like xlr8yourmac.com and macintouch.com, where other readers have reported such issues. In my case, the machine works flawlessly.
I'm running a stock memory configuration, but it looks like additional RAM will be just as easy to install. The shipping box itself comes with the much touted aluminum keyboard (which I personally find to be excellent in my heavy usage), a Mighty Mouse (which I've never used, as I prefer trackballs), Leopard restore discs, a VGA-DVI cable, a very tiny manual, and a few Apple stickers. Oh, and the computer.
My previous Macintosh computer was a Dual 2GHz G5 (2003, Rev. A model). The speed difference is there between these two machines, but it's more subtle than I would have expected. I suspect that adding additional RAM beyond the stock 2GB will allow me to see more substantial performance improvements.
This computer is used regularly with Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Corel Painter X, with a myriad of other apps I use on a day-to-day basis. Everything has worked flawlessly out of the box. Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase. Highly recommended.
 Initial problems gone, I'm loving it now. Would upgrade to 5 stars if I could. February 8, 2008
8 out of 16 found this review helpful
UPDATE: I've now owned my new Mac Pro for a little over two months. I've been extremely pleased with it and have seen none of the problems I had with the first one I bought from another vendor. I changed out the keyboard for a Microsoft Natural wireless and the mouse for a Logitech Bluetooth wireless. It's great!
2nd Update: After 6 months in the Mac life, I'm so totally pleased. After 20 years in the PC world, I'm astounded at how THINGS JUST WORK. No weirdness, no conflicting drivers, no "gotta get version 8.2c228 of MS Whatzit Framework". And with VMWare Fusion, I can still run the occasional Windows program. We're converting our entire house and business over to Mac.
Original Review
---------------------------------------
I was in the market for an upgrade to my current Windows PC. I do a lot of digital photography and need serious horsepower. I was astounded at how inexpensive the Mac Pro was, considering the dual-quad processors and high-speed RAM.
I bought a Mac Pro from another vendor, because at the time Amazon didn't have them in stock. During the week I owned it, I really really loved it. Processing large batches of photos took less than 1/4 the time of my old Dell (dual-core 2.66). It was a little tough adjusting to the "Apple Way" of doing things, but overall things are easier on the Mac. Especially installing/uninstalling applications, trivially easy compared to a PC. And I really loved the way the machine didn't have all this stupid "trialware" clogging up the system.
One definite drawback of the Mac Pro is the horrible keyboard. It looks and feels like a super-low-end "chicklet" keyboard from the 1980s. It *is* super thin and stylish, but in this case it's a triumph of style over usefulness. If you do any significant typing and you're used to a nice ergonomic keyboard, you'll hate it. The "mighty" mouse is better, but (like the keyboard) the shape put unnatural stress on my wrist and it began to ache, like the old days of straight keyboards and flat mice.
Why did I write "when it works"? Well, after a week, I had to send my Mac Pro back. It was constantly locking up and only a hard power-cycle would reset it. From my subsequent reading, it appears that there are a lot of problem machines. I found dozens of other users with symptoms identical to mine. When I called Apple technical support and described the issue, they immediately told me to return it as a DOA, so they know there's a problem.
Hopefully, it was just a glitch of the early machines. Now that Amazon has more in stock, I'll be ordering one from them and see if they fixed the problem in later batches. Just that few days with the Mac Pro was great, I'm looking forward to getting another.
|
|
|
| |
|
