a bit of advice please.... mac pro

[gothbiker]

hello, first post here, I have had a macbookpro for just over a year, I love it and would never go back to a windows based machine, I've been looking at buying a pro, mainly for the internet and photography, I'm a student so havent lots of cash, would this be a good buy? im happy upgrading and enjoy it.
or has anybody any advice, i dont fancy a hackintosh, good as they are i prefer upgrades working and not crashing the system, been there before.

ive found these on ebay, what would you advise??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251317011286?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161081226320?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649


before anybody says, i havent the cash to buy new or refurb from apple

thanks for the advice dj

 

[simsaladimbamba]

This auction shows a G5 PowerMac, which is the PowerPC predecessor of a Mac Pro. That auction also states "AUCTION IS FOR WHAT IS PICTURED ONLY", thus even if it is listed as Mac Pro with a Xeon CPU, it is not a Mac Pro with a Xeon CPU but a G5 PowerMac with a PowerPC CPU.
Those G5 PowerMacs do not run any modern Mac OS X version besides Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, as Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and OS X 10.9 Mavericks require a Mac with an Intel CPU.

The second auction shows and lists an actual Mac Pro, but it is the first one ever from 2006. While it may be a tiny bit faster than your MBP (you have not stated any model specifications to be sure), it might not be what you are after.

I run a Hackintosh with video and photo editing capabilities and duties quite well and if one knows its bugs, one can circumvent them.

Btw, a G5 PowerMac has one optical disk drive (ODD) and a Mac Pro has two ODDs. That way you can differentiate them quite easily on a first look basis.

 

[gothbiker]

thanks a lot for your quick reply, I have deleted the first one, I love the way how everything apple works so easy, I was going to buy a mini mac, then upgrade the memory, drive and processor, then started looking at a mac pro, should work out the same price and be a better machine for the money.

 

[Macsonic]

If your budget permits, try getting a 2008 3.1 Mac Pro or a 2009 4.1 Mac Pro as you may need to consider software and OS support Mountain Lion cannot run on a 2006 Mac Pro. Note also the ram is more expensive on the 2006-2008 Mac Pros. Happy buying.

 

[gothbiker]

macsonic, thanks for your reply, i have been doing a bit more research, what sort of budget would you recommend to purchase a 2008 2009? I had a chat with a so called max expert, and since found most of his advice was rubbish, so it looks like im going to spend a bit more!!!
looking at it all still looks better value then a upgraded mini mac!!
thank you dj

 

[Studio K]

macsonic, thanks for your reply, i have been doing a bit more research, what sort of budget would you recommend to purchase a 2008 2009? I had a chat with a so called max expert, and since found most of his advice was rubbish, so it looks like im going to spend a bit more!!!
looking at it all still looks better value then a upgraded mini mac!!
thank you dj

A 2009 Mac Pro can be had in the US for $800. That's less than 600 pounds I believe.

It may be more expensive in the UK. Another forum member recently bought a 2009 model for 900 pound.

I don't know about 2008.