mac pro beautiful on the inside.

[slughead]

I prefer the mac pro design to my old DP 2.5ghz G5. The case is more efficient and they really crammed as much in there as they could. It's also quiet and doesn't rattle--very well put together.

It's also lighter (which is a plus)

This is quite silly. I think the poster knows exactly what they're talking about. I happen to agree entirely - the Mac Pro doesn't feel as nicely put together as a Power Mac. When I took the 2.66 out of its box for the first time, I noticed immediately that the build quality and finish was nowhere near as good as that of my old PM 2GHz G5.

Really, the inside of those felt hand crafted and solid. Though the HDD bays are great functionally and aesthetically - they feel flimsy. The mechanism holding the DVD drives are worse, as the cables and the sliding scratches the Aluminium.

Fortunately I found further cosmetic damage on the outside of the case, and I promptly took it back to Apple Brent Cross for another one. Same build quality. Good, but nowehere near as nice as a Power Mac G5.

Not to mention, the name sounds better too.

Thanks,

F

 

[Macinposh]

The case is more efficient and they really crammed as much in there as they could. It's also quiet and doesn't rattle--very well put together.

Have to agree...

Getting the cabling for the 5th HDD to the free cd/dvd space is a real bitch.

There is practically no way to get the 6th connector to use without externalizing the HDD,since you would have to be a Houdini to squeeze the cable up if you would take the internal superdrive off.

In that sense,a bit more open layout would have been nice.But obviously that would be only to a small margin of users.

And other very biatchy thing is how they have hidden the screw(s) to the heatsink, just to make it difficult for user replacement of the processors.

That,I have to say, is a bit evil on Apples behalf. Tsooch, apple. Bad boy.

It's also lighter (which is a plus)

Dude, hit the gym. You are spending too much time with computers and exercisizing too little...

I mean,apart from very,very,very minor group of people that has to have a workstation class computer on-location (well,some video/cinematographers have used it) there is little to no reason to move it around.
Occasional HDD changes (how many has several 4-packs off hdds around,just to swap them?) are tolerable.


But on all other parts,I have to say that the comp is a beauty.
Dead quiet (with 4hdd in raid 10 and 1 extra) and i cant hear it from 40cm away. But i can hear my old G4 that is about 20 feet away...

I like.

 

[kylepro88]

Before I even plugged mine in, the first thing I did is open it. After that I plugged her in and let the drool flow, it was my first mac so I had good reason to.

- Kyle

 

[theblotted]

i too like the MP design, tho i understand about the "flimsy" comments.

my concern is, how are they cooling the HDs with MP? in G5's, there's a dedicated fan for HD, MP doesn't.

i also agree that getting the cable routed for 5th HD is a major PITA. how're you managing Macinposh? thru the tiny little hole in the corner?

 

[Kendall015]

I set up a mac pro for my gf's dad, and it was amazing on the inside. I've got to say, though, the Mac Pro is REALLY HEAVY. Shipping weight was something like 70lbs, and since I had to move it a couple times, I definitely believe that it weighs that much. It's not like it's meant to be portable though.

 

[synth3tik]

It is truly a work of art.



My quicksliver was nice but it was a pain to install hard drives, and RAM was also a bit of a pain, not to mention I lost a couple of screws for the PCI covers.....

 

[slughead]

Dude, hit the gym. You are spending too much time with computers and exercisizing too little...

I can bench 400, doesn't mean weight doesn't matter.

The old G5 weighed about 55-65 pounds. I used to have a home-built PC with a cheap case.. the G5 bent it irreparably on the car ride when I moved. I thought that was ironic.

When it weighs that much, things you set it on while it's on its side can really scratch it up. Most of the weight in the G5 was the stupid water-cooler.

Also, when I sold my G5 to my dad (so I could buy this Mac Pro), he took it in for service and nearly had a second heart attack hauling it from the parking lot to the shop.


A lot of people have been talking about the 5th hard drive thing so I thought I'd re-post my article about it. It has pictures, of course.

I'm moving my 5th hard drive outside the case pretty soon though.

 

[pengu]

Sure, but there's at mystique that was always around a Mac. You owned something special. It's not that special anymore. Technically, I could build my own Mac now. It wasn't as easy to do so before.

And yes, the PCs I service at my university have individual hard drive mounting sleds and a pull out sled for their optical drives.

Right.. so you found a store selling MacPro aluminium cases, and Apple spec motherboards with the EFI and Apple ROM, and all that jazz? Wow. oh wait. you meant because they use ONE MORE component the same (CPU) that they are no different to PCs now.

 

[NATO]

Looks really good but there is one thing I don't like. There are tonnes of capacitors in it and those things have very finite lives. Most other things will live much longer than caps. I sure hope they have put in quality stuff. My old B&W had zero capacitors (OK, maybe the power supply has some but I can't see them) and that was a beautiful sight. BTW, that B&W is still in operation, works like a hoot.

You know capacitors are a crucial element for pretty much all modern electronics? Just because they're not readily apparent doesn't mean they're not there. There'll be capacitors in the Mac Pro, the iMac, the Mac mini etc etc, its not just the Mac Pro that uses them.

Even the electrolytic capacitors you're worried about (the big ones that look like little AA batteries sticking up) are very reliable these days and will likely outlast the useful life of the computer so I really, REALLY, wouldn't let that put you off the Mac Pro.

 

[Macinposh]

i also agree that getting the cable routed for 5th HD is a major PITA. how're you managing Macinposh? thru the tiny little hole in the corner?

Yup.

90´ connector on the mobo side and straight on the drive side.
then by using nose-pliers i connected it to the mobo,routed it through the hole,and used the same pliers to drag it visible again. then the same pliers to connect it to the drive.
I have nimble fingers,but I couldnt manage to do things right with them...
So I had to resort to tools..way,way easier.

 

[Doraemon]

Yes. it sees its as an full apple supported drive.

Does the 111D also work with a G5? I'm kind of confused with your first post in this thread. Is it only about how nice the insides of Mac Pro are, or is it a real issue with installing a new drive?

Did you have to flash the drive (I read something about it on xlr8yourmac.com)?

I was looking into getting a new SuperDrive for my G5, so I'd appreciate your input.

[Edit] Will PatchBurn work? http://www.patchburn.de/index.html

 

[theblotted]

Yup.

90´ connector on the mobo side and straight on the drive side.
then by using nose-pliers i connected it to the mobo,routed it through the hole,and used the same pliers to drag it visible again. then the same pliers to connect it to the drive.
I have nimble fingers,but I couldnt manage to do things right with them...
So I had to resort to tools..way,way easier.

good for you. i'm actually using SCSI drive in the optical drive bracket, and since the SCSI cable doesn't fit thru that tiny hole, i have to route it thru the optical drive bracket handles.

it was a lot easier to route the cable in G5 (thru the back between HD and PCI spacer). oh well, MP and SCSI is working so i can't complain too much.

 

[BiikeMike]

Sure, its pretty on the inside, but does it collect a ton of dust like all my other desktops do?

 

[SMM]

I pulld one apart. Really well designed, airflow though is less than my Precision 690 and the mobo in there is of dubious superiority to the Dell article.

To look at and to pull apart, love the Mac Pro. To work on and to rely on, prefer the 690.

You sir, have got to be joking. Please tell me this is a joke.

 

[QCassidy352]

I saw a Mac Pro open at an AppleCentre the other day. They are just about as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside

ooh, don't say that. They look like industrial cheese graters on the outside. The innards are extremely well done though.

 

[synth3tik]

When comparing the Mac Pro to the G5 I must point out something important at least to me.


Being able to get inside and upgrade the thing. The G5 is a really nice computer and if not for Apples hardware engineers would have been a fireball, but it is just so crowded in there. and there really is no space for any thing else. 2HD, 1 optical drive, and your video card has to take up 2 PCIe slots.



The G5 design was awsome, but Apple just perfected it with the Mac Pro.

I have also come to adore the Air Conditioner aura it has.

 

[Sesshi]

You sir, have got to be joking. Please tell me this is a joke.

Funny you should say that. I didn't expect to be, but I was proven very right recently.

 

[daveporter]

I have been building and maintaining computers used as Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) for many years.

Since 1995, 100% of my work had been with PCs for all the reasons I'm sure you are already aware of.

Then came the Intel Macs and, specifically the Mac Pro. Now I have switched my own studio over to Mac Pros and do everything I can to switch my outside clients (other studios) to the Mac Pro as well.

I have never found a computer easier to work on then the Mac Pro. Period. The engineering design and layout is the best that I have ever seen. The build quailty is also the best that I have experienced in any PC or Mac. OS X is also about as good an operating system as there is for DAW use and is just about bullet-proof.

As far as "real world" raw audio processing power goes, nothing touches the Mac Pro in my experience.

Last, but not least, the cost of the Mac Pro, even with the standard configuration, is very reasonable and appears to be lower then that possible to obtain with any PC of similar specification, quality and construction.

Is the Mac Pro perfect? No, but I think that it comes as close as it is humanly possible to acheive.

Just my thoughts.

Dave

 

[dpaanlka]

People seem to really be impressed when they see the inside of my Mac Pro... even those who aren't "into" computers.

 

[drake]

After reading all this, I went to the local Apple retailer and had a look. In the pics, the Mac Pro looks very solid, at the store, it look and felt plasticly. It appeared to be a plastic case painted to look like metal. What do that make that case out of? I never did have a look at the inside.

 

[dpaanlka]

Uhh... did you touch it? It's clearly aluminum. Try flicking it with your fingernail.

 

[BurtonCCC]

Yeah, it's so incredibly obviously made of metal.

Daniel.

 

[theblotted]

yeah, never been to THAT apple store.

 

[Digidesign]

After reading all this, I went to the local Apple retailer and had a look. In the pics, the Mac Pro looks very solid, at the store, it look and felt plasticly. It appeared to be a plastic case painted to look like metal. What do that make that case out of? I never did have a look at the inside.

This guy's a troll. Do yourselves a favor and don't feed him.

 

[drake]

Uhh... did you touch it? It's clearly aluminum. Try flicking it with your fingernail.

Yeah, I did. Appeared to be plastic made to appear to be metal. I've built lots of PCs since the early 90s, and this wasn't like any metal case I've dealt with.