http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ Videomaker Community Forums » Tag: iMac - Recent Posts en Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:24:42 +0000 http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/upgrade-or-buy-new-mac-pro-or-imac#post-71692 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:52:09 +0000 Charles Schultz 71692@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Sorry, instead of he I meant She. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/upgrade-or-buy-new-mac-pro-or-imac#post-71691 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:51:30 +0000 Charles Schultz 71691@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Rob, the new Mac Pro's do not need a raid card, it is right on the board now. I just got one about 3 months ago and it is really simple to do. One problem I can see from his current system is that he only has two gig of ram. If he goes to <a href="http://www.crucial.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.crucial.com</a> it can scan his system and see how much he can cram into it. </p> <p>Also a few 1.5 terabyte hard drives could be in order, they are getting cheaper every day. Get another 250 gig hard drive and then you can set the two 250's to raid 1 and the 1.5's to raid 0 and you could be rocking and rolling. </p> <p>One question, are those Intel processors or are they another brand. If they are Intel you may also be able to plug in a graphics processing card, if FCP accepts them that is. I use Premiere and love the Mercury Play Back engine as it helps to speed up the rendering process. </p> <p>Hope this helps.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/upgrade-or-buy-new-mac-pro-or-imac#post-71684 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:31:59 +0000 robGRAUERT 71684@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I have a Mac Pro with that same processor. I never sit around wishing it was faster, so I'm wondering if the problem your media management. You only listened on hard drive - the 250GB drive. Is that the only drive in your computer and the only drive you use for video editing? If so, then yes your computer will be very slow and it will be more cost effective to by the proper storage devices.</p> <p>But if you are handling your media correctly and still need a faster computer, buying new Mac Pro will last longer because they're expandable and they stuff more processors in them. So it takes longer for them to be perceived as "slow."</p> <p>If you upgrade to the new FCP, you're stuck with FCP X, which doesn't open old projects. I think Apple is still offering FCS (FCP7), but there's a catch to it or something.</p> <p>And as for backup, well, you need to have a hard drive (or preferably a RAID) dedicated to your projects and a hard drive dedicated to backing up the memory cards that your camera records to (if you've made the leap to solid state recording). Then you need to back up both of those drives. G-Tech is a good source for RAIDs and hard drives.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/upgrade-or-buy-new-mac-pro-or-imac#post-71678 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:28:02 +0000 Kristina 71678@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I edit film with FCP and I have reached a point where I need a better computer. The Mac Pro I have now dates from 2006/2007 and is way to slow for my needs. The question now is: should I upgrade the computer I have or should I buy a new iMac or Mac Pro. I would appreciate any advice! I'm of course looking for the most cost effective solution. </p> <p>This is what I have today:</p> <p>Mac Pro</p> <p>2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon</p> <p>2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM</p> <p>Hard-disk: 232,44 GB</p> <p>I might also have to upgrade my Final Cut Pro as it is as old as the computer: FCP 5.1.4 What would you recommend here?</p> <p>I need a computer to edit film (possibly HD) and also a good way to do my back-up. My internet connection isn't very fast...</p> <p>Thank you in advance!</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68788 Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:44:02 +0000 Charles Schultz 68788@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I just made the switch to a Mac from a PC and I will never go back. I purchased a Mac Pro with two processors and 12 gig of ram from B &amp; H for a lesser amount than from Apple and they even have the extended warranty. Plus, the same system in a PC format would have cost me twice as much. I still use Adobe products and even upgraded to CS 5.5 which seems more stable than CS 5. Another factor of switching to Mac, I was getting tired of all the updates from Microsoft that would reboot my system in the middle of the night when I had a video rendering.</p> <p>I would switch to a Mac if I were you.</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68781 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:01:02 +0000 ktbproductions 68781@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I must say i would recommend that you should switch to a imac ASAP. And i speak from experience, as fpr myself i have three. A 15 inch macbook pro, a 20 inch imac desktop, and my latest purchase the 27 inch quad core 2.93ghz 16gb ram ati radeon 5750 hd gpu. Like yourself i was undecided when i was on a windows operating system. But i needed a more reliable operating system. Because i do tons of editing and motion graphic designs. I use avid, final cut studio, adobe cs5 master collection, cinema 4d just to name a few.Now these are high complex programs, and i must say my system has never got a virus or has it crashed. Imac computers are the most reliable operating systems on the market today. And anyone who are into any major post production should have one.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68779 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:22:35 +0000 Ian James Smith 68779@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>  I have stuck with 'Windows', having passed-up the opportunity to purchase an I-Mac, through the University my wife worked for, upon her retirement. Those making the Windows/IMac comparison might be interested to know that all University IMacs came with 'Windows' pre-installed as standard.</p> <p> However, I have a friend who uses a 'Mac', and comparisons have proven that I have access to so much valuable software, that he doesn't, that I am glad I did not make the switch. I have seldom experienced the 'blue-screen of death' but I have had many unexplained crashes, (fewer from Magix MEP17P, however, than from any other software I have used). I installed monitoring software to keep track of what my CPU/Memory were up-to, and here's what I found. Crashes tend to occur when the CPU gets into either a 'loop' situation (although it just-as-frequently sits and waits for some action which you are not providing so that it may continue), or becomes overloaded with an unresolvable queue of demands being placed upon it, all at once. Once the CPU is running as hard as it can, the last thing to do, is to start randomly banging on keys in impatience or frustration, in effect, adding more demands. I have many instances of my own computer, which is eight years old, and quite unremarkable, giving the 'xxxxx is not responding' signal, only to find that by waiting perhaps a minute, or less, the computer has prioritised the demands made on it, sorted them out, and managed to negotiate them in an orderly fashion to resolve the impasse.</p> <p> Needless to say, all unnecessary running-processes should be shut-down when extreme demands are being made on your computer, as every unwanted process is also  queueing up for its share of CPU-time. The key, is regular maintenance, which is invariably overlooked, periodic cleaning of the registry, defragmentation of drives etc. A weekly hour, or so, is what it takes, and it means the difference between your computer chugging along like a well-oiled sewing-machine and endless trips to a serviceman, to have roughly the same things done for you. </p> <p> I believe that IMacs come into their own when it comes to music, especially at a professional level, but I am undecided as to whether they have the advantages sometimes claimed for them, with video.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68722 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:47:51 +0000 Don 68722@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>yes</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68708 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 06:50:57 +0000 Anonymous 68708@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Yes you should switch to Imac. I have been running FCP 7 and Adobe cs5 on a 09 24" Imac.  Max out on ram 8 Gigs of memory. with a Lacie drive (1Tb).  No issues like my old pc.  love it.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68672 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:24:01 +0000 B Asher 68672@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I agree with Sarge as well.. I started video editing on a big expensive Dell tower as fast as it would get, running Adobe AE, Premiere Pro, etc.. along with the required scratch disks needed, a total of 3 drives that is. As my projects got larger I just couldn't keep the system stable. Too many crashes, corrupt project files, it was just painful. So I decided to take the Mac plunge, I figured it could either be much better (as advertised by the community) or the same.. I also wanted to use FCP &amp; Motion.. so I choose to make the switch. I bought a fast G5, FCP Suite and one FW400 drive.. instantly I was faster in editing.. that was then, and this is now.</p> <p>With that being said, I run all my projects on a $1500 iMac running FCP 6 and I also have Adobe Master Collection CS5 running.  Like Sarge said.. I feel OSX is much more stable than Windows, the file structure is better, the kernel is better. So in hindsight I'm glad I made the switch. This past week I was still smiling as I had FCP &amp; Photoshop up and running editing a video for 4 days straight.. no issues. I've had issues for sure.. but nothing compared to my Windows days.. </p> <p>All that to say, you gotta do what's right for you, what you've invested in software, etc.. Systems are much better now, from my experience (and I must add I make a living off Microsoft being a sr. network engineer) that the Apple OS is more stable for what I use it for.. end of story for me.</p> <p>In the end.. it's about the production, the video, , the project, the end result and does the passion of your project get conveyed to the viewer.. are you using what you have to its fullest.. or is there a training/learning issue that you need to gain an edge?</p> <p>Good luck..</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68601 Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:48:36 +0000 Lee 68601@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I listed my specs in my initial post, I'm glad you are not having trouble on your Windows platform but that doesn't change the fact that I can't get through a 3 hour editing session without crashing at least once or twice, so stability is the deciding factor. Since Mac is a closed system with it's OS servicing a narrower range of software and hardware compatability practically a non-issue it would make sense that the Mac is a more stable platform. None the less editing hd video with multiple tracks is going to push any system pretty hard so I wanted to make sure I didn't hear any horror stories from the Mac community before taking the plunge. I'm fairly new to vidio editing but not software or computers (I was a windows developer for 20 years before I retired) so I could probably take my machine apart piece by piece and application by application and maybe get some relief but that's just not enjoying retirement from my point of view, that's work. I'd rather just spend two or three grand and get the best hassle free system I can to make my little movies and enjoy the good life.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68563 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:49:09 +0000 2ten 68563@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I'm really shocked to hear about a 'blue' screen on a Windows based PC.  What hardware/software combination are you using to get that?  I am using Win7 Pro now and Win Vista Pro before that and have never seen a blue screen with these operating systems no matter what I am doing.  Stability should not be a deciding factor I don't think any more.  They run on the same 'chips' now - the two operating systems are much more similar under the hood now than most of us would like to admit.  Pick the one that you like the interface because that is the main difference and Windows8 is going to be a lot different in the UI anyway.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68530 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:47:52 +0000 composite1 68530@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Lee,</p> <p>I started out on macs (OS 7) and worked with them professionally until the early incarnations of OSX. I worked with PC's from Win 3.1 until now which I have units with WinVista (pro) and Win7 (pro). The crashes and glitches I ran into with both platforms came either from 'operator error' or as Event said, 'pushing the system far beyond it's capabilities'. I've had the reverse experience with Windows in that the later versions have become far more stable. </p> <p>Now the crashes I get come from the software I use (Adobe, can you hear me?) When I got out on my own as a pro, I couldn't afford the same types of mac's I used working with production houses and though I had been building Mac Clones, Apple shut down that process and I gravitated to PC and hadn't looked back.</p> <p>Ultimately, you have to go with what you feel comfy with and your wallet will allow you to get. Earl called it straight, with none of this stuff being perfect. And I'll add that the 'hair pulling' and 'engineering' issues that come with PC's stems primarily from 'operator error'. All of which will strike a mac user (and often does) as well. Whether you purchase (the Apple Logo) a mac or buy another pre-built PC, if you don't take care of it, take precautions to protect it, load it with crap and drive it into the ground, it's going to give you trouble.</p> <p>BTW, I answered your other post about transferring your files to a mac.</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68513 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:12:41 +0000 Lee 68513@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Thank you Earl and everyone.  I wasn't even aware of FCP X coming out so your comments are an immense help. I am in the process of trying to educate myself for a fall purchase descision and this forum is proving to be invaluable. Thanks for taking the time to supply such well thought out and complete answers.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68510 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:19:23 +0000 Eventvideoguy 68510@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I agree with Sarge.  It has it's problems but only a fraction (a very small fraction) of the problems found on Windows-based machines.  I had previously been a Windows user since Windows 3.1.  And with each and every incarnation the crashing and blue screen of death occurrences got worse.  I finally converted to Mac.  The biggest problem I've had has been FCP being glitchy until I got the update.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68507 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:42:01 +0000 SargeHero 68507@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p><em>"NO system, program or platform is perfect and there will ALWAYS be times<br /> when for one reason or another ANY system will choke on something we<br /> feed it."</em></p> <p>That very true, my Mac had crash badly several times, mostly because I ask way too much at the same time (I'm a Mac abUser you know). Neither Windows nor Mac is better than the other, but I prefer Mac because is more stable, you don't need too many upgrades and I like how the OS works (files, folders, the track pad functions etc). </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68504 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:44:04 +0000 EarlC 68504@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Lee, there's good, bad and ugly with either platform and there's no doubt that a bevy of PC enthusiasts and experts will point out that a stable and rock-solid system can be constructed for video production on a PC. I also saw your other post noting the extent of your aspirations and desire to remain essentially a video enthusiast/hobbyist.</p> <p>The thing I get MOST from both posts is that you sincerely want to ENJOY what you do and be able to focus on the FUN of doing it, not the engineering feats and trouble shooting curves that some systems can throw at you. Right?</p> <p>Based on that assumption, and having been a Mac user for a long, long time, I first have to say that NO system, program or platform is perfect and there will ALWAYS be times when for one reason or another ANY system will choke on something we feed it. BUT, I also have to say that in discussions with many friends who are PC based I hear a LOT more grumbles and complaints and hair-pulling sounds from them than I do my Mac friends. Though I DO hear a good bit from the MAC users who incorporate a lot of human error into their setups and operations.</p> <p>I am NOT a Mac guru, nor could I be considered a power user. I only know that my experience overall with the Mac environment has been positive and when there HAVE been issues or problems, hang ups, spinning beach balls, even system crashes in the pre Leopard/Snow Leopard OS days primarily, it was due to something I did rather than the fault of the system.</p> <p>With the power and ability, the potential processor speed and storage expansion, connections and the accompanying iMovie and related "i" series programs that come with the system, a $2K investment with a few hundred more for extra storage upon ordering, and that 27" screen, the new iMac is going to be better than an entry-level platform for editing video.</p> <p>What is happening also (and as per Grinner's comments) is that Apple is doing some serious re-writing that will soon be manifested with its next level of OS, newer connectivity that third parties have only just begun to add, AND with the new FCPX that will be available for download in a few more months (I believe) for about $300, you might be well off to circumvent the FCP Studio series, even though I'm not that excited about abandoning the studio series, in favor of what's coming soon via Mac.</p> <p>This might also, if the rumors are correct, address your concern about ingesting some of the AVCHD footage you probably shoot, working with HD, and there are several worthwhile conversion programs "out there" Wondershare Video Converter Pro, among them, that will make conversion of your current library perhaps less painful ... I'm not sure about batch conversion with that one, but probably it is available via Wondershare. I think the overall power and program applicability via the Mac, and the new better, faster, bigger iMacs will be a hard combination to beat and there is a lot to be said for the overall stability of this platform and its related software.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/should-i-switch-to-the-imac#post-68496 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:14:30 +0000 Lee 68496@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I've got a fairly powerful PC right now, Intel i7 2.67GHZ, Radeon HD4670 Graphics 512MB, with 2 GB Ram running 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium. When I work in Sony Vegas Pro on HD Video I lock-up or crash with the BSOD. I had originally had the 64-bit version of Windows 7 with 6 GB of ram and I crashed even more often. It also seems like I have to restore to an old image every couple of months because some virus infects the PC.</p> <p>Since I retired recently I no longer have to develop on Windows based machines and was considering moving to one of the all-in-one iMacs. My question is if I go this road and start editing HD video with Final Cut Pro should I then be in a blissful state of hardware stability or are you iMac users getting your share of lock-ups and crashes too. Hate to drop a couple Gs and go through a new learning curve just to have the same old problems on a new platform.</p> <p>I would love to hear any and all opinions.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/mac-pro-specs#post-62015 Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:14:14 +0000 phatpencil 62015@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>rob,</p> <p> </p> <p>your information has been so helpful! I have a production company in boulder, colorado.  we just switched from standard def to high def with 2 panasonic hmc 150's so dealing with not only high def isues but avccam as well. my mac is not intel based so upgrading there.  we are trying to create a work flo that makes sense without adding to the already broken babk - here it is :</p> <p>1. transfer native files from cards to our old WD hard drives (usb 2.0 so uselesss for editing  hd) for storage only</p> <p>2. create project file on #1 g-raid external hard drive connected to our macs</p> <p>3. filter through native clips and download only the clips we need into the fcp project file</p> <p>4. edit project and store on #1 g-raid extrnal hard drive </p> <p>5. back up on #2 g-raid</p> <p> </p> <p>your thoughts? </p> <p>our concerns are continually running out of space on our g-raids, so how to deal with that and how fast do our macs need to be to be efficient with this set up?</p> <p> </p> <p>thank you so much rob for sharing your knowledge!</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61171 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:19:32 +0000 robGRAUERT 61171@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Sorry, wasn't trying to imply that you dont think the Mac Pro isn't a good machine.</p> <p>You just seem to suggest that buy an iMac is better because Apple abandons hardware. Really though, for video, Apple doesn't even make hardware. Apple probably wouldn't even make FCP if it were for companies like AJA and Matrox. </p> <p>And making your purchasing decisions based on the idea that Apple will abandon it's old processors just isn't a good move. Of course things will be abandoned. Why would they support a G5, they're so old at this point and aren't even ideal for ProRes.</p> <p> If I bought a Mac today, I'd buy the necessary accessories for video that work with my Mac today. Do that and your computer will continue working forever. This is what people did with Avid - they got what they needed to make everything work, and then they didn't upgrade for a lot time...didn't need to.</p> <p>of course, it all depends what you're doing, which you implied when you mentioned your decision to buy laptops.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61170 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:54:35 +0000 Don 61170@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Rob, I deliberately avoided saying the mac pro isn't a good machine. It is a good machine.</p> <p>I just know that if I had bought the power pc tower when I bought my first mac, I'd have had to replace the whole thing anyways by now, to upgrade to an intel version... and if I had bought the first intel version, instead of two macbooks, I'd have lost money if it had broken down on me (remember how excited I was when Apple replaced a failed logic board for me, free, even though it was out of warrenty?)</p> <p>bang for the buck, I'd have been worse off, and further behind the curve in terms of software.</p> <p>Now if I had a business where editing in the feild wasn't happening, where employees were doing the editing for me, and the machine stayed in the studio, along side one or two other mac pros as part of a network of mac pros all hooked up to 30" cinema displays, then yes I'd be happy to own three of them.</p> <p>We're small, our budget is small and Imacs and macbooks fit better, for us. Heck our kids use our machines for school work when I'm between jobs.</p> <p>Apple abandons older hardware every few years.</p> <p>I got Leopard and Aperture to run on an Imac g5 but both those software packages had to be hacked to install them as both said the machine wasn't supported. Snow leopard will not support power pc macs in any way shape or form, which means neither will <strong>any </strong>mac software made for 64 bit snow leopard.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61169 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:33:12 +0000 robGRAUERT 61169@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>D0n,</p> <p>Your experience doesn't appear to include the use of a Mac Pro. Had you bought a Mac Pro, you would realize that once you buy an I/O card, a RAID, and some RAM, you won't have to upgrade anything for a VERY long time. </p> <p>The Mac Pro is a better choice for video because it offers more options for proper monitoring of your video (you should never be juding your image by what you see on a computer screen), and you have many more options for storage, which are also better options depending on what format of video you're working with. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61168 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:38:48 +0000 Don 61168@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I can also switch machines if one is busy or broken, no down time..... time is money.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61167 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:34:47 +0000 Don 61167@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I won't hazard a guess what would be best for you.</p> <p>I would like to point out something I've observed about Apple.</p> <p>Having bought an early emac that came with os9 classic and the first version of osx, then an Imac g5, then two intel macbooks...</p> <p>here is what I believe is the best decision for me:</p> <p>The imac.</p> <p>and here is why:</p> <p>an upgradable tower works in the pc world (not factoring in the difficulties with mixing and matching various components with varying success) is reasonably priced.... big market, lot's of venders...</p> <p>Apple on the other hand has a track record of releasing new hardware, then software to utilize the hardware, leaving legacy systems behind. There are always compromises and limited choices when upgrading. That translates into higher pricing.</p> <p>it is easier and safer (in terms of hardware/software integration) to just buy a new system every few years than to try and get the latest technology to work with legacy systems.</p> <p>Here's my experience:</p> <p>Emac - shooting professional photos, using j-peg and 6 mp d-slrs ran fine. Too slow to run aperture and shoot RAW. Edited dv footage but slow rendering for dvd.</p> <p>Imac g5 worked fine with aperture and cs2, hdv and dv ran fine. Too slow for avchd... shooting 14 mp RAW files with D-slr's</p> <p>macbooks  fast enough for avchd (and once imported the g5 can edit) but the latest aperture 2 runs slower.</p> <p>Now knowing how fast my photography and video cameras are being upgraded and looking to the future with 3D, and anticipating red styled RAW HD footage, and 18-22 mp d-slr's I'm guessing the next gen Mac will run circles around the current ones, and since you'd get ALL the latest OSX benefits, Latest connectivity (ie usb3, Sata, wi-fi etc..) I'm betting that upgrading the mac pro will wind up costing almost as much money as the next gen Imac.</p> <p>For a small business like mine, I'd rather go the easier route and get a new machine with warranty.</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61165 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:16:26 +0000 robGRAUERT 61165@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>You're better off with the Mac Pro</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61159 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:53:38 +0000 NewMacEditor 61159@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Derek, Thank you.</p> <p>Does that mean that for the timebeing you see the systems as fairly equal?</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61157 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:30:20 +0000 Derek Sine 61157@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>If you plan to upgrade the tower is the way to go, if you don't, go iMac. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/recent-macpro-versus-new-imac#post-61152 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:08:06 +0000 NewMacEditor 61152@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I could use some quick help.  I work on Mac Pro's at my job and have been looking for a relatively affordable option to edit at home.  I have the chance to purchase a 6-8 month old Mac Pro (without monitor) with a 2.93 Xeon Quad for the same price (about $2400) as a new iMac 27" with an i7 quad.  The 'used' machine also has four hard drives, 4GB RAM and Apple Care warranty.  Which system would you suggest?</p> <p>2 - 1.5 tb hard drives 2 - 500 gig hard drives all Seagate barracudas. all new within the last few months <br />4 gig ram </p> <p>* Quad-core (standard configuration) <br />o One 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 “Nehalem” processor <br />o 8MB of fully shared L3 cache per processor <br />o Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.06GHz <br />o Hyper-Threading technology for up to 8 virtual cores <br />* Advanced Intel microarchitecture <br />o Integrated memory controller <br />o 128-bit SSE4 SIMD engine <br />o 64-bit data paths and registers </p> <p>vs.</p> <p>new 27" iMac with upgraded processor, apple care</p> <p>Thank you</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/mac-pro-specs#post-59363 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:58:30 +0000 robGRAUERT 59363@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>janetk,</p> <p>8GB of RAM will most likely be pleanty for you. </p> <p>As for hard drives, important rule is to NOT load any media on to the system drive (on a new mac you will see it on the desktop named 'Macintosh HD'). Only the operating system and software should be loaded to this drive. </p> <p>I recommend purchasing 2 G-Technology G-RAIDs (if you don't have a large budget). Use one for your media storage while you work in FCP, and use the other as your media archive incase your other G-RAID fails. </p> <p>If your budget allows for it, purchase a RAID5 set up. I recommend G-Technology's G-Speed eS or any CalDigit Products. RAID5 has protection against a hard drive failure, but it's still a good idea to archive your media onto something else. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/mac-pro-specs#post-59362 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:39:54 +0000 janetk 59362@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I am looking at buying a MAC PRO to make videos with a youth afterschool program. Have Final Cut Pro already, but want to know what I should buy and RAM, Hardrive Bays etc. We want to make shorts that can be entered into competition. JanetK</p>