First impression of the new Mac Pro
I just finished setting up the machine and will post a little more shortly but I was really impressed with how easy it is to set up and configure the Mac Pro. I needed to add two additional drives and 10GB of extra memory (now totaling 12GB). Having come from the Windows world where I manually built my previous machines the construction and design for the Mac Pro is just excellent. I'll put it into perspective:
Time to install an additional hard drive: less than one minute
Time to install 10 GB of memory (6 DIMMs): less than two minutes
Time to partition and format 2TB of disk space: less than one minute (total)
I grabbed my little Canon SD1100 and shot a really quick video on how to install an additional hard drive in a Mac Pro so you get an idea of how incredibly simple this is:
The machine that I pulled out of the carton looked brand new. I could not detect anything wrong with it at all. The only slight thing I found was a tiny little nick on the edge of the keyboard; and that was because I was looking really closely for any kind of damage at all.
The Mac Pro is extremely quiet - I really can't hear it at all below the desk.
I've already decided that the Mighty Mouse has to go - the Logitech Mx510, one of which I also use on my MacBook, is already attached. I'm going to give the keyboard a little time, though coming from a large Microsoft ergonomic keyboard this may take some getting used to. I may be shopping around for a decent ergonomic keyboard replacement soon.
The other item on my shopping list will be a decent web cam so that I can do video chats and ideally use the microphone for dubbing over videos. I'll throw in another post as soon as I have my key software loaded on the machine but so far so good!
I'll also have some pictures for the next post.
Comments
Here is a link to the specific machine I bought.
Now the Matias Tactile Pro is $150, but for a professional it may be worth it. I cannot say from experience. They also have other, less expensive models.
MacAlly also makes some good Mac specific keyboards, at more reasonable prices. http://macally.com/ I have been happy with their products.
For 10 years now, Apple's keyboards have been the weakest part of their systems. That new silver Apple keyboard is a toy!
Note: I have no interest in companies mentioned, just interest as a user.
At work I am using the Mac flat aluminum keyboard. Which is not nearly as bad to type on as I thought it would be. I still think I like the Microsoft keyboard better.
As to a webcam... Good luck! I have been looking and looking and just haven't really found any decent webcams. At least not as good as the one that comes with my MacBook. I really don't understand why Apple stopped selling the iSight.
I have been watching eBay for an iSight, but the price is just a little too steep for me. I don't want to pay more than $90 for one. At least not for one that is only the camera and a Firewire cable.
The iSight is great since it has "auto-focus". This means I could use it with Delicious Library to scan barcodes in and still use it as a normal webcam without having to adjust the focus each time.
If you do find a webcam that you like, please post about it here so that I can check it out.
Thanks and enjoy your new (and very heavy ;) ) toy!
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com
@G7Whatever: Hmmm - hadn't thought of that. I do have a Sony based HD camera that has firewire. I'll see if that will work. What I think I want is something that simply hangs right on the edge of my monitors though.