I'm not highly technical so this isn't a major review or anything, just the basic consumer viewpoint of the buying experience and the computer itself.

Since I have two laptops and an iMac already, I wanted a real desktop computer because I like to put in a new drive or a new video card now and then. I also have a 24" monitor so I really didn't want another iMac. Yes, it was time to move up to the big leagues with the famous Mac Pro workstation.

Since my other Macs have lasted a long time without any problems associated with them, I wanted a desktop that I wouldn't outgrow in a year or two so I went with the higher end 8-Core with "Two 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 'Nehalem' processors" and 6GB of DDR3 memory.

One thing that I noticed right away was that the Mac Pro has only three USB slots in the back and two on the front. That's kind of meager in my opinion. It should have more like 6 but I needed a new USB hub anyway so it's no big deal.

I basically just set the Mac Pro up where the windows box was, hooked up the display and plugged in the keyboard. I have a very good wireless mouse and plugged its receiver in to one of the USB ports on the front but a screen came up that seemed to suggest it was expecting the mouse that came with the Mac Pro. Sooooo, this is when I found out that the cord for the mouse is really short. It wouldn't reach very far. It comes with an extension but come on Apple, make the mouse's cord longer ok? Make it really long so it can reach from anywhere. Do it for me, pretty please? LOL

The computer booted up perfectly and this is a brand new computer so I didn't have to transfer anything. Once it was up I unplugged the corded mouse, plugged in the wireless mouse receiver and again, it worked perfectly.

The keyboard is very low profile. It's thin and small and elegant and it was a bit odd at first but I got really fond of it right away.

One thing that threw me at first was that the optical drive had no button next to it. I had to check the manual to make sure of the obvious but hitting the eject button on the keyboard is the only way that the manual says to open it. That was pretty slick from a visual standpoint of the computer itself (it looks like a big silver monolith) but seems a bit off to me. I miss that second option to hit the button next to the drive itself but that's nitpicking.

The video card is a nice Nvidia GeForce card. Not top of the line but it handles World of Warcraft easily. Even the, shall we say, high graphics situations are flawless, smooth and seamless. The hard disk seems rather small (640 GB) but there is so much space in the box for expansion that I doubt that disk space will be an issue anytime soon.

Overall, this was a very satisfying experience from your basic computer user's point of view. It took Apple two days from the time I issued the order to get it to my doorstep. The computer started right up and there were zero problems. Unlike the big PC makers, Apple includes the disks with the computer in the odd possibility that you may actually need to do so someday. Ironic that the one that you don't need to worry about having recovery disks for is the one who provides it but I digress.

There's no question that this is a high-end computer that the "cost conscious" consumer would bypass in favor of something cheap but it's going to last a very long time and considering that the guts of the computer are pretty much state of the art, should be able to run just about anything thrown at it for the next few years.

It took me, what, since 2006 to really wean myself off of the windows experience and considering we still use it at work, I'll probably have to have a windows box somewhere around the house. However, I'm somehow very comfortable with the fact that I'm not a microsoft stockholder.

The short cord on the Mac mouse is due to the fact that they are usually plugged into the keyboard not the front or rear of the computer itself.

There has not been an Optical Drive eject button on a Mac tower since the G4 models. Eject key or "Command + E" (after highlighting disc on desktop) is all you'll need.

Extension USB cord was designed for the keyboard (as Brian pointed out) as the mouse was designed to plug into the keyboard.

If you find the need for windows on your Mac... may I suggest Boot Camp for full speed? Just make sure you run all updates and drivers. And don't forget the anti-virus software if you will be connecting to the internet via windows

quote:

Originally posted by KC:
...it's going to last a very long time and considering that the guts of the computer are pretty much state of the art, should be able to run just about anything thrown at it for the next few years...

More than a few. Although it's time for an upgrade (with all the HD audio and video editing going on nowadays), my G4 500MHz (with processor, drive, and graphics upgrades) has been cruisin' along for over 10 years. I really don't think I could let it go; it was my first Mac.

Congrats, KC!!!