Built a Mac Pro Online

[D76]

I went to the online Apple store Canada, and tricked out a Mac Pro to just the way I like 'em.

The price came to $20,508. But just in time, I remembered I have to keep my Wind Tunnel 'cause if I bought a new Mac, I'd have to shell out to update Quark.

Whew. That was close.

[kelly]

You must have tried 16 GBs of Apple RAM.

[bil207]

QUOTE

The price came to $20,508.

Is that less than a similarly equipped Dell?    

[D76]

It was with the full load of Apple RAM. I read it's better, so it must be true.

Didn't try the Dell. I don't like like its cupholder. Sometimes it flies back into the machine before I can grab my coffee.

[swhitset]

You must have really tried hard  when I did it it only came to  a little over $17000.00.  

Steve

[Parker]

QUOTE

You must have tried 16 GBs of Apple RAM

apple ram is the same really as any other ram
if you want ram, try newegg

[Paddy]

Ah yes, Steve, but did you try the Apple Store in CANADA? Where everything still costs more, even though the dollar isn't all that different any more?    I found that a little annoying this summer - the only place where there seemed to be any real acknowledgment of the strength of the Canadian dollar was the at the toll bridge in Gananoque - it said "US $2, CDN $2.20" !! For ages it has been $2 US and $3 CDN.

Of course, the GST and PST (depending on where you live) adds another 14% or so to the bill as well.

The RAM is a real killer - let's hope it gets substantially cheaper as production ramps up and it becomes more common. BTW - OWC is advertising that they have the RAM for the new Mac Pros and that it meets Apple's spec (they go into some detail talking about it in the emails they send) and it's supposedly cheaper. Yeah...by $5 on the 4GB set. It does get cheaper for the larger sets of RAM, but yikes that stuff is expensive!! Data Memory is offering a much better deal ($756 for the matched set of  4GB, vs Apple's and OWC's $1,100)

Apple also overcharges for the hard drives - you can get a 500GB SATA 7200 RPM drive for around $200 at NewEgg, all with 3 year warranties. ($269 for the Seagate that is my fave - 5 year warranty) Why would anyone spend $400 for the same thing, especially as they've made them so ridiculously easy to install??? Strange, very strange.

I didn't even manage to get the bill up to $17K at the US store, and I added everything - including the monster monitor.

And of course, I couldn't resist - I took the "Dell challenge" and set out to configure a top of the line Quad 3GHz Xeon Dell. Had to leave out some things on the Mac to make it equal - they don't offer 30" flat panel monitors, or Bluetooth or wireless. So, for just the tricked out Mac, with the stock 1GB of RAM.: $6,698

The almost identical Dell (added Photoshop Elements in an attempt to equal the free software available with the Mac): $8,201

Same 1 GB of 667MHz RAM, same 4X500 GB hard drives, same top of the line graphics card. Dell has one Superdrive and one combo drive, since they don't seem to offer two Superdrives. The Dell comes with a floppy drive - no credit for deleting it.  

Think I've gotten as close as I can - if you start adding RAM, Apple charges more for theirs, so things get a bit lopsided (by about 10% if you go all the way to 16GB)

Interesting, no??

[D76]

It hit 20 grand because I treated myself to an extra 33-inch monitor, having saved a buncha cash I haven't got for a computer anyway, but who cares, since its just electrons, by not getting a Dell with its lousy cup holder and 35 anti-malware subscriptions.

Hard to believe you can still buy floppies. Way back when, Norton or Aladdin or whoever it was that made RAM Doubler bundled a program that would allow you to make quasi-partitions using the software instead of the real way.

I used to partition floppies just for laughs. With a password, they were way better than secret decoder rings.

[kps]

Yeah, Apple gives itself a nice buffer when it comes to the exchange rate.

So don't get mad at me for getting a Dell Inspiron instead of a  MacBook Pro and BootCamp to run Windas XP. The dualcore Dell was $1500 Canukistany dollars with MSOffice, including all taxes and delivered...vs $2500 for the MBPro without Windows XP, taxes or MSOffice.

Yes, I know it's a Dull running Windblows, but I need the darn thang.  

[Parker]

i would get the smallest hard drive possible, then buy a bigger one on newegg and reinstall the os on the larger one

and same with ram... get the least amount of ram and just jack it up with cheap ram
heck it all works the same

QUOTE

let's hope it gets substantially cheaper as production ramps up and it becomes more common.

not likely to happen

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

get the least amount of ram and just jack it up with cheap ram
heck it all works the same

Technically, the RAM works the same. However, be aware that the Mac Pro uses 'risers' that contribute to the cooling of the RAM. Apple has been getting more and more picky about the quality of RAM required in its machines over the last few years. The Pro is no exception. Without the 'risers' heat is not dissipated efficiently, fans noise becomes higher and effective buss speeds may actually slow to compensate for data retransmissions or flat out application crashes. The nickle you save may be lost many times over with corrupted data/drives/wasted time.

Bottom line: make sure the RAM is guaranteed to work in the Mac Pro. Period.

[Paddy]

Parker, I hate to disagree, but experience has shown that as a type of RAM becomes more commonly used AND produced in greater quantities, it does become cheaper. This RAM is currently pretty much "top of the line" - but today's top-of-the-line is often tomorrow's standard issue.

The RAM that meets Apple's specs is not as expensive as the RAM that not only meets Apple's specs AND comes with the heat sinks that reduce the fan noise and may also increase the performance of the RAM (depending on the conditions). Right now, there are only a few third party RAM outlets offering the RAM complete with heat sink; OWC and Trans International. (Third-party Apple distributors like MacMall are also supplying it, but their prices are higher) The heat sinks are just clipped on; see TransInternational page and one can get third party heat-sinks. Whether they're up to Apple's specs, I don't know. They start at $1.99 ea.

News flash: Crucial is also now offering compatible RAM with heatsinks and already the prices are dropping. Crucial is not what I'd consider a cheap vendor...but already they're cheaper than OWC and TransInternational.