When to buy a new Mac?

[Mark Petereit]

Buy a used 8-core Mac Pro. You’ll be light-years happier than the system you’re using now, you won’t have the headaches that invariably come with first-generation hardware, and you’ll save LOTS of $$$. For corporate video editing, you’re probably not going to get any significant advantage with the new 12-core machines over the previous generation 8-cores, being that Final Cut can’t use all those extra cores.

[Chris Rowe]

Good advice, thanks. I was kinda thinking of having ProMax set the whole thing up. I’d rather pay a bit more and have it working and tested than make some small mistake that costs me time. I’m lucky enough to have pretty consistent work and can’t really be down.

I guess if i bought used I could get Jerry’s new DVD and set it up myself. Not sure if that will save too much if I have to spend a few days fooling around with it. Maybe?

Best regards,
Chris

[Mark Petereit]

I purchased and set up our 8-core system before I had ANY experience with Final Cut and never had a problem. Not that tough. And the design of the case makes it ridiculously easy to swap drives/boards and add memory.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Chris Rowe] “Good advice, thanks. I was kinda thinking of having ProMax set the whole thing up. I’d rather pay a bit more and have it working and tested than make some small mistake that costs me time. I’m lucky enough to have pretty consistent work and can’t really be down.”

Having a VAR set up is a system is generally a great idea, especially if you have limited knowledge or expertise with FCP and systems in general. I still lean on my VAR when I make all my purchases and system configs as he installs hundreds of them and generally has some great advice from lessons learned in the field.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” featuring Sigourney Weaver coming soon.

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[Chris Rowe]

I tend to agree with you Walter.
I have a bit of experience with FCP and the system, but it just comes down to economics. I’d rather edit than fool around researching the exact proper way to set it all up with my unique configuration. I think I would make more editing than it would cost to set up with a VAR. Especially if I choose a new system.

So how about my original question? Do I wait and be safe (knowing that I’m limping along now and have been for a year or more) or do I jump on it too soon for comfort and take a chance that Apple did it right?

Chris

[Michael Sacci]

Now is the time to buy. MacPro just got refreshed so you can get the latest and greatest if you want to spend the bucks. If you hold on to a system for a while (sounds like you do) it makes more sense to get the most up-to-date system when you make the move. The new systems should be shipping in a few weeks.

But if you want to save you can often find new but last gen models at a discount since newer normally brings faster for the same selling point as the old models.

Money spent on getting a system setup correctly is always money well spent.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Chris Rowe] ”
So how about my original question? Do I wait and be safe (knowing that I’m limping along now and have been for a year or more) or do I jump on it too soon for comfort and take a chance that Apple did it right?”

I always say buy the fastest Mac you can afford. Know that if you don’t buy this Mac Pro now, it will be about a year probably before you see another bump in them. So if you’re skittish about them, then pick up one of the 2.93 Octo Cores that were the fastest machines until last week.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” featuring Sigourney Weaver coming soon.

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[Mark Petereit]

If Apple should introduce a fully 64bit, multi-core capable version of Final Cut, then you’ll be patting yourself on the back for getting the 12-core. But until then, I just don’t see the advantage in losing all those extra Benjamins for a machine that will only be slightly faster in real-world use.

[Mark Suszko]

Don’t obscess about being a first-day buyer. The real point, the ONLY point, really, is:

If I buy today and use today, will this do what I need, make me some money, and thus pay itself off, before I need another upgrade?

Really, it has been about 20 years since I saw a movie or TV show run credits that laid out the specific stats of their system. Nobody cares about the means, only the results. Bottom line, does it cut the footage well and cost-effectively? Does it have the features you specifically need? Does it make the shop more money than it costs to get? Then GET it TODAY, and start paying it off with more productive work.

Sitting around all the time like Hamlet, wringing your hands about obsolescence, isn’t getting the job done. I like the advice to buy a used octocore; that’s my current ride and I’m very happy with it. I really don’t care that the other two guys in my shop are going to leapfrog my system when they get upgrades, because the level of work we do and will forseeably do, doesn’t make these octos break a sweat. A 12-core that can’t put the extra cores to work for me somehow, doesn’t justify the expense and risk of a new system yet, in our case. I planned a maxed-out system when I first spec’ed mine, knowing it might be a while before the funding fairy returns to these parts, SO I spec’d a system designed to stay relevant and capable for at least four years, and it will make that requirement, easy. Then we’ll hold on to it until it makes the most sense to upgrade, since it will already be fully paid-for.

Then again, I drive a 10-year-old car to work every day. The fact it is a Dodge and not a Maybach has little effect on my morning commute time.

[Chris Rowe]

Thanks for the response Mark.

I should have explained it better in my original post, so my apologies. I could care less that my new mac will be obsolete and there will someday be a better machine. That is not part of my concern.

What I was asking about is this:
is it too soon to buy one of the brand new Macs (which I am leaning towards with the VAR and all)? This would make me the guinea pig. I guess I’m just trying to avoid a major Achilles Heel on an unproven machine.

Odds are it will cut video just fine.

Chris