Apple Mac Pro (8-Core)

Pros: Runs Mac OSX, Windows XP, and Windows Vista! (32 or 64 bit)!

Cons: When placed next to comparable PC's, I can't really think of any...

Summary: We own 4 Dell workstations that run vista 64, and so far the Mac Pro running the same version of Vista outperforms all of the Dells. I am an old school Windows guy, but today I have decided to replace all of our future Dells with MacPro's. Why not buy a PC that runs multiple OSes and cost less than the Dell workstations which cost up to 8k a piece and only run one popular OS.(Iknow the Dell can run linux, but the majority of the world uses some flavor of Windows.)

This machine is a true work of art, it is quiet, powerful, and simple to service. Adding Hard drives is so easy it literally takes less than a munite per drive. Adding Ram is also very simple, definitely no screw driver or small hands necessary. The MacPro also has a nice assortment of ports including DUAL lans and optical audio ports. It also comes with dual Firewire 800 ports and the standard usb 2 and firewire 400. Bluetooth 2.0 works on both OSes very reliably.

We run Solidworks for CAD/CAM modeling which is a very processor intensive program. On average we have found that our render times have been cut in half.

This is the low end MacPro we're talking about here. We took it home for $3194.00, and it is outperforming a Dell workstation we purchased 2 months ago and cost $5,000 more! $8,236.00 to be exact.

For 5k more I can put a RAID card and some extra hard drives and still not be up to the price of the Dell.

The dirver set included with Leopard (BOOTCAMP) is amazingly smooth. This is no emulation program. This is a full featured driver set wich lets windows wether it be XP or Vista 32 or 64 run natively and use the full power of the hardware.

I am thoroughly impressed.

As for cons people usually mention price, but as you've read previously, there is no comparison for the product that Apple delivers.

Great Job Apple.