Quick question about MacPro..

[James Brill]

I went to a local Mac shop to get my mac pro and although I was able to get the student discount there, they only have a few configurations in stock. For example I bought mine pre 2008 and I wanted the dual 3.0 processors but not the quads. If I wanted these chips I had to get the ATI video card as well as an extra 512 of ram since that's the only configuration they had those chips in. They will of course have the base model there as well.

[Bill Pryor]

You can save some money by getting the extra RAM, as mentioned earlier, from someplace other than the Mac store. Check MacWarehouse on line or others. The Apple store both in person and on line is overpriced on that.

Other than that, your purchase looks good. You can buy a 500 gig drive at any Microcenter store for about $170 (something else you shouldn't get at an Apple store--hard drives).

As far as the Apple Cinema Display monitor...you can get cheaper ones, but I love my 23" Apple Cinema Display. I think it was worth the money.

[Shaun Roemich]

I've used both the Apple Cinema displays as well as non-Apple monitors. I love the Apple branded ones but not at that dollar figure. If you are on a budget like it seems, save the money and buy a Samsung or an LG (or two) and buy the Apple displays when the next iteration comes along (and HOPEFULLY you have more disposable cash).

[Terry Lee]

Hey everyone! Thanks alot for your comments and insight on the subject.

Good news! My campus does infact have a discount store. I will be going there tomorrow to get some information.

The good thing about getting a different monitor would be that in the future, once I have more money, I can buy the apple monitor and then have dual monitors.

After everyone's comments, I think I will just get 2GB of ram, 320GB HD (because I can get a 500GB way cheaper than what they are offering and just use the 320 for operating system and program use).

This with the university discount should put me well under 3 grand.

[Loren Simons]

yepp, sounds like it would be well under 3 grand. I used my CSUN discount (university) and the shipping was free, and it was 44 bucks for 2 day shipping so i said what the hell and got it. The educational store on the apple site is great, specially when there is one configured just to your college.

[Terry Lee]

So I went to the store on campus today and saw the price of their bare minimum Mac Pro system with 200GB HD space, 2GB RAM and standard everything else. Their price was $1700. THAT is good news. I'm not sure if that included a monitor or anything. Regardless, That is an awesome price. I wonder if they'll stick FCS 2 on there for me for a discounted price as well...the $1300 price is looking kinda steep. I suppose I could just get express for now..its only $87 with the university discount.

Which reminds me...What all is included with Final cut studio 2? I honestly don't know..I'll have to get on the site and read up on it perhaps.

[Loren Simons]

Final cut studio 2 with a student discount is 600 bucks
it includes
Motion
DVD Studio
Final Cut Pro
Soundtrack Studio
Compressor
Color
and uhmm i think that is it... just off the top of my head and im probably forgetting something

[Terry Lee]

Thank you so much! You've helped me out tremendously!

Btw, do you happen to know of any training videos for FCS 2? I know they make them for Vegas but I've not seen any for FCS2..

[Bill Pryor]

I've bought training programs from here before:
http://www.zoom-in.com/products/apple
I thought they were pretty good.

[Terry Lee]

Awesome, Thanks alot Bill. Those look to be exactly what I am looking for.

[Winfried Dobbe]

Consider buying the dual CPU (8 core) version. It's quite expensive to buy the second CPU + heat sink later.

[Shaun Roemich]

One caveat on buying the student edition of FCS2: You are out of the upgrade path if you do so. Apple has a VERY generous upgrade path historically (I upgraded my FCP1.25 disc to FCS2 for $800CDN instead of $1600 to buy the whole thing new), especially when compared to Adobe. If you suspect you will someday want to upgrade when you start earning money, the cash spent ton the student version is a less attractive buy in the LONG run.

[Jim Cancil]

....not a Pro user, but I've loaded three iMac with 'non-Apple' ram. I usually go here first: Computer RAM | Laptop Memory | Memory Card | Secure Digital | Compact Flash | Memory Stick |

Jim

[Terry Lee]

Originally Posted by Jim Cancil

....not a Pro user, but I've loaded three iMac with 'non-Apple' ram. I usually go here first: Computer RAM | Laptop Memory | Memory Card | Secure Digital | Compact Flash | Memory Stick |

Jim

Hey Jim, thanks for the link. I normally go to NewEgg or Tigerdirect to look up prices on computer parts. Is there a certain Timing or cas latency I should be looking for to be compatable with the motherboard and Apple RAM I will be mixing this with?

I found what seams to be a good deal for RAM on Newegg

Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

[Terry Lee]

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

One caveat on buying the student edition of FCS2: You are out of the upgrade path if you do so. Apple has a VERY generous upgrade path historically (I upgraded my FCP1.25 disc to FCS2 for $800CDN instead of $1600 to buy the whole thing new), especially when compared to Adobe. If you suspect you will someday want to upgrade when you start earning money, the cash spent ton the student version is a less attractive buy in the LONG run.

Hey Shaun...wow that is something to consider isn't it...

I think my decision for now is to go with the student discount FCS2 for now. Because lets say I don't make money doing this and I absolutely fail. I wouldn't have paid an extra 600 bucks that I'll never get back if I had been successful.. that make sense? If I start making money doing this, then the program will pay for itself in the long run.