[Hidden-tech] Advice on used Mac buying

Robert Heller heller at deepsoft.com
Thu May 15 11:43:18 EDT 2014


At Thu, 15 May 2014 09:15:04 -0400 Rob Laporte <rob at 2disc.com> wrote:

> 
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> 
>    ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I attended an interesting talk at Harvard last summer that showed that from
> 2003 to 2012, personal computer speeds increased little, something like 10%
> if I recall right. It has to do with how multiple CPUs (dual and quad) work
> on most tasks that aren¹t CPU intensive like most tasks are in all but
> extreme statistics software and the like. I have found that keeping an older
> Mac well tuned makes it perform about as well as a newer one that, like all
> Macs and PCs, get slowed by various software and other conditions over time
> if they are not tuned. The solid state flash drives really do add speed, but
> they can be added to older Macs.

Right.  At this point transistor size (which determines base processor cycle 
time) is about as small as can be.  For most things done on personal computer, 
having multiple cores or even 64-bit processors actually does little to 
increase perceived speed.  Multiple cores and/or 64-bit processors are much 
more useful in servers and/or computationally intensive processing.  The only 
'home' users that would see much improvement with multiple cores or 64-bit 
processors would be gamers.

> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Rob Laporte
> President and CEO
> DISC, Inc. - "Making Web Sites Make Money"
> 413-584-6500
> Fax ­ 413-553-0745
> Rob at 2disc.com 
> www.2disc.com 
> 
> Note: Increasingly, ISPs, companies and individuals use spam blocking
> systems that block legitimate email too. Important emails should be followed
> up with a phone call if no reply happens within an expected span of time.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: Annamarie Pluhar <annamarie at pluharconsulting.com>
> Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 08:38:05 -0400
> To: Hidden-Tech Listserv <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
> Subject: [Hidden-tech] Advice on used Mac buying
> 
>    ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
> ** If you did, we all thank you. Hi all, I think that some of you on this
> list might have some useful help for me. I offered to help my nephew find a
> mac to replace his 7 year-old MacBook Pro.  He's got a limited budget -
> about $700. He's making a film, in fact the only thing he really does with a
> computer is make films. He has Final Cut Pro 7 and wants to stick with it. I
> found the specs for that software (below).  Obviously we're looking at used
> machines with older operating systems. I'm thinking he'd get a whole lot
> more out of a iMac than a Macbook Pro  - but I could be wrong. He doesn't
> have a keyboard, mouse or monitor.  He can't have a mini as they have the
> wrong graphics processor at least that's what I'm understanding. He's also
> dealing with temporary housing (like so many kids these days) so his first
> thought was a laptop. Comments? Thoughts? Thanks for all help. Specs: Mac
> computer with an Intel processor  € 1GB of RAM (2GB of RAM recommended when
> working with compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources; 4GB of RAM
> recommended when working with uncompressed HD sources)  € ATI or NVIDIA
> graphics processor. Integrated Intel graphics processors are not supported
> except the Intel HD Graphics 3000.  € 128MB of VRAM  € Display with
> 1280-by-800 resolution or higher  € Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later  € QuickTime
> 7.6 or later  € DVD drive for installation  € For burning Blu-ray discs: a
> Blu-ray recorder Annamarie Pluhar Pluhar Consulting
> http://www.pluharconsulting.com 802.451.1941 802.579.5975 (cell)
> _______________________________________________ Hidden-discuss mailing list
> - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion list.
> If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members   page
> on the Hidden Tech Web site. http://www.hidden-tech.net/members
> 
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net
> Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> 
> You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion list.
> If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members   
> page on the Hidden Tech Web site.
> http://www.hidden-tech.net/members
> 
>                                                          

-- 
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller at deepsoft.com
Deepwoods Software        -- http://www.deepsoft.com/
()  ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
/\  www.asciiribbon.org   -- against proprietary attachments


                                                  


Google

More information about the Hidden-discuss mailing list