questions regarding imac and mac-pro

[rookie1010]

hello

i was contemplating buying a mac and was not sure if i shoud go for an imac or a mac-pro. i did a bit of research and have the following questions, would appreciate any answers

what is the antivirus an firewall provided with the macs?
what is the max size of hard drive on the imac and can i have 2 hard drives on an imac
if the hard drive on the imac goes, can i replace it easily or do i need to go the apple store
i read on wiki that the imac is about to undero a refresh, is it true for the mac-pro as well?
would it be possible to install ubuntu on an imac and a mac-pro?
does both the imac and mac-pro have dual monitor screen

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
hello

i was contemplating buying a mac and was not sure if i shoud go for an imac or a mac-pro. i did a bit of research and have the following questions, would appreciate any answers

what is the antivirus an firewall provided with the macs?

I don't know of any antivirus that comes pre-installed...aside from the inherent lack of targetness of the OSX operating system. 3rd party products exist (symantec for example).

info about the firewall.

what is the max size of hard drive on the imac and can i have 2 hard drives on an imac
if the hard drive on the imac goes, can i replace it easily or do i need to go the apple store

I imagine you can install up to whatever the current largest HDD size is (1.5TB seagates). The store lets you configure up to 1TB HDDs. Imacs take one internal HDD, you can add more via external USBs.

The MacPro is jusy like any other tower, so you can add internal HDDs pretty easily.

Here is a guide for upgrading the HDDs on the imac. It looks ridculously more complicated than it ought to be. I suggest just configuring with the largest HDD possible and using external USBs for expansion if needed. Perhaps the a future refresh will make it easier.

In the case of failure, I do suggest buying the AppleCare warranty.

i read on wiki that the imac is about to undero a refresh, is it true for the mac-pro as well?

mac rumours agrees that both are due for updates.

would it be possible to install ubuntu on an imac and a mac-pro?

yes

does both the imac and mac-pro have dual monitor screen

Mac Pro definitely supports dual displays. The imac seems to as well:

# Support for external display in extended desktop mode

* Digital resolutions up to 1920 by 1200 pixels
* Analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels

# Support for external display in video mirroring mode

 

[Injury]

Nice response Gooberlx2! :thumbsup:

The only two things I have to add are:

- iMacs DEFINITELY support dual displays, but you will probably have to pick up an adapter for whatever style port they are using on this refresh (~$30?)

- If you're satisfied with what is currently being offered then sitting around waiting for a refresh may be an endless desire. Considering the time of the year, unless a refresh on either comes in the next couple weeks, we likely won't see one until March or so. Typically companies don't refresh products once the holiday shopping season has started or immediately after Christmas as it would be cause for a lot of returns and bitter feelings. Truth be told, considering the iPhone fiasco I wouldn't put it past apple, though. The bottom line is that if you want it now, go ahead and get it. I can't imagine anything of a major overhaul on the iMacs and I wouldn't expect much but a little boost in specs on the Mac Pros. Do your homework on them if you're really determined to get the best, but don't hold out if you need it soon.

 

[umrigar]

I use a 20" aluminum iMac 2.4 GHz at work. It's connected via adapter to a 24" Dell LCD. 1680x1050 Mac, 1920x1200 Dell.
Running Windows XP via VMWare, and 10.5.4. We do a fair amount of Active Directory work and some of our internal sites run better on IE.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Injury
Nice response Gooberlx2! :thumbsup:

The only two things I have to add are:

- iMacs DEFINITELY support dual displays, but you will probably have to pick up an adapter for whatever style port they are using on this refresh (~$30?)

- If you're satisfied with what is currently being offered then sitting around waiting for a refresh may be an endless desire. Considering the time of the year, unless a refresh on either comes in the next couple weeks, we likely won't see one until March or so. Typically companies don't refresh products once the holiday shopping season has started or immediately after Christmas as it would be cause for a lot of returns and bitter feelings. Truth be told, considering the iPhone fiasco I wouldn't put it past apple, though. The bottom line is that if you want it now, go ahead and get it. I can't imagine anything of a major overhaul on the iMacs and I wouldn't expect much but a little boost in specs on the Mac Pros. Do your homework on them if you're really determined to get the best, but don't hold out if you need it soon.

Here is what I see for the refresh on the iMacs.
Mini-Displayport (absolutely)

Firewire (maybe on the 20", definitely on the 24")

Newer Core 2 Duos (with DDR3 almost definitely)

New nVidia Chipset (perhaps the same deal as the MacBook/Pros 20" low gets a 9400m, 20" high gets the 9400m+9600m and 24" can be configured with a 9800m (if they exist))

LED backlit screens (highly likely in the 24", can't evaluate on the 20" other than that Apple has said that it will be entirely LED backlit by the end of the year)

Design... almost no change except perhaps to lose the black plastic back, replaced by an aluminum one. Imagine the bottom of the new MacBook/Pro, or the back of the new 24" LED display

And that's it, that is all I see in the refresh. Especially as compared to the MacBook refresh, not much of a change at all.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for all the replies,

is the apple remote not applicable to the mac-pro?

what is a mini display port?

what is an apple refurbished deal?

i have got data on internal PATA drives, need to transfer them, do you think the apple store would help me with that

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

thanks for the link for the upgrade, it does not appear to be my cup of tea. so the imac can only support a single hard drive, correct? i think i will go down the path of configring it to to 500 GB,
i think i will use external usb's for expansion
i guess replacing ram modues does not void the warranty? how much does a typical warranty cost?

can i connect any speaker system to the imac through the audio jack?

i checked the wiki entry for the Apple Digital Connnector, it appears that there is a power limit to the ADC of 100 watts,
does this mean that the ADC provides not only the signal but also power to the second display? will this support dual screen in the sense that i can have screen 1 showing 1 application, and screen 2 showing a second application? i guess there are seperate ADC connectors for DVI and VGA?

umrigar, what do you mean by 10.5.4?

if there are new macs due, do you think apple will reduce prices of the old macs, have the prices of the existing macs reduced in price since they were released
as per the rumour, it seems that the refresh is not a major one, just an increase of the fsb, mini display port and possible faster firewire rate.

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: rookie1010

what is a mini display port?

It's a new display output that Apple is apparently a big proponent of now. It is a better technology from what I've read, but it's still up in the air whether all the other computer manufacturer's will jump on board with it. I think Dell is the only other player that makes a DisplayPort monitor.

what is an apple refurbished deal?

Apple has a refurb section on their store where you can usually get nice discounts on their products. They carry a year warranty just like the new ones, but you don't get the box.

i have got data on internal PATA drives, need to transfer them, do you think the apple store would help me with that

They're supposed to, or at least that's what I've been told, but I've never tried myself.

thanks for the link for the upgrade, it does not appear to be my cup of tea. so the imac can only support a single hard drive, correct? i think i will go down the path of configring it to to 500 GB,
i think i will use external usb's for expansion
i guess replacing ram modues does not void the warranty? how much does a typical warranty cost?

Yea.. one HDD on the iMacs (which isn't user replaceable).

RAM upgrades don't void your warranty.

If you buy AppleCare with the computer you get about a $100 discount, I believe... you can usually find deals through Amazon.com, though, if you'd prefer to wait on that purchase.

can i connect any speaker system to the imac through the audio jack?

Yep.

i checked the wiki entry for the Apple Digital Connnector, it appears that there is a power limit to the ADC of 100 watts,
does this mean that the ADC provides not only the signal but also power to the second display? will this support dual screen in the sense that i can have screen 1 showing 1 application, and screen 2 showing a second application? i guess there are seperate ADC connectors for DVI and VGA?

I'm not familiar with this... sorry.

umrigar, what do you mean by 10.5.4?

Not directed at me, but 10.5.4 is a version of OS X. Apple is constantly releasing dot upgrades to their OS's. So 10.5 is OS X Leopard, but then there are bug fixes, feature additions, etc... that come through those updates.

if there are new macs due, do you think apple will reduce prices of the old macs, have the prices of the existing macs reduced in price since they were released
as per the rumour, it seems that the refresh is not a major one, just an increase of the fsb, mini display port and possible faster firewire rate.

Yea, generally you can find great deals at Amazon, or eBay, when the newer models come out... For instance, the recent release of the MBP's dropped the price of the older model by $400.

 

[sourceninja]

In regards to antivirus, from what I understand most antivirus programs for mac are actually checking for windows viruses so that you don't forward a file or email to a windows user that has a virus. This is the same as how linux handles antivirus as well.

In terms of data transfer, the easiest way is to just put those hard drives into a usb case or another computer and copy it over.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply,

imac states that there is Support for external display in video mirroring mode, does this mean, that i can only display the exact same contents that are being displayed on the apple screen? and i can not display one application on one screen and a second application on a second display?

 

[Kmax82]

Yes, you can mirror the dual displays, or have a separate signals for each monitor.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
i checked the wiki entry for the Apple Digital Connnector, it appears that there is a power limit to the ADC of 100 watts,
does this mean that the ADC provides not only the signal but also power to the second display? will this support dual screen in the sense that i can have screen 1 showing 1 application, and screen 2 showing a second application? i guess there are seperate ADC connectors for DVI and VGA?

The iMac has a MiniDVI port, not ADC. Apple hasn't use ADC in a while.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the replies,

so with seperate signal for each mointor, each monitor can display a different application, say?

how does a minidvi port differ from anADC in terms of capabilities?

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
thanks for the replies,

so with seperate signal for each mointor, each monitor can display a different application, say?

how does a minidvi port differ from anADC in terms of capabilities?

Yes, it would display different apps on both monitors. Basically an extended desktop.

ADC is just a connector type, very very old.. don't worry about it.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
thanks for the replies,

so with seperate signal for each mointor, each monitor can display a different application, say?

how does a minidvi port differ from anADC in terms of capabilities?

You just need one of these:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9320G/A
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9321G/B

 

[Tyranicus]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
thanks for the replies,

so with seperate signal for each mointor, each monitor can display a different application, say?

how does a minidvi port differ from anADC in terms of capabilities?

MiniDVI is just what it sounds like. It's a DVI port in a smaller form factor. It has all the capabilities of a fully functional DVI port, you just need to buy the necessary adapter to plug anything into it.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the clarifications, it all makes sense

unfortunately the links are not working at the moment, apple is updating the links at the moment, so will conitnue checking the links.

i guess the two links lead to a minidvi-vga and a minidvi-dvi adaptor