2nd hand Mac Pro: what to look for? Want later models

Hi everyone
I have a 27" iMac tha tis a couple of years old. I have outgrown the 1tb hd, and would prefer to go for a standard desktop design to make adding and changing drives easier. I want to avoid obsolence. I am not looking for a very new model, but one that is a current design. Can anyone give tips on how to determine how recent used Mac Pros i come across are?
Thanks in advance for any tips you can pass on!
John

Additional information for completeness:
The 2008 model and previous are Very Different from the 2009 and later. The 2009 and later can accept much more memory and that memory is substantially cheaper. The 2009 and later with the same number and nominal speed of processors approaches twice as fast in benchmarks due to architectural differences
So if you expect to do compute and memory intensive modeling, Photo, Video, or Audio editing, limit your hunt to the 2009 model and later.
If you are doing general work that does not involve large memory sizes, any model Mac Pro will work for you.

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Hi, please forgive my ignorance, as I'm not at all tech savvy.
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Further to the above.
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Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
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I recommend WD 10K VR newest 250GB 200MB/sec for system $152, and WD Black or Hitachi.
http://www.macperformanceguide.com likes 2-3-4TB.
Questions like this get asked unfortunately.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3908030?tstart=0
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Hello,
I'm a devoted mac user. I currently own a late 2008 unibody Macbook, and have been looking for an upgrade. I came across a used iMac posting on a craigslist-like website. The configuration is a low-end mid-2011 21" iMac (quad core i5, 4gb, 500gb).
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Thanks a lot!
Meghana

RRFS wrote:
Then you have to make sure the original owner releases their account at Apple or purchases and upgrades will be impossible.
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Are there any Mount points setup or listed in Login Items?
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The card is dead silent on idle. I haven't tried it on any games yet, but with 720p HD content like .mkv files playing in VLC, the fan only goes up to 20-25%, and even at that I can't even hear it.
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This is not remotely a Photoshop question.
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Anna:
Yes, rule no. 1, Firewire or FW/USB
2. Largest HDD you can afford (having more space than you need it not a problem; needing more space than you have, is.)
3. 7200 rpms. (Most of them are, but not all)
Here is a list of some of the best buys already sorted for 200-300 GB.
Different folks like different manufacturers. I have had my LaCie for 2 years. No problems. I like it for it's compact size and elegance.
Here are some good hints from Dr. Smoke on Backup and Recovery. Instead of Retropect, which I could never quite figure out, I use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper.
Post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius

Studio Monitors - what to look for...

I'm going to say this right now - I'm NOT asking "hey, whats the best studio monitors I can get for x dollars." That's not what I'm interested in.
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Hey everyone,
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DVI support is a must and most LCDs in the size that you are looking for are going to have it.
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2nd hand Mac Pro: what to look for? Want later models

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