Oh come on Paul, are you really asking "Should I buy now or wait"!? What are you, my grandpa?

How many years of exposure to technology will it take for you to develop a hard and fast rule which you can apply to these situations?

In case you want my rule its: buy the new machine the moment that you cannot stand the one in front of you for one more instant. The release cycle doesn't matter in this equation.

Worth noting that the current Mac Pros can be upgraded to Clovertown processors, which are pin compatible with the slower dual-core CPUs in the lower end systems. Clovertowns are still very expensive -- two 3.0GHz quad-core bare CPUs will run you about $2,500. But that part of the Mac Pro's design extends the system's usable life somewhat. Newer machines with a faster FSB will change the equation.

John -- It seems you and I have different PC purchasing rules. I like to buy the latest iteration of a favored product shortly after the latest release, hence my question.

I'm pretty sure they're 64-bit, they'll be good with the upcoming Leopard. As with all Apple products, it's most cost-efficient to buy right after a refresh or price reduction.

Their methodology is sound, and I remember that recently they were pretty good with their recommendations approaching the last round of MacBook (/Pro) updates. Keep in mind also the way Apple releases products. For the Mac Pro, I doubt anything new will come before Christmas since it is not a "Christmas present" product (more likely would be another round of macbook updates, a new iphone or AppleTV price drop/upgrade). Next opportunity would be MacWorld, which is when I would peg it if I had to guess. However, if you wait that long and no update, it will probably be painful to wait even longer but by then the update will really be overdue. Always a nailbiter to decide these things, sorry.

It works pretty well if you also (a) ask some Macevangelist about the machine you are looking into and (b) get some fellow Mac user to let you handle one for a little while (s/he can be the same person).

Mr. Kedrosky, Got your grain of salt? OK, good cause I think you'll need it with the Buyer's Guide.

It's informed decision making. That's all. Apple (as I'm sure you know) being the ultra secretive mfg they are... It could be months before they upgrade the MacBook Pro lineup or it could be next week. Who knows!?

The timelines are interesting to scrutinize for patterns (XServes are usually announced Q4 early Q1 on an annual basis). So, OK, that's nice. But, if you're fishing for a MacBookPro and using the Buyer's Guide for an assist... good luck.