What kind of Computer to buy

[N'Kolor]

Well lets see. I use (and am currently on) a Mac at work. I love Macs and there was a time all I had in my house was Macs (iMac G5 and MacBook Pro) but I sold my MacBook Pro to get a PC because I took up a job in traveling IT that didn't work out. I do regret selling both my Macs but not really for reasons of photo editing but more reliability and virus reasons.

I currently only have one PC and in my opinion a Mac of equal specifications would run triple what I paid. Mac's have become more affordable but their tower systems like the Mac Pro are way too expensive.

I currently have a Dell XPS with Core2Duo 2.66, 4GB RAM, 250GB 7200 RPM with a low end graphics card. I plan to switch the graphics card in time but with photo editing, I really don't need to...only when I play certain graphic hog games.

I paid $900 for my system...something to consider.

I love Mac's, I have less problems with them but because I know them less when a problem arises, it is a big problem. I run Vista and I miss XP and am considering going back to XP. Vista is a hog of an operating system and if I could find good support and programs like PS for Linux I would convert.

Either way, the OS is only part of the computer...try to do a lot of PS on a Mac Mini and you will wishing for more. My recommendation, get a GOOD computer that you can afford with good specs, no matter the operating system.

 

[britonk]

I don't normally get to talk computers, which is my main subject, on this forum so I am going to take this opportunity.

I'm a programmer, I have a degree in computing and have been programming for 18 years. The battle between PCs and MACs has been raging for some years and whilst I am not a big MAC fan I would have to agree with sabbath that Windows Vista is truly awful.

Personally I would go with a PC as I believe them to be far more customizable and upgradeable. You then have the choice of OS for which I would recommend XP or some distribution of Linux (if you are reasonably technical) as efficiency wise it does wipe the floor with most of Microsofts software. You can also run the Gimp on Linux (in fact I think it comes with Ubuntu).

There I got it out of my system...

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

Just revisiting this thread after a search. I've been offered a second hand Powerbook from someonw who I know treats computers with knowledge and respect and it's a very good price. I need a good laptop to edit on the move and apart from the cost of getting a new version of CS3 and learning two sets of hot key shortcuts I'm thinking through the implications of having a Windows desktop (which I currently use) and a Mac laptop. Obviously not massively compatible!

Also I've read worrying things on Mac user forums about Leopard and CS3 not necessarily working well together. Obviously anyone with a problem is going to emerge onto Apple's user forums so does anyone know if it's really an issue?

 

[Antithesis]

I bought my first mac two years ago after about 10 years of windows experience, and I'll never look back. My dad's been using mac's since the early 90's, and absolutely loves them and finally convinced me to make the switch.

IMO, if you don't have all that much experience, I'd get a Mac. It's compatible with all the software you could possibly want for editing, the interface is much more streamlined, and it has built in workflow assisting programs that can become very helpful.

 

[Snyder]

Well I just bought a new Dell Inspiron PC with Windows XP Pro and I love it! It will not be connected to the internet to ensure its longevity.
Specs:
2.4 GHZ Quad Core Processor
4 Gigs of Ram at 800mhz
ATI Radeon 256mb video card
500 Gig HD
24" widescreen Hi Def monitor
This PC is so amazingly fast and powerful and I love it.

 

[Mav]

Quad Core is nice. :mrgreen: That would make batch processing in DxO go a ton quicker. Currently you can only get Quad Core CPUs in Mac Pros, probably because of the potential for thermal overload in the iMacs and Mac Minis. Ventilation is not the best in these things, which limits CPU power. I have a 2.8 GHz dual core iMac right now and it's speedy enough.

 

[Rogan]

mac's are built to be able to run everything manc fine, unlike pc's are built at all differant specs running windows and some program not working!

so id go for one of the new macbook pros if you want mobility


if you want a desktop PC, build it urself, sounds hard, but its really really easy (y)

 

[Socrates]

i paid 2,000 bucks for a PC that is pretty fast. (i can run photoshop, while ripping CD's to itunes and browsing the internet). for an Apple with similar memmory, processor, graphics card, screen etc, i would have been looking at a 4,500 buck computer...for someone 1 year out of college that choice was pretty easy.

too bad, too, i would have rather had the Apple

That's not correct. I do the same thing on a Mac that I purchased five years ago for $1100. By the way, the only "upgrades" that I've performed is to add an external DVD burner and two external Firewire drives. Incidentally, FW is drastically more efficient than USB-2 but it's rare on PCs.

 

[Socrates]

Amen.

I "do computers" for a living with over 25 years experience, I have perhaps 20-25 industry certifications, but 90% of computer maintenance is simple and mostly common sense:

- use and regularly update a good antivirus program daily
- use and regularly update a good antispam program daily
- defragment the hard drive every 2 weeks to a month
- run a good registry cleaner once a month
- stay away from the porn and other malicious websites

Using these tips, in 25 years I have yet to even see a virus on my system and it rolls as fast today as when I initially installed it over 2 years ago.

I've used Macs exclusively for twenty-five years and I've NEVER had antivirus software, NEVER had antispam software, NEVER manually defragmented a hard disk and I don't even know what a "registry cleaner" is. I do have directory repair software which I run once each year or so only because I paid for the software and I feel somewhat obligated to use it. I've also never had a virus or any similar problem whatever in those twenty-five years and, yes, my existing machine runs as fast as it did when I installed it five years ago.

 

[frXnz kafka]

I've used Macs exclusively for twenty-five years and I've NEVER had antivirus software, NEVER had antispam software, NEVER manually defragmented a hard disk and I don't even know what a "registry cleaner" is. I do have directory repair software which I run once each year or so only because I paid for the software and I feel somewhat obligated to use it. I've also never had a virus or any similar problem whatever in those twenty-five years and, yes, my existing machine runs as fast as it did when I installed it five years ago.

For what it's worth, I run two Windows machines. I have anti-virus software, but it's mostly just taking up space on my computer. I've never run anti-spam software, I never defrag my disks, and I've never used registry cleaner. The only time I've ever been hit with a virus is back in the day when I used to scour rather sketchy websites in pursuit of "free" software. Both of my computers are as clean as a whistle, and run just as good as they did the day I bought them. It has little to do with what OS you use, and a lot to do with knowing how to use a computer.

 

[Village Idiot]

AV software has never touched My Dell Notebook which is my primary gaming/sit on the couch and browse the interwebz notebook...which has incidentally been running Vista Ultimate since about 2/07.

When I was using CS2 on the Dell, it never crashed. I've had CS3 crash on my MBP a few times.

I prefer the layout of the adobe programs on OS X though, so I use it as my primary photo editing machine. It's the first gen c2d MBP and I bought it 3 months after I bought my Dell. The Dell cost me $1400 for a 17" notebook that stomps the living daylights out of the MBP anytime anything involving the words 3d and graphics are presented.

Apple is getting a bit better in the GPU department, I just don't like how they flip flop between ATI and NVidia...plus having limited upgrade paths in a machine is a real downer. I'd like a MP at one point, but I wouldn't want having to buy a completely new machine 3 years down the road instead of putting in a new MOBO and CPU when the technology in it's getting old.

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

Cheers for the replies all. Still not sure about this, but it'll be a good deal so I should do it I suppose.

 

[mrodgers]

For what it's worth, I run two Windows machines. I have anti-virus software, but it's mostly just taking up space on my computer. I've never run anti-spam software, I never defrag my disks, and I've never used registry cleaner. The only time I've ever been hit with a virus is back in the day when I used to scour rather sketchy websites in pursuit of "free" software. Both of my computers are as clean as a whistle, and run just as good as they did the day I bought them. It has little to do with what OS you use, and a lot to do with knowing how to use a computer.

The man speaks the truth here (or woman? You can never tell on the internet unless it's specified). I have a Compaq off-the-shelf system that I paid $500 for in the beginning of 2005. I don't run a firewall, anti-virus, or anti-spam. I have 178 gig C: drive (main drive with XP installed) that only has 8 gig of space left. Yes, that needs cleaned off and I'm working on it. But, last week is the first time I had defragged the drive. The XP install is the same install since I opened up the box when I brought it home from the store.

I sim race and between the races when I'm waiting for the next one to start, I can have either Paintshop Pro or Photoshop opened up (for car painting in the racing sim), be browsing the internet, and listen to winamp just fine. When the next race starts, I jump back to the sim while leaving my work in the graphics program open and leaving the browser open and run the racing sim just fine as if nothing else is running. My computer is very outdated running an Athalon 64 3500, 1 gig ram, and an old generation ATI 1650 graphics card.

My 178 gig drive is mostly taken up with 40 gig of racing simulator, 20 gig of flight simulator, and probably 40-60 gig of racing, sim racing, flight sim, and RC flight videos. The rest would be music and various downloads of trials such as GTR, GTL, rFactor, and others which are quite large for the demo trials and I should just delete since they are lousy as racing simulators.

I do really need to clean off this drive. I just can't force myself to delete 1 hour 600 gig videos of the sim racing since they take so long to download again.

 

[remyxsi]

I had been a Windows user since Windows 95. I know own 3 apple laptop Cpu and 1 windows based desktop that by the way is a P4. I really like the switch to Mac. It seems that they have stepped it up a lot in the recent years. I would say go Mac. Im not a techie or nerd just an average day guy that wants his computer to do everything.

My Windows desktop hardly gets used, but I still have it. I can work with either system but I prefer MAC OS. For me it has it's flaws but works a lot better than Windows ( Vista )

 

[CanadianMe]

Macs, they just work, used PC's for years and not a Mac fanboy but Macs are just more reliable and they again just work. Linux, Windows just don't hold up and it is most proficient and gives the least amount of headaches of all 3 OS's and in two years I have yet to have my Mac crash, need any work, had issues or anything else. Its not just the hardware but Mac OS is the most stable, competent OS on the market bar none. You will choose what you will but from a user of all 3 of them you will not go wrong with a Mac period. In time that may change but at this moment Mac should be your choice. I had my wife move to a Mac, I own two, my daughter has one and my sons are the only hold outs but they are gamers and would switch if Mac played the games but not another PC will come into my home unless there is a major change in Windows and or Linux.