Which computer?

I'm using a Sony Vaio notebook computer right now, what are you using for you scanning / printing work?

Curt

Using

A Mac Pro

http://www.apple.com/macpro/

thinkpad for some things a black box that sits on the floor for others. (dual core AMD thinggy with 4Gig of ram and a couple of 250Gig SATA disks)

I use a Mac Pro but regardless of your hardware vendor and operating system choice, if you are going to edit photos, you will need lots of memory and hard drive space. A fast CPU is, of course, a good thing to have but you can do with a little slower computer if you have enough memory and space to store your photos.

Terabyte HDs are getting cheap. $100.00 US for a 1 TB drive right now. RAM is pretty cheap too.

Yes the drives are getting a lot more affordable these days compared to what a hundred dollars bought ten or fifteen years ago. I've never owned a Mac, what price range would I be looking at for a PS model, do they all have the one button mouse, I have a MS optical mouse with four buttons and a wheel.

The new mice that ship with Macs are called "Magic Mouse." It's a multi-touch thing that allows scrolling and gestures on a seamless touch sensitive surface. It LOOKS like it's a one button device but it's actually got many functions.

Check it out here: Dead Link Removed

I'm not sold on it yet but I have not had a chance to really try it out. I only played with it in the Apple Store.

The mouse I have is the "Mighty Mouse." It is a 4-button, X-Y scroll mouse. It takes some getting used to but, once you do, it is very natural to use.

If you want to use your existing mouse on a Mac it is usually possible to do so. Almost any USB mouse will work. Some of the functions might not work. You can often download a driver from the manufacturer's website which will make all the functions work. 95% of the time I have been able to make any random mouse work. You might just have to do some homework.

If you're doing Photoshop and/or graphics work it is worth it to look into a graphics tablet. I have a Wacom tablet. It is a godsend for doing retouching and spotting work. Entry level tablets can be had for $99.00.

Dead Link Removed

An entry level Mac Pro will start at about $2,500.00 US. But for extra software like Photoshop you will probably have everything you need. So the entry cost is higher but once you are running you should not need extra stuff unless you want it.

If you want something a little less expensive an iMac will run you about $1,200.00 US. Again, once you install PS and any extra peripherals you should be ready to run.

The down side to the iMac is that it is an all-in-one machine. The Mac Pro has four modular hard drive bays inside. Just open the cover and slide it in. Hard drives can be installed in 90 seconds. RAM is upgradeable too. With the iMac you will have to use external hard drives. You can upgrade RAM on an iMac but it's not as straightforward.

If you are a PC guy (or a Linux guy) and you are thinking about getting a Mac I suggest going to an Apple Store and getting your hands on one before you take the plunge. Their sales people can give you a lot of help. You can test drive a couple of different models and see what you like or don't like.

Nowadays, a computer is a computer. They are all becoming more and more the same every day. What's really important is what we talked about above. Get lots of HD space and lots of RAM. If you want, an upgraded video card is a good thing to have as well.

The bottom line is, no matter what system you choose, you should buy as much computer as you can afford and not "cheap-out." The extra money you spend will help you in the long run. You have less chance of ending up having to spend more money upgrading a computer to do what you want and, with luck, you should be able to use a given machine for a longer time if it has more capability to start with.

I kept my last Mac running for over 10 years before I upgraded because I bought the best I could afford right out of the gate. Had I bought a cheaper model I would not have gotten that kind of "value per year" out of it. That doesn't just apply to Macs but many people keep their Macs longer than they would a similar PC.

I work with a Mac pro loaded to the max and G5.
A couple of G4's spread around driving the scanners and I mac for bookeeping.
Our lambda is driven by a PC that is Unix based with a Cheeta rip unit that kicks ass.

Looking forward to my leases to expire and then load up with more toys.

For graphics it looks like a Mac world. I'll be checking them out.

I work with a PC that was built for me by a local shop. It's "optimised" for photoshop, dedicated, fast hard drive as a scratch disc, lots of RAM and a fast dual core cpu. It fly's, cost less than a mac, and I'm happy.

livemoa said:

I work with a PC that was built for me by a local shop. It's "optimised" for photoshop, dedicated, fast hard drive as a scratch disc, lots of RAM and a fast dual core cpu. It fly's, cost less than a mac, and I'm happy.

Click to expand...

Can you tell me a little more about the PC you had built? I had one made to order back in the '90's which was great for quite a while. I've done repairs and upgrades on computers, drives, ram, power supplies, tape backups, cpu's etc., Then I got a notebook and filled up the ram and changed the drive to a larger one. It's getting time to start again.

I'm doing fine with the Epson 4990 scanner and the Epson R1900 printer with my notebook and PS but storage is going to be a problem and only so much can be added to the notebook in the way of software.

Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Brett Weston, and all those photographers in their time never had this much to consider did they? They only had to worry about small things like eating, no cable bill, phone bill, Internet bill, gas, garbage, sewer, water, todays taxes and the modern cost of living. How things have changed in the last fifty years or so.

curt,

about a year ago i had to get a new computer, and frankly , i love the visual look of the MAC no wires, etc.

However, i went into the Apple store and talked to their manager about what i was doing, what i wanted to do , etc. We talked about the software i was using and in the end ; image my surprise when he told me i would be better off staying with a PC. That yes, the MAC could run the software in Parallel, but by the time i got finished i would be losing the very features people find wonderful with their computers.

So , I did just that, and got something I thought was going to be fine. Fine is a realtive term, as recently when working i got the message "not enough memory, etc". And so now i added memory, but frankly i am now at the maxium with what i have now; which means in a year or so it will probably be upgrade time again.

I have made myself a big note, buy more than you think you can afford because you will save money in the long run.

NOw, i am not a computer person so it is more difficult for me to walk into a local lshop and have something built but it is t empting.

By the way, i have darkroom equipment that is at least 40 years old and still going strong!

Always smile to myself when someone says " digital is so much cheaper than film" .

Don't get me wrong, i love film but ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,digital is a long rabbit hole as most on this forum knows.

Unless you are using purpose-made proprietary software which is only written for a particular platform it is usually possible to find a comparable application program to run on any computer regardless of whether it uses Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

For instance, Microsoft Office is available for Mac OS. If you use Linux, there is a suite called Open Office that has 95% compatibility with MS Office. Plus, there is a version of Open Office that runs on all three platforms. Programs like Firefox and Thunderbird are also available in cross-platform versions. Personally, I try to stick with cross-platform and/or open source software as much as possible.

Now there are some programs I use which are ONLY available for PC. Theatrical lighting consoles have off-line editing software that allows you to write lighting cues for your stage shows without having to be in the theater. You can write your program at home or in your office and, when you go to the theater, you can upload your program to the console and go. But, like you said, there are ways you can use an emulator or alternate boot arrangements to run those programs on a foreign operating system. You really just need to do some homework to get it to run. I'd say, if you try, you can get things to work satisfactorily 90% of the time or better.

The guy at the Apple Store was probably right. If you have software that is available for only one platform and emulation would be too much hassle it is probably wise to stick with what you have. However, the ultimate answer to that question lies in the user's ability and his or her willingness to problem-solve and experiment. If you are using mission critical software and it is available for only one platform, I agree. You should stick with what you have.

I absolutely agree with you, Ann. Overbuy if you can. Your system will last longer and be more trouble free. Buying cheap will only cost you in the long run.

Y'Know... when it comes to working in digital, the workflow can be just as long and complicated as it is with film. If you have a memory card full of pictures, you have to download them, sort them, import them into your editing program, edit them, store them and print out the final copy before archiving the digital files and putting them away for safe keeping. With film, I can take my roll of pictures, put it in the "can" shake it up, hang it up to dry, make a contact sheet choose the best shots and print the one or two "money shots" and be sitting in my living room drinking a beer in the same or less time than it takes to do it with a digicam.

Importing to a computer, color balancing and editing are essentially analogous to wet developing. In order to get the same level of results in a digital workflow, you probably have to spend about the same amount of time and possibly even more time than you would in a darkroom.

What do you want to know? I'm not sure how much I can tell you but happy to try.

Cheers

Curt said:

Can you tell me a little more about the PC you had built? I had one made to order back in the '90's which was great for quite a while. I've done repairs and upgrades on computers, drives, ram, power supplies, tape backups, cpu's etc., Then I got a notebook and filled up the ram and changed the drive to a larger one. It's getting time to start again.

I'm doing fine with the Epson 4990 scanner and the Epson R1900 printer with my notebook and PS but storage is going to be a problem and only so much can be added to the notebook in the way of software.

Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Brett Weston, and all those photographers in their time never had this much to consider did they? They only had to worry about small things like eating, no cable bill, phone bill, Internet bill, gas, garbage, sewer, water, todays taxes and the modern cost of living. How things have changed in the last fifty years or so.

Click to expand...

the user's ability here is very novice in nature, but it really came down to the software.

I have found that the concept of "User Ability" is a moving target.
People who claim to be novices often have a better grip on technology than they think they do. On the flip side, I have seen people who claim to be experienced but couldn't find their own a$$ if I tied a bell to it!

I bet you have more ability than you think you do.

What kind of software are you using that you can only run in Windows?

made be chuckle, as i have experienced several of the "expects".

I have my standard guide line for photographers' "If their photos do not match their mouths my ears shut down."

some of the software is older stuff that was downloaded and only developed at the time for PC. I suppose it is more the cost of replacing than anything.

However, at t his time i am fine with what i am using; who knows the next time around.

Just a side story:

My mother's computer broke down because of a hard drive problem plus it had a virus. Best solution was to replace the drive and to reinstall Windows but she could not find her Windows "rescue" disks and we were not going to pay for Windows to run on a 10 year old computer. XP or Vista won't even run on a machine that old.

The only solution besides buying a new computer was to install Linux. I did so and had the computer running again in only an hour or so. Mom complained when she tried to use the computer when everything was "different" but she soon got the hang of it.

Now she actually PREFERS to use Linux!

The computer is going on 13 years old and has been running perfectly for nearly two years using Ubuntu Linux. We have yet to find a document she could not open or a function that we could not perform using a combination of freely available software and a little ingenuity.

We can do e-mail with Thunderbird and browse the internet with Firefox. We can word process with Open Office. We can browse our photo collection using F-Spot and even upload them to Flickr automatically. If we want to edit photos we can use a program called GIMP which is virtually analogous to Photoshop in every way.

I'm not saying you should jump on the bandwagon and install Linux on your computer but I bet, with a little time and ingenuity, you will be pleasantly surprised with the things you can do with other operating systems. Even people who think they can't do it will probably find that more things are possible if they apply some gray matter to the problem.

If we are talking about a computer that is used for business, by all means, keep things the way they are. Upsetting the apple cart could mean problems for your business. If this is your only computer and yo would be seriously inconvenienced if it didn't work the way you need it to, again, don't mess around.

However, I believe that people who are willing to experiment will discover that there are a lot more options available to them if they try out new things.

The best solution is to find somebody who has a computer that you can fiddle with. Ask questions and try out a few things. The second best solution would be to go to a computer store like the Apple Store and test drive some of the machines they have on display.

Regardless of the platform you use now; regardless of the platform you want to get; there is nothing like a little hands-on experience to let you find out what you want to know.

Most car dealers will let you take their cars out for a test drive before you buy. Why not comptuers?

Good points, and this computer i do use for business .

i do have an old computer that is chugging along, very slowing, but it does some basic things which is all i need it to do.

i try to keep it as clean as possible as i do find lots of uses for it's use, but for serious photo work it just can't manage at other than a snails pace.

Up until recently i had an old student and friend who was very helpful with these "geekie" things but he was transfered out of town, good for his career, sad for the loss of his friendship and advice.

PC For Me

I've been using PCs for quite a while, and I intend to stay with Windows. My local clone maker offers custom configurations, high-quality parts, and drop-off service (they repaired a 5 year old PC that they built for me for $45). I've already placed my order for a new Sandy Bridge box running Win 7 64.