Mac Computers

[Princess4Life]

I am not sure where to post this question, but I have always had a windows based PC and I want to get a Mac book. Can anyone recommend what I should buy when it comes to processor, ram, hard drive space etc. I still will have my desktop PC for uloading all my pictures but I just want the Mac book for surfng the net, editing photos, creating slideshows, digital scrapbooking etc. I just want to have something portable to do this kind of editing. If anyone has any information they can pass on it would be greatly appreciated.

[mom to 4]

All I can tell you is I bought my 20 inch imac a couple of weeks ago. There is a LITTLE learning curve, but all things considered: I WOULD NEVER GO BACK!!!!! I LOVE IT! I got 250 g HD 2 gig RAM, and a core 2 duo. Graphics are INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I like it so much I am thinking of getting my daughter a mac when she heads off to college in September (at a time when money will be REALLY tight!!!) Thats how happy I am with mine :D :D :D

[JNBarros]

Hi! Here is a pretty extensive thread about Macs, I hope it will help you. It's helped me, I decided on a MacBook Pro 15" based on this thread.

Joann

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18772

[bnk1953]

Welcome to the Forum and a special welcome to looking for your first Mac. The post listed above is a good source for ideas and suggestions. I type this on my macbook - wirelessly connected to an airport extreme. Although it is only a macbook (not the pro) it works very well. ALTHOUGH - if you have the chance you might want to wait for a month or so - as in the middle to end of June. There may be new macbooks (also pros) coming out after Apple's big presentation that takes place in June. Macrumors is suggesting that if you are looking for a macbook pro is approaching the end of its cycle and to buy only if you have to check out: http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ and scroll down to find the macbooks and the macbook pro rumors. Be aware - these are only rumors - but they have some pretty good insight of what should be coming up.
Good luck with your decision - I'm sure that you will thoroughly enjoy either the macbook or the macbook pro. Of course you could always good for the new 8 core 3 ghz pro desktop model :D that just became available.
~bruce.

[Carbone]

From the various needs you've expressed, your best choice would be a Macbook Pro. Else, you could go with a regular Macbook, but serious image editing on a Macbook is less accurate then on a Macbook Pro (the pro has a better screen).

However.. you can hook a better monitor to your Macbook if you have to do serious editing (like your current PC monitor). You simply have to buy a Mini DVI to VGA cable (about 20$). Your Mac will recognize the monitor and you can use it either way : extend your current desktop (work with two monitors at the same time) or mirror your current desktop (two times the same image, as if your Macbook was docked in a station).

However, don't discard the Macbook entirely. I do a lot of work on it (editing images, creating slideshows, building movies, etc.) The only thing I don't do is extensive colour correction. When this is required, I move my files over to my main computer, a Powermac. For everything else, including running Windows, my Macbook saved the day on more than one occasions. I bring it with me everywhere (commuting to work, waiting rooms, at friends' places to show them stuff, in my living room to watch movies on my TV, etc.)

RAM : 1GB should be enough. If you can afford more, go for it. The Macbook, especially, uses part of the main RAM for the video graphics (the display). The Macbook Pro uses separate memory for its video card.

Hard Drive Space : if you ever plan on running Windows on your Macbook (with any of the different options, Boot Camp or Parallels or VMWare), you'll need a good deal of hard drive space to welcome both OSes in a comfortable way. So, nothing under 80GB, and this would be the minimum. Macintosh loves multimedia, so you tend to collect more (movies, pictures, music), and too soon I'm afraid, your hard drive becomes full.

Though, if your current music collection is in iTunes for the PC, your Macbook can simply connect to it (sharing), this will save you space. The same way, your Mac can connect to a Windows printer and share Windows files.

Processor : The fastest is usually the best, but with 2.0 Ghz, you'll have ample power to run your Macbook for many years (4 or 5, depending on your personal tolerance to being the turtle in a group of rabbits !)

Ray

[Wendy]

Hi ...

We have a MacBookPro 15 inch and it is good ... we did consider the 17 inch but I am really glad we didn't get it as I think that it would have been too big.

Totally with Ray on the specifications ... :)

Wendy

[Grant]

I have an Intel iMac 20 and a MacBook a Dell desktop and a 1.8 Ghz HP laptop.

Both iMac 2.0 Ghz Core Duo with 2GB of memory. The Dell is 3.4 Ghz multi threading with 2GB of memory, an excellent graphic card and a stunning 19" monitor, so it should be comparable to the Macs. The Hp is 1.8 Ghz wit 1.0GB of memory and really is the runt of the family.

My work on a computer is almost all graphics split 40/40 between photograph and graphics, The last 20% is for all else including writing this note.

For all my graphic work I choose the iMac over all the other because the monitor is stunning. My next choice maybe a bit of a shock I choose the MacBook over the Dell and that is not what I would have expected. For my taste, although the screen on my MacBook is only 13.1" compared to the Dell 19" it is preferred. Make no mistake the Dell is a mighty fine computer it is just I prefer the Macs. The HP is to old to be considered for this type of work.

The advantage of the MacBook is its portability. I take it on shoots with me and I can check the process of each shoot while I am out in the field. After the shoot I may end up at Tim's with my buddies and over a coffee show them how great a Nikon captures an image. I take it with me to various club meeting and can plug it in to a projector and in a flash give demos or slide shows. It is so light so small and so portable ... heck it even ends up in down stairs with me in front of a roaring fire while I sip wine and play Klondike.

At this point I am going to swim against the flow and recommend a MacBook over a Macbook Pro. It is not that the Pros are bad ... far from it they are excellent computer. I have Scottish blood in my veins and I am frugal, it is the cost of them that bother me. For the price of my son's 17" MacBook Pro we have a MacBook and a 20 iMac. This pricing is across the board for example and midlevel iMac and an midlevel Macbook combined is the same price as a midlevel MacBook Pro. True, there is not A/B correlation the MacBook Pro has a faster processor and a bit more Ram but the Desktop and the Mac book have a lot more hard disk space. For me the deciding factor is that for the same money as a MacBook Pro my wife can be surfing in the comfort of our house while I was 60 km away doing a photo shoot.


In any event good luck on your decision.

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