Buying a new Mac for Adobe

[cblackburn]

Hey everyone,

The gf is off to College in a few months to do a Photography course and needs a mac. Most of the work will be intense Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator with some Aperture/MS Office thrown in there.

The question is what to buy, bearing in mind that Adobe is nowhere near going Universal.

First the desktop... Should she go for a loaded PowerMac G5 whilst she can. This is a good option for the short term but this has to last her at least 3 years so is rather limited from that point of view.

Or Should she wait for the Mac Pro (assuming it ends up being called that ) and live with Rosetta until Adobe can get their arses into gear.

Then the laptop... When we went round the Apple store she said she wanted a MacBook as well (rather than a MBP) so she can take it everywhere without worrying about weight, however she will still need performance. The only difference I can see between them really is the Graphics chip. I know Aperture uses OpenGL a lot, and hence the graphics ship will matter, but how heavily does Adobe utilise the GPU?

Thanks

Chris

 

[iGary]

I know Aperture uses OpenGL a lot, and hence the graphics ship will matter, but how heavily does Adobe utilise the GPU?

Not much.

If she has Adobe software and needs something to run it fast now, get a G5 - it will certainly have no problems lasting her three years...if she can wait until next year (first quarter) wait and get a Mac Pro. Like the saying always goes...if she needs it right now, she should get it. Waiting for Adobe is kind of silly IMO, but people will tell you that buying a G5 is investing in a dead chip...if it gets my work done, I don't care.

Aperture is Universal, but make sure she gets the best video chip in the laptop and the MBP. (I personally think its stupid that Apple engineered an OPen GL-dependant program.)

Does she have Adobe software now?

 

[cblackburn]

Waiting for Adobe is kind of silly IMO,

Does she have Adobe software now?

She can use my Adobe Photoshop license for now (I hardly ever use it really) then buy CS 3 when it comes out.

As for waiting for Adobe, the thing is she can still use Adobe on the Mac Pro (it will just be a little slow) until CS3 comes.

The big question is will a Dual-Dual 3Ghz Xeon beat a Dual-Dual 2.5Ghz G5 significantly?

 

[Blue Velvet]

Personally, I would go for an Intel machine... just for longevity. However, that has to be balanced against the risk of Rev A problems and also supply. Who knows how long the waiting list might be when they're announced?

I've used the Creative Suite on an Intel iMac and it was OK, kinda like a 1ghz G4. But when (prob. 8-9 months away) CS3 is released, she can get an educational discount for it and it will fly.

Photoshop and Illustrator are not graphics-card intensive at all. I run CS1 at home on my dual 1.4 and that has a lowly 64mb card in there...

On second thoughts, maybe a used/refurbed G5 would be best after all. It'll be supported by Apple and Adobe for another 3 years, easy.

There. I'm just as confused as you are now.

 

[iGary]

Personally, I would go for an Intel machine... just for longevity. However, that has to be balanced against the risk of Rev A problems and also supply. Who knows how long the waiting list might be when they're announced?

I've used the Creative Suite on an Intel iMac and it was OK, kinda like a 1ghz G4. But when (prob. 8-9 months away) CS3 is released, she can get an educational discount for it and it will fly.

Photoshop and Illustrator are not graphics-card intensive at all. I run CS1 at home on my dual 1.4 and that has a lowly 64mb card in there...

On second thoughts, maybe a used/refurbed G5 would be best after all. It'll be supported by Apple and Adobe for another 3 years, easy.

There. I'm just as confused as you are now.

I agree with much you have said...I know if I was buying a machine, I would want the latest and greatest, but at the end of the day, a new PPC machine will run Adobe software great for some time to come.

In my experience, the only time two or three seconds of speed makes a huge difference is if you are doing massive photo or document production (that really ads up in a day, as I'm sure you know).

There, I am confused, too.

 

[Counterfit]

but people will tell you that buying a G5 is investing in a dead chip...if it gets my work done, I don't care.

Computers are ****** investments anyway.

 

[Blue Velvet]

...In my experience, the only time two or three seconds of speed makes a huge difference is if you are doing massive photo or document production (that really ads up in a day, as I'm sure you know)...

Let's be honest here. Running CS at work on the dual 2.5s, it's rare that the speed of it is a problem in terms of getting work out the door. Graphics use (no matter the scale of the project) is not nearly as intensive as 3D or video work...

What really holds things up (apart from clients) is software crashing, misbehaving or being poorly-featured for what you need to do (necessitating workarounds) and other peripheral/network-related nonsense.