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Need Help. Graphic Desingers

B

b84

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 11, 2007
41
0
I am very limited in money and have a delima.
I need a mac for Adobe CS3. mostly photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver.
Does anyone run these programs on a Mini?? I am currently going to school for graphic design and use would use it for other side projects.
Do iMac's do the job. I know Mac Pro are best, but as a beginner i could do w/o it for the meanwhile. So What to do???

I have around $1,500 to mess with. What is the best option
 
b84 said:
I am very limited in money and have a delima.
I need a mac for Adobe CS3. mostly photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver.
Does anyone run these programs on a Mini?? I am currently going to school for graphic design and use would use it for other side projects.
Do iMac's do the job. I know Mac Pro are best, but as a beginner i could do w/o it for the meanwhile. So What to do???

I have around $1,500 to mess with. What is the best option
Click to expand...

what school do you goto, what state? what city and zip code? that way i can tell you a price with the education discount, but without one:

a 20 inch imac with 2.4 standard

but if you had an extra $150, 4gb ram from crucial would be great, i think they are $120 now
 
thnx for the replies

128 or 256 video cards do you have
 
24" iMac is perfect for CS3.
I've been running this software for a month and have no complaints at all.
You'll want to upgrade the RAM to at least 2GB; 4GB would be better.
Purchase the additional RAM from OWC. (4GB kit is $95.00 US + shipping)
http://www.macsales.com/
 
RAM is probably the most important hardware issue for CS3 running in Leopard.
Whatever current Mac you choose will work fine as long as there is sufficient RAM and disk space.
The video RAM and type of GPU is irrelevant by comparison.
 
So do you think that if i got a low end mini with upgraded memory that i could run statisfactory.
Or is it highly recommended to get the iMac.

Are there any professionals using the iMac for their work"?
 
I use the iMac professionally for graphics design.
Previous Macs were Powermac 7600 and Powermac G4.
The Aluminum iMac is without a doubt the fastest and most reliable Mac I ever used.

I'm sure the Mac Mini would be fine for CS3 as long as the RAM and storage are sufficient.
 
snickelfritz said:
I'm sure the Mac Mini would be fine for CS3 as long as the RAM and storage are sufficient.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. It won't be super fast or anything, but the mini will run the software without you pulling your hair out.

That said, if you don't already have a keyboard, monitor, etc. you're better off just getting the low-end iMac.
 
A macbook or iMac will be more than enough. We have a couple of imacs running at work for after effects and CS3 stuff and they power through just fine. Although a nicely loaded mini will probably do as well.
 
AlexisV said:
A Mac Mini with 1GB RAM runs CS 3 fine.
Click to expand...

Depends on how many files / size of files. For basic editing with a few images it might be ok.

The OP has $1500. you might want iMac, try the "special deals" section at store.apple.com to save a little bit on refurb macs.
 
Contact user coolant113 he has a mac mini and macbook pro for sale depending on whats released at macworld. He is willing to sell for good price and he already has those apps installed.
 
I'm willing to sell a MacBook you would just have to upgrade, I will sell MB for 700 and upgrades will bring price to around 1000, good idea if your a beginner.
 
I use a MINI for cs3 and everything runs seamlessly.. i have no problems with it... if you are interested in buying it let me know after tuesday... because i will make my final decision on selling it after the announcement.:apple::apple:
 
Well i have a 15' Magnavox LCD Tv that has a pc video input on it that i could use and a bluetooth set of keyboard/mouse set. I bought the tv at walmart, and it wasnt too expensive. Wouldn't i be better off with the iMac screen vs the tv i have? or is it alrite.
 
A mini works just fine - especially if you give it 2gb RAM. A good alternative if you need a screen is the 20" 2Ghz iMac, which also runs CS3 well (we have one at work)
 
I got through my first three years of art school with a powerbook G4 with 512 ram and a 1.5GHz processor.. while running the entire Adobe Creative Suite (1) as well as Final Cut and After Effects 7 and Dreamweaver.. of course I needed to have a little patience. I went in as a Graphic Design Major and now I have a Photo/Video major with a side passion for Graphic Design.. and again.. I did it all with a powerbook G4--haha!

Now luckily I have a 24" iMac which now runs CS3 and I love it.

So it all depends on your patience level. You can get any apple machine and it'll run pretty good with the creative suite. And if you have only $1500 to spend you may wanna consider a refurb machine... sometimes you get luckily with them and they are more then just the basic model....
 
b84 said:
Well i have a 15' Magnavox LCD Tv that has a pc video input on it that i could use and a bluetooth set of keyboard/mouse set. I bought the tv at walmart, and it wasnt too expensive. Wouldn't i be better off with the iMac screen vs the tv i have? or is it alrite.
Click to expand...

The iMac is an entire computer system in one. You can't just get an iMac screen... If you're looking for a monitor to run on your future mini if you get it... you may want to look into apple's cinema displays.. but any screen would be fine. As long as the hardware is apple it'll run the CS3 better then a PC.. that's what they are made for
 
When i was saying imac screen, i was reffering to quality..i know that it is a computer and that i couldnt buy it as a monitor.

Would the tv i have be sufficient enough for what i want to do(run cs3) because it was not ment to be solely a monitor but rather a both that and a tv. Or is the resolustion better on the iMac.


Does the glossy screen on the imac really that diff to adjust to. some people i have talked to told me that it is better to use a matte and not glossy because it is true colors/.
 
Have you thought about a portable? A macbook would do the job just fine and you can take it around with you!
 
Depends on how many files / size of files. For basic editing with a few images it might be ok.
Click to expand...

It's got a 5400RPM hard drive, but can still cope with large files. If it couldn't, how did design companies cope with 733Mhz G4 Power Macs a few years ago?
 
A dual-core mini would be just great with CS3 excepting AE and PPro. Just ensure you get at least 1 gig of ram (I recommend 2). However, the iMac will have several advantages: HD size and speed, video performance, expansion.

If you will need to buy a monitor for the mini, I would skip it and get the iMac. If you already have all the accessories for the mini then you can save a bit of money. I would still seriously consider the iMac as it can do pretty much anything you could want to do.

-mx
 
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