New to the Mac World

[DougKMCSE]

Hi
I am a PC person right now. I am looking into getting my first MAC. One of the big reason's is i just got into Photography. I have been playing with the mac's at the local store. I am very impressed with how OS X works.
Here are a few of my ???? The Mac's I am looking at are IBook processor ?? 14" display, MacMini 1.42, IMac G5 17" I am trying to stay a little less that the IMac
1 what is the diff. between a IBook and a Powerbook
2 What is the lowest speed processor should i look at for working with Photos (RAW) format. I am looking at a G4's


Help

 

[hookahco]

1.a powerbook is much more advanced than an ibook
2. if you want to edit raw data, i would recommend you look into aperture, the new app from apple. http://www.apple.com/aperture/. if it is in your price range, it seems like an amazing app for the price. but, of course, it is processor intensive, so you will probably need a pro machine.

if you dont need the mobility, dont buy a laptop.
and dont write MAC.. its a Mac. i cant even remember how many threads were on the MR forums addressing that subject (MAC vs. Mac)

 

[decksnap]

Aperture is a Pro app, and is meant for use with pro machines, not any of the computers the OP listed. They are all below the minimum system requirements anyways. Photoshop does some RAW handling these days, and runs on most systems fine, but I don't have experience dealing with RAW, so i don't know how that part of it will run.

The most powerful of the ones you listed is clearly the iMac.

 

[jsw]

Hi
I am a PC person right now. I am looking into getting my first MAC. One of the big reason's is i just got into Photography. I have been playing with the mac's at the local store. I am very impressed with how OS X works.
Here are a few of my ???? The Mac's I am looking at are IBook processor ?? 14" display, MacMini 1.42, IMac G5 17" I am trying to stay a little less that the IMac
1 what is the diff. between a IBook and a Powerbook
2 What is the lowest speed processor should i look at for working with Photos (RAW) format. I am looking at a G4's


Help

OK... let's see if I can help:

(1) The 14" and 12" iBooks and the 12" PowerBook have exactly the same resolution, so you won't see more on a 14" - it'll just look bigger. Keep that in mind.

(2) Regardless of what a previous poster said, the current iBook crop is very competitive from a cost/benefit point of view with the current PBs. Yes, the 15" and 17" PBs have certain obvious-from-the-specs benefits when compared to the iBooks, but in your sub-iMac price range, the iBooks are very, very competitive with the 12" PB.

(3) Processor speed is less important than hard disk speed an particularly RAM when dealing with large RAW images. iPhoto, included with ALL new Macs, will handle RAW images (pretty sure, see apple.com to be certain), although, as mentioned above, there are better (and more expensive) options.

(4) I'd stay away from the mini. it's great if you need something to go in a small place, or if you want to switch via a KVM between PC and Mac using a single display, but otherwise it's relatively weak. You'd be just as well off getting a 12" iBook, and better off getting an iMac of either size. The G5 in the iMac will blow away the G4 in the mini. The iBooks and PBs are not as fast as the iMac, but, unless you're doing lots if image manipulation (as opposed to viewing and minor correction), the iBooks will be fine as an intro to the Mac world.

 

[iDM]

Hi
I am a PC person right now. I am looking into getting my first MAC. One of the big reason's is i just got into Photography. I have been playing with the mac's at the local store. I am very impressed with how OS X works.
Here are a few of my ???? The Mac's I am looking at are IBook processor ?? 14" display, MacMini 1.42, IMac G5 17" I am trying to stay a little less that the IMac
1 what is the diff. between a IBook and a Powerbook
2 What is the lowest speed processor should i look at for working with Photos (RAW) format. I am looking at a G4's


Help

My only advice would be whether you edit photos or just work with them, you are definitely going to want more landscape then the 14" ibook is going to give you. I have a 15" widescreen pb now and although it speeds through everything with all the ram i have, it is a little annoying having such a smaller monitor, so i couldn't imagine it on something 14". I'd suggest the 17" imac, obviously if you can afford it check out/get the 20" imac. One final suggestion would be the mini that you would then hook up to something like the dell 2005fpw or anything else with lots of landscape for comparing pictures or editing parts of photos. So i guess that is for the first question.

Second question advice would be more of my experience. I have a 1.25ghz processor with 1.25 gigs of ram and although i'm not working with files as large as RAW quality some of my photos are ~3 to 4 megs big. I really would hit a wall when opening my ~15,000 picture iphoto library but after putting in a gig stick of ram my computer opens my library much much much faster, scrolling within iphoto is smooth again and most importantly i can actually have other things running. Moral of the story max out the ram after you make you purchase because apple charges an arm and a leg and your first born for "their"(samsungs) ram.

In case you don't feel like reading all that these are the important details
Biggest monitor mini combo/17"or20" imac and as much ram as you can afford!! Good luck!

That is such an awesome name by the way, it's not often you meet or talk to another DOUG!!

 

[Clix Pix]

I just went through this decision-making process myself and after much research and playing with the various machines, finally came home with a Rev B iMac. I definitely will be working with Photoshop and although I haven't yet tackled shooting/processing RAW images, I know that I will be doing this soon, so kept that in mind. Digital image file sizes are large, especially when shooting in RAW. At some point I probably will be buying a new camera which has significantly more megapixels than my current one, and I kept that in mind, too.

I wanted the most bang for my buck and I decided that the Rev B iMac (which is now being sold for less because of the new Rev C just coming into stores) was the way to go. I was not especially interested in the new software and the built-in iSight camera with the new Rev C iMac, but I definitely prefer the Rev B for my current and projected use. Why the iMac rather than the Mac Mini, an iBook or a Powerbook? It has the G5 processor (the others are all G4), the RAM can be increased to 2 GB, and this beautiful all-in-one machine has either a 17" or the 20" monitor. I chose the 20" monitor and I think it will work quite nicely for manipulating images in Photoshop, as well as providing plenty of screen real estate for other software programs, too. So far I really like it.

As someone else mentioned, too, the most important piece of this is the RAM. Whatever computer you choose, max out the RAM, because that will make a difference more than anything else.

I, too, am a newbie in the Mac world and I am still surprised at how quickly and easily I made the transition, even after years of going through the various iterations of Windows. There is not at all that great of a learning curve involved in making the switch, and that's really nice!

Given the models you are considering, I would say unequivocably, go with the 17" iMac. If buying one (current model Rev C) seems like a financial squeeze, check out the reductions in price on the Rev B models, as there is a significant savings. An iMac will do what you want and make your digital imaging process a fun challenge rather than a frustrating one.

OTB