Photographers! What platform &/or system do you use?

[UltraNEO*]

Used to be a 15" Matte MBP. Now its a "Mac Pro" with a 23" Apple cinema display. If I'm going to be doing an extraction from a background, I load the image onto my tablet (X61 with Wacom 12" screen)

Hmm... I do the same but with MacPro.

I use a MacMini and Matte screen at home, if I need to use anything onsite it'll be my MacBook.

I don't think the MacMini can cope while with large 10-14Mb RAW files to be honest, it'll be a little too slow for me.

Looks like the question for you is: What is more important, screen size or weight? What can't you live with(out)?

I have a 22" Dell for my tower, the notebook can sacrifice the screen because the lower weight/smaller size is what I must have. If need be, when at home I can have both devices connected to the 22" monitor as it supports multiple connections.

For me, I have a 30" Display in my apartment.. but on the road i'm a bit indecisive about going with the 17" or the more compact and lighter 15"

 

[ingouk]

at home: iMac 2.4GHz 24" with a second 20" screen
on the road: MSI Wind Netbook for some quick and dirty edits and for storing/uploading raw's.

 

[Bigtree]

I guess YOUR world revolves around laptops. Have you ever tried a 24" screen?

iMac for me and NEVER a laptop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jampat]

15" Matte for me, but it never actually goes on vacation. Hyperdrive HD80 all the way, small, strong, fast, lots of space and easy on batteries. If someone is paying you to shoot, 2xHD80.

 

[ajpl]

I guess YOUR world revolves around laptops. Have you ever tried a 24" screen?

iMac for me and NEVER a laptop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like to see you get your iMac onto a plane!

I have a dual monitor set up at home for a really big desktop and a 13" for travelling and yet I still love my dinky laptop and use it at home a lot too.

 

[SuperCompu2]

I'm not really good at post-processing, so I basically just do batch shooting and weed out the crappy shots, keep the few good ones and move on.

For this very reason, my 15" PowerBook G4 has never really been a problem as far as organization and very basic edits are concerned (crops, maybe some minor tweaks like contrast/brightness).

I'll keep using it until it absolutely becomes useless! When that happens, I have my 17" iMac CD to pick up the load.

 

[Techguy172]

I use my MacBook and Adobe Lightroom.

 

[peskaa]

At home I use a 2008 Mac Pro with dual 23" ACDs - 90% of my work is done on here, using Aperture 2.0 and Photoshop.

For out and about, I'm just moving up to a new 2.8Ghz GlassBook Pro. The gloss doesn't bother me at all, as I wouldn't rely on a laptop for colour work anyway. Previously I've used a Revision A MacBook and a Revision C PowerBook G4 15".

 

[MacNoobie]

I'm dedicated I've lugged around my 2.8Ghz (overclocked to 3Ghz) 10GB, 1.5TB monster MacPro & 30" ACD to shoots before powered by an inverter out of the back of my expedition. I use CS4 and Lightroom 2 to edit and catalog all my shoots and back them up to Blu-ray BD-RW's, an external drive, and a 500gb drive in the machine.

What I am lusting for is a Lenovo W700 laptop with built in color calibration and Wacom tablet.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I guess YOUR world revolves around laptops. Have you ever tried a 24" screen?

iMac for me and NEVER a laptop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I assume your aiming that at me? Why on earth would i want a 24" when the 30" has much more real-estate space? There's no substitute for a desktop system as a main-system, having the processing power to manipulate just about any imagine is fantastic! However, on the road it's kinda difficult to lug around especially when the glass and body alone comes to approximately 15kg to 20Kg (depends on what glass), add a laptop, harddisk, emergency install disk and that'll be almost the 23kg allowed on most economy flights. Don't forget cloths, that's all on top!!!

 

[UltraNEO*]

Oh does anyone use a Sony Viao,
maybe one of the ultra-portables with the C2D CPU's???

 

[rhett7660]

I had a dell 15 inch and dumped it. Way to heavy and bulky. I am going to be getting either one of the smaller sony viao's... or the 13inch mac book. Most if not all of my post processing is done at home. What I like to do is get a quick preview of what I have shot and the have it on the compact side. Processing power really isn't an issue since I don't do alot of post production on my laptops.

 

[bluethru]

Currently using a Windows laptop and hating every minute of it!! Upgrading soon to the new MBP Base Model for use at football (soccer) matches.

 

[ajpl]

Oh does anyone use a Sony Viao,
maybe one of the ultra-portables with the C2D CPU's???

I have a 13" one, but it's 3 years old now. Very good and reliable machine, can run CS4 no problem.
I did wonder about replacing it with a MacPro, but sadly they are too big and too glossy. So maybe another Vaio it is especially as the new 13" has an ever higher res screen.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I have a 13" one, but it's 3 years old now. Very good and reliable machine, can run CS4 no problem.
I did wonder about replacing it with a MacPro, but sadly they are too big and too glossy. So maybe another Vaio it is especially as the new 13" has an ever higher res screen.

I am assuming you mean the Macbook Pros are too big and too glossy in which case I would agree with the glossy bit.

 

[ajpl]

As the laptop's primary function is for location work, big laptops are not exactly ideal for my needs, the 17" you have is far more suited to desktops. Doesn't fit in my Airport Addicted backpack either.
Plus as I can get a 1600x900 desktop on a 13" Vaio, compared to the 2.3" larger and 1kg heavier MacBook Pro with only a 1440X900 desktop and an inferior keyboard [though a very lovely trackpad], the MacBookPro is underwhelming a choice. Plus as the new PS interface takes up less vertical screen space on a PC, the Mac destop is even smaller in reality. But if the 15" MBP had an anti glare screen and a higher res desktop.......

 

[Techguy172]

As the laptop's primary function is for location work, big laptops are not exactly ideal for my needs, the 17" you have is far more suited to desktops. Doesn't fit in my Airport Addicted backpack either.
Plus as I can get a 1600x900 desktop on a 13" Vaio, compared to the 2.3" larger and 1kg heavier MacBook Pro with only a 1440X900 desktop and an inferior keyboard [though a very lovely trackpad], the MacBookPro is underwhelming a choice. Plus as the new PS interface takes up less vertical screen space on a PC, the Mac destop is even smaller in reality. But if the 15" MBP had an anti glare screen and a higher res desktop.......

Yeah, Apple really does need higher resolution screens standard on their computers. Glossy is something that can be fixed though. (Anti-glare sticker).


I think some people just say they hate glossy without ever using a glossy computer and they only say this because others are complaining too.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Yeah, Apple really does need higher resolution screens standard on their computers. Glossy is something that can be fixed though. (Anti-glare sticker).


I think some people just say they hate glossy without ever using a glossy computer and they only say this because others are complaining too.

Would you want to put a giant sticker on your $2000 machine? I sure wouldn't, and so far nobody to my knowledge has reported success with one on a new MB or MBP.

I've tried glossy machines long enough to determine that they cause me eyestrain, especially the new glassy glossy. Whenever I get bright light flashed in my eyes, even if only momentarily, I get a headache. Blue eyes are sensitive like that.

 

[lasuther]

I travel with my new 2.0GHz MacBook, Olympus E420, and a few lens in a LowePro CompuDaypack. It nice to fit all my gear in one bag and have room for other things.

I will often bring my 20" iMac in a iLugger bag on car trips when I'm doing a lot of shooting.

 

[DYER]

Well when I am working outside or on location i bring along my Toshiba m70 latop but i have replaced it with a new 2.8ghz MBP due to the fact my toshiba is currently hard pressed when working with raw files since i upgraded to the D300 (D3 aint no good to me atm)
when at the studio ill take my file server (custom build Raid 5 linux running machine 3tb) and my current windows pc.
I am currently in the process of finding parts for a new windows running powerhouse (so far 16gb ram intel xeon 3.2ghz quad and dual 1gb nvidia cards) as well as 2 23" displays. may turn the new one into a hackintosh as wlel thoughl....
yep thats my setup current windows pc will go soon as it is slowly but surely dying so ill be dependent on our trusty "pool shared" dell and my mac till i have the money to upgrade

 

[pdxflint]

Man... that Sony Vaio sure is sweet. And the display technology is really good - much better than the glassy look. It's compact, well built, has hi-def, hdmi, firewire, usb2, blueray, 1600x900, up to 9 hr battery life, actually has attractive eek chicklet-style keyboard, and is a really nice under 4 lb package. Now... if it only ran OS X... - but I'd still go for it, since I've figured out how to uncomplicate Windows in the past. Plus, Photoshop is already 64bit for Windows.

But, I'm hanging onto my MBP Classic for a while because it's a pretty damn good computer itself. But, if I had to buy something new... today, the Sony would get a real hard look. Apple should seriously take a look at some of the competition as far as hardware goes.