Community Newsletter: Q&A: Is the Mac right for me?
- 4/5/07 11:48 AM
Sweet setup
by JLeeK - 3/23/07 5:35 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The iMac with 2gb of memory and 7200rpm hard drive is what I use. I have created some very large files with Photoshop and have yet to have software problems. For that matter I haven't had other software problems either. At 57 years old I appreciate the 24" screen especially when working on photographs. The beta version of CS3 offers real speed to my humble operation.
Answer to the Mac Question.
by wimpiee - 3/23/07 5:37 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am a person that has both Mac's and AMD machines. To tell you the truth. Mac people love their Mac's and that's the truth. You can't go wrong with either machine. If all you want is a big monitor then save yourself a lot of money and by a big monitor. You really can't go wrong just buying a big monitor as long as your machine is powerful enough to do what you want. I love both machines and they will both do what I want. I had the orignal MAC classic and always wanted a new one so I went out and bought one and spent a fortune on it but my AMD machine is a very powerful machine and it didn't cost me near as much as the Mac did. Either way you go you can't loose as long as you have enough memory and enough storage space and enough processing power.
PC RULES, Mac isn't all that bad though.
by Mr Freeze - 3/30/07 3:58 PM In reply to: Answer to the Mac Question. by wimpieeI completely agree with wimpiee. I have both and love both. Of course, PC is more of a primary system, but Mac is good for work and information research. As far as photo and video editing, they're both the same. I would rather do photo/video editing on a PC though, just look at the hardware differences.
iMac 24"
by Ken Lowe - 3/23/07 5:47 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Chaz,
I work as a lighting gaffer in the film and tv production in the UK and as such have a very good understanding of cameras, lighting and editing. My hobbies include digital photography and I am fortunate to own several digital SLR's and a couple of 7mp+ compacts. I have owned pc's since the days for the Spectrum ZX80 and to this day own a HD Sony Vaio Media Centre pc and a top of the range Toshiba Qasimo laptop.
18 months ago my 'best boy' (a Mac geek) convinced me enough to purchase a Mac Mini, it was brilliant for any sort of media, Apple seem to have really got this side of computing sorted out. No crashes, almost instant switch on compared to a pc, and an excellent out of the box photography editing suite built in, which is upgradable to Apple's pro editing suite.
I am now on my second Mac mini (higher spec) and am awaiting the new operating system to be released by Apple before purchasing the iMac 24".
Don't get me wrong, I will still use my pc's but not for photography, movies, music, web building, email, surfing.....
Borrrrrrrrrrrrrring-Homer Simpson
by Mickey - 3/23/07 5:48 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Most slide show programs are those "pic every 2.5 second" jobs that are quite handy for putting folks to sleep. Do one of those and I'll bet that even you will only watch it once, and maybe not even make it to the end! Worse still are the Powerpoint shows with the fancy smancy dissolves that seem to make some people think that they are being "creative". Give me a break.
Photodex Pro Show Gold will allow you to better coordinate your photos to the music. Probably other programs will as well, but the point is to choose something to where you tell a story via the song you choose and the pictures you choose. Don't do the weary travelogue thing. It has been done to death and beyond. And for God's sake, use a simple dissolve. Those fancy ones just detract from what you are trying to get across.
Are you fairly well off and want to do something truly artistic? Learn the program called "Watchout" which will allow you to do multi- projector, multi-screen shows all coordinated to music. You can get and use the program for free at www.dataton.com. But, in order to project your show, it'll cost you. It's $2,000.00 per projector, plus another $2,000.00 for the computer that feeds the show to the computers that feed the projectors.
That means that, for a 3 screen show, you'll need 4 fairly high end computers, 3 projectors that'll do the job, a receiver, speakers, a computer switch, some wiring, and the keys (little "dongles" that plug in to a USB port on the computers that allow the show to be projected). Only about $20,000.00. Hey, $20,000.00 is not that much to some people and if they apply themselves amazing things can be produced.
Well, just trying to expand your ideas a bit to enable you to produce something special.
iMac or PC for photo career
by Channing - 3/23/07 6:00 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My son has been raving about Macs for years. I had always been using PCs and was nonplussed by it all. More recently I purchased a PC that has some problems, probably something that happened to the hard drive prior to its being refurbished. It was an apparent bargain on overstock.com, but that's different story.
So I was struggling with the PC, working with the firewall, the anti-virus and Internet protection program, and running several programs to eliminate viruses and spyware, clean the registry, and generally whip the PC into shape. Someone said I should change out the hard drive to solve the problem. I was getting ready to that when I decided I had deprived myself of a notebook long enough. I bought an Apple Mac Book Pro.
I'm still planning the swap out the hard drive on the PC, and possibly just install Vista -- someday. But there's no hurry because things are just so sweet on the Mac Book Pro.
For years the graphics people all went for Macs because they were the standard for working with graphics. Windows XP seems to have closed the gap, somewhat. But why would I spend a lot of time with a PC when things work so well on the Mac. Yes, there is some adjustment that needs to be made in making the switch. But here's the bottom line:
I worked with a PC for years and years. I feel kind of guilty for spending so much time on the Mac Book Pro. I resolve to take the time to solve problems on the PC -- which will mean updating the anti-virus program, probably as part of an Internet protection suite, and then I will need to update my spyware programs, and then I will have to defrag every so often, and there will be the other maintenance issues. While I'm thinking about doing all of that, there is work to be done and so I get busy and do it on the Mac Book Pro. The Mac OS X is a Unix-based system, eliminating a lot of issues present in Windows.
Will I finally get around to swapping out that hard drive on the PC? Yeah, probably, someday. Meanwhile, I have a good deal of work to do and the Mac Book Pro and I are becoming really good buddies.
Channing Hillway
Ventura CA
iMac 24" all the way
by z05m - 3/23/07 6:01 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I Have had my iMac 24" core3 duo for 5months now and it's true that it never crashes and I never reboot my computer for what ever reason. I have encoded my entire DVD library in H.264 and my wife and I watch all our movies on it. The TV is only used for the 360 and PS3.
Go for the iMac 24" you will never regret it and everyone around you will envy you 
Photos PC to Mac
by Scar517 - 3/23/07 6:16 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Great idea.
You won't be disappointed by making the mac conversion with only a single format or application in mind. I kind of did the same thing about 2 years ago and have only positive things to say about the decision.
I continue to use Windows - I have Vista installed on my MacBook Pro.
I use Microsoft Office for mac - and prefer it to the PC versions.
I walk into a clients office, plug in my mac, and I can print to a network printer - a task I can never manage to do at my own companies offices with a PC.
For Photography, Macs Rule!
by cptdrinian - 3/23/07 6:31 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've used both platforms (Windows at home and Macs at school) and the Mac is far more effortless and efficient in the handling of digital images. If you do your homework you'll find that anyone who is serious about photography has a Mac to edit their images. As far as crashing, Macs are not invulnerable, but you will find that they ARE far more stable than PCs. The Adobe Photoshop software was originally written as a subroutine for the Mac platform to simulate the gray-scale effect (http://www.storyphoto.com/multimedia/multimedia_photoshop.html). As such, the software is written for the Mac and thus runs more efficiently than on the PC. I too realize that Macs represent a greater financial investment and you'll have to spend a bit more on hardware, but I believe you'll be very satisfied with the results. In fact, I plan to purchase a new Mac system once I get the capital together. Go for it, you won't be sorry.
iMac
by askaskask - 3/23/07 6:34 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would definately push you towards the Mac. The Mac guys are not really the wrong guys to ask -- probably anyone would tell you that Macs crash FAR less often than Windoes machines (except Vista users in denial). The fact the iMac comes with iPhoto may be agreat plus, as is the ability to get pro software like Apple's Aperture or Adobe's Creative Suite later (or right away, since they'll be Universal very soon).
If you want to do Microsoft Office work, Macs have a version avalible (Office 2004) and it should be updated soon since the new PC version just came out. An alternate would be iWork, which Apple makes yearly.
Also, I'm not sure you need the 24", you may be fine with the 20". It is about $400 less.
Just another option.
How serious are you?
by jonkehote - 3/23/07 6:35 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you plan on doing some heavy duty work with either photoshop or some similar I think you can go either way. Photographers generally swear by Mac but most of those people haven't used pc's in years and are painfully inaccurate when they talk about what can and can't be done on a pc. That said... Macs are real pretty. I don't have much experience with Aperture.
If you plan on just doing the basics (organization, some mild adjustments - cropping, exposure, etc.) then truthfully there is nothing on the mac that even remotely compares to Picasa, the free program from Google. iPhoto organization is terrible, migrating photos from other programs and drives into iPhoto requires much more care than Picasa on the PC. Picasa handles all formats. In addition, the default storage in iPhoto keeps the modified files separate from the originals which sounds good unless you only modify a handful of shots on a roll then the shots that were perfectly fine when you shot them are in a different location.
I love my mac but I miss my Picasa for basics. I use photoshop for the more advanced stuff but for vacation and family photos there's nothing like Picasa.
IMac vs. PC
by traveler273 - 3/23/07 6:41 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Chaz,
I own both PC (Dell) and Mac.
Good news is that you could install Windows on your Intel based Mac and use Parallels program for switching between operating systems. This way ou have PC and Mac in one place. If that is one of your concerns. Very easy, convenient and it work quite well.
When comes to graphics - Mac is made for that... My friends who are computer graphics artists use only Mac for their work. It is just hard to compare with PC. Plus the software for photo editing is fantastic (Apperture) - it supports RAW formats from quite a number of different cameras (Just check Mac's website for the list - under software section, then click on Apperture). I love photography myelf and have been using Apperture for editing my pictures with quite wonderful effects. My Mac never crashed handling large amount of graphics, nor did it slow down like my PC does whenever I edit slideshows, videos, etc..
I have to say that I will be switching to Mac completely and not looking back.
Mac or PC for photography
by maplegrovebob - 3/23/07 6:48 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am a photography and graphics professional. If you are wanting to make a profession out of photography, you can't go wrong in doing what almost all graphics and photographers do, buy a Mac. OS X is very stable, and hardly ever crashes. PC & Macs use different monitor gamma. Macs are the standard for viewing pictures that you are going to print. The new Macs can run windows if you need it. But be carefull. That will invite viruses that affect PCs.
Interesting query
by Lehawk - 3/23/07 6:51 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have them all XP, NT, Linux (various types) and Mac. I find that all have a purpose and all excel in one area or another. However the Mac's specialty is audio and video. I consider photography a form of video.
I would never go back to any other OS when it comes to photography. I have a DSLR, an iBook, and an iPod and they all go nicely in my photobag.
I don't think a person could go wrong with any OS if you can get the required applications to satisfy your needs. This operating arguement does have limited merit with security however photography is about applications and I use Adobe CS2 and that is the secret to success.
Adobe works on both OS's and even Gimp ion my Ubuntu is an excellent program however I now only use Mac's for photography.
I had the same problem!
by bjames - 3/23/07 7:30 PM In reply to: Is the Mac right for me? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I used a PC for my hobby and small photography business up until about 3 yrs ago. It worked but was very problematic and cumbersome with only acceptable results. My son convinced me to try a Mac. I resisted because I didn't want the hassle of learning a whole new system.....I thought, but relented. I'm no computer expert, but I can't believe the ease of use and the superior results. I kept the PC going for a couple of months as a security blanket. It now sits still and quiet in the corner of my office. Come to think of it, the Mac is quiet too.
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