best mac for PSElements?

[gkbs]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I just got my 10D and can't install PSElements onto my bondi iMac OS9, gonna get a new Mac with OSX. As a simple hobbyist, how much RAM do I really need to use PS? iMac can give me up to 1gig, the Powerbooks ($$$!) and iBooks around 640 max. Can't afford a tower. Any suggestions on which system would be best? And do I really need ANYTHING with DVD burner? Can't imagine with photos... THANKS EVERYBODY!

(love the 10D, BTW!!!)

[deztoys]

Any of the iMacs (flat panel) will do PSElements fine. As for RAM, get what you can afford. More the better. I've run it on 256M on my powerbook while waiting for my memory upgrade to arrive. It worked. Currenly I run it on 1 800MHz, Titanium PB 15" with 1GB RAM, 2 867 MHz, Aluminum Powerbooks 12" with 640MB RAM and a 800MHz Imac with 1GB RAM.

My 12" Powerbook travels with me in my camera bag and works great as a place to store photos, burn CDs etc..

[droosan]

I would like to stress as well that more RAM is better, especially with OS X. Get at least 384MB. And a Gig if you can afford it.

Apple has, since 1984, shipped its consumer macs without enough RAM - causing the general impression that macs are crash prone and slow. One of a number of practices Apple continues, apparently, to ensure that its (generally) superior products never become popular.

I would go for a DVD burner for the simple reason that your 10D is going to fill up your hard drive more quickly than you can believe. Also remember that at any moment your hard-drive can disappear in any number of different ways. Put your pictures on DVD and remove it from the building your computer is in.

[justme_dc]

either a flat panel iMac or an eMac would work great for you. I agree that the more ram the better I am currently running a G4 Tower with 768mb of ram and I get along just fine using the full version of PhotoShop 7. I also run elements from time to time and it works great. As to the Question about DVD-R/superdrives, I have found that if I shoot a full 1gig microdrive of images and convert them all to 8bit tiffs that I am looking at 3+ gigs of photos. That's about 4 and a half CDRs or one DVD if you want to back them all up. The Superdrive is really the way to go if you have the money to do so. I personally would suggest the eMac over the iMac as it has a lower price point and it has a CRT which is far easier to calibrate for print. Also, LCD monitors cannot, I repeat Cannot display all 16.7 million colors. This may not be an issue to you but I do print work for a living so I have to be able to see all the colors I can.

You can never go wrong with a Mac.
Good luck!