If you had $2500 to buy a MAC. What would you do?

[EOS MAN1]

Sounds to me like you need to spend some of that money on a computer class of some sort.

I have been using and building PC's for years and don't run into any issues like are describing. Getting an Apple is not gonna cure all your woes. A computer (any make or model) is like a car, you have to preform upkeep in order for it to maintain performance.

Sounds like you've got your mind set on an Apple though. They are great computers and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Personally, I wouldn't spend that much on a Laptop. Unlike a camera body that will keep taking good photos after newer models are released, a laptop will get slower and slower as software advances.

Just my .02 cents...

I make it out to be a bigger issue than it is. I am not personally happy with the Microsoft software, and thats it. Trust me when I say this I am very computer savy. I am tired of people telling me on this thread that I am doing something wrong. Everyone uses their computer differently for different things. For me, the way I do things works most effecient for me. I usually don't format the computer just for fun. Their is usually a good reason that I do it. First, I have way too much time on my hands, and two, I like to test out software, so sometimes I like to start fresh after using certain things. It keeps the registry cleaner. I even test run Vista on my POS machine. Didn't like it that much.

Everyone has there little quirks, thats mine. I don't need to format my drive. My computer runs for everyone else that uses it, but not good enough for me. I am anal like that.

So, all you people that insist you are Gods gift to man kind as some super genius PC freak, BUZZ OFF! The post is about MAC.

WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP COMING IN HERE TO START A FIGHT ABOUT PC VS. MAC.

I don't wan't anyones personal opinion about MAC VS. PC. I can make my own observations. For those of you who have stayed on topic, THANK YOU!

[RichNY]

I am not personally happy with the Microsoft software, and thats it.

Have you settled on a final Mac configuration yet?

-Posted using Safari Beta on my PC computer. Today was a good day for those who enjoy Apple products even those who prefer PCs as their computer of choice.

[Rumjungle]

Leopard is lookin' very interesting, indeed.;)

[BradT0517]

I'm not sure if I missed it but did you decide on which Mac Book Pro you want?

[RichNY]

I want an iPhone with a CF reader built in.

[EOS MAN1]

I am going to be getting the 15 inch macbook pro. It will be the lowest model and then I will buy ram aftermarket and max it out. I will probably buy an external firewire hard drive too. I don't think I will need more the 128 megs of video memory for photo editing.

[BradT0517]

I am going to be getting the 15 inch macbook pro. It will be the lowest model and then I will buy ram aftermarket and max it out. I will probably buy an external firewire hard drive too. I don't think I will need more the 128 megs of video memory for photo editing.

That is probably what I am going to do, but save a little a longer to get a 20in Cinema Display.

[Linkzi]

Check the refurbished store at the apple store daily. All kinds of bargains with a regular new mac warranty but inventory moves very quickly.

[tsw910]

yeah check out refurb section .. since they came out with the 2.2 and the 2.4 processor, all the 2.3s are in the refurb bin as it seems .. thats why i opted for the 17" MBP since its the same price as the previously priced 15"

[Josh101]

Ok, if you had $2500 to get a Mac what would you get? How would you use the money? Would you buy a 15in Mackbook pro? Would you buy a Macbook with a Monitor? Would you buy an IMac and save some money for lenses? What would you do?


if i had that much on hand i would buy a powermac G5 Quad. that comp is great for photo and video editing, and is very fast. while it is the older model and apple now has the current model, the older one does not have the new intel core duo chips but rather the power pc G5 processors


i currently have a macbook black and i love it because of the size and easy portability

[Tony-S]

Other than a source to heat your home in the winter, what's the advantage of G5 processors over the Intel processors?

[EOS MAN1]

Other than a source to heat your home in the winter, what's the advantage of G5 processors over the Intel processors?

LMAO:lol: thats funny!

[Newbie1981]

I stumbled onto this topic as I'm in the rocess of getting a Mac.

Mac Pro with 2x2.66Ghz , 4GB of Mem, 500GB HD 7200rpm, 1900 ATI Radeon 512MB graphics card, with a samsung 24" display (I read up on the Apple displays and they're trash as a large % of them are defective)

Total cost after my gf's employee discount $4k. :evil:

But i'm overdue for a new computer and I've always wanted a MAC.

[Rumjungle]

How much is the employee discount?

[Tareq]

After i used that Mac Tower in our photog. club i fallen in love with Mac.
I was planning to get only the Monitor but i heard it is not enough, also the Tower or desktop is so expensive, some advised me to get iMac, after researches and asking i found that i should get MacBook Pro but it will be later next year, and i will put a budget maximum up to about $3000 if necesary, so what do you think or recommend?
I will buy a color calibration device sooner or later so i don't worry about calibration my monitors and printers, and i will try to get minimum 17" monitor for that laptop, and i am sure that graphics card on those laptops are similar to what is in that tower desktop i used.

[RichNY]

I stumbled onto this topic as I'm in the rocess of getting a Mac.

Mac Pro with 2x2.66Ghz , 4GB of Mem, 500GB HD 7200rpm, 1900 ATI Radeon 512MB graphics card, with a samsung 24" display (I read up on the Apple displays and they're trash as a large % of them are defective)

Total cost after my gf's employee discount $4k. :evil:

But i'm overdue for a new computer and I've always wanted a MAC.

Congrats- You are going to really love the Mac. A few things to bring to mind while you are in the shopping mode: The Apple monitors aren't trash- they are quite good. My second choice would be an HP monitor. You should also plan on external storage right from the start since you'll be needing to backup your system.

Q. What made you choose the Mac Pro with a 24" monitor rather than the 24" iMac? The Mac Pro is a killer machine but if you're strictly doing photography rather than video editing the iMac with plenty of RAM is plenty fast at a fraction of the cost.

[slappy sam]

Dell monitors are very nicely priced and I (and many others) are very happy with the quality, especially for the price. I read somewhere that the panels they use to make them are the same as the apple cinema displays, but I have no idea if this is true or not (they do look like similar quality). I'd take a look at some if you don't have the budget for an apple display.

[Tareq]

Dell monitors are very nicely priced and I (and many others) are very happy with the quality, especially for the price. I read somewhere that the panels they use to make them are the same as the apple cinema displays, but I have no idea if this is true or not (they do look like similar quality). I'd take a look at some if you don't have the budget for an apple display.

I heard from many people that the quality is depend on graphics card and not the monitor itself, i can buy an Apple cinema display but i don't think it is only the monitor, but i hope you are right so then i will order this monitor very soon.

[René Damkot]

I heard from many people that the quality is depend on graphics card and not the monitor itself

Nope

[Michael1116]

feel free to flame me for this, but for $2500 you could get two PCs, each just as good as the Mac.

No flame......but as a PC user from back in the DOS era, and through every Windows OS that was ever released.........

WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO SWITCH TO MAC?

You are just plain wrong.

[printguy]

I still have every Mac I ever bought starting with a 9500 PowerPC, a G4 PowerPC (both towers), a G5 iMac (PowerPC) and a new Intel MacBook Pro 17". My photos all go onto a 500 gig RAID external.

The next Mac will be a 24" iMac (2.4GHz), $1,799 at Apple store, upgraded to 4gigs of memory, $180 at OtherWorldComputing. For under $2,000 before tax you get a desktop system that's perfect for photo editing. I work with a G5 tower at the office and would prefer the iMac to the tower as I have bought five towers (3 PCs before I saw the light and the first two Macs) thinking I would need expansion space and have never used it. Any expansion has always been an external.

If I didn't already own the MacBook Pro that would probably be my next Mac instead.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

I'd get a 24" iMac

[Tareq]

I'd get a 24" iMac

Which one? i found more than 6 or 7 models.

[Rumjungle]

Which one? i found more than 6 or 7 models.

The fastest one you can afford. Think of it like a laptop (in fact it uses laptop components). RAM can be swapped out, drives can be added on, but the processor is gonna stay so I'd suggest going with the fastest you can afford.

[RichNY]

The fastest one you can afford. Think of it like a laptop (in fact it uses laptop components). RAM can be swapped out, drives can be added on, but the processor is gonna stay so I'd suggest going with the fastest you can afford.

For photography software the upgrading the video card will make even more of a difference than the processor.

[Ebwly]

Macs don't get viruses...just sayin...

[kokakaste2]

Macs don't get viruses...just sayin...

Holy thread resurrection! :O

[Ebwly]

Holy thread resurrection! :O

wow...had no idea this was written so long ago...=/

[rklepper]

I have a 15" MacBook Pro with a docking station and a 30" Cinema Display. I absolutely love it. It is only money after all.

[kokakaste2]

It is only money after all.

Hahah ^^ I keep saying the same. Have a 15" MPB and just ordered an iPad2 :/ now only need to get a external screen lol

[Jon]

Macs don't get viruses...just sayin...

http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/malware-and-hackers-increasingly-targeting-macs-780?source=IFWNLE_nlt_sec_2011-05-03

Just saying - don't get cocky, kid.

[ben_r_]

http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/malware-and-hackers-increasingly-targeting-macs-780?source=IFWNLE_nlt_sec_2011-05-03

Just saying - don't get cocky, kid.
Ha ha I know! I LOVE the mentality that Apples dont get viruses! Now I own both, so dont get me wrong, I love them both, but the ONLY reasons macs "never" had viruses before is bc NO ONE had them, so why would a programmer bother wasting time writing code for a system no one owns as a majority? Well now that they are getting more popular, guess what?! All in due time my friends. All in due time.

[mzbarsk]

My suggestion is MacPro. That's what I got and couldn't be happier.
( Westmere 6 Cores, 16GB RAM, 4 2TB hard drives ). Plenty of processing power, ability to upgrade hard drives, graphics card, and expand RAM to 32GB. Pricey, but it should last for 4-5 years at least.

[harcosparky]

Funny thread, I am sitting here with $2500 in my hand trying to figure out what to do.

Three weeks ago when I got the $2500 I was going to look at the Macbook Pro.

I heard of the impending iMac refresh, so I decided to wait. Now that the refresh is out I have made my decision.

I realized I have all that I *need* at the moment and buying anything without a defined need would be frivolous.

I'll keep my 3 yr old 24" iMac, my old Macbook Pro, and my iPad as they are. They do the work I require of them, and that's all I can ask for.


Tomorrow morning the money goes into the bank.

At least I will have the knowledge that should anything break, I have the funds to repair/replace it.



.

[Ebwly]

http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/malware-and-hackers-increasingly-targeting-macs-780?source=IFWNLE_nlt_sec_2011-05-03

Just saying - don't get cocky, kid.

That article was malware, not viruses. Besides, you shouldn't get viruses unless you visit some...lets just say special websites, if you do that, then of course you are more likely to get viruses, but if you just stick to the normal sites that everybody else uses, like online banking, wiki, this forum, and others, you shouldn't have any problems, especially not macs, as even if by the offchance you do get a virus, 99% of the time its gonna be for windows, not mac.

I wasn't talking about going to a virus stricken site, downloading torrents which obviously have viruses in them...of course in that case viruses would be more likely to affect a mac.

Basically what I'm saying is, for everyday use, macs dont get get viruses, but of course, if you throw anything into water, it's gonna get wet. Don't take it to the extreme.

[harcosparky]

Comment Deleted!

What's the point, we all know! ;)

[René Damkot]

Let's not get into the Mac vs. Windows, virus vs. no virus, yadayada…
Threads that do, have a tendency to get locked…

[Tareq]

I really waiting to get the Mac Pro, then i will never look back.

[njekin]

God, if I have that fund, I would buy an iMac+Mac book Air. Your got super portability and decent monitor with not bad computing power.
I cannot understand those willing to spend more than 2000 dollars on a macbook pro.

[mattyb240]

God, if I have that fund, I would buy an iMac+Mac book Air. Your got super portability and decent monitor with not bad computing power.
I cannot understand those willing to spend more than 2000 dollars on a macbook pro.

As some of us need power and portability, and use them for other stuff than just photography;)

[kokakaste2]

God, if I have that fund, I would buy an iMac+Mac book Air. Your got super portability and decent monitor with not bad computing power.
I cannot understand those willing to spend more than 2000 dollars on a macbook pro.

Try living in two different countries and you will. I bought a MBP over a iMac+iPad setup just because every few months I have to travel around 1000km by plane or train (both have luggage size restrictions). Taking the iMac with me every time would be too difficult. And I would not be able to work with the Air, I need all the power I can get out of the laptop, even now the i5 MBP is not fully capable of doing all the stuff. (5D mkII raw files, 1080p video etc)

Or in other words - If you move a lot, laptop is more logical solution. If not then iMac is great. :)

[Tareq]

I have 2 MBP which i am struggling with for my Hasselblad/Canon files, lucky that i don't do video stuff as well, and my Mac Mini reached its limit for handling huge files most of the time, so i will get Mac Pro to use it as my main workstation for huge files and keep the MacM and 2 MBPs for web surfing and some small works or even backups, and i don't want iMac because i have 2 monitors already, so better i buy powerful CPU than all-in-one desktop and not as top notch.

Still i don't know which Mac Pro to get, the salesman told me that no need to get the highest one if i will not do videos, even i hear somewhere that 12-core is not recommended over 6/8-cores for still photography, is that true? What is your recommendations?

[Hen3Ry]

If I had 2500 buckaroonies to spend on a new Mac, I'd look on Craigslist for a year old Mac Pro (not a laptop!!!) to do PP on, along with a nice IPS monitor from the same place. And I'm pretty sure I'd have money left over.

[Lightworks Imaging]

$500 used MBP 15" and a 5D2. That's my path.

[Titus213]

If I had to spend it all on a Mac I'd head over to the Apple refurb shop and get a Mac Pro.