I MAC Purchase Help Required

[mangaloreaviators]

Hello All,

Need help in buying a MAC. I will be buying a MAC for PhotoEditing. I went to the Apple Showroom Today and have few models in mind. Help me selecting the best one

Model MA876
http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHZ
4MB L2 Cache
1GB 677 DDR2 Memory
250GB Hard Drive
8X Super Drive with 4x Double Layer burning (8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics processor 128MB of GDDR3 memory

Will be using Apple Aperture SW for Photo Editing.

Waht say about the Mac Book Pro ?

Need suggestion please

[Tom Camilleri]

Hello All,

Need help in buying a MAC. I will be buying a MAC for PhotoEditing. I went to the Apple Showroom Today and have few models in mind. Help me selecting the best one

Model MA876
http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHZ
4MB L2 Cache
1GB 677 DDR2 Memory
250GB Hard Drive
8X Super Drive with 4x Double Layer burning (8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics processor 128MB of GDDR3 memory

Will be using Apple Aperture SW for Photo Editing.

Waht say about the Mac Book Pro ?

Need suggestion please

Any of the iMacs on that page should be good for image editing. The 24 inch model is very nice but a 20 inch screen is probably big enough for most. The extra area is convenient in that multiple open files, editing program palettes and other controls can make for a lot of clutter. Be sure to max out the memory. The Macbook and Macbook pro models will be more or less like the iMacs except portable. If you need portability they should also be fine for image editing. Again, be sure to max out the memory. I'm on the fence about what new system to get myself. Might go for the new entry level Mac pro because of the memory limitations of the Macbooks and iMacs, but I'm not sure this is really necessary. All of these systems are much better than the high-end image editing systems of a few years ago, even memory wise.

[mangaloreaviators]

What about LCD Calibaration ?

I though of getting a Mac Book Pro and then using a CRT for Photo Editing as people complain about difficulty in LCD Calibarting.

[stathunter]

I was at the Apple store in AA Michigan and really love the 24inch ---but for the price the 20inch is better fit for me. My concern was for 1400 it only had 1gig of ram.......will that even work for editing?
I am running a pc now with 2gigs of ram--with vista :( and it is slower than what I like----especially when I run cs3...... :(

[crn3371]

I haven't had any issues calibrating my 24" iMac, using the Pantone Huey. I don't have much experience with Aperture, having just started playing with the free trial, but everything I've read says that it is very dependent on the graphics processor, so keep that in mind. Also, if you do some searching, you'll find lots of discussions on the various iMac screens, with the 24" models using a higher quality display. While the base line 20" model would suffice, I'd strongly recommend going to the next model up. Faster processor, bigger hard drive, and better graphics card. You'll also want more then 1 gig of ram, but don't get it from Apple. Too pricey. Get it from someone such as Crucial, and install it yourself.

[sadatk]

I was at the Apple store in AA Michigan and really love the 24inch ---but for the price the 20inch is better fit for me. My concern was for 1400 it only had 1gig of ram.......will that even work for editing?
I am running a pc now with 2gigs of ram--with vista :( and it is slower than what I like----especially when I run cs3...... :(
Just get some extra from somewhere else. It's very cheap these days--1GB sticks can be had for $20.

[randy98mtu]

I have a related question. I see when you configure a system, the Mac Mini doesn't give you an option to order Aperture. Will Aperture or Lightroom run sufficiently on a Mini? I have spent so much on my camera and glass that it would be quite some time before I can drop 2k on a new Mac. But 1k for a loaded Mini might be doable sooner. Would I be disappointed? I've been itching to try a Mac for a few years now and I regret purchasing my Dell laptop last winter. :(

[ocabj]

Get the RAM from Crucial (lifetime warranty). 4Gig kit is only ~$120 (I just ordered some for an office computer) compared to the $700 Apple is asking.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Get the RAM from Crucial (lifetime warranty). 4Gig kit is only ~$120 (I just ordered some for an office computer) compared to the $700 Apple is asking.

Exactly what I was going to say. Apple ram is no different than many others.

[asylumxl]

Why is MAC in CAPITALS? You MAC guys sure are outgoing...

[Village_Idiot]

Aperture isn't UB afaik. Lightroom is. Aperture tends to run slow on the intel macs.

[Village_Idiot]

Why is MAC in CAPITALS? You MAC guys sure are outgoing...

Maybe he really wants to purchase a Media Access Control address. :confused:

[asylumxl]

Maybe he really wants to purchase a Media Access Control address. :confused:

Mine came free with all my WiFi gear cos I'm special:).

[Tony-S]

Hello All,

Need help in buying a MAC. I will be buying a MAC for PhotoEditing. Will be using Apple Aperture SW for Photo Editing.

20" iMac has a TN panel, the 24" iMac has S-IPS. You also need to be prepared to deal with the glossy displays that each have. Of course, both will also drive a second display to 1920x1200, typically found on 24" models. Aperture will run fine on the iMacs.

As others have said, forgo the RAM from Apple and spend that money on a larger hard drive. Buy RAM from third party.

Waht say about the Mac Book Pro ?

Great machine, but for photo and video work I'd consider the MacBook instead. It's nearly as fast and costs $900 less. You could buy a lot of other things for that $900.

[Tony-S]

Aperture isn't UB afaik. Lightroom is. Aperture tends to run slow on the intel macs.

Aperture is UB - it runs fine on Intel-based Macs.

[Tony-S]

I have a related question. I see when you configure a system, the Mac Mini doesn't give you an option to order Aperture. Will Aperture or Lightroom run sufficiently on a Mini? I have spent so much on my camera and glass that it would be quite some time before I can drop 2k on a new Mac. But 1k for a loaded Mini might be doable sooner. Would I be disappointed? I've been itching to try a Mac for a few years now and I regret purchasing my Dell laptop last winter. :(

I run Aperture on a Mac Mini now. I just ordered version 2 ($69 :) ) and will install it on my Mini. Aperture is one of the rare photo software apps that uses the gpu (via OS X Core Graphics routines), thus some tasks can be sluggish on the Mini. The reason for this is because the Mini has the GMA 950 gpu, which is very good for most 2D apps, but struggles with some tasks involving rendering of RAW images.

As a frame of reference, my Mac Mini (1.66 gHz Core Duo) renders a RAW 30D file in about 2 to 3 seconds. My MacBook Pro (2.4 gHz Core 2 Duo with dedicated gpu) does the same in about 1.5 to 2 seconds. If you're doing rendering all day, then it might be best to get a machine with a dedicated gpu (all Macs except Mini and MacBook, which uses the GMA 965 gpu).

[randy98mtu]

I run Aperture on a Mac Mini now. I just ordered version 2 ($69 :) ) and will install it on my Mini. Aperture is one of the rare photo software apps that uses the gpu (via OS X Core Graphics routines), thus some tasks can be sluggish on the Mini. The reason for this is because the Mini has the GMA 950 gpu, which is very good for most 2D apps, but struggles with some tasks involving rendering of RAW images.

As a frame of reference, my Mac Mini (1.66 gHz Core Duo) renders a RAW 30D file in about 2 to 3 seconds. My MacBook Pro (2.4 gHz Core 2 Duo with dedicated gpu) does the same in about 1.5 to 2 seconds. If you're doing rendering all day, then it might be best to get a machine with a dedicated gpu (all Macs except Mini and MacBook, which uses the GMA 965 gpu).

Thanks. That's exactly what I've been looking to find out. I would love to get a laptop, but seeing as our 2 Dell's are less than 16 months old I think that will go over like a fart in church; my wife will not be happy with me. I still have an old 17" LCD that I can hook up to a Mac Mini and see if I like this whole Mac game at an entry price... Will Lightroom run as well? I would like to buy something I can install on Windows if I don't end up staying with the Mac.

[wlescall]

I run Aperture on a Mac Mini now. I just ordered version 2 ($69 :) ) and will install it on my Mini. Aperture is one of the rare photo software apps that uses the gpu (via OS X Core Graphics routines), thus some tasks can be sluggish on the Mini. The reason for this is because the Mini has the GMA 950 gpu, which is very good for most 2D apps, but struggles with some tasks involving rendering of RAW images.

As a frame of reference, my Mac Mini (1.66 gHz Core Duo) renders a RAW 30D file in about 2 to 3 seconds. My MacBook Pro (2.4 gHz Core 2 Duo with dedicated gpu) does the same in about 1.5 to 2 seconds. If you're doing rendering all day, then it might be best to get a machine with a dedicated gpu (all Macs except Mini and MacBook, which uses the GMA 965 gpu).

The newer MacBooks use the Intel GMA X3100 - just got mine. :D

[Tony-S]

The newer MacBooks use the Intel GMA X3100 - just got mine. :D

Chipset is 965, gpu is X3100 (to clarify).

[snails]

I have a related question. I see when you configure a system, the Mac Mini doesn't give you an option to order Aperture. Will Aperture or Lightroom run sufficiently on a Mini? I have spent so much on my camera and glass that it would be quite some time before I can drop 2k on a new Mac. But 1k for a loaded Mini might be doable sooner. Would I be disappointed? I've been itching to try a Mac for a few years now and I regret purchasing my Dell laptop last winter. :(

The Aperture website suggests that the Mac Mini should work without any problems. I run Aperture on a MacBook which has similar hardware, it works great. (4GB Ram really helps, and no I didn't pay Apple's $800 asking price for the RAM)

[brucea]

I have an older iMac G5, 20", bumped up RAM to 2 GB with third-party chips, and have a bunch of external drives for storage and backup.

Works for me. Note that there seem to be issues with Aperture if you are also using Time Machine for backup -- you have to turn off Time Machine while running Aperture.

[snails]

I have an older iMac G5, 20", bumped up RAM to 2 GB with third-party chips, and have a bunch of external drives for storage and backup.

Works for me. Note that there seem to be issues with Aperture if you are also using Time Machine for backup -- you have to turn off Time Machine while running Aperture.

This is interesting. I've never had problems with Time Machine and Aperture running at the same time. I might point out that I have the Aperture library delisted from the Time Machine backups however. I use Aperture's Vault feature instead.

[4g63photo]

Hey Tony, where did you find aperture for 69 dollars?

[snails]

Hey Tony, where did you find aperture for 69 dollars?

educational upgrade?

I bought Aperture 2 for $10. ;) (Recent Purchase Upgrade)