looking for a bargain pc for emerging business

[Emily Hudson]

I am a newbie both at the photo industry and computers. However, I have been blessed with several sports team photo gigs that are turning lucrative for me. All this started with me shooting a couple snapshots of my son's soccer team last spring and giving a couple to the coach.
That being said, I have had about 6 team and individual photo shoots for local kids sports in the past year and I'm scheduled to shoot soccer pictures at the end of the month. I've been averaging about 250 images a shoot.
What would a good monitor and computer system be for this small business? I have a canon 40D and use Photoshop 5.0. My budget is $600. Thanks.

[Matthew Patrick]

Try the Dell Outlet

[Emily Hudson]

What kind of requirements should I look for? I think I need a minimum of 2GB Ram, 120 gb hard drive, and a 2 ghz processor.

[Moppie]

What kind of requirements should I look for? I think I need a minimum of 2GB Ram, 120 gb hard drive, and a 2 ghz processor.

10 years ago, that would have been a nice system, now days, you would have a hard time processing 250 photos from a 40D on it.


What currency is your budget in, that will make a big difference.

And, do you shoot RAW and batch process your photos?
Or do you process each one individually?
Any plans to upgrade photoshop in the future?

Do you have a back up plan and external drives?


With a budget machine you are not going to get a particularly efficiant work station, and you are going to have to make compromises somewhere.


You should be able to find a mid range dual core machine, with 2-4GB of ram to fit with in your budget. It won't be ideal, but it will work.
What you won't get is a good monitor to go with it, or lots of harddrive space, which if you shoot 250 photos each weekend, you will need.



Is it possible to spend more, based on future income from the business?
A US$1,000 would get you a much better set up, and the ideal would be to spend around US$2,000.

[Matthew Patrick]

If you want a high end computer the Dell Outlet is not so good, but If you can get by with a system that's not the latest and greatest you can get some good deals if you are patient. First wait for a %15 off sale then look for a Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz or better. You can get RAM and a video card later or find a Dell with at least 3GB of ram (more if you get a 64bit OS). You can get a pretty nice system for about $400-$500 plus the monitor (don't buy a refurbished monitor). Try to get an 8 bit 24" monitor.

Try to get something with at least a 1333MHz front side bus, and the fastest ram you can get, at least 800MHz.

[Emily Hudson]

I've got $600 US. I shoot in medium resolution and do not batch process. I may upgrade Photoshop later but for now 5.0 is working for me. My numbers are about 250 images every couple months, not every weekend. As far as a back up plan, I was thinking I just burn images onto a cd.

[MaxxuM]

$600 is pretty tight - not impossible, but there will be sacrifices. Even the cheapest OptiPlex will still exceed $600 with monitor, moderate CPU and on board graphics. Computer Shops like CompUSA (Systemax/Tigerdirect) sell older systems, but they are still pretty capable computers. Here is an example HERE (http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4396007&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#) and HERE (http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4400140&sku=A180-1700&SRCCODE=WEBTEX259&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEBTEX259-_-Deals). Neither have monitors - but for around $120-$150 you can get an OK screen - just not very color accurate. There is the Dell Inspiron series that is slightly cheaper than the aforementioned systems, but there is little to no upgrade options whereas the CompUSA system does give you slight advantage with the option for better graphics down the road (first system). I'm sure if you play around with the options you'll find a Dell that will come in under $600, but like I said, it will sacrifice a good bit here and there. If you are enterprising you can probably piece together something in that range, but it won't come in too much cheaper than the lowest Dell's or CompUSA systems. Personally, if I HAD to chose from my current pickings I would go with the first CompUSA system because it has pretty good expandability for future upgrades (CPU and Graphics Card) whereas, none of the other mini-computers have that sort of latitude.

[cory1848]

I've got $600 US. I shoot in medium resolution and do not batch process. I may upgrade Photoshop later but for now 5.0 is working for me. My numbers are about 250 images every couple months, not every weekend. As far as a back up plan, I was thinking I just burn images onto a cd.

Gimp would be better than Photoshop 5.0. Or even Photoshop Elements. Mac minis just came out and would work good for you.

250 images every couple of months? How is that lucrative? I could shoot 250 images a game easily.

[FZ1]

Not sure where you are located but you can build a nice, speedy PC for $600 if you or someone you know is able to assemble it.

[Emily Hudson]

I'm just shooting standard team and individual photos and offering pics on trading cards, magazine covers, calendars, mugs, etc. No action shots during the game. I'm pretty small potatoes and just started doing this on the side. But, the extra income it has provided has been unexpected and welcomed.
Thank you for all the feedback. I think I will try to wait until my next shoot is done to see if I can get a more powerful machine in the $1000 range.

[Bobster]

10 years ago, that would have been a nice system, now days, you would have a hard time processing 250 photos from a 40D on it.
my laptop is a 2.16GHz with 2GB RAM, deals with 40D RAW just fine..

10 years? 10 years ago i had dual 450MHz system with 256MB RAM and that was considered by many of my graphic design friends as hard core!