Reality check - computers

mckinleypics wrote in post #13474896
I have not tried LR. Maybe I should try that first? I'm running a 2.8 Ghz dual core intel. Perhaps cleaning and LR are worth a shot...

LR runs fine on my 2.26ghz c2d macbook pro. 8gb ram. to get LR3 to run significantly faster, I would not do 1:1 preview rendering to speed things up.

I built my system from scratch. I do minor upgrades about once a year as needed. Generally I'll buy the most modern motherboard with one of the least expensive processors that will run on it at the time. This is generally significant but not too expensive. Then 18-24 months later I can upgrade the processor on the same motherboard with something much faster without putting a lot of money into it. After about 4 years it's the motherboard again. Each time I get a new motherboard I max out the RAM as well.
I've had my case for 8 years now and I see no reason to change it. It has nice blue LED lights. . the main hard drive was put in about five years ago and I see no reason to change it either. It's only a 250G drive, but all my data is on separate drives. The only thing on the system drive is the operating system and my installed software.

Of course I guess the real question is - how much per year should one expect to spend? I say I spend about $150 per year if you include upgrading Windows from Win2k to XP to Vista (still haven't went to Win7 yet) and the occasional hard drive purchase.

kfreels wrote in post #13477517
I built my system from scratch. I do minor upgrades about once a year as needed. Generally I'll buy the most modern motherboard with one of the least expensive processors that will run on it at the time. This is generally significant but not too expensive. Then 18-24 months later I can upgrade the processor on the same motherboard with something much faster without putting a lot of money into it. After about 4 years it's the motherboard again. Each time I get a new motherboard I max out the RAM as well.
I've had my case for 8 years now and I see no reason to change it. It has nice blue LED lights. . the main hard drive was put in about five years ago and I see no reason to change it either. It's only a 250G drive, but all my data is on separate drives. The only thing on the system drive is the operating system and my installed software.

Of course I guess the real question is - how much per year should one expect to spend? I say I spend about $150 per year if you include upgrading Windows from Win2k to XP to Vista (still haven't went to Win7 yet) and the occasional hard drive purchase.

This is basically what I do too, well building a new machine every 4 years anyways. I generally don't do much upgrading on them (although I'm thinking of adding a USB3 card to my current 2yr old computer).

I think that if you can skip a generation of operating system (in PC terms) and then build a new machine then you are doing pretty good. For example my previous computer I built with Windows XP, it could have handled Vista but not that well (I did not like it anyways), then I built my current system when Windows 7 RC came out.

That's the one thing I miss with my Mac's; I enjoyed building computers. I know I could make a Hackintosh, but I've never taken the time to sit down and wrap my head around the software side of that.

I bought a mac pro a couple years ago and love it.

16 gb ram.
1 tb & 750 gbs
I have 2 4 TB externals

I buy when I need/out grow my old stuff.

Just purchased an 2011 MacBook Pro (Quad i7) to replace my 2008 MBP, which had a dead logic board.

To be honest, the 2008 machine was still doing quite nicely with 6GB RAM and a fast FW800 drive to hold my LR catalog and images. That said, the difference out of the box with the 2011 machine was enormous; and then I put in 8GB of RAM and a 240GB SATA-III SSD, and now the speed is insane. This machine flies through 5D2 RAW files.

In general, I would normally upgrade about every three years. Back when I was dealing with 8MP 1D2 RAWs exclusively, my 2008 machine was perfectly fine. With 21MP 5D2 RAWs (not to mention 400MB film scan TIFFs), the 2008 machine was sorely lacking.

A RAM upgrade and an SSD can certainly breathe new life into any machine.

edge100 wrote in post #13480500
Just purchased an 2011 MacBook Pro (Quad i7) to replace my 2008 MBP, which had a dead logic board.

To be honest, the 2008 machine was still doing quite nicely with 6GB RAM and a fast FW800 drive to hold my LR catalog and images. That said, the difference out of the box with the 2011 machine was enormous; and then I put in 8GB of RAM and a 240GB SATA-III SSD, and now the speed is insane. This machine flies through 5D2 RAW files.

In general, I would normally upgrade about every three years. Back when I was dealing with 8MP 1D2 RAWs exclusively, my 2008 machine was perfectly fine. With 21MP 5D2 RAWs (not to mention 400MB film scan TIFFs), the 2008 machine was sorely lacking.

A RAM upgrade and an SSD can certainly breathe new life into any machine.

I've been tempted to get a 15" MBP to do my photo editing on. I'm tired of being tied to a desk to do it. The display on my work laptop is not adequate for photo editing. The color is horrible and I haven't been able to get it anywhere close with adjustments. Our 13" MBP screen blows it away. I plan to try some kind of monitor calibration on it before I give up.

Edit: Woah, post 1000!

randy98mtu wrote in post #13480526
I've been tempted to get a 15" MBP to do my photo editing on. I'm tired of being tied to a desk to do it. The display on my work laptop is not adequate for photo editing. The color is horrible and I haven't been able to get it anywhere close with adjustments. Our 13" MBP screen blows it away. I plan to try some kind of monitor calibration on it before I give up.

Edit: Woah, post 1000!

To be honest, the one thing that is killing me is how awesome this monitor is. I realize the new one will be even better (27 vs 24 inches) but this computer looks brand new!

I edited some more pictures today though and this thing is just not working. Every software upgrade slows it down. I'm convinced that software gets upgraded just to make things slower. I'm looking forward to learning PS though and adding some plugins when the new puter gets here!

airfrogusmc wrote in post #13480181
I bought a mac pro a couple years ago and love it.

16 gb ram.
1 tb & 750 gbs
I have 2 4 TB externals

I buy when I need/out grow my old stuff.

I looked at the mac pros - holy expensive batman!

I went 5 years on the last system I built (Pentium Prescott). It still works but I figured after 5 years I deserved an upgrade So Goodwill is getting it as soo as I wipe the drives.

mckinleypics wrote in post #13481262
I looked at the mac pros - holy expensive batman!

I've got a 3-1/2 year old one that I never turn off. I use every bay, slot and port. Still plenty fast with lots of life.

CactusJuice wrote in post #13481408
I went 5 years on the last system I built (Pentium Prescott). It still works but I figured after 5 years I deserved an upgrade So Goodwill is getting it as soo as I wipe the drives.

Over the years I developed a nice fast way to wipe drives. I use my drill and drill several holes right through the whole thing. Takes about 2 minutes. lol

mckinleypics wrote in post #13473589
I have a four-year old iMac . . .

Wow - that's funny - I have a 4 year old iMac, too!

I've bought Aperture and hate it, mainly because it is so freakin' slow. So, I've just stuck with iPhoto and it seems to run great.

I know I'll have to upgrade at some point, but the 4 year old iMac will have to last at least another year and a half. I think it's up to the task.

mckinleypics wrote in post #13481258
To be honest, the one thing that is killing me is how awesome this monitor is. I realize the new one will be even better (27 vs 24 inches) but this computer looks brand new!

That's what seems silly to me about the all-in-one design though. Not just macs though, the same thing applies to other windows all-in-one designs that have been tried.

I want the ability to upgrade components separately. If you instead invest in computer and monitor, you can keep the still good monitor when you get a new computer. Or if nothing else, you can use the old one in a dual monitor setup.

elogical wrote in post #13482574
That's what seems silly to me about the all-in-one design though. Not just macs though, the same thing applies to other windows all-in-one designs that have been tried.

I want the ability to upgrade components separately. If you instead invest in computer and monitor, you can keep the still good monitor when you get a new computer. Or if nothing else, you can use the old one in a dual monitor setup.

I just learned that I can do that with the new iMac and this one. So now I will have a 27 and a 24 inch monitor.

Honestly don't know why I would need that. I do have two boys that are always fighting with me for computer time though. This four year old iMac will do great for several more years to allow them to access their school stuff online. It will not go to waste.