Macintosh Purchase

Lister1

Looking to buy a Macintosh for a Christmas present for my girlfriend. Shes currently studying graphic design so it would have to be up to running the latest version of photoshop, illustrator and other such design programs. Two questions for you mac heads....


1. Laptop or Desktop? Is there much performance difference between comparatively priced systems? Would the desktop outperform a laptop of a similar price by much?

2. Wheres the best place to buy? Online store or through third party seller? Also any places throwing in a free ipod into the deal?

Nature Boy

1. Personally i find that my MacBook doesn't perform as well as my older PowerMac so yeah desktop would probably perform better. The Mac Pro probably kicks ass.

2. I buy online cos i can customise. never even considered a 3rd party seller so i can't commend.

By the way, you're girlfriend is lucky, that's a pretty big xmas present to give someone!!

boarderco

the the moment im using a 1ghz powerbook and works well
with photoshop and illustrator even if its a couple years old.
the new macbooks would be well suitable for adobe programs
but its worth gettin 2 g of ram.
if ya willing to spend the cash n think she'll like carrying around a bigger laptop the get a macbook pro.
if ya want to go all out get a mac pro desktop but ya looking at 2 grand or
more but its fully upgradable to a monster of a machine.
it's probly best to get it straigh from apple so if theres any problems ya can
go straigh to the horses mouth.
the irish apple store is www.apple.com/ie/
there's ment to be a sale on this friday ( black friday) so maybe ya will
get a good deal on one? i praying for it too.
peace out
happy mac'in
w



www.boardercoeire.com

DadaKopf

The MacBook wouldn't cut it for graphic design. The screen is too small. And particularly if she gets into motion graphics, it'll be totally inadequate.

I've recently bought a MacBook Pro, partly for graphics. It's new, so I can't comment how amazing it is for that, but it beats the hell out of my old PC.

Ideally, a Mac Pro is the thing to go with if you're going the professional route. My girlfriend a PowerPC Mac Pro and it totally kicks ass. They're extremely customisable to ensure longevity. But they're not portable, which may be an issue for some. This isn't technically a desktop, though. So, maybe an iMac would be OK for graphic design.

The thing is: Macs are no longer essential for design. Macs are losing the edge as the 'industry standard'. I've been designing on a PC for years, setting up for print etc, and never had a problem with printers being able to open files. And now that most things are sent out as PDFs, platform really doesn't matter.

So, before you get bitten by the Mac bug, consider the alternatives and reality of the design industry today.

Still, buying your missus a Mac is one sexy present, with sexy results.

Lister1

The MacBook wouldn't cut it for graphic design. The screen is too small. And particularly if she gets into motion graphics, it'll be totally inadequate.

OK, point taken. That dismisses the laptop option.

This isn't technically a desktop, though.

Eh? Lost me here. Looks like a desktop....

The thing is: Macs are no longer essential for design. Macs are losing the edge as the 'industry standard'. I've been designing on a PC for years, setting up for print etc, and never had a problem with printers being able to open files. And now that most things are sent out as PDFs, platform really doesn't matter.

My brother works in the industry and he recommended the Mac over the PC. Good practice for when she gets a job out of it(hopefully....) a few years down the line as she'll be used to the short cuts etc. But is there a swing towards the PC happening?


Looks like buying directly from apple online is what is being recommended. Whats the delivery time like? How soon before Christmas should I order?


Thanks for the comments so far....

preilly79

bear in mind that the current adobe apps are not universal binaries and therefore run like dogs on the current intel lineup. of course, if you have the money to buy a mac pro you will only notice a slight slowdown, but on the laptops the adobe apps are almost unuseable.

Creamy Goodness

i've only done a slight bit of work in photoshop but i find it's totally unusable on laptops due to many factors.

monitor size being one of them

heggie

mac's are still the main machine used in design & print by a good bit, although there is no problem using a pc (if you never touch anyone elses files) but if you do then Its probably likely they'll have mac files (fonts etc) coming your way. I'd talk to her about it before you buy it tho, as some people prefer a certain setup to others, oh and with mac's now being able to run windows, your'e covering both bases

TempestSabre

Some present! :eek: Hope she doesn't give you the shove in the new year!

Graphic and Design work has been done on PC's for years.

Screen size isn't that much of a problem, just buy a 2nd TFT and use it with the laptop, then you've dual screens. probably still be cheaper than a MacPro and a screen. Obviously a Macpro is faster, but some people just prefer the portability of a laptop. Why not ask her which she would like in a subtle way so as not to give the game away?

Lister1

Some present! Hope she doesn't give you the shove in the new year!

Never thought of that. Maybe I should have a contract drawn up before I hand it over!

Graphic and Design work has been done on PC's for years.

I still think that in the design world Macs are dominant with pcs being used by the likes of one man operations.

bear in mind that the current adobe apps are not universal binaries and therefore run like dogs on the current intel lineup.

Tell me more. My brother mentioned this to me but whats the latest news on it.




I've checked out the apple website and was a bit shocked by the price of the macpro. The're taking the piss by not even giving you a monitor in the base price. Looks like it will have to be an imac unless i find something elsewhere.

Nature Boy

Apparently it is a good price if you compare with a dell machine of the same spec. Or so they said at the Apple developer's conference!!

TempestSabre

I've worked with a quite a few larger companies where all their design work is done on PC's. Some Design houses too. Its definitely not just smaller operations. That was was 10 years ago, I can't imagine they've stopped using PC's. The hardware is pretty much the same, apps are the same, its only the OS thats different from a performance point of view. Most colleges however still seem to be largely Mac based. As a designer its good to have experience of both systems.


You might be interested in this thread.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17649132

The laptop is still the cooler present for most people, unless you are into cool hardware.

K.O.Kiki

Hey now -- did you expect to pay less than 2k for a quad-core machine?
But iMac's not bad - just give it lots of RAM!

TempestSabre

K.O.Kiki wrote:

Hey now -- did you expect to pay less than 2k for a quad-core machine?
But iMac's not bad - just give it lots of RAM!

Personally I think a Mac Pro is overkill for anyone not running a business. Most of your time is not spent waiting for a machine to do something. I remember doing design work on Apple, classics, se's and IIFx's.

deevey

.. learn to accept render time is drinking time ...

faster machine = less pints - kids these days just dont know how bad they have it :P