Mac Fans..

fraggle101

fraggle101

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Iv been thinking about going Native and getting a Mac, the only thing is i know nothing about them.. anyway, iv been looking on Ebay and saw this Ebay

Is that what i should be looking at? is there something better??

Are they really that much better for photo Editing??

Sorry for the Q's.. :thumbs:
 
Hi fraggle,

The iMac is the 2nd best in the line-up of Macs. The Mac Pro is the best, and more expensive .. but offers a lot more processing power and upgrades.

As for the iMac, it has a lot of wonderful features. It is an all-in-one machine and you can have up to 1TB of internal hard drive; but you can't upgrade the processor nor the graphics chipset while the Mac Pro you can do that.

That said, I would love to have one of these for my desktop use. I used to be a Windows user since God spoke to Moses and moved to Mac (Macbook) a few months ago and have been loving the experience.

If the iMac is what your budget can afford then it is a wonderful machine. But dare I ask what are you "upgrading" from?
 
I've just checked the Apple site, and the one you link to on ebay is £149 cheaper! That's close to 15% saving ... good find I'd say.
 
ive used macs for over 10 years now and have always loved them for their user interface and build quality. unfortunately i don't have any experience of pc's, but only ever hear bad things about them. p.c.s were always thought of as business machines and creative people tended to use macs, i think recently that this has changed quite a bit.

i'd say with buying a new machine and replacing software that you are looking at quite a significant amount of money, and the future in cash terms doesn't look too rosy...

don't get me wrong i love macs, and if money is looking ok for you i'd say get one, you'll love the way they work the interface is so much more intuative.

if you need more technical help or other info i would be only too pleased to help.

good luck
 
You can buy this at Apple Store for
£1,079.83
24hrs
Free Shipping
Specifications

2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB GDDR3
320GB Serial ATA Drive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Keyboard (British) & User’s Guide (English)
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
24-inch glossy widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
0r with
4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB and 750GB Serial ATA Drive
£1,277.23
No delivery costs and guarantee. Unless you can make a significant saving I'd buy from Apple.
Oh, I've used Macs for years and have to work with PCs at work.
Give me a Mac everytime.
Your call - Good Luck.
 
To answer your question directly Fraggle, I'd say YES that is what you should be looking at if you want a Mac for home use. I switched from a lifetime of using PC's to an Imac and I have never once looked back. The new Imacs are an object of beauty sitting on your desk :love: No big tower case to worry about, no bundles of spaghetti hanging out of the back :). I do agree with Mark though, you will find the initial outlay quite a bit more than just upgrading to a new PC. Bear in mind that PC software won't run natively on the Mac so you would have to replace things like Photoshop, Microsoft Office etc with new versions. (Although Adobe will allow you to swap your Photoshop licence to a new platform, I believe). That said, you can run Virtual Machine software, such as VMWare Fusion on your mac that WILL allow you to run your PC applications. Trust me, it works brilliantly!
 
If you have existing XP/Vista license you can install all your current software and run in a window alongside OSX using VMWare Fusion or Parallels.

Puts off having to transfer all your licenses to MAC ones, and allows you to use your favourite XP software that doesn't have a Mac version.
 
I transferred over to imac and this very machine you linked to, took me a month or so to get use to from my PC the only downside is software as you know PC wise loads of software (genuine copies that is) but not quite as accessible for the Mac, as for the machine etc brilliant a converted Mac person now.

Les F
 
I'd say that you won't look back if you make the decision to go with Apple. I use both - as most of my clients have MS based systems and networks so I stick with a superb Dell Latitude laptop (which I am very pleased with). However, for everything else; my music, images, all personal stuff, and a lot of non at-client-site work, I always use my Mac.

I don't have a grudge against MS based systems, and I am qualified to comment as I have extensively used both - and in my opinion the Mac wins hands down. Simple as.
 
Another thing to remember is that John Lewis has the same prices as apple.com, but you get 2 years guarantee rather than 1. Worth keeping in mind if you don't get AppleCare (which is quite expensive unless you're a student).
 
I currently use a Macbook pro along side my XP based workstation. If you are going to get a system that is not really user upgradable, I would get a notebook, and use and external screen.

For the work you are doing more and more (shooting in a studio), having a notebook that you can bring along and shoot teathered with is a real bonus, and will help to improve the shots on the day but giving you better feedback.

The other thing is that I have never been a fan of all in one systems, as you can't choose the screen you get in them, and the latest screens are all TN 6 bit screens in iMacs (as far as I know), which it your main reason is for photo editing, is not the best solution.

I got my refurbished macbook pro directly from Apple with the 1 year warranty for less then what you linked to.

As far as usage is concirned, I think operating systems are about the same. I am so used to windows that everything is second nature to me. One thing I will say is that I have less problems with C1 pro on the mac then I do on PC (colour wise).
 
i have been a mac user for around 5 years now and will never look back to a windows based pc (well apart from i have to use one at work:()
i have the iMac 24" 2.4 ghz, but they have just upgraded them to 2.8ghz, i bought mine from an apple store itself and got student discount which helped alot, i prefer to go into a shop/or online store (rather than Ebay) to buy large items like, mainly just because i know that if something happens i can always go back with it. also i noticed that the ebay one you found does NOT accept paypal, dont know if this is an issue or not, but if something goes wrong you might not be able to get your money back.

as for the photo editing side of things, i use photoshop cs3, which works beautifully on this machine. the more ram the better, (personally i bought my mac with 1Gb ram and then bought another 2gb from crucial which saved me a couple hundred pound compared to what apple charge)

all new apple macs come with iLife 08, which has a program called iPhoto, this allows you to arrange and store all your photos in certain groups etc.. it allows minor editing (red eye, crop,straighten, and adjustments i.e. saturation,contrast etc.) here is a link to the iphoto page and a video iPhoto

also the operating system OSX. is just amazing, everything is just so slick,
another video for you, detailing the new operating system. Guided Tour

also if there are programs that you need to use and they are only compatible with windows... no problem, you can use boot camp or parallels to run windows on your mac,( i dont personally)

hope that kinda helps a bit, keep us updated on your decision.

chris
 
Hi Fraggle,
I went with mac in October, partly because I wanted aperture, which is all I use now. I don't need to do heavy processing for press work. I haven't regretted it. I just have the 20'' version, wit 2GB ram. I can only compare to my aging pc, and other family members pc's which aren't idea for heavy photo processing. A top spec of similar value pc maybe just as good.
 
Ok, so i think im going to have to dig a little deeper and do some research on this.. i thought that the Mac was the GOD for processing but from the replys iv had it seems that its better but not to a great extent.. i have a fairly quick pc, but the thinking time for rendering and even just opening images is a little slow, I DO like the look of the Mac.. the stability they have seems to be much higher than the pc too.. Im very tempted to invest in one, wehether its going to be the Imac or the Notebook that my friend FJ mentioned im not sure.. Its not an immanent thing but something im looking at in a few months time.. i do gt fed up with te pc slowing down and getting grouchy with me.. it just seems fussy and bloated.. lol..

Thanks you so much for the advice guys.. I maybe converted!! lol..
 
Fraggle

Nip down to your nearest Apple store and have a play. Tip, book an appointment and you can take some of your own images and bench mark them against your existing set up. I was amazed that they had Photoshop on the machines, and didn't mind how long you stayed.

I may be moving over to Mac later this year, 2 reasons I really don't want Vista ( XP Pro is fine) and the Mac's have the spec I want for the processor. Just waiting for LR V 2.0 to come out as that will run 64 bit on Mac's as standard. ( May have to wait a while for Photoshop though)
 
Thats a good idea Chappers.. theres one at Oxford Circus.. iv been there a few times in the past but never with the mind to buy!! lol.. I'll see if i can stop by on monday.. :thumbs:
 
Hi Fraggle

I converted to Mac about a year ago. Still kept my XP laptop but just spent the last 2 days rebuilding it after a blooming virus attack! Managed to get through AV program so not happy! :razz:

My MacBook Pro is brilliant. Quicker to open images and in my opinion far more reliable.:)
 
Many of the problems found on PC's are due to a lot of the "crap" software we all load onto it, and a number of applications running in the background.

You could invest a similar amount in a high spec PC, and use it for editing only. Just run Lightroom & CS3 on it, that way you don't have to invest in any new software, you are comfortable with the interface, and you can be up and running quite quickly.

I've been using Vista for over 6 months and in my opinion, it's very stable. Neither of my machines have crashed, and the only interface problems I have had have been related to the latest versions of MS Office, not the operating system.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't contemplate going for a Mac, just weigh up your options.

Steve
 
Well. i went into Apple today to have a play.. i like the looks of the imac.. its very pretty.. but if i want pretty i just look in the mirror..:naughty: (Some on here will vouch for that!!)

i opened Ps3 and had a play with an image and it worked very well. nice and smooth and fast.. but.. i cant help thinking that my putta would be much better with some more RAM!! and a fresh install.. i need to have one for a week or so to really get the feel for it..

I didnt like the interface either.. the buttons are all over the place! and the little pictures for the programs were alien to me.. Who'd of guessed eh! lol..

Anyway, the jurys out for now.. i liked it.. but im not sure its worth a grand!! especially as iv got a machine sitting right here.. i was hoping for a real revelation in computing.. maybe iv just got to use it full time to get the benifit of multiple apps open ect..

:shrug:

Thanks for the help anyway.. its always appreciated.. :thumbs:
 
fraggle101 said:
Well. i went into Apple today to have a play.. i like the looks of the imac.. its very pretty.. but if i want pretty i just look in the mirror..:naughty: (Some on here will vouch for that!!)
Click to expand...

Hell yeh!!;):lol::lol:
 
I dont know WHO the guy in my Avatar is!! :shrug: It AINT me!!! HONEST!!!!!


:lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
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