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- SkyPoo
Okay, I need a new machine. Can I save myself the cost and hassle of buying a new G5 and new screen, by just buying one of those imac all-in-one arse things? or are they just not pokesome enough.
If I get the most spec'd up one I could find, would it be enough to just run CS3 - illustrator and Photoshop only?
I don't do any moving work, or 3d work, just the pixels and the vectors, but my photoshop files can go off the scale with all their layers.
I'm trying to save on space needed to host a new set-up. The imac is quite tidy and neat plus I need to keep my G5 on the bubble too. I would keep my 1st gen G5 as the peripherals mac, and do my illustration business on the imac.
Possible?
Eh?
- funkage0
Sure. I believe the iMac would suffice. I'd pump up on the ram though.
- zombee0
I reckon the iMac option sounds like a safe bet. If you’re doing lots of Photoshop work though, where precision colour display might be important, I’d go for the 24” model, as the screens are true 32bit colour, where as the 20” model are cheaper screens and can really show a difference (geek moment there for ya!).
I’ve got the 3.06ghz 24” model and its like shit off a hot shovel. CS3 runs like a dream.
- Bender0
We gave the new iMac a try at work not too long ago.
They are fine for light work, logos, web etc. But it didn't really make it when it came down to page heavy InDesign work and 300mb+ Photoshop docs. Too much beachballing around for my taste
The new Mac Pro will last you a long time and newer run out of power. I have the top 8-core with 8GB ram and it doesn't hick over anything.
The standard Mac Pro with 4GB will be more than enough for you and will save you more in the end, than it will cost you up front compared to the iMac.
So if you have a monitor already from the old G5, go Mac Pro.
- set0
As long as you max it out on ram it will perform more than adequately in CS3, for sure.
- moth0
My 7 year old pc with a pentium 4 processor can run it just fine. The self same pc gets used for 3d renderings in vectorworks and such - again - no fuss.
I find it hard to believe that there's any modern computer out there that can not run it.
But go ahead - drop a packet on a shiny new mac. You know you want it.
- creative-0
What ball-park figure are you willing to spend? Get the most beef for your buck.
- Bender0
We calculated the Mac Pro would save us 15 min per day on average
200 work days x 15 min = 30 hours x $125/h = $3750
So it will take one year for it earn it self in. After two years it have earn itself a new and updated brother
- SkyPoo0
Interesting conflicts of opinion here, thanks for posting them.
Moth, I would if I could as I resent Apple cynical money grubbing methods more than most, but now is not the time to ditch my entire Mac based set up and invest in an antierly new PC based one... computer, screen, peripherals, wacom tablet, printer etc... then the software I need, and all the fonts (My entire font collection is mac-based only) and after I've got all that in here, I have to learn how to switch a PC on, learn how to use thos emice with all the buttoins, learn how to access a A-drive whilst working off the C-Drive while microsoft does soemthing peculiar on the B-Crive... learn that to quit out of a program I close the window, and all open windows are invisible, or soemthing, and right now that's all more than I can afford in outlay and learning-curve time.
One day though I'll stick my fingers up at Apple and join you in PC land.
It makes sense to get the most capable machine now, and some of my psd files end up at 2 or 3gb, so I guess I may have to consider getting a mac pro and a screen and a wacom tablet and a new desk, and a bigger office... because I'll still need to use my old G5 daily too.
- creative-0
(In reply to Bender)
However, that's 15 minutes per day less spent on QBN on average.200 work days - 15 min = 30 hours worth of posts to read in your own time every night
- SkyPoo0
Buy the best computer you can afford.
If my quandry was purely financial this would be the best advice, but my problem is about desk space and office size and not having to find room for two Mac+Screen+Wacom+Keyboards as well as 2x all the powerr and connectivity cabling that goes with that.
For that reason I ponder the imac... its a single unit. I could if necessary have it next to my G5screen and just manually switch the wacom into each machine as and when I need to use them.. or stick a mouse on my old G5 which will be used for my website, and scanning and printing and emailing only.
So its not really a financial question, I can afford both options, but I am considering (was considering) the imac as a space and cabling saving option. Some say its capable enough, but others suggest it might not be.
For that reason I think I'll have to re-arrange my studio and have two full pro set ups in here.
Thanks for all the opinions so far! Sorry for posting such a retardedly idiotic thread that's appeared four thousands time before.
= )
- knock out a wall you lazy sod...neue75_bold
- Buy a bigger desk.Nairn
- Nairn0
Aye, what Chossy, Set and Bender say is right, Spooky.
Spend 'the most' you want to afford on a PC - you probably don't need an 8-core for what you do, but buying a 2-core machine at this stage is short-sighted. As said - get as much RAM as you can. If you're not techie though, find someone who is, and get them to order/upgrade the RAM for you - I hear the default stuff on Apples is stupidly expensive.
You're at the Pro level, dear - you want a machine that you can poke around the innards of - even it it's not you doing the poking.
- PC = personal Computer.
I'm not getting into any stupid VS debate here.Nairn
- PC = personal Computer.
- set0
FYI - I have always got my mac RAM for here, they are good, alot cheaper than apple, and have a warrenty.
- ian0
In my old job we had g5's and imacs, I worked on a g5 and every time I had to do something on an imac it seemed to take forever. the beachball would spin merrily while I waited, waited, waited.
I know the new ones are faster n such but I would get a new g5 or whatever the fuck apple are flogging them as now, it'll be worth it when you start to layer the shit out of those photoshop files.
- I'm pretty much sold on this.
God, I hate all the cables though, and I hate being outnumbered by hardware.SkyPoo - I know, personally I've always owned all in ones, first was imac then power book. Handy but think about the poke!ian
- Pretty colours!
http://www.ouros.co.…Nairn - All my problems, solved by pretty colours!SkyPoo
- I'm pretty much sold on this.
- SkyPoo0
Actually I've just had to spend all morning rooting around for stuff to back-up and delete and I've managed to clear 55gb of room... probably enough to crawl on with for a week or two.
- ian0
What might help for a while spooks:
If'n you need the space. Seagate FreeAgent - 1TB Hard drive £105
- Raniator0
i think an iMac will do ya, with 4GB of ram.
We have the 2.8GHz 24" iMac here and I use a 2 x 2.66Ghz Dual Core Mac Pro.
When the iMac came in I installed the software and the geek in me decided to run a bench mark on my machine and the iMac.
I think it was XBench. I can't remember the exact results but the iMac came out at about 10 - 15% faster than my Mac Pro. That is strictly 2D - the test doesn't run video, but I was quite surprised all the same.
If you get the 3.06GHz iMac, you have a higher spec'd 512mb video card as well. Max out the RAM and you'll be cooking...
- Raniator0
Plus, the bus speed of the two systems is the same and that is the 'core' of it really. Multiple processors are all well and good, but show me an application that uses that power. They only thing I've ever noticed uses all 4 of my cores is radial blur in PS... and when does anyone use that?!
PS. Stop calling them G5's, they have been using Intel processors for fucking ages now.
- killthefish0
So here's where I'm corn-fused: if you can get a supermaxed-out BigMac, with all the fixins and RAM and Gigawatts you could need, why would you then need to keep your other machine on your workspace at all? Couldn't the new machine just replace all of its functionaries?
- SkyPoo0
Killthefish, that's a good question, and the answer is quite boring and will prompt a load of "BUT SURELY..." responses...
1. I use dreamweaver on my G5 to throw work at my website. I am not web savvy enough to stop using Dreamweaver and to start using something I've never heard of. I don't have the disks for Dreamweaver anyway so I couldn't re-install it on a pentium-based machine even if it did work. I don't even know how my version of dreamweaver accesses my website, I just launch it and my website files are there. I don't want to have to invest in software and to have to learn a new way of doing the very basic and shitty web work I do on my own website.
2. If I buy a new machine and all my music and photo's migrate to it... then what was the point?
3. At busy periods I really need someone else in here with me but I don;t have a spare machine at the moment. So keeping my generally capable G5 in commission as well as investering in a new machine means I will then have a workstation when I need the help in here.
Gerenally, I can keep all my images and music over here on my old G5. I can use it to browse my millions of external hard drives. I can have it scanning, emailing, browsing the intermex and printing while I sit there on a new machine that is work focussed only and doesn't get bloated out with Apple lifestyle bullshit softproduct.