Mac vs PC for post processing

[Maleko]

Its down to personal taste. I think Macs are great, but I prefer PC's.


Windows 7 with CS4 is superb I find. Havent encountered any problems. Its fast and does what I need.


The problem is, people rate a standard PC against a Mac. You can't do that. A standard PC from your computer market is NOT a decent machine to run specific requirements on. If a PC has the same spec as a Mac, both will do the designed job perfectly.
People buy a Mac at a high price built with high specs. People buy a PC at the CHEAP, they want a cheap machine to get online or whatever, this doesn't work if you then expect that machine to do a tough task of using Photoshop.
Photoshop will run crap on any machien with low specs. Give a machine decent specs it will run Photoshop well no matter what OS it has.
Yes I have used Photoshop on a Mac here at work, before the Mac fans say I'm biased or haven't tried it

BOTH are good, I wouldn't rate one above the other.

[bob williams]

Thanks to all for the insight, your comments and recommendations were valuable as always. As an experienced PC user with a considerable investment in software (and hardware), I don't think I will be switching anytime soon. I understand and can manipulate the Windows environment to meet my needs, so to change now would force another learning curve and at my age, those are sometimes hard to overcome.





Thanks again


Bob

[hugeknot]

My PC is marvellous, it not only deals with my TIFF files from the Canon 5D2 as I blend layers in photoshop, but it also manages to cope with windows vista at the same time!!

[jamiethole]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe you can buya Mac withouta monitorand add a better monitor later.Mac's makeexcellent LCDscreens (especially the new LED backlit screens) but there's better options out there for colour accuracy which is paramount for photo editing as far as I'm concerned. I just bought the new Dell U2410 IPS panel for a hell of a lot cheaper than a Mac screen and it's the ducks nuts (needs calibrating out of the box but most do).


You can always run the Snow Leopard operating system on a PC if you prefer it over Windows too.

You can purchase a Mac without a monitor, the MacMini and the MacPro. Also, all Mac's have an additional video output to connect an extra monitor.


You can only run Mac OS X on a Mac or a "rigged" PC (which I wouldn't recommend).


The best part about the Mac is the same people design the hardware and the software. Things just seem to work on a Mac.

[gunslinge]

From some one who has sold and serviced PCs for 20 years, I all way stress service, if you need help, how close is a MAC dealer. Not very close here in central Illinois. But in a town of 30,000 we have 4 retail business to service PCs. PCs can get ( do get ) ALLOT of malarious ( extra unwanted software, that can do anything from slowing down your system, to making it complete unusable ) software that will need professionally removal. This does not happen with MAC!


Desktops should be, as stated, upgraded, custom ( read this as faster, starting at a little less than $1000, without the monitor, do spend the extra money to get a better monitor, it does not help with the speed, but does makes a big difference in image quality ) systems, not the slow off the self system form local retailers.


Desktops can be easily serviced by any local shop, no matter the brand. Most portables need to go back to the factory for any warrenty service, any repairs may need expensive ( more costly than a desktop system ) parts. Portable do need more service, ( broken power jack, broken LCD, dead batteries ) just the nature of things, from all the moving around.


Portables can be gotten that are faster, ( again in the price range of a MAC Portable, but avoid cheap ( less than $1000 ) off the self systems, they will be slow. Most, if not all, portables need to be cleaned ( you may want to get professional help ) of extra software that the factories load, to get the system running at the full speed the system is capable of.

[canoli]

Only thing I would add is - run the 64-bit version of Windows, whether it's Win7 or Vista. This is one area that Macs have a measurable advantage - their OSs are 64-bit. With PCs you have to specifically buy the 64-bit version.


But IMO there's no sense being limited to 3.5GBs of RAM (actually ~3G) - especially since RAM is so cheap these days.


You may not notice the difference between 3G and >6G if all you ever run is Photoshop or LR. But if you need multiple programs open at the same time (incl your browser) you'll really appreciate that extra RAM.


And the only way to get it is by running a 64-bit system - OSX or Win7 64 (or Vista 64).

[Maleko]

Only thing I would add is - run the 64-bit version of Windows, whether it's Win7 or Vista. This is one area that Macs have a measurable advantage - their OSs are 64-bit. With PCs you have to specifically buy the 64-bit version.


But IMO there's no sense being limited to 3.5GBs of RAM (actually ~3G) - especially since RAM is so cheap these days.


You may not notice the difference between 3G and >6G if all you ever run is Photoshop or LR. But if you need multiple programs open at the same time (incl your browser) you'll really appreciate that extra RAM.


And the only way to get it is by running a 64-bit system - OSX or Win7 64 (or Vista 64).
<div style="CLEAR: both"]</div>

Absolutely! The good thing as well is WIndows 7, no matter what version you buy, they all ship with both 32 &amp; 64 bit versions!

[jamiethole]

Absolutely! The good thing as well is WIndows 7, no matter what version you buy, they all ship with both 32 &amp; 64 bit versions!

Actually you have to buy either a 64bit or 32bit version. Both don't come in the same box.


However if you already have a license you can purchase an installation disk for like $10

[Maleko]

Absolutely! The good thing as well is WIndows 7, no matter what version you buy, they all ship with both 32 &amp; 64 bit versions!
<div style="CLEAR: both"]</div>

Actually you have to buy either a 64bit or 32bit version. Both don't come in the same box.


However if you already have a license you can purchase an installation disk for like $10
<div style="CLEAR: both"]</div>

Incorrect.
You had to buy them seperately for XP and for Vista, but for 7 both get sent in the box.
My box contains both, and it states it on the product features: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium/dp/B002DHGMK0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=software&amp;qid=12596802 22&amp;sr=8-3
Windows 7 Home Premium (includes 32-bit &amp; 64-bit versions)

[jamiethole]

Why would you pay more money for both disks? You can only install one version.


Home Premium 64bit = $117


Home Premium 32bit = $120


Home Premium 32bit + 64bit = $199