Jump to content

POLL: Mac or PC


edlbell

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 348
  • Created
  • Last Reply

The computer that I do my actual photo work on is a 2.4 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 24" Apple iMac with 4 gigabytes of RAM and a 1 TB internal hard drive. I use a Pantone Huey Pro for calibration but might like to try a Color Munkie at some point.

 

I also have a 17" HP Pavilion DV9650US with 1.5ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 gb of RAM, 2x 160 gb hard drives and Windows Vista, also calibrated with the Pantone Huey. The screen is fine for most casual use, but calibrated or not, the colors don't look quite true to me.

 

Kind of surprised no one seems to be using the ThinkPad W700 "notebook" or HP Dreamcolor monitor. Briefly hooked up the later to my G5 and subjectively, it looked terrific--by comparison, my Cinema Display looked too cool and blue.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

PC, Intel Pentium III Processor (Coppermine) @ 666 Mhz, 256 MB RAM, 280 GB HDD, NEC MultiSync LCD 1525X, ColourVision Spider 2

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3, Adobe Photoshop 6.0

 

In other words, pretty much the equivalent of my 40 years old camera gear. :D

 

Believe it or not, for me this setup works. (Both, camera and computer equipment).

But it surely helps to stay cool, calm and collected. Haste makes waste. ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Probably before many of you were out of nappies (USA: read diapers) I was using the original Apple computer having upgraded form Commodore PC's all of which I introduced into the Engineering dept I worked in at the time. It was 32kb (yes 'k' not 'M' or 'G') and was programmed by the user to do what he wanted. There was no such thing as a spreadsheet or 'Word' and everything was basic - with a capital B. Using what to us now would seem like an astonishingly limited thing taught the operator an awful lot about good programming, efficient use of memory and back-ups. (At the time the computer Dept of Durham University was still using punch cards.....I can hear the groans from some of you as I type:p)

 

I used a Mac later on when the internet hit the UK and only Demon supplied a Mac based connection as BT did not. That was limited too but ran Photoshop (just - you needed more memory than the slots would take) and you had to wait typically 30s for one filter to strut its stuff on one image. It was also the most unstable machine known to man and my memory of those frustrating crashes lives on.

 

Upgrades came as fast as could be afforded but my preference turned to PC's. In a past life my Company had sold electronic components to IBM (you might recall they pretty much invented the PC) and I was familiar with their manufacturing test procedures which were pretty impressive in their day. The USA lead the design and the Brits were best in class builders at the time. The Japanese had just recognised the threat and began belatedly to build them with only Sony being taken seriously.

 

Now, I still use PC based tools today. They have served me well. I have a Sony laptop which is now 4 years old - bought because the screen was best in class and memory etc can be upgraded. I have a Dell pc for home use and for my wife and also a Lenovo (IBM) pc stuffed with memory for speed, linked to a very high grade 21" screen for my pro photo work.

 

More important than the brand is the configuration in my book. Are your discs trained to auto back-up? Do you have seperate back-ups (physical and virtual)? Does it have sufficient capacity to keep it away from the edge when running highly inefficient programmes such as Photoshop et al? And have you spent all your lolly on the pc/mac and now cannot afford the much more important devices for output such as screen and printer? These make the difference, not the computer itself I would suggest. When my clients see my work they don't go ooh aaaah a Mac!! They are impressed with the photography - especially when its crisp, sharp and colour (calibrated colour) is spot on as seen on a calibrated high grade screen.

 

So to get back to the question: I use a pc:eek:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Mac's are way better than PC's on any given day. Except for maybe Handheld PC's running Windows CE for writing documents :D

 

I built a hot-rod PC for a fraction of my big Mac total expenditure.

 

Macs are designed from the ground up to be highly integrated from a hardware/software standpoint - this is a great thing.

 

PC's and Windows always had a bad rap, mainly because of crap 3rd party drivers, and their inherent vulnerabilities based on the OS. I've never had one issue with Vista in two years, not a freeze, crash or anything. I have never used anti virus software or firewall software on any of my PC's since the beginning (1985) . . . but rather a hardware firewall. If you go the dark corners of the Web, and advertise your email address(es) to the world - you ask for trouble.

 

My Macs are beautiful machines with a superb, intuitave OS . . . but my PC honestly smokes them and does not look back.

 

Having worked with computers for over 30 years . . . I can honestly tell you that the highest majority of PC problems are PEBKAC errors. (Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair) - plain and simple.

 

jk

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...