Decisions are hard.....

I am considering an iMAC. I am having a horrible time making up my mind. We don't have an apple store in my area, so no chance to test one out until I go to Salt Lake City in a few weeks. I want to get a new computer for Christmas and would like to make up my mind soon.

Here are two configurations that cost about the same. Which would you choose?

24" iMAC $2498
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
24-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

20" iMAC $2524
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
3GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 1x2GB, 1x1GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM
SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
20-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

You'll get more useful responses if you describe the applications you intend to run and type of work you will be using the iMac for. How many images? RAW or JPEG? Heavy PS use? Future expansion? etc. With that information, you will be flooded with suggestions (I predict).

I want to use it mostly for photo editing. I have a D200 and always shoot raw. I am not a professional, but do take a lot of photos.

I want to run Photoshop CS2 and Capture NX. I have not tried or read much about aperture.

Here is my pc option that I am considering as well.

A Dell XPS 410 with an Apple 23" Cinema Display

XPS 410 Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2MB L2 Cache,2.13GHz,1066 FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Professional with re-installation CD
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitor No Monitor
Video Card 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
Hard Drive 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

I would definitely go with the 24" iMac. You will love the extra screen real estate, and 2 gigs of RAM vs. 3 is not a bad tradeoff (you can always upgrade the RAM later, but you can't upgrade the display on an iMac).

So you think to GB ram would run Capture NX effectively?
--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

Hi Terry. Yes, picking a new computer is hard. I think, like the other poster, I'd opt for the 24". Not that 3 GB of RAM isn't important, but that's easy to upgrade later on if necessary.

I think NX should run reasonably well on 2 GB of RAM. It's a memory hog, so more RAM will be even better, but I think you'll be fine with 2 GB if you don't have too many images open at once. If you run NX and Photoshop at the same time, you may see some delays. But I don't have that configuration, so I couldn't say for sure. That won't be a problem with more RAM, but again, you can always add that later. Besides, third party RAM is lots cheaper than what Apple sells it for.

The Mighty Mouse is a big disappointment in my opinion. Especially the wireless version. I had periods where the mouse cursor would slow down as if it was in molasses. I haven't had that problem with USB mice.

Good luck,
Hans.

--
I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own

Web Site - http://www.hgiersberg.com/

Hi, Terri, I am now using a last edition Powerbook 15" 1.67 ghz with 1.5GB ram and find that, as Hans said in the post above, as long as I don't try to open too many photos at the same time it runs very adequately. I too would, in fact I am doing just this, make the jump to a iMac 24" rather than the 20" because of the reasons already listed. The only hmmmmm I still consider is maybe a "watered down" MacPro instead for just a bit more money.

The extra screen real estate of the 24 over the 20 is well worth the extra $$$ and max out the ram down the road. I see you've listed the upgraded video card and that is good. I think you're on the right track.
--
Pax
(photographer wannabe)



'If you can't be good....... Be good at it!!' - me

Just trying to go through life without looking stupid...... It's not working out too well.
Nikon D70s, 18-70 Nikkor, 70-300 Sigma APO, Nikon SB 800 flashgun,
Konica Minolta A2, Tcon 1.7, Minolta ACW-100, Sigma EF500 Super.
Oly C2100uz, 15' Powerbook 1.67ghz, G4 Tower
Come visit my humble gallery:
http://imageevent.com/paxx/photographystuff?rotp=2562&n=0

if that's the choice I had to make.
--
Mac

then you can get the 24"

...in case you have to reformat....

(or is that just the PC in me talking?)
--
Mac

Anthony McCallister said:

(or is that just the PC in me talking?)

Click to expand...

Yeah.

Reformat is hardly ever necessary on a mac (at worst archive/install almost always does it), but I do agree that as a photog you want a firewire drive as one of your backups, for sure. You can still lose data on a mac--drive can fail like in any computer, etc., so you still need to backup. SuperDuper makes good bootable clones if you want to do it that way.

I work in IT by day and would never, ever recommend a Dell to anyone. They are not quality machines by any stretch of the imagination - I could go on and on as to why they are not good machines, but this is a Mac forum.

I'd go with the iMac with the larger screen. You can't go wrong with more real estate and it's one of the most expensive parts of the machine to upgrade.

I would choose the 20-in iMac, lower RAM to 2 Gig to save some money, stay with the 500 gig hard drive or upgrade to 750 gig hard drive if that is possible. External drives are noisy and one more thing to deal with (excepting backup purposes which they are worth using). Save a little money for the future and then purchase an external monitor which you can hook up to the iMac. You can get a 24-in or larger external as your skills grow.

When processing images, screen real estate and disk space always are at issue. 2Gb of RAM will be fine, but the larger screen and larger hard drive is a must. You can fill a hard drive fast in no time flat. I use a 30" display at work and a 24" display at home for photo work. When I have to switch back to the 24", it seem pretty small by comparison. You will be able to use the extra area on the larger display to good advantage.
--
John MacDonald
[email protected]

If you buy a Mac, you most likely will use Aperture. Aperture just begs for screen real estate. It also needs a fast video card. I believe the 7600 may be a little faster than the x1600. Also, if you have anyone around who is even faintly mechanically adept, forget about upgrading the RAM from Apple, and get some from a third party such as OWC online. You will save $100-200 on the RAM, and installing it, if you follow directions carefully, is a snap. I would go with the large internal disk, and then I would count on having a similar sized outboard firewire disk for backups of both your images and software.

You might look into buying a "refurb" unit from either Apple itself (via the Apple website) or from "Small Dog" enterprises online. Sometimes you can save $200-300. Although you have to buy the configuration they have available, which may not be as upgraded as you would like. No worries about warranty. They are warrantied like a new unit. Also, once you find out what model you like, you might look on Amazon. They have rebates and don't charge sales tax. (Small Dog also does not charge sales tax. Apple has to since they have storefronts in most states.)

I will not bomb on standard PC hardware, but I will say from experience of using both, that you will like the Mac experience much better, especially if you are a little computer phobic, or inexperienced. There are a lot of esoteric ways in which the Mac works better for the type of stuff we do in Photography, but that would fill a large message up.
--
Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}

Go for the 24" iMac! First I had the 20" iMac and i brought it back to the shop after 3 days. The screen of the 24" iMac is much brighter!

Have fun!

Thomas
--
--------------
http://www.thomas-maier.net

In terms of quality, resolution and size?

Naj

My existing monitor is not great--a three year old hp f70. It's a 17" flat panel. I have not been able to calibrate it very well. I'm frustrated with it. It's one reason I am purchasing a new computer.
--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

Thanks for the good advice Pax.
--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

Thank you for your advice. Sounds like you have had some bad experience with Dell.
--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

Thanks for the heads up on the mouse. I have no experience with a MAC mouse. Is there one you would recommend.
--
Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif