Decisions are hard.....

Well, a vote for RAM!
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Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

I have another computer with a larger drive that I can network with. Lots of options to consider here. Thanks for the input.
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Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

Another good option to consider. Thank you.
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Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

I appreciate you giving me advice based on your experience. Thanks.
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Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

Terri French said:

Thank you for your advice. Sounds like you have had some bad
experience with Dell.

Click to expand...

Let's just say this - Dell is the Kia of the PC world - cheap, cheap, cheap and cut many corners to ship a box at the price point.

However, another tip - don't buy your RAM from Apple - for some reason they are VERY expensive. Consider Crucial or Other World Computing (www.macsales.com) for RAM.

Thats a shame. $2499 would also get you a standard config Mac Pro which would deliver a heck of lot more processing power. But you would probably want a better screen on it (and a little more ram) so it kind of blows the budget.

If you are set on an iMac then the 24" config you quote is the better option. As these machines have very limited expansion, the inclusion of the faster graphics processor will help the whole thing feel snappier, as well as give you more scope for new applications in the future which may need more graphics horsepower.

2GB will get you by for now and is an easy (and cheaper) upgrade later.

-Najinsky

There have been a few comments on this forum about the iMac 24" being TOO BRIGHT. You can't dim it sufficiently for proper calibration. I have no first hand experience with this, but I'd check whether your calibration hardware/software can manage this display. Other than that, I'd go for the 24" and as much RAM as you can afford. I also agree that a large external drive would be nice, too. It can be used for backup, and for Aperture Library when you get into that. Good luck.

like others have said, go for the 24" model. The extra RAM can always be upgraded and really is only necessary when you have tons of applications open. It's probably enough for more images open than you can keep track of.

500 GB is plenty too, plus you have the built in DVD so you can archive your older files which is a good idea, more for just keeping your hard drive clean.

If you are only using Aperture or some other RAW application, this computer should provide you with fine performance for many years into the future.

good luck.

The mouse that comes standard with the iMac is, I believe, the wired USB version of the Mighty Mouse. I must say that I really love this mouse. I was using a very high end wireless mouse before from Logitech called the MX1000 laser. It was a really nice mouse, but slightly large. However, I played with the Mighty Mouse at a dealer and decided to buy one. Wow, what a difference. I find it tracks better than the logitech, on more surfaces. It actually has a total of five different "buttons", left, right, left and right "side" buttons, and the scroll ball can be a button as well. All of these buttons can be programmed from the mouse preference dialogues. But the killer deal is the scroll ball. Everyone should have one of these! It scrolls up or down in dialogues, scrolls through images in image viewers, scrolls up or down through various levels of magnification used with a modifier key in either Aperture or Photoshop (and I'm sure, other USB scroll aware apps). It also scrolls side to side!, and diagonally!. You can image what a boon this is for moving around through images! The only issue I have ever had with this mouse is that occasionally it gets a very small fleck of dirt into the mechanism, and it will stop scrolling, usually in one direction. I have always been able to work this out by scrolling all around to dislodge the dirt fleck. I should mention that it scrolls very, very smoothly, unlike the herky-jerky scrolling of the click detented scroll wheels on most mouses. And the side to side scrolling is under absolute control as opposed to the variable scrolling with a scroll wheel. You can take my Mighty Mouse when you pry it from my cold, dead hand!

In the future though, it might be nice to consider a Wacom tablet. Nothing works better than a tablet for critical image editing in Photoshop, and just to relieve repetitive stress injuries.

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Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}

I don't know for sure, but it seems there surely is some way in the software control of the monitor to reduce brightness. How about pressing F2 or F3? But on a less humorous note, LCD monitors in general are way too bright when it comes to matching the monitor to output. I typically run my monitor (Sony SDM-234) at about 50% brightness. Looking at full brightness on a monitor will blow your eyeballs out. Perhaps one of the reasons you have had difficulty getting you HP monitor to calibrate, is that the brightness is way too high. My Sony calibrates without this trick, but when I calibrate my laptop monitor, which has less control, is I turn the brightness up to 80-100%, run through the hardware calibration with my X-Rite puck, then when the profile is created, I reduce the monitor brightness to 50%. Works like a charm.

Some monitors have built in "automatic" brightness and contrast adjustment. You need to turn those off for calibration also.

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Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}

I just saw that Apple is offering a MacPro Quad refurbed for $1899!! On the Apple store web site!

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Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}

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Mac

Terri French said:

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

Click to expand...

I use a Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 with my MacBook Pro. How ironic is that! It works great and gives me programmable buttons. Why anyone would ever want to manually double-click when you can assign a button to do it for you is beyond me.

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http://www.pbase.com/tmalcom/

Hi Terry

I've just made the switch from Windows to iMac with a 24"
configured in almost exactly the same way you're considering and
I too use a D200 for non professional uses. I would certainly go for the
24 if I were you because it allows much more room for palettes in PS
and allows a larger image in vertical format. It is also - for a large
screen computer - wonderfully compact and portable around the home.

A few tips though: Read as much as you can about OS X before you buy
it's a steep but achievable learning curve.

Consider carefully the software and hardware implications of changing
OS, ie do it when the time is right. PS CS3 will no doubt run superbly
when it is released but be prepared to have to renew some peripherals.
For example - here in the UK there are no intel Mac driver updates for
the Epson 1290 printer (1280 in US) The Mac drivers lack functionality
so its new printer time for me!

Monitor calibration can be problematic, I've heard - I intend to try a
shareware solution called SuperCal available from http://www.bergdesign.com
which I believe copes with the very bright 24" screen. Not a professional
level solution granted, but affordable.

Those things aside - I've had my first Mac only 4 weeks or so but
already a return to Windows seems deeply unlikely! Happy buying!

--
Martin

Such good input from everyone. I'm starting to feel really good about a switch to a MAC. You have all been very helpful
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Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

I imagine you need a largeer hard drive.
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Mac

When you are taking 10mp photos, the hard drive can fill up fast. I guess it's good to get as big of one as affordable. I will eventually get an external drive as well. I have a 250gb drive on another computer I own. That will give me 760 gb for now.

I am not sure I will run windows on the MAC, if I do get it. I will keep my Microsoft Office software on the desktop I currently have. I don't use office software at home much. I do enough of that at work!
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Terri F.
http://www.pbase.com/terrif

One thing on that -check with your HR or IT Department. Where I work, we have a deal with MS as part of our corp license where we can get Office (Mac version too) for $20. Worth a look.

FYI:

On an iMac you can only "mirror" on a second monitor--not extend the workspace.
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Mac