Going digital (300D) requires a good computer; what minimum equipment?

[s k u l p t118025]

Macs are great for graphic design, photography, and those kinds of things. But don't expect a load of software and programs like the best RAW conversion software for a while to appear on the MAC, at least not as fast as on the PC. It's more about the numbers game than anything.

Brian

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

--
The Hunger Site: http://www.thehungersite.com

'THE Graphic design directory'.... http://adigitaldreamer.com
-------------------------------------
http://www.skulpt.com

 

[Tom K.182709]

We have a network of PC's and Macs for work and personal projects. Over the years, I've determined that you can compare the computers to cars.

A PC is like Camero, or Firebird. Super fast, but a little rough around the edges. Great for guys who like to tweak and hot rod. You can find the parts anywhere and everyone CLAIMS to know how to work on them. You can spend your weekends hanging out with other owners who love to tweak, and fiddle with the car day and night.

A Mac is like a Honda Accord. It doesn't win any races, but rewards its owner with a higher level of refinement, and superior gauges, knobs and switches (ie - the user interface). Most folks would never dream of hot roding a Honda Accord (though some in California do). You won't find a group of people on a street corner standing around looking at an Accord, gawking over what things you can do to hot rod it. You buy an Accord, drive it, enjoy it, and live your life. NOTE - Honda Accord's cost a little more to own, but are statisically proven to be reliable.

You have to be honest about what kind of user you are. If you're not one you likes to dive in to complex system details, and just want to get a lot of Media work done - get a Mac. If you're always looking for the least expensive, highest performance goods, with no regard to small product details (and have more time to spend on system integration), get a PC.

Reasons NOT to buy a Mac...

1. You have to run Quickbooks for your business (it sucks on Mac).

2. You have a family member that has Windows Certification and doesn't mind helping you.

Reasons NOT to buy a PC...

1. You don't know beans about computers, don't have friends or family that are true computer experts [everyone talks a good game-will they help you when the chips are down].

2. You hate viruses, and are looking for a computer that won't get laid to rest after every new worm is released.

To anyone on the fence - I hope that helps. For media work, I favor Mac - for most other things PC's are fine (and some of the best software is ONLY available for PC OR Mac, but not both). GREAT Mac product demos are available at any Apple store, from folks who really know the computers. Sales folk at places like CompUSA are spotty on Mac knowlege - not reliable.

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

 

[Daveed V.]

Tom K. wrote:
[...]

A Mac is like a Honda Accord. It doesn't win any races, but rewards
its owner with a higher level of refinement, and superior gauges,
knobs and switches (ie - the user interface). Most folks would
never dream of hot roding a Honda Accord (though some in California
do). You won't find a group of people on a street corner standing
around looking at an Accord, gawking over what things you can do to
hot rod it.

IMO the analogy breaks down on this last point: Many non-Mac
owners do in fact seem impressed with Mac hardware (Cinema
displays, PowerBooks, iMacs, G5s, etc.) and some of the software
(iTunes 4).

I have both and now prefer the Mac running recent flavors of
OS X.

Many of your other points are valid though.

--
Daveed
http://vandevoorde.com/Daveed/RebelPics

 

[Tom K.182709]

You're right Daveed, though many PC geeks will often cut to the chase..."yeah, but how much did it cost?" as if all of the best things in life came at a cheaper price.

I didn't mention in my post that Virtual PC is a very real alternative to run those one of two PC apps you need, but want to own a Mac. We run it on a Dual Processor G4, and it's more stable and boots faster than a Dell (though not nearly as fast). It really is a great alternative - best of both worlds. The new pro version of Office for OSX include Virtural PC. That said, I wouldn't want to run Photoshop on it.

It's interesting to note that that Mac vs. PC war of words seems to be at an all time low. I think most people have been burned in one way or another by both platforms and aren't so passionate any more. I know many people who use both now - all the media stuff on Macs - everything else on PC. Now you can buy one of each for the price you used to pay for a single computer.

Now that Mac has Unix under the hood, I find there's more respect from my PC friends. They get that - cousin to Linux and all.

A Mac is like a Honda Accord. It doesn't win any races, but rewards
its owner with a higher level of refinement, and superior gauges,
knobs and switches (ie - the user interface). Most folks would
never dream of hot roding a Honda Accord (though some in California
do). You won't find a group of people on a street corner standing
around looking at an Accord, gawking over what things you can do to
hot rod it.

IMO the analogy breaks down on this last point: Many non-Mac
owners do in fact seem impressed with Mac hardware (Cinema
displays, PowerBooks, iMacs, G5s, etc.) and some of the software
(iTunes 4).

I have both and now prefer the Mac running recent flavors of
OS X.

Many of your other points are valid though.

--
Daveed
http://vandevoorde.com/Daveed/RebelPics

 

[Tom Davenport]

Get a cheapo desktop and add 512 MB of RAM. Adequate RAM is the MOST important thing. Also, don't buy the extra RAM with the computer (they will charge you an arm and a leg for it) - buy it afterward (about $75 for a 512 MB module). Dell makes good inexpensive computers. Check sites like techbargains.com for deals on Dell computers. Two months ago I got a 2GHz celeron w/ 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW, 512 memory module (added later) all for about $500 shipped. It's plenty fast and I have absolutely no complaints.

.Memory is the

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

 

[Louis de Carufel]

I have a 850Mhz Pentium3 with 256Mb of RAM, plus a 60Gb hard drive and it works quite well. More RAM would help in Photoshop, and more megahertz would help a lot with NeatImage (that little nasty program is very CPU intensive!).

A PC with a USB 2.0 port would also be welcome, since downloading images from the camera can be very long. Since the 300D is only USB 1.0 compatible, a good compact flash reader would be needed also.

Louis

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

 

[Tom K.182709]

Speedy, stylish and has a super sharp, photo worthy 17" screen - Mac OSX is like Windows, the more RAM the better, same rules apply, buy your RAM later - eMac is in the $800 range - comes with the award winning iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie

Apple has gone all-LCD but I still prefer CRT screens for photo work. The screen built into the eMac is a 17" CRT, and easily the finest color accuate monitor to ever ship as standard equipment with any computer. A jaw dropper.

.Memory is the

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

 

[Enoch179136]

I have a P2 400 mhz 256 RAM. Works just fine, but I am very good about keeping it clean, and defrag once a week.

But....By next week i will have a P4 2.6, 512 RAM. I'll probably start having problems.

Enoch

 

[gpichler]

Brian

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

--
The Hunger Site: http://www.thehungersite.com

'THE Graphic design directory'.... http://adigitaldreamer.com
-------------------------------------
http://www.skulpt.com

 

[DOUGLAS2]

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

......and all ARE appreciated. Let's see, MEGA-memory (both RAM and HD), speedy chip, superior video card, and a GREAT monitor. Built-in requirements are adequate power source and cooling, and M/B.
And the operating system for a pc?????????

As we all know, this ain't cheap. Pro'bly get a factory unit with a warranty; after specs I feel that's most valuable.

Not at all familiar with MAC's; I don't think I'd mind but I'm at a loss there...

(Wondering if some sort of re-education is in order prior to purchase so I know what I'm doing with this new equipment. This just may be as costly as I refuse to recognize.)

WISH YOU ALL LIVED CLOSER!!!!!!

 

[macrophyllum]

A PC is like Camero, or Firebird. Super fast, but a little rough
around the edges. Great for guys who like to tweak and hot rod. You
can find the parts anywhere and everyone CLAIMS to know how to work
on them. You can spend your weekends hanging out with other owners
who love to tweak, and fiddle with the car day and night.

A Mac is like a Honda Accord. It doesn't win any races, but rewards
its owner with a higher level of refinement, and superior gauges,
knobs and switches (ie - the user interface). Most folks would
never dream of hot roding a Honda Accord (though some in California
do). You won't find a group of people on a street corner standing
around looking at an Accord, gawking over what things you can do to
hot rod it. You buy an Accord, drive it, enjoy it, and live your
life. NOTE - Honda Accord's cost a little more to own, but are
statisically proven to be reliable.

I think of my Mac G5 as a BMW, not a Honda.

 

[macrophyllum]

Well, I assume that if you are buying Canon you like quality. I would follow suite and buy a Mac. Easy, solid, high quality, great community, NO VIRUSES, affordable.

 

[dchao]

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

 

[fotochop]

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

 

[fotochop]

Well, I assume that if you are buying Canon you like quality. I
would follow suite and buy a Mac.

The quality you should be "following suite" with is in your Sony monitor, your Epson printer, your Pioneer DVD burner, your Western Digital hard drive (for example)...and not "PC or Mac".

A good video card can be bought for both Macs and PC so you can edit your photos and then play Half Life2 when it's time to play games. I don't know if HL2 will be on the Mac though. Poor Macs, they miss out on a lot. Anyway, that's almost beside the point.... Mac or PC doesn't matter - just avoid those silly iMac things. hehehe

 

[fotochop]

I think of my Mac G5 as a BMW, not a Honda.

and I think of Mac G5 owners as Volvo drivers

 

[David Waelder]

My father (him again!) uses Macs on his company for postprocessing, printing, etc...

They can be fast, reliable, easy to use, etc.... But a a price, an expensive one.

I agree with fotochop, more that "PC or Mac" war, think of the quality of the components: a VERY good monitor (maybe the most important piece), lots of RAM, fast (and lots) of HD, and a decent-to-good video card.

Regards,

David.

Well, I assume that if you are buying Canon you like quality. I
would follow suite and buy a Mac.

The quality you should be "following suite" with is in your Sony
monitor, your Epson printer, your Pioneer DVD burner, your Western
Digital hard drive (for example)...and not "PC or Mac".

A good video card can be bought for both Macs and PC so you can
edit your photos and then play Half Life2 when it's time to play
games. I don't know if HL2 will be on the Mac though. Poor Macs,
they miss out on a lot. Anyway, that's almost beside the point....
Mac or PC doesn't matter - just avoid those silly iMac things.
hehehe

--
there was a SIG here.
It is gone now

 

[WardWard]

I don't know how good it is, but if memory serves, at least one HP computer model has built-in card readers.

I don't have that, but my HP came with six USB 2.0 ports.

My VGA card is a RADEON 8500LE 128Mb

Most important, a good monitor! (Mine is Sony SDM-X72 TFT)

It works just fine but I wish RAW files transfer from the CF card
was faster...

Regards,

David.

I'm DYIN' to get back to an slr and know I'll pro'bly need a new
'puter.
These things can get fussy and demanding; how should I know what's
adequate to run all that software??? Any special equipment
suggestions?

--
there was a SIG here.
It is gone now

--
Shoot First Edit Later

 

[Frank Malone]

I'm using a P4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM and disk (plenty)

I moved from CF card 165 mb/63 sec = 2.43 mb/sec This was 56 pix's and I would like to know if this is slow. I just got a USB2 PCI card and I was expecting it to be a lot faster. The card was taken out of camera and put in reader. I used My Computer to move the pix's. I have an AMD 1800 processor.

 

[TimOC]

...and, at least with the Powerbooks, they match the color of the DRebel.

Well, I assume that if you are buying Canon you like quality. I
would follow suite and buy a Mac. Easy, solid, high quality, great
community, NO VIRUSES, affordable.