Anyone know anything about IMac's

peternap · May 10, 2010, 06:55:23 PM

I need a computer for photography and am thinking about a Mac. I never did and still don't, know anything about them.

Any comments about this

http://richmond.craigslist.org/sys/1734089605.html

MountainDon · May 10, 2010, 07:54:14 PM

I don't know enough about them, but my brother in law who does some very nice ( I was going to use "awesome" but that word is over used) video and still work has used one for years.

May 10, 2010, 10:41:36 PM

They don't give you any specs at all in the craigslist listing... We've only ever used Macs and of course think they're great, but it's tough to say what a good deal is without some research..

Phssthpok · May 10, 2010, 10:59:45 PM

I have no personal experience with Macs, but...uh...**COUGH**

*********(obligatory NWS warning for a single naughty word. You have been warned.)*********

southernsis · May 11, 2010, 06:43:19 AM

We have used an IMac for years now. My husband got it for his photograph and he loves it. He has 2 photo programs on it. One is IPhoto and then a professional photoshop. This ad tell nothing about the computer. Ask him for the info on it.

May 11, 2010, 08:08:46 AM

We bought one for video editing, and it does a good job. However, there is a learning curve with the OS that I found annoying

I don't know if it has changed or not, but the version we have does not allow for hardware modification, and the hard drive is not as large as it needs to be for video editing. It is also not as crash proof nor quirk free as the marketing hype wants you to believe.

If I were to do it over again, I think I would stick to a PC with photochop and a decent video editor... maybe Pinnacle?

-f-

peternap · May 11, 2010, 10:02:30 AM

Quote from: NM_Shooter on May 11, 2010, 08:08:46 AM
We bought one for video editing, and it does a good job. However, there is a learning curve with the OS that I found annoying

I don't know if it has changed or not, but the version we have does not allow for hardware modification, and the hard drive is not as large as it needs to be for video editing. It is also not as crash proof nor quirk free as the marketing hype wants you to believe.

If I were to do it over again, I think I would stick to a PC with photochop and a decent video editor... maybe Pinnacle?

-f-

That's my biggest concern NM. If it won't run Windows based programs, I don't want it. I have Photoshop CS5, Pinnacle and Vegas and don't want to but five thousand dollars worth of replacements.

I've about decided to build a quad 6 with a high end video card and stuff it with RAM. Then I can stick with what I know.

NM_Shooter · May 11, 2010, 11:26:32 AM

Well, you can run windows based applications in a windows emulator. I have heard that it works well.

LeoinSA · May 11, 2010, 09:06:14 PM

I bought my first Radio Shack computer with a tax return in 1981. My first PC was a clone in 1984. PC's ruled in my life - professional and personal - for 24 years. Never was afraid of ripping them apart and replacing components. I was even a Cisco certified network administrator some few years ago.

I fell into my current professional gig when we moved here to San Antonio. As a Technical Writer I create not only text based documents for the equipment my company makes, but I also create and/or photograph all of the graphics that go into my various documents.

Windows based computers were the defacto standard until the fall of 2007 when we got a new department manager. The PC's worked 'OK' but were prone to crashing several times a day with the heavy graphics load we used them for. I restarted at least 4 X/day to try and head off crashes.

My (then) new boss said she was going to take all of the staff to Macs. She did by getting 6 of us new Mac Pros - about $70k worth of hardware and software.

Coming back from Christmas vacation in January 2008 I created my first manual on the Mac in 4 days using software that I had never used before. I'm a bit more adroit now and could create the same size document in less than a day - but that's just experience talking.

My latest manuals are heavily loaded with photos (that I take) and I use Photoshop on a near daily basis. The Mac I use at work is well suited to that role with 16 GB of RAM and a 30" screen so I can have several programs running at one time and do all that I need to as required.

AT HOME

Home is a story of weaning myself from PC's & Windoze.

So... In 2008 I was so impressed with the Mac at work that I bought the latest 17" MacBook Pro that was available in March 2008 for my personal use. I outfitted my home Mac with a 20" Cinema display (wish I had bought the then 23").

My decently spec'd PC shared the computer desk with the Mac for about a year. I found myself turning on the PC less and less. My old PC now sits (forlornly) under the back corner of the desk, not having had power applied to it in over 20 months.

My wife needed a new laptop - she bought a 15" MBP last November. Her PC hasn't been plugged in for 4 months.

Neither of us looks back with any glimmer of fondness at those PC's.

I have zero need to use a PC for any of it's programs. That means that I doubt that I'll ever own anything but a Mac for the rest of my computer using life. And yes, we bought iPhones in January when our old cell contract expired. And I would not trade those for all the fancy Google phones you'd care to pay me to use.

All that praise there are some drawbacks for long time PC users.

Even though a PC and a Mac are computers and for most folks that only care about the final output, they are indistinguishable in that aspect, the logic of how to accomplish essentially the same task is different.

For those that played with British cars or motorcycles from WWII through the 70's - you know that those machines were cars and bikes, but the thought process behind the engineering was 'different' that what we American boys were used to. To make 'em run right we had to think a bit differently and adopt the British mind-set.

Same with PC's and Macs. Does the same job, just with a different approach to getting it done.

As for running the Mac in a PC emulator mode. I've got Parallels and I never - repeat -NEVER- fire it up. I have zero need to.

I too resisted getting a Mac for years because of the mega-$$$$ in PC software that I owned/acquired. For me, after getting and using the Mac, that is a bogus point of view.

There are too many discount software shops out there to worry about "throwing out" all that PC software that I was absolutely sure I needed to be able to run on the Mac.

One piece of advice, If you live within a reasonable drive of an Apple retail store, buy the $99 "One-To-One" - "Get the most out of your new Mac with a One to One membership at an Apple Retail Store. We'll get you set up, teach you all the basics, and help you with personal projects. One to One costs just $99 for a full year and is available only at the time of purchase when you buy a new Mac from the Apple Online Store or an Apple Retail Store." IMO it is worth every penny to help with the transition.

Also, subscribe to MacWorld magazine and their daily emails. They have lots of great info that still helps me understand the nuanced differences.

May 12, 2010, 09:30:08 AM

Most newer computers are awesome ... that is, if we have a computer sitting around that's a bit long in tooth ... and we replace it; we are probably going to be very impressed with the new gadget. I recently replaced my aging PC with a new custom PC ... Awesome! I'm sure I would have just as impressed with a new Mac ... which I came very close to buying. My doctor friend who swears by her year-old Mac Airbook (sp?), "loves" my new HP notebook! But then, her Mac is a year old or more ... things change quickly in the computer age.

I am lucky to have three Apple stores within driving distance ... and I also upgraded my AT&T phone service, in January, from a Nokia to the Iphone 16S ... very underwhelming! Oh, the smartphone stuff is OK when I'm around town, (I've already loaded over 6 G's of music) but I swear the phone service is even poorer than the Nokia when I drive about in the boonies! And what's this pi$$ing match going on with Adobe? ... I run into so many things I can't download! I'm about to subscribe to a Verizon phone for the missus, just so we can have better phone service. And when this 2 year contract is up ... goodbye Apple and AT&T! At least, that's what I think now ... things change quickly in the computer age.

NM_Shooter · May 12, 2010, 09:52:03 AM

Hah! The grass is always greener.

I am about to switch from Verizon to Sprint. My family has 4 phones. My kids want texting(I hate it, but am going to allow it under very rigid use restrictions).

I became annoyed with Verizon a year ago or so.. I wanted upgrade my "smart" pda phone, but was told that if I wanted to stay with that sort of phone I would have to also upgrade my plan which would require me to pay an additional $30 for the data plan. I asked why that was... considering I had a smart phone now, and wanted a new smart phone. I was told "policy". I started shopping around and found that all carriers "require" a data plan if you have a smart phone.

I have been a verizon customer for 15 years or more, and was a bit torqued that I was being treated as though I was a new customer. So I started shopping and found that Sprint had the best deal. 4 data phones, fully enabled, with a usage plan similar to the verizon plan I have now, but at about 60% of the price.

If I have a worry, it is about coverage. 95% of my use is in an urban area, but that 5% is very, very important to me. There is one hill on my ranch where I can get cell coverage now. I would hate to lose that. (whoops. sorry about the drift).

MountainDon · May 12, 2010, 09:56:31 AM

Location... location... location....

Verizon / Alltel is the only system that works on Pine Ridge.

JRR · May 12, 2010, 12:40:00 PM

You are correct about that grass. I also fired Verizon many years back because of high surprise charges ... this time around I'm going with a prepaid plan ... figure I can get by on approx $100 per year. (We'll see.)

glenn kangiser · May 12, 2010, 11:22:26 PM

I have been a PC dude since the first Trash 80 was made available - printed on a roll of silver toilet paper and programmed my own programs in Basic. Nothing fancy but I did it.

I just never considered a Mac a real computer although I know Mac people will say differently. I'm so used to the Windows lockups and crashes... what would I do without them?