MAC VS PC (For editing)

<p>I know it's an sempiternal debate, but I need to upgrade my computer and I need people's opinion. <br>

I currently have a 7 years old gaming laptop. I can run PS CS6 fine except I have to keep everything else closed for it to get the job done and saving or processing a lot of layers takes time. <br>

<br />I know a lot of professional are iMAC users, and yes, they are pretty and stylish, but I need a laptop as I will also use the computer for personal reasons as well. (Can't afford both for now)<br>

<br />I looked at Macbooks. They're pretty and all, but expensive. <br>

PCs have better prices and I'm used to them. <br />(I used a Mac in 1995. The one that looked like a box) but I'm opened to switching if it's going to help me edit. </p>

<p>I just can't decide. </p>

<p>What are you using, why are you, and what are the pros and cons of using MAC or PC when being a photographer. </p>

<p>Any help is much appreciated. </p>

<p>Thank you</p>

<p>All that matters is which OS you prefer. The hardware is 99% the same. Both will run Adobe just the same. And to be honest, having recently done the whole search myself, Apple's prices for a laptop is pretty much on par with the "PC"s of similar quality.</p>

<p>I personally went with a Core i5 Samsung, but it's the best I could get in my budget of $500. I would say minimum is a Core i5 with 8GB of RAM. Core i7 with 16GB would be better, obviously. And either a Radeon or GForce graphics card, none of that built in Intel stuff.</p>

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<p>I need a laptop</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If you want to do photo editing (meaning tweaking, not just sorting, cataloguing), you are 100% at the mercy of your computer's <strong>screen</strong>. With a desktop, you can be picky (within your budget) about the screen. With a laptop, you need to carefully check the performance of the built-in screen. Most laptops now come with that shiny surface that may be very well for movies, but which I hate for photos. Check how much the display colors shift as you tilt the screen; if they do, how could you possibly rely on that screen to adjust your images? <br>

OR, you buy, extra, a separate screen for photo use at home. Check the reviews. </p>

<p>I was a Windows PC user for years before switching to a Mac and they both do the same thing but in a slightly different way. I prefer the setup and look of the Mac but I don't consider one better that the other. I will say, however, that I prefer the Mac's operating system but that's a personal choice.<br>

I think that the choice of a desktop or a laptop is the more important issue and if you can , you should go with the desktop especially if you're going to calibrate your display-and you really really should.</p>

<p>regards, cb :-)</p>

<p>If you really really need ( not want) a laptop get one.<br>

it is intended to be portable. but it will not last as long as a desktop if it is on 24.and if a motherboard componebt fails it is a bookend.<br>

Look at windows 8 before you commit yourself.<br>

you may grow to hate it. switching to a mac as many say the results and usage are similar.<br>

but if you switch to a mac you may buy a lot of software.<br>

also many things that will work with XP or even windows 7<br>

will not work with windows 8. I see complaints here all the time.<br>

If you have stored information such as photos. the mac will only read the drive if it is formatted in a compatible manner. Even though I am a PC person ( sticking with xp as long as I can)<br>

mac's are good but I am not about to cross over<br>

( I have a drive set up with windows 7 in a slide in holder so I am ready for eventual end of xp support.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>also many things that will work with XP or even windows 7<br />will not work with windows 8. I see complaints here all the time.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

I am yet to have anything not work. Mind you, I'm not hooking up an old Nikon film scanner or anything (yet). I think Windows 8 may be the most stable pre-SP1 software MS has launched to date.</p>

<p>Considering that you're already have CS6 for the PC, you might want to stick that way. I use both. My workstation at work is a Dell Precision desktop Xeon 3.3Ghz with 12 gigs of ram running Win7. Pretty good machine. I also keep my Macbook Pro right next to it as every outside agency I deal with uses a Mac. I use both extensively every day. I prefer the Mac myself, but I am seeing Win8 as a viable choice now. I keep a copy of Win8 on my mac, as well as a copy of Ubuntu Linux. They both run really well, so I get the best of all worlds this way. With 16 gigs of ram, there's really no slow down.<br>

<br />Also, you could get a refurb'd Mac from the website, save some dough that way and still have a full warranty.</p>

<p>I'm PC desktop and laptop user but getting a MBP set up like Rich S above with dual boot.</p>

<p>Sounds like a laptop and decent external monitor is best. Mac laptops are the finest out there. I've tried them all, squeezed them all, twisted and yawed, and nothing beats the build quality of a MBP. Whether you can buy into the closed rose garden business model of osx is another choice</p>

<p><strong>"so many things that will work with XP or even windows 7 will not work with windows 8."</strong></p>

<p>This is inaccurate.</p>

<p>I've loaded W8 onto my desktop, laptop, and home theatre pc. It's by far the finest and fastest os from Windows yet. I wouldn't hesitate to run it.</p>

<p>I, and many others, appreciate a kind of 'elegance' in the Mac operating systems that we haven't found in Windows. (I've worked for many years on Windows platforms, as well as from the start on the Mac).</p>

<p>Still, if you are used to the Windows system, aesthetics is less important and "Windows does work after all" (I offer this slogan, free of charge, to Microsoft).</p>

<p>Most of the same software is available for both platforms. Personally I like Macs for the OS and the in-person tech support, but realistically, PCs work just as well for this stuff. Just make sure you get something with a decent screen (a lot of budget models have large screens with low resolution, which doesn't really cut it) or even better add an external monitor. (My current favorite color quality per dollar compromise is Asus PA series.)</p>

<p>Either will edit your photos fine. Which OS you prefer.</p>

<p>I came real close to buying a new 27" inch iMac a couple months ago. I used a Mac around 1995, My wife has a Mac Book Pro. A few things that are bugging me on the new Macs is they are not including DVD reader/writers, and they have taken away the line input for recording audio from external devices. Line in is not a big deal for photo work, and you could still buy an external DVD. It seems to me Apple is making it harder to be creative and wants everyone to buy all their content and programs from iTunes. I wasn't wanting to spend $2600 for an iMac that was little more than a glorified large iPad to allow me to only buy stuff from iTunes. Sure there are external devices I could buy to allow me to record audio and produce my own multimedia content. I am a multimedia guy, I play music, I record and shoot bands.</p>

<p>But for the same money I can get a Dell 27" All-In-One, higher res screen, audio in, TV Tuner, Touch screen, a faster i7, DVD burner, choice of Win 7 and Win 8. It is hard for me not to justify getting the biggest bang for my buck.</p>

<p>I have also been looking at the Alienware 18" laptop, i7 clocked at 3.4Ghz, 16 or 32 gigs of memory, 3 Hard drive bays in a laptop, choice of solid state drives with RAID or mix and match Solid State drives and hard drives, just as much graphics card as the desktop computers, basically a laptop that is as much computer as a Desktop. This is a very fast system.</p>

<p>I think Mac makes nice stuff, but I think the company has moved toward purposely crippling what could be an awesome machine, just so they can have a strangle hold on selling content to you from iTunes. Everything will be in the cloud, no DVD drives, that's great as long as they don't go out of business, you have high bandwidth internet and want to pay for cloud storage.</p>

<p>But for me, I like being able have a little more control over what I do, where I get my content from, how I back up my stuff. I know there are workarounds to all this for the Mac, nothing can't be overcome if we throw enough money at it.</p>

<p>In the end, they are both great and it is just a choice, both will edit your photos great. It's just a choice.</p>

I'm only computer semi literate (as is my wife) but we live only a few miles from 2 Apple stores and the customer support and tutoring available is terrific. If you live close to an Apple store (or two) you should factor this into your decision.

<p>I've used both. Other than your personal preference for the operating system, there is no difference whatsover in terms of what you can do in Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. And once you're inside Photoshop/Lightroom, there's no difference other than Windows and Mac call some of the keys by different names.<br />Mac does make laptops -- my two kids each have one. And you are not restricted to using the built-in screen -- you can plug an external monitor into a Mac laptop just like you can on a Windows laptop. I do it all the time.</p>

<p>Like many others here, I use both platforms. I think the limiting performance factor will be the amount of RAM you can jam into your case rather than the operating system. (This old iMac can only accommodate 8 Gigs, for instance).</p>

<p>While I prefer the Mac for my photography work, if I were limiting myself to one machine for all applications, I would go with the one for which you already own the most software.</p>

<p>And what a credit to the even-handedness of respondents that this did not turn into and old-timey flame war!</p>

<p>: > )</p>

<p>You need lots of memory and a fast processor. PC or Mac, I don't think it would matter. If you could have a computer just for editing photos it would be very good. Once the computer gets on the internet, you'll be downloading this and that, and the speed will get slower and slower.</p>

<p>FWIW.... I am switching to Mac after using Windows 8 for about a year. It may be stable.... but I have found it horribly awkward to run. I've been unable to install my copy of microsoft office that ran perfectly on windows vista and 7. Finding programs that are installed is far too much of an adventure. Shutting down requires a steady hand to make menus appear that don't seem to exist, and ends up with way more clicks and keystrokes than previous versions. Even playing solitaire - which I used to like to do in the background, now takes over the entire workspace, and constantly asks me to log in to an xbox live account that I don't want or need. Closing programs? "Just swipe from the top of the screen down" except..... It's not a touch screen on my desktop.</p>

<p>Sorry- rant is over. I know the OP asked for people with experience with both machines. I've used windows for decades, and never tried a Mac. I'm switching... because it can't be worse.</p>

<p>As a photographer, I attend a lot of seminars- put on by PPA, KelbyOne, and more. It's interesting to note that EVERY presenter- not some, EVERY.... have used Macs. </p>