New Mac to compliment my 5D

[benritter.com]

my 5D makes my 4 year old Mac that i have at home roll over and cry when i try to open a

raw file. at work i have a G4tower with dual processers, so it is great with the files. how

do the new powerbooks respond to the 5D files? should i not bother and just get a g5

tower instead....maybe if i can wait forever the G5 laptop will come out. basically, what

computer are you using and does it open your raw files lightning fast? users with dual

core g4 or g5's need not respond, more interested in mac mini, new ibook and new

powerbook users.

 

thanks

[benritter.com]

"TO" compliment my 5D, is what i meant to say. and i also did not mention that i am

trying to spend no more then i have to for results. i realize 20k will buy me a quad G5

loaded with ram. i don't need that.

[ajweiss]

<i>should i not bother and just get a g5 tower instead....users with dual core g4 or g5's

need not respond, more interested in mac mini, new ibook and new powerbook users.

</i>

 

<p>You contradict yourself there. Make sure you understand what is in the different

computers. In terms of processor, a Mac mini, a PowerBook, and an iBook will be fairly

similar. None of them have a G5. The only computers with G5's are PowerMacs and iMacs.

 

<p>If you want to get the best combo for the price and can't afford to spend too much, I

would go for the 20-inch iMac G5 with 1+GB of ram. That way, you get a really nice color-

calibratible screen and G5 processor for less than the cheapest PowerMac ($1899 with

1.5GB of RAM). It won't be as fast as the dual G5's, but it will be better than your work

computer.

 

<p>G5 PowerBooks will never exist. Apple is starting the switch to Intel chips within the

next few months, so the next big PowerBook upgrade will say "Pentium" or the like on it...

[digitmstr]

>> should i not bother and just get a g5 tower instead....<<

 

>>maybe if i can wait forever the G5 laptop will come out<<

 

>>basically, what computer are you using<<

 

what exactly do you REALLY want to know?

 

A Powerbook will work fine, as it has been and continues to be used by countless PRO photogs around the world.

 

If you want the latest and baddest, you may have to wait for the next generations books (whnever that will be) or, get the new dual core towers.

 

It depends too on what your workflow is, workload is, timelines, etc... Are you a pro photog? How many images to do you need to process in one session, etc... What budget do you have...all of it comes into play.

[panos_voudouris]

On a budget, I think the best price-performance ratio is with an iMac. Just put as much

RAM as you can afford, 1GB minimum. At least that's what I would buy if I wanted to

upgrade.

 

But you first need to decide if you want a desktop or a laptop.

[martin_doudoroff1]

This is probably not a good time to invest in a new mac mini, new ibook or new powerbook,

as all of these models are expected to be replaced within 6-8 months with Intel processors. I

would at least wait until after January 6, when Apple's intentions may be a bit clearer.

[mark_chappell]

<I>maybe if i can wait forever the G5 laptop will come out. </i><P>

 

You will wait forever, because as Adam says, the next generation of Powerbooks (and after

that, all Macs) will have Intel processors. They will be faster but to make full use of the

increased speed, you'll need new software compiled for Intel instead of PowerPC.<P>

 

When I travel, I use a 3 year old 1 ghz G4 powerbook to deal with images from a 1DII. It

has no trouble at all with RAW files, although it's not as fast as the 2 ghz dual G5 tower I

have at home. I'm sure it will work ok with 5D RAWs, and the newer, faster G4

powerbooks will do even better.

[kbroderick]

How much RAM do you have in your tower? If you're not maxed out, then your best bang

for the buck would probably be upping the RAM on your existing machines. In general,

RAM is the most important characteristic to consider when looking for more speed from a

computer (most computing tasks are not CPU-bound in today's world; available RAM tends

to run out well before the CPU maxes out.)

 

The current Powerbooks and iBooks are a bit on the slow side (compared to current

technology on the PC side of the house, as IBM's mobile PowerPC chips haven't progressed

as fast as hoped), so you may not see much of a performance improvement compared to a

slightly older dual-G4, ceteris paribus. I shoot RAW and process on my G4/800 TiBook,

which does OK; I don't sit around and wait for it to batch-process shots for the web,

though. I'm hoping to pick up a shiny Intel-based PowerBook not too long after they come

out next year, but I'll have to wait and see how the pricing and first-edition bugs shake

out.

[awindsor]

Ben,

 

Give me the $1500 and I will compliment your 5D (and almost anything you want - I am a complete sell out). In the long term I will work out much cheaper than either a wife or a girlfriend and will be much more reliable ;)

 

Maybe you meant "New Mac to COMPLEMENT my 5D".

 

I don't have a 5D (you see how much I need your $1500) but I do have a 20D. At home I have a 4 year old 550MHz G4 powerbook that crawls when processing RAW files (I get the settings right, run batch process, and go and do something else for the evening) but my G5 iMac at work is plenty fast enough for me.

 

I want a G5 desktop without dual core processors but I fall into a hole in Apple's line. I don't really need a LCD monitor iMac though the specs are enough for me. My main problem with the Mac mini's that I would like a bit more speed and to stick more memory in it than it allows.

[benritter.com]

i did and do realize the ibook and powerbook and mini all have the same processor. i

appreciate the info about the mac intel switch. i heard about this but did not realize it was

happening so soon. i think the imac would be good, but i am a pro and i often find myself

sorting through 100s of raw images. i would prefer to invest in a pro setup which equates

to either a g5 tower or a powerbook. i think my heart is telling me i want the book and my

head is telling me to get the tower. this is something i will have to work out on my own i

suppose. i think the first step is to see what the upgades to the powerbook will be. if

they get significant boosts then i'll go in that direction.

[awindsor]

If you already have a decent monitor and can afford it get a G5 tower. Put RAM in it yourself (Apple's prices are extortionate). You may also find that you are exactly Apple's target market for Aperture. They should be able to let you try it at an Apple Store.

 

Check out the 20" iMac. It is a 2.1 GHz G5 and lets you load it with up to 2.5 GB RAM. Try it at an AppleStore and see if it works for you.

 

In the end I will have to upgrade too. When my hard-drive crashed earlier this year I very nearly put in an order for a new dual-core G5 tower.

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste]

Just been running a batch action for 200 5D raw files including PTLens and smart sharpen. Boy did that take a long time. Problem is that PS cannot use more than 2 gig of ram on a PC at least so I'm maxed out there.

[ky2]

I managed to grab a dual G4 500Mhz box, upped the RAM to 1Gig, and the thing is very usable now. I'd rather be using an iMac G5 or a PowerMac, but that's life.

[gdanmitchell]

<p>I run Photoshop on a fairly new 15" Powerbook with a gig of RAM and it is not bad. It

certainly does not open RAW files "lightning fast," but I'm OK with its speed. Sufficient RAM

(and a large hard drive) will make a big difference. However, the current Powerbooks do

not - as a bunch of folks already pointed out - use a G5, nor will there be a G5 laptop. At

some point, perhaps in a few months - but who really knows? - there will be an Intel Mac

laptop of some sort and many people expect that it may be significantly faster. Of course,

there are also some concerns about whether the initial versions will let pro apps like

Photoshop take full advantage of the Intel processor. But, again, who knows?</p>

 

<p>The mini is a really cool little computer, but it is not the best option for Photoshop or

other image manipulation programs. It can work here, but it is way down the performance

curve compared to other options.</p>

 

<p>Right now, your G5 options are an iMac or a Powermac. As others have suggested, the

20" iMac is a pretty darn good choice as long as you get a really big hard drive and lots of

RAM. (OS X responds well to more RAM. Yes, it makes a significant difference.) The 20"

monitor is quite nice. This machine is likely powerful enough for almost all users.

However, if you count yourself among those for whom it isn't (if you <i>need</i> more

expandability and/or <i>need</i> the very fastest system available) then you'll need to

look at the G5 and dual (and sort of quad) G5 Powermacs. If cost is a concern, you would

still get a quite powerful system by purchasing the lowest cost version, though it might

not <i>really</i> gain you that much over the iMac.</p>

 

<p>Dan</p>

[carnagex_carnagex]

P.S. -- NEVER buy your memory from Apple, its a rip off, your better off with Other World

Computing, or Crucial Memory. (cheaper, and better warrenty)

[sirfish]

I guess I'll chime in here, since no one else knows what they are talking about. ;) I have a

mini with 1gb of RAM and a 1.4GHz chip. And it sucks for image editing. Unless of

course you have a lot of free time.

 

The powerbooks will be roughly equivalent and are not an option for image processing in

a professional workplace at production speed. They are fine for dumping images to and

tweaking an image or two in the field, but you'd probably slash your wrists before the

Photoshop filters finish and the screen redraws. Unless you absolutely need the portability

for the field, get a tower. Or better yet, both!

 

I'd recommend a G5 tower, 2GB RAM minimum, an NVIDIA 7800 GT card, and as much

hard disk space as you can stuff into the thing. Probably the 2.3GHz version. unless you

wanted to go dual dual-core CPU.

[awindsor]

A fast video card will not speed up your image editing or RAW processing. The 6600LE already has enough memory to drive two decent sized displays so why upgrade ?

[digitmstr]

>> but i am a pro and i often find myself sorting through 100s of raw images<<

 

Sorting and converting are NOT the same. Which is it really?

 

generally speaking, Macs are NOT good investments because they change OS so quickly that the ONLY software developers who can keep up with the changes are the usual few. And it's getting much more difficult for them as well. Now, with the switch to Intel this will only get worse.

 

I have both PCs and Macs and of late, I haven't turned my Mac on at all.

[chiswick_john]

"(most computing tasks are not CPU-bound in today's world; available RAM tends to run out well before the CPU maxes out.) " - nonsense! - Ram is only usful for manipulating large files or doing lots of things at once. If you are doing lots of single actions on small files like batch processing and want apps like bridge to buuild thumbnails quickly you need processor speed above all else. Don't waste money on a current powerbook - they are dog slow at this kind of stuff.

[silas_larsen]

I just bought a new iMac G5 on Monday, in order to give me some more oomph to work with

my EOS 5D which was coming the next day. I had been using a powerbook G4 500mhz for

4.5 years, but I decided it was time for a change. The intel powerbooks are likely to be

released in january & ship by february (who knows for sure- Apple is screcretive) but most of

the software will run on emulation at first. When I broke down the $1600 I paid for the iMAC

(+$290 for 2gb more ram) it was really a quite powerful machine with a decent screen for the

price.

[mark_james]

The G5 is obviously the way to go, but cost is a factor for you. The powerbook is "old" G4

technology. It was unclear about your current setup, but if you have a G4 tower, consider

a Sonnet or PowerLogix processor upgrade for a few hundred dollars. Then wait for an

Intel based portable in the next couple years. My G4 "AGP" model (originally 400 MHz) is

now a dual 800. For my purposes it handles 8MP files at 16 bits/channel acceptably well

in Photoshop CS. How it handles the 5D and how it would handle CS2 is TBD. I am

considering a dual 1.6GHz processor upgrade as a stopgap until the Intel processors are

out.