Advice on imac screens.

[graham_thompson1]

<p>I am about to go for a 27 inch imac. The edge to edge glossy screen looks good BUT is it<br>

the right machine for image editing? 8GB of RAM enough for PShop? Help and advice much appreciated.<br>

Thanks</p>

[howard_m]

<p>I'm sure to be lambasted for this but a quick search of 'glossy imac' will return any number of threads that have a range of opinion on this precise topic.</p>

<p>8G is more than enough unless you like to have LOTS (and lots) of apps open.</p>

[patricklavoie]

the imac 27 inch is a perfect compiter for photo editing, i use one as my main station, but i need a better monitor for my

high end need... this is why i also have a nec 2690 connect to it. that dont mean that the imac is not good.. just that

something better exist when your main and only income come from photo editing like me.

 

8 gig is also enough for now for any regular to heavy user, you can also add more later in need when photoshop cs8 will

come out : )

 

8gig work well on file from a p45, a 39 megapixel cam, and for anything lower...

 

as for the monitor reflection, anyhing glossy will have this problem, just dont put it in front of a window or under a direct

light and you will be all set.

[graham_thompson1]

<p>Howard. Thanks. Just done that now. Confused or what :-)<br>

Patricks comment decided it for me. Good enough for a highly regarded pro like him then good<br>

enough for me. Thanks Patrick.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>There's tons in google about it. It's a pretty sad LG monitor.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>8GB of RAM enough for PShop?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Photoshop performance depends on so much more than just ram. The bottle neck on this machine will be the hard drive speed and cpu. So yes, 8 gig is enough for this because you'll stall elsewhere first and rarely use the 8 gig.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>The edge to edge glossy screen looks good BUT is it the right machine for image editing?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>What kind of Photoshop do you do? Do you work on one image for an hour like a re-toucher, or do you need to chew through 12 gig of wedding raw files in a sunday? Do you multi task? Different demands will give you different answers to your question. Friends of mine just bought this machine in the spring and have already sold it. They had to upgrade to a dual xeon and 16 gig. They shoot stock and make virtual copies in LR and export. The iMac wasn't fast enough for them or allowed them to do a few things at once.</p>

<p>Lets pretend for a minute. If you had a powerful laptop, would you do something silly like glue a lame 27" monitor to the back of it and, like a desktop, never take it anywhere again? I wouldn't. If you can swing it $$$, I'd get an i7 Macbook and a $600 monitor. At least with a MBP, you can use it in the field. But word of caution, the 17" MBP with i7 gets really hot and there is been a number of problems with them. But, like most things hot, it's so sexy and well worth it.</p>

<p>Another alternative is a "Hackintosh" and they are getting more and more popular as these builds provide the flexibility and an upgrade path that Apple does not. Check out lifehacker artices here;<br>

http://lifehacker.com/search/hackintosh/</p>

<p>If you live in a large city, there are likely dozens of builders around that can help you get a much better machine and Mac experience, for less money, than an iMac.</p>

 

[john_markanich]

<p>Pay close attention on HOW you order up that 8GB of RAM. My intel based 27" imac has four slots for RAM. Off the shelf it held two, 2GB cards but the Apple Store let me upgrade to two, 4GB cards. They bought back the original 2GB cards. This gives me the opportunity to upgrade later by adding two more 4GB cards for a total of 16GB of RAM. (Remember, when adding cards they all have to be of the same capacity).</p>