iMac or PC?

[shannon_rowe]

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm fairly new to woking with RAW and am running into some issue with monitor calibration. What I see when I process looks much different on other machines. I ordered some test prints and they are nothing like I intended. I have been using my work laptop. When I dock in my office, images are different and same if I attach my monitor at home.<br>

I really shouldn't be using my work computer for my photography. I am going to buy a new home computer and am looking at an HP AIO. I am also eyeing an iMac AIO. I've never used a Mac. I hear great things about them and seems to be the choice for photographers. Is this true? For post processing, does a Mac seem to be the better machine or is this just a preference?<br>

And sorry if this has been posted previously. I searched and couldn't find my answer.....I'm the new girl here, too.<br>

Thanks for reading!</p>

[john_deerfield]

<p>OMG, let the games begin.</p>

<p>First, in terms of prints matching a display, you need to calibrate your monitor. Using an uncalibrated monitor will simply be a crapshoot. You will need some sort of third party tool to calibrate any monitor.</p>

<p>Next, regardless of the computer platform you decide to go with, get as much Ram as you can afford. Ram will be more important than just about anything else. Depending on how many images you take per month or year, it can be beneficial to store your media on an external hard drive.</p>

<p>Finally, in terms of PC or Mac... I’m a Mac guy. But if you don’t have a <em>desire</em> to learn a new operating system, then I would say to stick with a PC. No matter how you approach it, working on a Mac is simply different than working on a PC. Individual applications (such as Photoshop) can be virtually identical on a PC or Mac, but the fundamental operating system will be different. Now if you have motivation to learn a new system, then by all means, get a Mac! In general, the course of discussion will be that the Mac will be a more stable computer but if you custom build and maintain your PC it can be just as stable for less money. I personally am not interested in custom building a PC. I switched to Mac over 10-years ago and never had any regrets. I still use PC’s on the college campus and help troubleshoot my wife’s PC’s at work.</p>

[r.t. dowling]

<p>What John said.</p>

<p>I use Macs and PCs, and generally prefer Macs (especially from a hardware perspective), but there is definitely a learning curve when you switch from Windows to Mac (or vice versa). Even though the Mac operating system is generally considered "easier to use" than Windows, there's no getting around the fact that if you're accustomed to the Windows way of doing things, it's going to take you a while to adjust, and the adjustment period can be quite aggravating.</p>

<p>Photoshop is Photoshop regardless of whether you're on Windows or Mac. The absolute best thing you can do is get a high quality display and calibrate it. That's something you really need to do no matter whether you're using Windows or Mac. My MacBook Pro's display was more "off" and required more tweaking than the Samsung display attached to my Dell PC.</p>

[shannon_rowe]

<p>Thanks, John. Time is a challenge in my life (full time job, 2 boys under 3 and a full blown LOVE of photgraphy)...so, with your advise, I'll likely stick to a PC. Especially with looking at pricing. I won't be able to get a lot of RAM within budget, or at least a minimal amount to run LR4 and CS4. I always have motivation to learn, but time isn't on my side...LOL.<br>

I've also been reading on the calibrate tool, so I'll need to get one of those ASAP....and adjust some sessions I recently processed ( very bummed).<br>

I store all my images on an external drive. I just got a new one (1TB) as I maxed out the existing.<br>

Now, if I can find more money and more time, I'd be really really happy!</p>

<p>And, one last thought...thanks for not blasting me. I did find some similar questions. I hadn't gone to the right spot to get an answer :) Newbie to photo.net</p>

[eric_brody]

<p>If just photography is the issue, in practical terms, there's no difference between working on a Mac or a PC. It's all about the monitor. You need the best monitor you can afford and must budget for a hardware calibration system. You're probably right that you should not use your work computer for photography for at least two reasons; some companies will fire you for things like that (even if you don't shoot nudes) and not many "company" computers have decent monitors, and none, except at photo-design companies, are calibrated.<br>

No offense, but I have a bit of a hard time believing you did any serious searching before posting. There's enough stuff on photo.net, to say nothing of other reputable places to fill books on the subject of iMacs for photography (some love 'em, some hate the monitor). And the PC-Mac question has no absolute answer but lots of opinions. FWIW I've used both and prefer the Mac, but that's not a photography issue. Lightroom and Photoshop are virtually identical on the two platforms.<br>

Consider an NEC monitor, and use it with a PC or a Mac mini (about to be updated, I think), or get an iMac and don't look back. Whatever you get, get a hardware calibration system, but I already said that as will anyone else who comments here.<br>

Good luck.</p>

[eric_brody]

<p>You mentioned you "maxed out" your drive but did not mention a backup strategy. Do a search, there's lots of info, but whatever you do, have at least three copies of ALL your images, on separate drives, and ideally have one copy off site. Not a monitor or Mac-PC issue but more important than all the others. If you do not have a back up strategy, you WILL lose your images at some point. Every hard drive ever made will fail at some point, none will run forever, some die right away, some last for years, but all will die eventually.</p>

[shannon_rowe]

<p>Great advice, Eric! I appreciate it. You're right...I didn't look hard enough for an answer. I used the search box, and wasn't returning results. I only discovered the "digital darkroom" forum after I posted....newbie poster, no doubt, or distracted...no excuse.<br>

I do plan to get another external drive, for backup purpose, and store and my parents. Now you make me nervous, and I better go get that this week! I have thought about cloud storage. However, I haven't done any research.<br>

I'm going to look at the calibration system now. Perhaps I can get by with a new monitor, calibration system and adding more RAM to my old desktop....we'll see...I'm not even sure if it can handle LR and PS. It's nearly an antique!<br>

Thanks again! And thank you, R.T., for your opinion as well. This is really helpful.</p>

[eric_brody]

There are a number of calibration systems out there. X-Rite makes the Color Munki (it is a silly name, but a real & decent product),

as well the i1 Display. There is also the Spyder product. There are lots of reviews available. You can spend a little or a lot

but you should spend what you feel you can.

[lwg]

<p>You definitely want to get a machine with a good monitor. The iMacs are decent, but not the best. I don't know about the HP AIO. I'm a Mac guy, but the platform really makes no difference for image editing. I would however avoid most all-in-one devices, simply because you can get a better monitor for images with a desktop (or laptop and external monitor, as I use).<br>

I suspect you could buy the monitor to use with your work laptop. Then get a Color Munki and you will at least have your color issues solved.</p>

[Mike D]

<p>I just upgraded from an XP dual core XP PC to a I7 Windows Pro 64 bit PC. Why? Because I own thousands of dollars of PC software that I really don't want to purchase again. I also don't want to take the time learn a new computer system. I'd rather shoot and post process images than reading manuals. My point is that you should buy the computer that will support the software you are already familiar. While some of the software may be compatible with both PCs and Macs, you can't really go wrong with either machine except you do save some cash with a PC so you can buy another lens.</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>do not trust www or off site storage.<br>

the company can fail.<br>

However do back up files in a usable form<br>

that can be read by another pc. If they are out in a non-standard form<br>

it may be virtually impossible to recover.<br>

If you can afford it buy an external drive, that has a brand-name hard drive inside,<br>

store it outside your home in case of a flood or other natural dister.,<br>

Some of the external drive are expected to be banked arould or sometimes dropped.<br>

buy one of those and try not to drop it.<br>

I am tryong not to be mac vs pc. but pc's are less expensive., and even with my old xp<br>

upgrades roll in almost every day and they are free.<br>

HP and Dell are better than many others.<br>

Bbuying a factory built system can avoid some of the mixee matchee<br>

effect of<br>

building you own. Hp does buy motherboards from other companies asus for one.</p>

 

[kylebybee]

<p>I love my 27" IMac. It's like having a very large desk to work on. Although I should, I never have had my screen checked for color, but I have made prints and they look just like they did on my screen.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Whatever you get, get as much RAM as you can stuff into it, as large and as high-quality monitor as you can afford, and as much hard drive capacity as you can afford. The last is easier to add or substitute later. You should be sure the processor is a recent generation issue, as well, but most new, brand-name computers will be.<br>

I love Macs, but have used both in the past. My 27" iMac, like Kyle's, is so sweet. For capability, display, and power, it is a very nice package for the price. </p>

[EricM]

<p>It's a shame Apple now ignores the market for $1500 desktop computers that allows easy internal customization and hard drive additions. I've never felt that the $2500 iMacs that contain $800 of off-the-shelf parts and an average monitor were a very good choice for the digital darkroom user, but is the one many use because the Mac Pro price is out of touch with reality. I've been using Windows 7 lately and is the best operating system I've used </p>

[angkordave]

<p>One big plus with Macs are the ability to use fire wire 800 drives and Thunderbolt. FW is far better than USB3 as it has the same fast speed for read and write. I had a high spec PC with USB3 and sold in preference for a Mac as I was totally disillusioned with the poor performance of USB 3 drives as compared with FW800. I can work from my FW drives comparatively easily in LR4.So far as the Mac OS is concerned its not hard to understand and for image editing there is no practical difference from OSX and Win 7. <br>

Yes Macs are more expensive; but the quality of the build and usability are justified . I started off with a Macbook Pro i7 quad core which is such a high performances machine that I'm now using it with an external monitor for all editing work. I do plan to wait for the latest update to the iMacs. <br />Its strange to me that I can get an i7 Macbook Pro off the shelf but would have to order a similar spec iMac. I have an older 21'imac but want to wait for the new 27" version.<br>

I can probably use my MacBook indefinitely so you might even consider a 15'Macbook Pro as the screen is far better than most laptops.</p>

 

[eric_brody]

To Kyle Bybee, you're confusing good luck with good judgement. Even if your prints look like the monitor today, they likely

won't in a few months. All monitors change over time. A hardware calibration device will allow you to correct it.

Laptop screens, no matter how pretty, are inadequate for serious, accurate color work. No color photographer who values

his or her own work, uses a laptop screen for critical work. You can attach an excellent external monitor to most laptops,

Mac or PC as Dave Perkes does.

[brian_ellis19]

<p>I used Macs in school and PCs at home. There was never any difference worth talking about between them for purposes of photography.</p>

[angkordave]

<blockquote>

<p>No color photographer who values his or her own work, uses a laptop screen for critical work.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'm sure those well heeled travel photographers who use a Macbook Pro with Retina screen are not going to agree :-( <br />Seriously though Eric; i agree that most cheaper laptop screens are not up to the job, as are the cheaper monitiors. IPS screens a good with better viewing angles; Apple use them too for the iMacs and most Macbooks. I gave up on PC based laptops for that reason. However I'm out traveling using my macbook pro for extended periods, so I can hardly take a full size monitor with me.<br />I have found the Macbook screen good enough for my purposes and I don't believe its having any negative affect on my photography.</p>

[EricM]

<p><strong>"One big plus with Macs are the ability to use fire wire 800 drives and Thunderbolt. FW is far better than USB3 as it has the same fast speed for read and write."</strong></p>

<p>I'm unsure how one cable type could be better than another cable, Dave? FW is not nearly as fast as USB3, and Apple seems to be fading it out from my observation as it's not included on the air or rmbp.</p>

[george_ghio]

<p>Hi<br>

I'm not going to tell you that iMac is better than PC. I will tell you why I use Mac.<br>

Years ago I was looking at lap tops, my first computer, I had a choice of 3 PCs and 1 Mac. Now because I live on solar I wanted an Auto Adapter that would allow me to run the lap top straight off my 12volt system rather than from my inverter.<br>

I rang the 3 dealers in the PC range and 1 Mac dealer asking "If I buy this computer can I get an auto adapter?"<br>

The answers were;<br>

PC dealer 1) What's that?<br>

PC dealer 2) Why would you want to do that?<br>

PC dealer 3) Never heard of that.<br>

Mac dealer) We have 2 in stock when do you want it?<br>

Guess what I bought. In my experience over the years since then I have come to the conclusion that Macs are sold by people who know what they are talking about and PCs are sold buy salesmen who are only there in between real jobs. Maybe I just fussy.</p>

[angkordave]

<blockquote>

<p>I'm unsure how one cable type could be better than another cable, Dave? FW is not nearly as fast as USB3, and Apple seems to be fading it out from my observation as it's not included on the air or rmbp.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I can only say from my limited experience of using 2 Transcend portable USB 3 drives with a USB3 enabled PC that read speed was just about acceptable but write speed slowed down by 50% or worse with large data inputs. It has less to do with the cable more the systm architecture which allows FW to have the same speed in either direction.<br /> If other makes of USB drive are faster I'd be interested to know but I'm using Western Digital FW800 2TB drives for LR catalog and files which are performing well for me.<br /> It was something of a surprise to find that Apple did not fit a FW800 port to the new Retina Macbook. It seemed an unforgivable omission. However l believe that there is an adapter to use Firewire 800 drives using a thunderbolt port. Has any one had experience of this?<br /> I note the late switch by Apple to USB3 and hope this does not mean the end of FW800 as Thunderbolt drives are expensive and hard to get in my location.</p>

[jeff_sudduth]

<blockquote>

<p>Hi<br /> I'm not going to tell you that iMac is better than PC. I will tell you why I use Mac.<br /> Years ago I was looking at lap tops, my first computer, I had a choice of 3 PCs and 1 Mac. Now because I live on solar I wanted an Auto Adapter that would allow me to run the lap top straight off my 12volt system rather than from my inverter.<br /> I rang the 3 dealers in the PC range and 1 Mac dealer asking "If I buy this computer can I get an auto adapter?"<br /> The answers were;<br /> PC dealer 1) What's that?<br /> PC dealer 2) Why would you want to do that?<br /> PC dealer 3) Never heard of that.<br /> Mac dealer) We have 2 in stock when do you want it?<br /> Guess what I bought. In my experience over the years since then I have come to the conclusion that Macs are sold by people who know what they are talking about and PCs are sold buy salesmen who are only there in between real jobs. Maybe I just fussy.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hang on a sec, George. You have the expertise and time to research and execute a 100% renewable off the grid domicile solution, but... you actually need to pick up a telephone in order to figure out which laptops you are considering for purchase have DC auto adapters?! I don't care if it is the Apple store or Best Buy. It is so easy to go to a manufacturer's website and see what accessories are available. How does one assemble their on renewable power generation plant and not know this? How? I suspect someone just likes Macs ;)<br /><br /></p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I am going to buy a new home computer and am looking at an HP AIO. I am also eyeing an iMac AIO.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Why an all-in-one? Unless something has changed the monitor on the HP will suck. <strong>You want some kind of decent IPS monitor.</strong> The Apple iMac all-in-one has a decent monitor. But frankly I would not want to be locked into a choice of just one monitor. And if anything happens to the CPU or the monitor your are stuck. It's better to seperate those things and get the best of both worlds. Also an all-in-one will be limited for storage. For me all this USB3/Firewire stuff is just for backup or transporting files. Main storage is done on built in SATA III hard drives and SSD drives. SSD for OS and applications and scratch disk. HDD for storage.</p>

<p>I would honestly get some kind of tower with plenty of room for internal storage and a decent graphics card that is compatible with Photoshop. Make sure you are getting SATA 3.0 for max SSD benefit and external USB3 and possibly Firewire ports for external storage. You also want to have plenty of space for RAM. Photoshop loves the RAM.</p>

<p>Also what people said about <strong>monitor calibration is key</strong>. If you don't buy a monitor calibration tool such as the i1 Display 2 (old model but may be available for a discount) you will be chasing your tail. And like I said IPS is a must. TN panels are a big no no.</p>

[EricM]

How about a Hacintosh? I was just reading Gizmodo Mac mini article and in the comments section, someone posts thier

$1300 build and looks fantastic http://m.gizmodo.com/5954633/new-mac-mini-torn-down-and-benchmarked-ivy-bridge-

kicks-ass

[shannon_rowe]

<p>I haven't been on here in a few days...thank you for all the geat feedback.<br>

The only real reason I was looking at an AIO is because I have 2 boys under 3 and I could get the tower out of their reach. They love buttons. My desk has lots of cabinets...I'll just need to stuff it in one and put a lock or good latch to keep them out. And, yes, I know...you don't even need to comment on this.<br>

I ordered a monitor calibrator and am tapping my nails waiting for it. Additionally, I am thinking of doing a little piece working and buy a la cart....buy a somewhat affordable tower and upgrade it myself (that is if I can't find something that has the specification I'd like) and spend a bit more on a monitor.<br>

I also need to get another external drive for my back up, that will go live in my parents fireproof safe. I just purchased a 1.5TB Portable GoFlex. I really like it. I think I'll just grab another...I got it for under $100 brand new.</p>

<p>Again, thanks for all the comments! Appreciate the advise!</p>