Need a new computer - but which one?

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Paul
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Well, it's finally happend, my desktop computer is dying. It's doing funny things that it's not supposed to do including either shutting itself down half way through an editing session or not shutting down corrctly when told to do so. Luckily I backup my image library to external hard drives on a weekly basis. I'm not very good with computers and will probably end up buying the wrong thing if I listen to the staff in some retail outlets I've been to. So, what do I replace it with?

Some have told me to take the leap and trun to Apple and buy a Mac - other have said no, wait until windows 7 is out, its cool. I want a really good quality system that needs to be fast enough to process huge RAW/TIFF files without me having to wait for minutes at a time for the machine to catch up with the editing I'm doing. I want good sized RAM, internal memory, graphics card and anything else needed to download and process my images efficiently. I want to be able to use the printers etc that I already have so drivers must be available. I'll also be splashing out and adding a Lacie RAID system. So, MAC or Windows based sytem? I don't want to buy from anywhere like Dell - as I'd rather not mail order.

Any advice would be much apreciated.
 
well for operatin system this thread will turn into a warzone so really its down to what you like, macs are good however they are harder to upgrade as they are designed to last three years until a new model comes out, also i hear some internet sites arent compatible with macs. macs dont get viruses however ths is down to hackers not bothering because only 3% of computer users are macs. windows is the all in all system thats compatible with everything, however it can get viruses so really you cant go wrong with either.

i would suggest getting an all in ne pc because they look the part. sleek and stylish. for ram i would say a min of 2gb however most are shipped with 3gb or 3gb installed. graphics card dont make a spot of difference for photo editing as they are neccessary for high end gaming for refresh frame rates etc.

hope this helps.
 
At the simplest level it comes down to what you value most for your money.

For some (including myself) absolute raw power is the goal and for that, you won't beat a PC.

For others, different priorities may be more prominent - a desire for a compact all in one machine, a love for OSX or similar. For these people a Mac makes more sense.

For me, MacOS offers nothing that Windows doesn't and I don't care about looks/size and so I have no desire to compromise my hardware in order to have those things.

If you were to build the PC yourself, you can do even better for your money - a 2.83GHz Intel Quad Core with 4GB RAM and a 640GB Hard drive can be had for £550 if you do your research and buy sensibly for example. If you want more RAM - another 4GB is £40. More hard drive space? a 1TB drive is £65...
 
divine` said:
If you were to build the PC yourself, you can do even better for your money - a 2.83GHz Intel Quad Core with 4GB RAM and a 640GB Hard drive can be had for £550 if you do your research and buy sensibly for example. If you want more RAM - another 4GB is £40. More hard drive space? a 1TB drive is £65...
Click to expand...

That is true, but it has no screen.

I just got an imac 24" screen for £1300, the screen alone should be around £400/500 for that kind of panel, but it's only a Dual Core 2.93 Ghz, it is DDR3 ram though and 4G of it, which costs £300 alone from Crucial !

So the imac isn't that bad value for money if you spec it up, but bang for buck, PC is better, but that is always the way and i don't see it changing.
 
Well, one would assume he already has a screen, unless he is using his current PC telepathically. Another reason a PC may be better value for some - why replace a perfectly good screen if you don't have to?

As for the RAM - 4GB of PC DDR3 is not £300. Macs use different sized modules though. On a PC, £55 will get you 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Though DDR3 doesn't really give much benefit over DDR2 bar a few very specific circumstances, or if required for certain CPUs like Core i7. On Core 2 platforms where you can get motherboards allowing either, there is virtually no performance difference, it's purely to allow better upgrade paths.

The iMac is not as bad if you're buying like for like and starting from scratch - however, if you already have bits like the screen and can reduce the PC to just buying the base unit a Mac won't even come close.
 
sorry but i hate the imac screen, you may as well use a mirror in my opinion. spend your money wisely, whatever base unit you get spend the extra cash on a decent separate monitor.

as said, the OS is down to personal preference one has no major benefit over the other.

these days to future proof yourself you really want 4gb ram and at least a duel core processor along with a 64bit OS to give you access to all of the memory.

RAID - i wouldnt bother unless your seconds cost you money.
 
i would also recommend going down the DIY route, its really rewarding and you dont pay over the odds for 'multimedia' systems from the likes of Dell. I built my pc last year for £400 and it handles everything perfectly. I do my editing via my lcd tv, not ideal for everyone, but it does the job well for me.

Even if you are a complete novice when it comes to pc's, the hardest part for a beginner id say is knowing what parts to get and figuring out if the cooling is adequate. I'd be happy to give you a few pointers if you want to go down this route.
 
Monitors are monitors ;)
 
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