Got questions on buying a new Mac?

[Brodz]

I've been wondering for a while now if I should go and get a mac for work purposes. Hopefully with some advice from you guys it'll help me steer in the right direction.

I've had a mac before about I'd say 6 years ago at school. I think it was called a Ibook or something along those lines being rounded corners and coming in blue and orange colours. I didn't really use it for anything besides writing up my work for school, so I can't say I had much experiance with it besides that.

Since then I've always been using PC's because I really like to play games in my free time. I've become basicly well knowledged with problems and how to fix them if they occur with my PC.

So far that's the history I've had of a mac and how I use windows now. For the last couple of years I've been working in a sign company as a graphic designer, working on PC's I can't say I've had any problems with them at all. But over the time of not using a mac I've seen them progress a fair bit from my one. I've also heard a lot about how they are great for graphic design.

So my main question is what makes them stand out so much from windows in graphic design, what makes them unique? I remember my mac being very user friendly but I don't really remember much about it because I didn't really get into being a fanatik about it just using it as a means of writing up reports and such.

I can't say I've met a graphic designer in my feild so far that does use a mac, just hearing rumours that they are better. If you guys could give me any information on what makes it so much better I'd defantly consider buying one. If it helps I normally use Adobe products mainly. Most things Vector based objects ocasionly full on digital. On avg I will need 3 - 6 programs open at once. I'd also prefere a portable one so I can take it to clients or take my work home with me to work on weekends without having to drive in. Last thing is how compatable would it be to windows versions of the programs and such? Because I can't see myself just yet converting my whole team to macs  (I ask that because I've heard of the new "bootcamp" program, but I don't fully understand what it's about)

Thanks in advance and From what I've checked I hope this hasn't been posted before. 
Oh and cost isn't really an issue.

[Dark_Me]

I can't tell you why they're said to be so good for graphic design, someone else will have to answer that.
That said the full Adobe line is supported on Macs to my knowledge. Vector and digital are no problems (isn't Quartz vector based?) and multitasking (running several programs at once) is fine on OS X.
It sounds like you want a laptop so I'd go for one of the MacBook Pros. You'll have to look at the specs yourself to determine which one you really need. That said while the 17" is a laptop it's not really that portable. Sure you can pick it up but it's heavy and bulky. If you're going to be doing full on work you'll need the extra power though. The 15" has less power but is much more portable without losing too much. In either case get 2GB of RAM (either from Apple or aftermarket).
Windows programs will not run on OS X. You may however trade in your Windows programs for Mac versions in some cases (if in doubt ask them). Adobe does this for little or no extra cost.
Bootcamp is a program that allows Windows to be installed and run on the newer Intel Macs. You however cannot run Wiondows and OS X at the same time, you have to reboot to use one or the other. It's currently in beta (but works fine) and will be a part of OS X Leopard that will be released either late this year or early the next.

[Brodz]

Cool, thanks for the reply It would be good to know what makes people say it's better for it.

[lg_alucard]

The 15" and 17" inch macbook pros both pack the same punch (you get the higher end 15"), the difference is that the 17" has a bigger screen (obvious much?).

Now as for "better".  The PowerPC chips are definitely superior to equivalent x86 chips in media fields, mostly just the G5s at this point.  The reason is mostly architecture differences, such as AltiVec found in G4s and G5s which is a SIMD, similar to MMX/SSE/SSE2, only far superior to any of them.  Many other architecture specific media enhancements made in the G5 chips is what, in general, makes Macs superior in media applications.  Another factor is the fact that apple computers have a very tight knit design between hardware and software as well as a very well design/balanced system.  Where as windows is made to run on generic hardware.

Now at this point, an intel mac running OS X would do far WORSE than an equivalent windows pc running adobe software.  The reason being that adobe has yet to make intel native versions of their software (and won't until CS3 is released), so it has to be emulated through rosetta.  However, as mentioned, with boot camp you can run windows and run the windows versions very at incredible speeds.  There is also the option of using software made by Parallels, which is virtualization software which allows you to run windows INSIDE of OS X without rebooting.  The speed is not quite the same as that of running windows natively on the system, but it's pretty damn close.  The only downside is that when running windows through parallels you can't use any accelerated graphics.  This however would not have much an effect on adobe software, if any, as media software is very CPU intensive, and not very GPU intensive.

To summarize:  Would buying a macbook pro be an upgrade from a windows machine?  yes, the core duo performs amazingly compared to most current desktop and notebook cpus, and there is quite a sizable gap between it and other notebook cpus.  Would it be an upgrade from a G5? no, in fact it'd be a downgrade in terms of media performance.

Also, adobe files from a windows box will transfer and work perfectly on a mac box, and vice versa.  The files are custom adobe files, and work with all appropriate adobe software.

[Shmi]

On the whole, for design, macs tend to be more reliable in terms of font design and control, color matching/calibration, graphic quality, and the end works are more consistent in terms of quality. On top of that, macs are built for graphics, video editing, and other multimedia editing functions. Photoshop and most of the Adobe suite run better and smoother on a Mac than PC, and you will notice less lag when switching between them than on a PC. Macs also have better design tools built in, and also have a large amount of professional software available. Remember... Adobe's products used to only be for Macs! Also, I find that Macs can handle large Photoshop and Illustrator files a lot better than a PC. If you're using this for work, they work seamlessly with a variety of hardware, meaning you can take it from one printer to another, just plug it in, and in most cases, print without any additional work.

I think that you'll also find that your productivity will go up, if you spend a lot or even a little time on your PC scanning for viruses, or having system downtime because of a virus, driver problems, or a general hardware failure.

In addition, you'll be able to multitask a lot better on a Mac. Running multiple applications (5 or 6 is nothing) simultaneously isn't a big task anymore, even if some of those are PS or Illustrator. That's not to say it won't slow down (it will), but it will be able to handle this process a lot better than Windows would. I'd suggest upping the RAM to at least 1GB, if not the maximum, if you'll be using one for work and graphic design.

A note, though: Adobe's products are not universal binaries yet. This means that as of right now, running through Rosetta(emulation), they will run slower than they would natively. In this case, it might be smarter to stick with a PC until Adobe releases a new version. Or, you could always run Windows on an intel Mac.

[Brodz]

Thanks guys you've given me a fair bit to think about. As to what you said Shmi about colour matching (colour - Australian spelling  ) I use pantone charts / colours as I use all my designs to be printed it doesn't really in the end matter too much what it looks like on the screen. (There's also a item from I think it is either pantone or another brand that helps calibrate the colours of your screen.

With the graphics quality again I print my designs so its colours are stuck to the CMYK break down. Granted doing it in RGB will give me vibrant colours on screen it is giving nothing but the customers false hope at the time being in printing. That plus media (vinyl material) will lower the quality even more on printing colours. Lately though I've been doing some general designs for some websites aswell so I don't know mabye in the future that part will be needed aswell.

In regards to being able to handle larger files I normally work from small as  1 meg all the way up to 1 gig (really depends how fussy the customer is). I've noticed windows has a horrible time with this and I normally have to turn all the other programs off on the higher end scale of it. So that would defantly help.

I can't say scanning for viruses is anything to me. I've never had one Don't really look at any bad sites + have anti spam emails and such; and do full system scans when I leave for the weekend or at night.

Finally the topic of Adobe not bringing out universal binaries. Hopefully they'll fix that soon, as above lg_alucard stated mabye in CS3 (with the way Adobe brings them out that will probly be in a week  ). So thank you for your help and honesty. I'll defantly look into getting a mac more.

[Thunderstruck]

Adobe CS3 which will be in universal binary is slated to come out June 07.

[ael719]

Silly question here.

I bought my first Mac, a MacBook, in May and I love it to death!!  I purchased the laptop in order to help me wait for Conroe/Merom to go into the iMac's or wait for the new Power PC Mac's with Intel.  My old desktop was only 80 gigs and I managed to fill it to capacity.  I planned on using my laptop for taking notes in class/going to the library/when I'm home on break and using the iMac as my super computer that holds my entire computer history of files and the occassional PC game.  Now I'm starting to realize the MacBook is almost enough for all my needs since I'm starting to lose interest in PC games.  All I need is a bigger harddrive and maybe a mini-dvi to vga cord.

Is it overboard to have 2 Macs?  Or should I just indulge and own 2 wonderful products with the chance of neglecting one for the other?

[Rob]

I say, if you can afford it, go overboard

[DougofTheAbaci]

There are a few people on the forum who have more than one Mac. There's nothing wrong with it, it simply means that you have twice the bliss in your life! If you enjoy having two, then have two. If you don't actually need the iMac and figure you can live quite happily with just the MacBook then sell the iMac. As for the adapter you can get it from Apple or anyone else for that matter... As for external HD, LaCie all the way.

[illitrate23]

Is it overboard to have 2 Macs?  Or should I just indulge and own 2 wonderful products with the chance of neglecting one for the other?

i remember the days when i had two macs and felt a bit guilty that i'd use one more'n the other
at the moment, i can definately say that i do have far too many macs, but you've a fair way to go before you reach that point
just be careful, it's a slippery slope. before you know it, you'll have a mac for each day of the week

[ael719]

Is it overboard to have 2 Macs?  Or should I just indulge and own 2 wonderful products with the chance of neglecting one for the other?

i remember the days when i had two macs and felt a bit guilty that i'd use one more'n the other
at the moment, i can definately say that i do have far too many macs, but you've a fair way to go before you reach that point
just be careful, it's a slippery slope. before you know it, you'll have a mac for each day of the week

Holy crap!

I was looking through the computer desk setups thread and came across your pic.



Now that I think of it... an iMac and a Mac Mini would't be such a bad idea

[ael719]

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use each one for?

[DougofTheAbaci]

THAT'S WHAT I FORGOT TO DO!!!

I still haven't stolen your marvin doll! (Paranoid androids for the win!)

[ael719]

thats awesome

I love the iMac G4 design.  The iMac G5 would be sexier if it didn't have that overbite look/big jaw.  The black MacBook looks out of place.  Kinda makes me wish I picked a white MacBook to match my future iMac...

But yeah... love the collection

Thats not too overboard.  I think you're justified for having that many.  Especially since the iMac G4 and Cube are so old, you're just keeping them around finding a new use for them since they have been replaced by the iMac.