Help Please!!!

[rubcar]

I am getting ready to invest in a new computer and monitor, and I don't know which way to go MAC Pro or PC. I also wanted to get the apple cinema display 23'' , but they don't sell it anymore and the 30'' may just be too big for me. I do weddings and I am planning on doing video later.

Please Help!

[digitalshooter]

I guess one thing that would sway my decision would be software, are the programs you want to use available for the Mac? are they available for the PC?

[ldelacruz]

Go with the Mac. For photos and video editing it would be a great choice. We just got our first Mac and it is performing so much better than our PC's.

[Cre8tiveVisuals]

You're aware that the MacPro is certainly more than you probably need, right? They are "typically" reserved for the EXTREMELY demanding professionals who produce LOADS of multimedia quickly at high volumes. And, they start at $2,800.

My advice to you is to look at the software collection you may already have, and decide if it's worth it to you to repurchase it for the Mac. Of course, that's assuming that you have a PC and existing software. If you can't afford or don't want to replace it, get a new PC. That aside.....Get a Mac.
The main decision is whether you want a desktop, or a notebook. If you need a desktop, the iMac is what you should look into. The 20" or 24" will be your next decision. If you want a notebook, you have a choice between the 13" MacBook, the 15" MacBook Pro (which I own) and the 17" MacBook Pro.

Good luck in your search. Fun times indeed......

[rubcar]

Thanks guys, that is why I love this forum. Well I use adobe lightroom and adobe photoshop. I can can get photoshop if I go with the mac and lightroom works on PC and MACs. I will look into the imac and see what it offers. Are the New apple laptops good for photography, buecause of the LED display?

[Cre8tiveVisuals]

Well, this is going to be semi controversial (depending on who you ask) but, IMO photography is better on the Mac due to the OS's ability to better handle color. Anyone who's seen the same image on both a PC and a Mac will surely agree.
I LOVE the screen on my MacBook Pro. It's the 15.4" glossy LED screen. It is significantly brighter due to being LED driven. Monitor screen is ALWAYS cool to the touch. Colors are on-point, vibrant out of the box, and, it's highly visible outdoors.
This was another one of my first comparisons between my MBP and my Compaq notebook with a glossy screen. Not only are the images (and video for that matter) better on the Mac, but it's significantly more visible from various angles outdoors.

[rubcar]

Thanks DizyDoug, I will keep on looking for a good computer and monitor that will meet my needs. Thanks everyone that replyed.

[Wes]

You mentioned that you use Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. I may be wrong here, but Photoshop is Photoshop is Photoshop. Doesn't matter if it's running on a Mac or PC. The software still behaves the same. As for the Mac OS being able to handle colors better, while I have never used a Mac, I wonder how much the OS really has to do with it. I would think that the OS has very little, if any, influence on color handling. Seems to me that the vid card, drivers, and monitor would be what really matters.

Lots of folks out there use PC's, and lots use Macs. Given the software that you're running I think it would be a coin toss, except for the fact that Mac's tend to cost a bit more than PC's.

[Cre8tiveVisuals]

ColorSynch color management is built into OSX, whereas in Windows it’s an after thought.

In digital imaging systems, color management is the controlled conversion between the color representations of various devices, such as image scanners, digital cameras, monitors, TV screens, film printers, computer printers, offset presses, and corresponding media.
The primary goal of color management is to obtain a good match across color devices; for example, a video which should appear the same color on a computer LCD monitor, a plasma TV screen, and on a printed frame of video. Color management helps to achieve the same appearance on all of these devices, provided the devices are capable of delivering the needed color intensities.
Parts of this technology are implemented in the operating system (OS), helper libraries, the application, and devices. A cross-platform view of color management is the use of an ICC-compatible color management system. The International Color Consortium (ICC) is an industry consortium which has defined an open standard for a Color Matching Module (CMM) at the OS level, and color profiles for the devices and working space (color space the user edits in).

[Techie309]

Which ever you decide, if you are going to be processing video and images, look at the GPU and RAM on the video card as one of your deciding specs.

For what it is worth, I am a Microsoft Engineer and trainer, but I run Mac's.

-A

[Charles Putnam]

Originally Posted by rubcar

Are the New apple laptops good for photography, buecause of the LED display?

Rob Galbraith did a review of the MacBook Pro last year and said that its display was easy to color calibrate and quite accurate.

That being said, since you're looking at doing video also, keep in mind that video rendering is both processor intensive and benefits greately from additional RAM. Since most notebooks are limited to 4gigs, you might want to consider a desktop (be it a iMac, MacPro or PC) for that.

Personally, I've used Windows-based PC's for the past 20 years (dang...am I THAT old?!!?). I almost made the switch to Mac, but found that a number of my "mission critical" applications weren't ported to Mac. FWIW, Photoshop runs the same on Mac and PC - i.e. you have the same tools, same interface, etc. Ditto for Adobe's other applications (if you're using them for video production). Cost wise, a well designed/equiped PC will probably cost less than a MacPro.

[Jaydandy]

I switched to a imac and have no regrets. They just work and get out of the way. One great advantage is apple support by phone and at the apple store.

[texfoto]

Macbook Pro 17" after a life of Windows. I've never looked back.

[Jaydandy]

What do you mean?

[trang_man]

If money is no problem, Get a Mac.
If your on a budget, Get Window.

You really can't go wrong with either of these two OS.

Good Luck.