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help me choose a computer

post #1 of 26
10/23/09 at 2:48am
Thread Starter 
at the risk of starting another mac vs. pc thread, i'm going to start another mac vs. pc thread.

my computer is old. it is an emac which i bought a couple of weeks before the mac mini came out (didn't know the mac mini was coming out). anyway, the thing has become obsolete for me because it does not run my programs fast enough, it doesn't have a dvd burner, and i'm having problems calibrating it well. i'm looking to buy something new.

i'd like like a computer with at least 2gb of ram, but aside from that i don't know any specifics, only that i need it to run adobe lightroom and photoshop with good speed.

as far as mac vs pc, i would have no problem buying a pc, except that the first computer i had was a pc, and it died a slow death due to all the viruses it contracted over a 2 year life span. it was a constant headache of running anti-virus software and trying to figure out how to delete 'evil' files in my computer. buying the mac solved that for me and i haven't had any virus problems with it at all. this is the only thing that keeps mac in consideration for me; the virus issue. i don't know much about computers and i'm not interested in becoming a tech guy.

so, what do you guys think? i'm looking at something like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...F_Desktop.html

but i'd be afraid to connect it to the internet.
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post #2 of 26
10/23/09 at 2:53am
Someone needs to start writing viruses to fux with mac users. The problem is, most of the people that have the skillz to write viruses wouldn't ever own one. Maybe TS should donate one for a worthy cause.

Anyway, whichever new computer you get, get a SSD hard drive, specifically an intel x25-m. Crazy fast load times. Can't wait till mine arrives!
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post #3 of 26
10/23/09 at 2:55am
OT, but I dont get how people have so many virsues on their computer. Don't go on porn sites so damn often. I've had my computer for ~4 years and its completely fine and not obsolete. It runs a scheduled weekly-virus scan, but never finds anything. I don't see how your old pc only had a 2 year lifespan.
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post #4 of 26
10/23/09 at 2:56am
Laptop or Desktop? How much do you want to spend?
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post #5 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by oneeightyseven View Post
OT, but I dont get how people have so many virsues on their computer. Don't go on porn sites so damn often. I've had my computer for ~4 years and its completely fine and not obsolete. It runs a scheduled weekly-virus scan, but never finds anything. I don't see how your old pc only had a 2 year lifespan.
maybe it's bad luck but i was looking at a lot of porn in those days. i was once at the sony style store and there was a brand new computer on display that already had some sort of warning message about it being contaminated, and the thing wasn't even connected to the internet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
Laptop or Desktop?

How much do you want to spend?

desktop. i want to spend as little as possible as long as the thing runs photoshop well. i'll be shelling out for a good monitor.
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post #6 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:05am
Anything with 4GB and a quad core processor will run it. Wait for Black Friday and you can probably snag a Dell with a 24" monitor on the cheap.
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post #7 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by matadorpoeta View Post
maybe it's bad luck but i was looking at a lot of porn in those days. i was once at the sony style store and there was a brand new computer on display that already had some sort of warning message about it being contaminated, and the thing wasn't even connected to the internet.



desktop. i want to spend as little as possible as long as the thing runs photoshop well. i'll be shelling out for a good monitor.

that is weird lol. I guess I'm really lucky
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post #8 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:20am
It better be a dell 24" or other that does NOT use a TN panel. They do not reproduce colors accurately, since you'll be using it for photoshop. Look for an old CRT or LCD that uses IPS, PVA, or MVA panels.

For the pc, just buy parts off of newegg. If you have a geek in the family they will build it for you. Last 2 pcs I built were $500. One was a AMD 3800x2 when they were fairly new, last was a intel E6550 core2 with 2GB ddr2-800 ram, 250gb 7200rpm 16mb cache HD, ati x1950 video, 20x dvd-rw.

Anything over 3GB, that is if you want to use all 4GB and more will need to run 64bit windows.
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post #9 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
Anything with 4GB and a quad core processor will run it. Wait for Black Friday and you can probably snag a Dell with a 24" monitor on the cheap.
i think that's overkill. if i were editing video i'd need a strong computer but photo editing doesn't require as much power. adobe recommends 1gb of ram for lightroom, so i think going with 2gb is plenty.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robes of Executiveness View Post
It better be a dell 24" or other that does NOT use a TN panel. They do not reproduce colors accurately, since you'll be using it for photoshop. Look for an old CRT or LCD that uses IPS, PVA, or MVA panels.

For the pc, just buy parts off of newegg. If you have a geek in the family they will build it for you. Last 2 pcs I built were $500. One was a AMD 3800x2 when they were fairly new, last was a intel E6550 core2 with 2GB ddr2-800 ram, 250gb 7200rpm 16mb cache HD, ati x1950 video, 20x dvd-rw.

Anything over 3GB, that is if you want to use all 4GB and more will need to run 64bit windows.
i have no idea what that means but thanks for the info.

i don't have a geek in the family.

seriously, are you guys telling me that if i don't look at porn i can buy a pc and not worry about viruses?
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post #10 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:31am
It might be overkill but its better to buy something that will last you a bit longer than skimp and need another one in a few years time. Photochop uses a huge amount of memory, especially if you're working with large images or multiple pics. 2GB should be the minimum. As for the monitors, you want an IPS. Its what pro's use and has better color representation than standard monitors. Dell makes a 24" IPS and you should be able to couple it with a decent desktop on sale for less than 1k.
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post #11 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by matadorpoeta View Post
i think that's overkill. if i were editing video i'd need a strong computer but photo editing doesn't require as much power. adobe recommends 1gb of ram for lightroom, so i think going with 2gb is plenty.


i have no idea what that means but thanks for the info.

i don't have a geek in the family.

seriously, are you guys telling me that if i don't look at porn i can buy a pc and not worry about viruses?

Get a Dell monitor and don't worry about it. If you print your photos and the colors are off you can calibrate it, but they're pretty very good out of the box and are extremely accurate if you do decide to calibrate. I have a dell 2408wfp and it's r33t. I'll only upgrade it for a 30". Some of their lower end monitors do use TN, but you can generally tell which by the price.

NEC makes awesome IPS panels if you want to shell out, but you'll pay a significantly more than for a dell of the same size, probably around 1k for a 24" vs. 600 for the dell.
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post #12 of 26
10/23/09 at 3:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
It might be overkill but its better to buy something that will last you a bit longer than skimp and need another one in a few years time. Photochop uses a huge amount of memory, especially if you're working with large images or multiple pics. 2GB should be the minimum.

As for the monitors, you want an IPS. Its what pro's use and has better color representation than standard monitors. Dell makes a 24" IPS and you should be able to couple it with a decent desktop on sale for less than 1k.

Pretty sure dell doesn't make an IPS under 30". the 2408/9 is pva.

I also second the ram recommendation. Why go with anything less than 4gb these days? it's so chaep.
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post #13 of 26
10/23/09 at 4:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GQgeek View Post
Pretty sure dell doesn't make an IPS under 30". the 2408/9 is pva. I also second the ram recommendation. Why go with anything less than 4gb these days? it's so chaep.
yes i just realized it's only about $60 difference between 2gb and 4gb. see i don't know how to shop for this stuff. i'm looking at the dell website and i don't see anything that says IPS. some say TN and some say TFT. is TFT good? n/m found it.
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post #14 of 26
10/23/09 at 4:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by matadorpoeta View Post
yes i just realized it's only about $60 difference between 2gb and 4gb. see i don't know how to shop for this stuff. i'm looking at the dell website and i don't see anything that says IPS. some say TN and some say TFT. is TFT good?
No, it's not, viewing angles aren't going to be as good as a pva/mva or ips monitor and it may be worse in other areas too (almost certainly significantly worse in color accuracy). Most manufacturers don't advertise what tech their monitors use. You have to do research on the specific panel. Generally speaking, you'll get a pva/mva/ips panel at pricepoints above $500. But i'd just recommend getting the dell. They've consistently been making the best "all-around" monitors for years. For accuracy they're really only going to be topped by a high-end IPS monitor like NEC's professional stuff, at 50-100% more $ for the same size. The Dell's have good color accuracy out of the box, which isn't true for a lot of monitor manufacturers. And if you ever do bother to calibrate, you can basically get perfect results, which won't be possible with a lot of cheaper panels. Aside from being a fantastic display, my monitor has 4 usb ports, 2 combo flash reader (CF and other formats), it rotates into a vertical position (good for jinda bombs), it's got a good stand and a bezel that has a flat finish instead of those annoying super-glossy plastic ones that reflect everthing like mirrors..
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post #15 of 26
10/23/09 at 4:16am
Here it is: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-8277
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