Advice needed on computer system to buy

[dcat351]

I am 36 and have decided to aim for my artistic side and have enrolled in a 2 year full time graphic design diploma to start next year.

I have visited southbank tafe in brisbane where i will be studying and all i could see was mac computers.

Now I love a good computer system and could easily put together a good PC.

I am however loving the new imac 24" with 2.8 Ghz dual core, 2 gig ram, 256 ati 2600 vid card etc.

I reallly need people with industry experience to help me out here with advice on whether I should buy this computer system or not.

The money factor is not an issue as I want to have a good base to work from home on.

Not having ever used a mac, but having run unix systems and enjoyed their windows like interface, have had excellent results with this type of system.

Should I get the mac or build my own pc???? I realise that the industry hard core designers will direct me towards the mac but is there any negatives in getting one.

If I use this comuter to replace my current day to day p5b deluxe system will I be doing myself an injustice.

I just want to buy the best system to last me for at least 3 years if not more with graphic design.

PS I do not use any of my computers for gaming but do watch the occassional dvd.

[Toon]

The iMac would be my choice from a creative point of view but many will disagree

[ianm]

yeah, definitely the iMac if you want to go creative, i'm sure it would be a benefit as mostly that is what you'd use in a studio (osx/mac i mean). however, if you are used to windows and plan just to do some freelance work, it is possible to go that way with the system you know best.

the mac is a learning curve - a good one at that, and it is what most design places use, and on a totally selfish point of view i love the mac since switching.

:)

[James Random]

Personally I wouldn't buy an imac, not any more. They used to once be leaders in the graphics fields, but they HAVE fallen behind these days and it's just not worth the money anymore. (unless all your software is already mac).
I've just had my company outfitted with 342 brand new PC's with windows Vista because vista does run graphics applications better then the imac's did and, for my budget - was able to order much more high spec PC's which outstrip mac's any day.

But if you're thinking "yeah, PC sounds good" get something with vista already installed (runs like a dream in that instance), nothing with less than 2 gig of RAM (or buy a 1 gig PC with an extra gig stick of memory), Dual Core processor or Quad core (bear in mind Dual core does NOT mean 2 processors, its one processor with the workload divided as if a man had four arms), and the best graphics card you can get with whatever money is left over.

[ianm]

i actually disagree, i think vista is the wrong move at this current time, it's not all that wonderful or as stable as XP. the imacs are kinda more home computers these days i think, although they look nice and all and work great, if you want to go creative the mac pro is your answer - added bonus with mac obviously is dual booting windows and osx of course

[dcat351]

Thanks for the mixed input. I expected that there would be many for and againsts on this subject.

The Tafe studio only uses macs and I have never personally used one but do run several PCs on linux using the graphical interface rather than the base line.

I have had no end of problems with my last pc built which had 2 gig ram, P5B deluxe and a 2.4Ghz dual core intel cpu.

The computer that i purchase will be used specifically for basic word type invoicing but the main use will be to have a good graphic design platform to work from home from.

It is important to me that what ever I purchase can be used for several years without being outdated in the graphic design field.

I have looked at the 24 inch imac running 2.8GHz dual core intel, 2 gig ram, ATI 2600 graphics card with 256 MB ram.

Ram is upgradeable to 8 gig but the rest is obvioulsy fixed.

This has to be one of the best looking computers i have ever seen but will it do the job for me and will it handle most if not all the current industry software packages and tasks, 3D included?

Are there any software integration issues commonly painful with macs as far as graphic design goes, ie do certain key programs not work on macs at all?

I have head that you cannot do 3D on a mac or rendering etc. I have been told that macs cannot run MAXX. Is this true?

Personally I love unix based systems for the security reasons and the reliability factor.

[ianm]

of course you can do 3D on a mac. where did you hear that? what is MAXX?

[James Random]

Ive never had a problem with vista on any of my machine - maybe I just got lucky - but it has given me less problems than XP did. :) just gotta know how to use it - it is a beast to be tamed.

[ianm]

yeah, not used it myself, just heard a lot of stories from people who had tried it or bought into it - it'd be interesting to have a go of it actually i must admit.

[rossable]

CS3 and Vista don't play nice together because of resource allocation.
macs are only good because their OS does not require vital resources that are being used by the design programs.
OS doesn't matter much beyond resource usage so whatever you choose will work out fine.
i've experienced both worlds... my personal favorite would be OSX on IBM-compatible components.