Photography Thailand Forum

[David Procter]

Right, my computer is in a very bad way with all sorts of problems and I want to buy a new one. I'd like to get a setup which is keyed towards photographic work ie the appropriate graphics card, super speed etc but I have no idea where to go to get help or one built. I think I'm going to stay with a PC (as apposed to a Mac) for job reasons so I'd like someone who knows what they're doing to build me one. Can anyone help?

[bjorn slis]

No need to stay with a PC, since all new macs can run both windows and OSX at the same time, so for work you can use windows and for photography OSX.

http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

[David Salmanowitz]

David-- I am with Bjorn, get yourself a Mac--the operating system is very stable and the Intel chip Macs will run both Mac and PC programs. They will also natively run Photoshop CS3, even though that is still a beta version free release. You did not say whether desktop or laptop, but either way I do not think you will be disappointed. If I sound biased I guess I am--I know many photographers who love their Macs. I know people who have switched over from PC to Mac, but do not know of any who were unhappy and switched back.

[mahonyWeb]

Definitely buy a Mac :)

[David Procter]

This is what I want to hear.
Thank you!

[Marc Schultz]

I was about to throw in a few ideas here on PC, but since the Mac boys are already dominating this thread I have decided not to in fears of starting an Apple/PC debate. If at some point you decide to go PC I can give you some specs on components you can buy and there is a shop in Panthip that does just assembly on the ground floor in an open area by the escalator in the back just past the Bangkok Branch on the right hand side. Incidentally, I run a PC with a 20" Apple Cinema Display so I have the best of both worlds.

[bjorn slis]

Hi Marc, what would be the reason to choose PC ? Just for my information (I have been using macs since the first ones came out and I don't know anything about pcs) not to start a mac/pc debate.

[Marc Schultz]

Hi Bjorn - Now this is not meant to be an argument in favor of PC, but merely the reasons I have personally always used a PC and it is also not meant to put Mac down. One of the main issues for me is that I have always built my own machines. So with PC it is very easy for me to rip it apart at a moment’s notice and change a bad part or make a hardware upgrade. Something I can't do very easily if at all with Mac. PC also has a much greater variety of software available, including freeware and shareware, which I like. Mac is much more limited on software. PC's also used to be less expensive and still are in many ways. Lastly, once you get to know an operating system and your way around the work environment of a computer I find it easier to stay with what you know than change to something else. I guess if I ever saw enough arguments in favor of Mac that I felt warranted changing I would have invested the time in learning the Apple environment better and bought a Mac, but I am still keen to stick with PC at this point. There are of course benefits to Mac in some areas over PC as well such as greater OS stability, nice graphical interfaces, and less vulnerability to virus attacks, but for me the above pluses to the PC environment has always influenced me personally to stay with PC. Hope this helps...

[David Salmanowitz]

I know Macs always seemed to be more expensive than what you could get in a comparable PC. Last November in a kiosk at some airport I was reading a magazine that reviewed the lastest Mac desktop with all the bells and whistles. Besides loving the machine, the reviewer called up Dell and one other brand to get the price on one of their machines that would be equal bells and whistles wise. Both the Dell and the other machine were $1000 more! I was surprised at that. Just stating the facts, and not trying to incite a Mac/PC war as we have our hands full with the Nikon/Canon debate. 

[bjorn slis]

There seem to be a lot of misunderstandings about mac David, which seem to come from the past, in the 90's, when Steve Jobs was working for Next and they produced some really crappy machines and the very unstable os 9.
These days it's much more easy to upgrade your hardware and there is also a lot of free/share/donationware around. (www.versiontracker.com)
If you want some office software check out the open source stuff, it's there for Mac and Win (http://www.openoffice.org/)
If you go for a laptop, it's very easy to plug in an external monitor and have a dual screen, something I love, a small one to drop all the tools and a bigger one to have you main window. (this also works with desktop machines)


ps. They also found a way to run OS X on windows machines so I guess it won't be long untill there will be software for that available.

[Marc Schultz]

Good on you David, the Nikon/Canon debate already has our typing fingers exhausted 

[Paul Whitehead]

As mac user the only reason I see is the build quality - they are works of manufacturing art. That the only difference I see.

As an OSX user there are two reasons - one is seamless integration but it would not be enough really to swing me compared to the myriad of PC programs available - the other is Aperture, boy do I love that program, its saves me so much time sorting, captioning and uploading I dont know how I did without it. But I am sure lightroom will eventualy end up with all of apertures features.

[gregoire]

I always used PCs and wanted to switch to Mac in the face of the overwhelming barrage of "mac is better" info everywhere. And then I got a job where we use Macs. Well, I don't want one anymore. I just didn't notice anything that was particularly better. People who have been using them for a while actually do fare better than I do, but that's exactly what PCs are blamed for (that you have to learn how to use them). So if you have a PC, don't expect a CENSORED WORD in terms of speed, stability, and ease of use by switching to Mac.

One last thing, it's alway said pros use and want only Macs, well that's B.S. too. When I started voicing my shocked opinion that, "Hey, I don't really like Mac now that I've used one," I heard a lot of "Neither do we" from graphic designers using them around me and even from a company-owner who had graphic designers begging him to switch to PC.

[Marc Schultz]

Interesting account there Gregoire. I am not surprised. In fact, in one studio where I shoot sometimes they use only Macs for tethered firewire connections with digital backs and the technicians who know I am a PC user are always reminding me before we start shooting that the processing time on the Mac will be slower than PC, and it is true.

There is a fair amount lag time between when I press the shutter and the image appears on the screen. And with PC, I also have a choice of at least 6 screen capture programs, meanwhile there is only one available for Mac which is any good.

So your comment about Macs being slower is a fact that I experienced as well. And the above also proves my point about limited software.

Though Macs are getting faster with newer processors coming out and are now eploying Intel CPUs and etc now, so eventually they may close that gap on PC.

Again, I am not trying to start a debate, although it seems to have gone that way a bit, but I am again just sharing personal experiences.

From a design standpoint, I agree, Macs are much more beautiful pieces of furniture than PCs are, but for me how the box functions is far more important than how it looks.

[bjorn slis]

gregoire, working as a graphic designer at first and an art director later on I have never met any designers wanting to use a PC and a big newspaper company  that I worked for and changed from Mac to PC (cheaper according to the management) changed back after just a year and lost a lot of money in the process.
Mac vs. PC ?
Nikon vs. Canon ?
Coffee or Tea ?
depends on your taste