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Very interesting thread and I've copied various comments into my iMac-buying project folder.

 

I've always run Mac Pros but frankly, I reckon the iMac is the way to go if I stay with Mac, which is coincidentally the only system I know backwards anyway. Cost will be a big stumbling block for me (just before the end of my tax year).

 

I have heard only this week of iMac monitor and HDD failures so will be watching this closely.

 

Richard.

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I'm still happy with XP but that's probably too far back for you. OH's insurer-replaced laptop had Vista which is a right SOB. I simply can't help her with stuff because everything is different for no good reason.

She still has XP at work of course-did any large user not want to keep it?

I'm still using XP as well and would run it forever if I could, but I will be faced with the dreaded upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 soon. Mac, PC, who cares. Whatever does the job for the least money. That has been my philosophy, and the main reason I stick with PC's.

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I have been using Macs since 1990. All our Macs have been plug n' play, extremely reliable, and very long-lasting. Our oldest iMac just had its old disk hard drive (which was dying) removed and replaced with a much more reliable SSD to emulate Apple's new Fusion systems. At present, we have two iMacs and a MacBook Pro.

 

Dave

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Ed I think it's not possible on an iPad to download because afaik they don't take Flash Players. I'll check because I'm writing this on my iPad while sitting here in M&S drinking hot chocolate which incidentally is destroying my metabolism. :)

 

See? That's what I want to do, sit around Barns and Noble, drinking hot chocolate and looking cool with my iPad. Hell, it's not really about the iPad. 

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I have been using big desktop tower MACS to run Photoshop since 1992. Macs are plug and play, and allow you to get on with the photographic work without becoming an IT expert. When your computer, or the operating system, or your programs, are upgraded, or you plug a new external device into the network, everything works. No downtime, therefore Macs are cheap.

 

The problem with Macs is you can get dependent on software that ends up abandoned. I have had this problem with Nikonscan, Bryce (3D), Quicken (accounting), and recently Portfolio (image database). I have 15,854 finished digital images in a Portfolio database and use it constantly.

This is not just a Mac problem - support for older technologies is rarely continued indefinitely and that applies to cameras and all sorts of other consumables as well. The Nikon F mount is an exception thankfully.

.

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I loved Snow Leopard, and hate Mountain Lion--a giant step backwards.

 

Yes, Nikon has been good to users with their mount. The idea was to produce a system, and they did. Unfortunately their production of software was not as kind. They abandoned Nikon scan and have not updated Capture NX2 in many years. None of that is Apple's fault.

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It looks as if I'm a spacecadet as well. My current, aging box is a P4. It still does the job but unfortunately is running out of horsepower. I have a NetBook with Windows 7, but I like the simplicity of XP better.

 

Ah, the myth of progress...

 It's not always a myth. Win XP is a 32 bit operating system and has severe limitations in the amount of RAM that any application can use. The really important one is that Photoshop can't use any more than 2 Gb on Win XP. This is a serious drawback if you are processing large files or panoramas. The advent of 64 bit operating systems with the more recent versions of Photoshop offers massive speed boost in processing files. This means money saved in terms of time even in the short term.

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"Ed I think it's not possible on an iPad to download because afaik they don't take Flash Players. I'll check because I'm writing this on my iPad while sitting here in M&S drinking hot chocolate which incidentally is destroying my metabolism.  :)" -- Gervais

 

I think you are right.  Still, I think I will get one. I need some toy-time.  B)

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Spoiler alert! Never listen to anything Ed Rooney has to say

 

I am working on a pre-cloud iMac with 8GB of RAM . . . and I've never had speed issues. This is about the 4th Mac I've owned. I also have an old Macbook. I plan to buy a new iPad mini soon. I'm not getting it for photo purposes, but does anyone know if I can transfer jpegs to the iPad and upload them to Alamy? 

 

Ed

I use 'Photo Transfer App' to send & receive jpegs between my iPad & iMac, it can also be used with iPhone, android & PCs, I believe.

 

I'm another happy mac user, so good luck with the quest, Paul.

 

ann

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 It's not always a myth. Win XP is a 32 bit operating system and has severe limitations in the amount of RAM that any application can use. The really important one is that Photoshop can't use any more than 2 Gb on Win XP. This is a serious drawback if you are processing large files or panoramas. The advent of 64 bit operating systems with the more recent versions of Photoshop offers massive speed boost in processing files. This means money saved in terms of time even in the short term.

It looks as if I'm a spacecadet as well. My current, aging box is a P4. It still does the job but unfortunately is running out of horsepower. I have a NetBook with Windows 7, but I like the simplicity of XP better.

 

Ah, the myth of progress...

Yes, I'm discovering that with larger files and more files, my aging machine with XP and 2GB of RAM is now stretched to the limit. So I'm going to have to embrace the myth very soon.

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Mac or PC?

An old discussion/argument that crops up from time to time.

 

The answer is.............. It doesn't make any difference!

Its what gets the job done for you that counts.

 

For what its worth, I've used both successfully. Used iMacs since 2006 and don't intend to go back to PC anytime soon. It gets the job done for me!!!!!

 

And no, I don't have an iPad, iPhone, iPod or iAnything that I would want to synch with my iMac, I just use it to process pictures.

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I have often thought about going back to using a Mac but have too much hardware and software invested in my PC's... I started off with Apple a long time ago in fact I still have a  LC and Quadra tucked away in my roofspace along with a "never been used and still in it's box apple Newton" that I purchased many moons ago ( my brother was authorised Apple technician back in the 80's, which is why our whole family used Macs )

 

I still have a  17" imac sitting on my desk that hasn't been started up for a year ( to slow to work with )   but these days I have a 2 x laptops  running windows 7 ( 1 for my business ) and 1 for surfing the net..  And a windows 7 desktop machine  linked to 2 x dell ips monitors for photo editing and uploading which works well for me... but I must say when I visit my father or brother and see those  29" imacs I do get rather green and keep threatening to return to Apple.

 

I think both systems ( either mac or PC) can work well,  it just depends what works well for you and at the moment a PC with Dell monitors does it for me..

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Best thing to do is go into an Apple Store and try one out. The last time I used one at the Soho Apple Store it had PhotoShop installed.

 

Earlier this month I picked up a Mac Mini Quad Core 2.3 with 4 GB ram and haven't yet upgraded it. Even so, I'm able to run CS 6, Lightroom 4, Bridge, email, and upload via Safari at the same time without a problem. Although older iMacs had a ram tray at the bottom of the display the slim new 21 inch iMac isn't considered user upgradable.  You should still be able to bring it back to Apple for a ram upgrade or an Apple Authorized Service Station but if you want to be able to easily swap out ram whenever you please the 27 inch iMac would be the better choice.

 

Contrary to what others have said, this particular Mac has 4 USB 3.0 ports, Firewire 800, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet,  Digital Audio, Thunderbolt, etc. Apple's current system, OS 10.8.5, has AirDrop which is supposed to transfer photos between your Mac and iDevices. And if you care about Quicken, there's now Quicken 2007 for Mountain Lion which has all the capabilities of the old Quicken 2007. It's available for $15 from Intuit.

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"Ed I think it's not possible on an iPad to download because afaik they don't take Flash Players. I'll check because I'm writing this on my iPad while sitting here in M&S drinking hot chocolate which incidentally is destroying my metabolism.  :)" -- Gervais

 

I think you are right.  Still, I think I will get one. I need some toy-time.  B)

Absolutely! Toy time is always at our age. :)

 

Stop press here because the iMac that goes back tomorrow came with Mountain Lion OS. The replacement may well come with

Maverick. So what that will be like I have no idea.

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I currently use an HP Pavilion g series that has 8G ram and an AMD quad core processor running windows 7. I have no problems running Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 4 open at the same time and can have had no issues dealing with my D800 sized files, I got this on sale for under $500 cdn. The key to my system is the Dell ultrafine monitor that I got, also on sale. I was an early mac user, my first computer was a Mac Classic. But when I upgraded to a new PowerPC mac it was a lemon and got no help from Apple, so I abandoned them.

The nice thing about making your own system and it sounds like you are more than competent at making one, is that you can make sure the components are first rate which is always a bonus.

Chris

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Went into the Apple store last night. Loaded up my Flickr feed on the 27" mac. I was blown away by how amazing my pics looked. Not blowing my own trumpet but I had never seen them looking that way. I wanted the 27" one because you can upgrade the RAM yourself. I came home and ordered it online. So I'm not the proud owner of a new shiny iMac. 

 

I've been needing something of late to re-ignite my photography. Editing has been a chore and I've heard great things about Aperture. My only gripe was that I didn't order the fusion Drive system. I have no idea why I thought the 27" came as standard with it. Never mind. 

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Paul go online now and change that to a Fusion drive. You can do that during the order period. That is my advice. This will future proof the iMac for you and you loading times will be greatly improved. 1 TB will be enough because most of the time you will almost certainly want to save externally on an SSD with a Thunderbolt connection. USB 3 is fine but a Thunderbolt connector is better and very fast.

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