[kwills]

I am looking to move over to using a Mac for the first time and was wondering what type of specs i should be looking at?

I mostly use photoshop and Illustrator for design and would like a Mac that would cope with using them.

[hhm]

Originally Posted by kwills

I am looking to move over to using a Mac for the first time and was wondering what type of specs i should be looking at?

I mostly use photoshop and Illustrator for design and would like a Mac that would cope with using them.

Get a macbook pro (MBP), that should do the trick

I have a MBP 2.16Ghz with 100GB 7200rpm harddisk and 2GB RAM, and it's great!

Especially the new CS3 runs great - at least the beta does..

I can only say "go for it" - you'll never go back!

[kwills]

Cheers for that, where would be the best place to buy one from? What prices will i be looking at?

[hhm]

Originally Posted by kwills

Cheers for that, where would be the best place to buy one from? What prices will i be looking at?

I'm not sure really. My work (a university) bought it for me directly from Apple, and got a £600 discount due to some special agreement

But I thinks it's best to use an apple-store or directly from apple.co.uk in your case.

All my "mac-friends" bought theirs at the online apple store, and they've all had good shopping experiences.

[Andy]

i bought my imac and macbook through the online apple store, i indeed had a good shopping experience.
got my macbook half price

[mx]

Got my macbook, brand new off ebay with £260 off. you need to be careful though.

If you want a true beast, get a MacPro. lots of ££ but Quad Xeon's.

[mindbomb]

Personally I prefer a big monitor 23" or higher add that to a G5 Dual, if you have the budget, if not get an imac.
Mac books are great but too small to do high detailed work on (IMO get the biggest laptop screen you can afford - pricey), there again try carrying a G5 to a briefing.
Shop around, use price runners, some resellers like Computer Warehouse (.co.uk) sometimes give good deals, usually when they are about to launch a new upgrade.
If you work for a design company, ask them they might let you buy through them, saving you the price of the VAT.

[hit-squad]

yeah for decent print work etc something a bit more than a laptop is great, I cant work with artwork and print n my laptop it just grates me but then i have a g5 also - go with one of those. If not liek above et an imac the new ones are brilliant.

ps sod pcs

[pgo]

By the way, if you buy one of the tower systems - G5s, I guess - don't buy a cinema display. Buy one of the Dell Widescreens. I hear they use the same LCD manufacturer as Apple, but cost a lot less (used to be half the price of the Apples). I'm very happy with mine.

I'd like to get an Apple Mini for testing and run it through a KVM switch on my home PC.

[mx]

Originally Posted by mindbomb

add that to a G5 Dual

Why on earth would you buy a G5 Dual when you can get a MacPro Quad?

[mindbomb]

Originally Posted by max h

Why on earth would you buy a G5 Dual when you can get a MacPro Quad?

His budget... maybe, but yeah MacPro Quad is the man erm I mean the mac.


pgo:
Apple Monitors are far better definition than that Dell widescreen, I tested them both out beforehand and they are very different, it wasn't as good as the HD Cinema display, but the Dell is a decent monitor for the money.

Macs rule

[pgo]

Well, I've seen both and I see no difference at all.

Plus I've heard that the LCDs themselves are the exact same - only difference is the case. Which would make you just plain wrong. I'm not 100% sure that's so, but it's what I've heard.

[Herr Kurm]

the panels in dell ultrabright and apple cinema displays are the same, the 30" dell was even better then apple´s display.

[hawken]

you may want to hold off on buying a mac until they release the new operating system in a few weeks, and it also looks like they going to be releasing some new machines very soon, check here for details:

Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac

Any mac you buy will be able to run adobe stuff well, but again, it might be worth waiting for CS3 to come out before you buy one, as CS2 runs on Rosetta and is very, very slow.

[chazthetic]

If you're getting a macbook pro, wait.
from what I hear, they're working on an LED lit screen that will last faaaaaar longer than the screens they have in now. I'm not positive, but that's what I hear.