Need Some Advice

[Brands Imaging]

this thread got way out of control...

I guess I should have asked WHAT IS YOUR CONFIGURATION AY YOUR SHOP?? What your recent purchases were and how you like them?

Not a history lesson or whatever else about computers.

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Macs are for Designing and Pre Flighting files and PC's are for ripping them....

You will be very happy if you use this configuration...

 

[Typestries]

/\ /\ LOL Mike, so true

 

[signmeup]

this thread got way out of control...

I guess I should have asked WHAT IS YOUR CONFIGURATION AY YOUR SHOP?? What your recent purchases were and how you like them?

Not a history lesson or whatever else about computers.

It sure sounded like you were asking if there was any advantage to switching to Macs.

I'd still like to know. Can a person tell when they are working in Illustrator or Corel whether it's on a Mac or a PC? If you can tell, that would be a big factor in making your decision I would think. So... does anyone know.... can you tell?

 

[WildWestDesigns]

It sure sounded like you were asking if there was any advantage to switching to Macs.

I'd still like to know. Can a person tell when they are working in Illustrator or Corel whether it's on a Mac or a PC? If you can tell, that would be a big factor in making your decision I would think. So... does anyone know.... can you tell?

As far as I can tell, it's just a matter of preferance as to what you like more.

I use my PC for everything and I have zero problems. Either one will do the job in the end. Which one does it better is mainly due to what your place higher value on when your shopping for a computer. That changes from person to person.

I do know though in my instance, it would be cost prohibitive to get all MAC as I have some programs that will not work on a MAC OS and they have zero intention of changing that. That would mean using Parrallels (there is one other program, but I can't think of it's name right now) in order to run those programs. There are pros and cons to that as well. I don't have any issues with that on the iMac that I do have, but I only run one program off the virtual drive and it isn't the most intensive embroidery program that I do have.

I would imagine those that really hate the PC are probably used to getting just "off the shelf computers" and I can understand that, because I've done that for a very long time as well. The computer that I have blows them all away as far as what I can get done.

To the OP: I have yet to see a clear cut advantage that MAC has over PC, even with how programs run on either one. That has to be evaulated by the individual user and what their preferances are. Not the answer that I'm sure you were wanting, but this is a "charcoal" area, although I'm sure some wouldn't think so on both sides.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

this thread got way out of control...

I guess I should have asked WHAT IS YOUR CONFIGURATION AY YOUR SHOP?? What your recent purchases were and how you like them?

Not a history lesson or whatever else about computers.

I would actually say that a history lesson goes in hand with finding out what purchases people have done with regard to how their shop is configured.

Understanding the past (history) helps to find out which way to go in the future. Knowing what has or hasn't worked in your shop in the past will help you determine what purchases to make when to upgrade. However, you just don't want to go on history alone, especially with technology as that is always changing and changing at a rapid pace.

 

[paul luszcz]

I have to keep this short, but I wanted to make two distinct points.

First, in answer to the OP's specific question, I would agree with Merritt; Converting production PCs to Macs is unnecessary. PCs crunch numbers (RIP) perfectly well.

Second, those who believe a computer is nothing more than the sum of its components are quite simply, wrong. The only difference in a Mac may be the operating system, but the software is almost all that matters. I use the same components to make signs that every one of my competitors does, but they are not at all the same.

Right out of the box, Macs give truer color, opens files with more fidelity and allow you to design while seeing things much closer to any given output. Most of the complaints about poor customer files come from customers who design using Microsoft software on PCs, not designers using Macs. Some of the problem is the fault of the customer, the rest is the software.

 

[signmeup]

I have to keep this short, but I wanted to make two distinct points.

First, in answer to the OP's specific question, I would agree with Merritt; Converting production PCs to Macs is unnecessary. PCs crunch numbers (RIP) perfectly well.

Second, those who believe a computer is nothing more than the sum of its components are quite simply, wrong. The only difference in a Mac may be the operating system, but the software is almost all that matters. I use the same components to make signs that every one of my competitors does, but they are not at all the same.

Right out of the box, Macs give truer color, opens files with more fidelity and allow you to design while seeing things much closer to any given output. Most of the complaints about poor customer files come from customers who design using Microsoft software on PCs, not designers using Macs. Some of the problem is the fault of the customer, the rest is the software.

How does that work? Isn't R-255 G-0 B-0 the same red on both?

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Second, those who believe a computer is nothing more than the sum of its components are quite simply, wrong. The only difference in a Mac may be the operating system, but the software is almost all that matters. I use the same components to make signs that every one of my competitors does, but they are not at all the same.

Right out of the box, Macs give truer color, opens files with more fidelity and allow you to design while seeing things much closer to any given output.

What is in bold would be a clear reasoning for "sum of it's components". Components in my mind would be both hard and soft, not just hard. Although, take away the hard components and would it open as fluid, as clear and crisp as it did before you took those components out and replaced them with another?

Now, I do agree that off the shelf Macs, in my opinion, would be better than off the shelf PCs unless you bought off the shelf business line of PCs. However, if you were to compare a custom Mac to a custom PC, I think you would be surprised at what a PC can or can't handle with regard to the entire package.

As to microsoft software and designing. The files that I get from word and ppt are horrid, however, they aren't designing software, so I don't hold them at the same standards as I would files from Ai or Draw. I don't know about the other microsoft programs as the cheapie clients that send stuff created in Word or PPT are to cheap to get the other programs.

I do doubt though you'll see a difference between Ai files done on the PC versus Ai files done on the Mac. I know I haven't had complaints. Now the people that I have dealt with my have complaints, but if they do, they haven't voiced them to me, so I don't know about them.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

How does that work? Isn't R-255 G-0 B-0 the same red on both?

I'm guessing, but the mac's monitor is probably better than the $99 one most people buy who think it's great.

Get a double xeon workstation with a couple hundred gigs of ram and a dual eizo colour edge monitor setup hooked up with a few ssd's in raid 0 and watch jobs run to his corner and start writing 5 page long 'keynotes' about how the xeon architecture isn't flexible and uses too much energy... oh yeah... and that it's too 'proprietary'... lol

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Oh... I just did a price check on the above in the mac store...

with 64gb ram... only $9749... would you like 2TB's instead of 1? just add $150...

 

[choucove]

this thread got way out of control...

I guess I should have asked WHAT IS YOUR CONFIGURATION AY YOUR SHOP?? What your recent purchases were and how you like them?

Not a history lesson or whatever else about computers.

I apologize if my posts have been a bit over the top but in the end what I am really trying to accomplish is to explain the differences in using either one so you can make an informed decision based on the true facts and not just the rumors.

To more directly answer your question, I'll explain the configuration of our offices. We just recently upgraded all of our design systems to Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, as well as upgrading to the newest version of Flexi 10 on all workstations. We also use Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Illustrator CS4. Our shop has two offices, one in Hays, KS, and one in Colby, KS. Our Hays office had been working off of several old Windows XP systems that, while they had lasted for 7 years, were just about to croak from all the design load now placed on them. We upgraded all of their computers with identical custom-built desktops. These computers run the Core i5-760 processor with a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ aftermarket CPU fan to keep the system running cooler. We used 16 GB of DDR3 1333 RAM from G.Skills on an ASUS P55 ATX motherboard, a 640 GB SATA III Western Digital Black hard drive, along with a PNY GeForce GTS 250 graphics card. This isn't a high-end design graphics card, but for doing 2D design tasks it's more than capable.

Along with the computer systems we also upgraded all of the monitors. Previously they had been using standard Acer 19" monitors that were just beginning to die and really lacked color quality. We replaced them will Dell UltraSharp 22" and 24" (U2211H and U2410H) monitors using IPS panels for the best color accuracy possible. Using standard monitor calibration tools they all have identical color correction as the printed media output on their Mimaki JV3 printer.

At our Colby office we are still waiting to upgrade all the computers to new systems, but we do also have them all running the same upgraded versions of the software and replaced all their monitors with the Dell UltraSharps as well to give both offices the exact same color profiles and the truest color accuracy possible.

This brings me up to a point stated above:

this thread got way out of control...

Right out of the box, Macs give truer color, opens files with more fidelity and allow you to design while seeing things much closer to any given output. Most of the complaints about poor customer files come from customers who design using Microsoft software on PCs, not designers using Macs. Some of the problem is the fault of the customer, the rest is the software.

How are you able to measure this? What kind of monitors and calibration software was the other office using on their computers? If you have the right monitors, any PC should be able to display the same color gamut and accuracy as any Mac. Most of the Mac computers utilize an IPS monitor, which is known for having truer color correction than any other style, that is true. However, if you have a PC running an IPS monitor I know they will have the same color accuracy, and if you're using color calibration software, you can ensure that all of your shop systems are using identical color profiles for complete unity across all systems. This is the reason why we replaced our monitors. We almost never have to do a reprint on our JV3 because the colors were wrong from the original designer's view.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Right out of the box, Macs give truer color, opens files with more fidelity and allow you to design while seeing things much closer to any given output. Most of the complaints about poor customer files come from customers who design using Microsoft software on PCs, not designers using Macs. Some of the problem is the fault of the customer, the rest is the software.

Huh? How so? Please explain this to me. You mean to tell me that if you hook up a Mac and a PC to the same monitor, you are going to get better color quality out of the Mac? I would love to hear how this works.

Out of the box, a Mac needs to be calibrated just like a PC.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Apple does not "make" monitors either. They buy LCD/LED panels from one of the handful of panel maufacturers just like everyone else. Throughout the years, Apple monitors have simply been Samsung, LG, and other brands with a pretty Apple cover and an inflated price tag. They do choose better than average displays, but you can get those same displays in other brands.

 

[signmeup]

I'm guessing, but the mac's monitor is probably better than the $99 one most people buy who think it's great.

Guessing? And just how many "designers" use $99 monitors?

Anyway... I was more thinking about what came out of the printer than what the monitor looked like. If you tell your printer to print 225,0,0 from Illustrator installed on either a Mac or a PC you should get the same colour.... no? I know what I send to my printer looks just like what I see on my monitor.

To address the OP's question... why not use the same OS to design as you do to print? That way you have one less variable to worry about. And, unless I'm waaaaay off here, you don't design with the OS so you should see zero difference between the Mac and PC running your design software. I'd pick either Mac or PC for all phases of the process.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Guessing? And just how many "designers" use $99 monitors?

Anyway... I was more thinking about what came out of the printer than what the monitor looked like. If you tell your printer to print 225,0,0 from Illustrator installed on either a Mac or a PC you should get the same colour.... no? I know what I send to my printer looks just like what I see on my monitor.

To address the OP's question... why not use the same OS to design as you do to print? That way you have one less variable to worry about. And, unless I'm waaaaay off here, you don't design with the OS so you should see zero difference between the Mac and PC running your design software. I'd pick either Mac or PC for all phases of the process.

lol, exactly my point. mac fans forget that when they are making comparisons, it's usually with the low end stuff. of course a $700 pc isn't going to live up to a mac.

despite all the hype and opinions - i am more than happy to accept that both are great in the right hands! i am a techno-polytheist. if i can't have more than one wife, then at least let me sleep with more than one technology.

I love my pc, and i love my iphone... i'm in love with them both, and i want to get on springer!

 

[SignManiac]

In answer to the OP, I just upgraded my previous OS to Windows 7 64 bit / 12 gigs of ram from XP pro 32 bit with 4 gigs ram. The difference in speed to process image files is astounding. So the only expense I had was the purchase price of Win 7 and $300 for the additional 8 gigs of ram. Ram is cheap, I might even add another 8 so my total would be 20 gigs. I guess it also depends on how old your computer is. Mine is two years old but well built.

 

[HulkSmash]

If you're doing strictly design - macs are great. PC's are fine too, but macs are superior with design.

Any actual print work that requires ripping. The PC is better for this.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

If you're doing strictly design - macs are great. PC's are fine too, but macs are superior with design.

Any actual print work that requires ripping. The PC is better for this.

As someone about to upgrade his PC, I'm really curious to know about how mac is more superior when it comes to design. Is it faster? smoother? And the PC being better for ripping... why is that? aren't they both intel and both just crunch numbers at the end of the day?

 

[The Vector Doctor]

I am a big fan of Macs, but I cannot agree with the statement that you design better on a Mac. The hardware is just a tool. The design is only as good as the fool at the keyboard. Not how much you spend or what you spend it on

I prefer Mac because of OSX software more than anything. Not Adobe software, but the OS itself. Adobe software is the same on either platform. You cannot tell what OS a file was created on. The pretty hardware and cases of the laptops and desktops and the integration of the software and sum of the parts are awesome but that is less of a concern. Even when Macs were beige boxes, I still preferred it for the software inside