What mac to buy??

[anothersign]

We are looking at a new mac for the home/business. Our teen daughters want a mac and we have thought about getting on for the business after some shopping i still dont know what to buy. I am just looking for any of you who can point me in the right direction. here is what we are looking for. we will run adobe cs2 and all our sign stuff on it and then just the daughters junk. So far we are thinking either the
Apple Mac Pro Quad-Core Minitower2 Intel Xeon Dual-Core Processors 5140, 2.66GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive,

16X DVD+/-RW SuperDrive, Mac OS X Tiger v10.4



with this monitor Apple Cinema HD 23-inch LCD Display

or the Apple MacBook Pro Notebook


Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2.33GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, 17-inch XGA TFT Display, 8X DVD+/-RW SuperDrive, Mac OS X Tiger v10.4


the desktop is about $3500 with monitor and the laptop is about $2800 so the price is no big savings either way. we also have four pc running windows xp on our network and 2 pc laptops and the new mac will dual boot to xp pro also just fyi. Thanks for any help you can be.

Dan

 

[Replicator]

http://www.apple.com/macpro/

 

[Derf]

this is from Apples web site,http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=14FBC7C5&nclm=CertifiedMac

Refurbished MacBook Pro, 17-inch Glossy Display, 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
17-inch glossy widescreen display (1680x1050 resolution)
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
100GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera
Front Row and Apple Remote
Learn More
• Save 29% off the original price
Original price: $2,799.00
Your price: $1,999.00

You could buy a lot of upgrades for the $800 you would save.


All my MAC's have been Certified Refurbished.. I look at it like they have been through QA twice.

 

[anothersign]

thanks derf

I never considered refurbished i will check that out thanks. Dan

 

[Rick]

Is your daughter going to be running the Mac side and you on the PC side or are you both going to be using OSX?

 

[animenick65]

Refurbished mac products are a great deal. I just bought a refurb black macbook and it was awesome saving so much money and it really seems almost brand new.

 

[anothersign]

hey Rick

We will both be using osx the win xp is just an added bonus for us. the only reason i am thinking about the mac pro is it will hold 5 hard drives 8 slots of memory otherwise i would just go with the mac book pro.

 

[Derf]

If you have the coin then get the MAC pro. the lap top is OK but if you don't need the mobility then the tower it the way to go.

 

[anothersign]

Thanks Derf

Hey Derf thats what i am leaning towards right now. the pro is sweet and with the $1000 hd cinema monitor it is awsome. as far as mobility we have to pc laptops so they can suffer with that. thanks for all your thoughts and i will let you know when we make out purchase.

 

[Rick]

I would get more RAM and be patient. From what I have heard form other designers CS2 runs a bit slower on the Mac/Intel than on a G4! It also crashes a lot, especially Illustrator. I heard it helps if you do not load Version Cue. You will be a lot happier with a Mac/Intel when CS3 comes out...from what I hear it will be around Spring 07.

 

[Volker]

I just bought an iMac 24" for my wife (she does the design stuff) and she was very much happy with the performance of Photoshop CS2 via Rosetta, at least compared to her old G4 Dual 1 GHz.
But since Adobe released the Photoshop CS3 beta she can't stop smiling
It really flys now, even certain things like TWAIN drivers etc. are not implemented yet.

 

[WYLDGFI]

If you can still find the Dual G-5's....you should be able to get a great deal on them. I have one and it flys right now!

 

[Kevin T]

The Macbook is nice but unless you need the portability why bother. Plus limited screen size compared to the other options especially from a graphic design point of view. 17" vs 23-24" that makes the decision easy for me. I would go with the 24" Imac for your needs. It has all the power, ram and storage you should need and it's in a clean compact package that is good if you're working with limited space. The MacPro is very nice and very fast we run 2 of them. But it may be overkill for your needs. Also the Cinema displays(we have a 23") are very nice but you can find other brands of the same quality for less money. Unless you have your heart set on going all Apple I'd look around for the monitor. You won't be disappointed with the Cinema display but why spend more than you have to. Of course the monitor is a moot point if you go with the Imac.


Subtotal $2,808
* 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive
* NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
* SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Apple Wireless Keyboard & wireless Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
* 24-inch widescreen LCD
* AirPort Extreme
* Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Also, on a seperate note, you can run XP on the Mac using Bootcamp if you prefer to switch between OSX and XP.

 

[Si Allen]

Do yourself a big favor and buy a separate computer for your kids!

NEVER let the family use your business computer!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure Techman will agree with me! He can probably regale yopu with horror stories about kids on your puter!

 

[Kevin T]

Do yourself a big favor and buy a separate computer for your kids!

NEVER let the family use your business computer!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure Techman will agree with me! He can probably regale yopu with horror stories about kids on your puter!

You seemed interested in combining both family and business into one machine. But the above is probably the best advice you'll get.

 

[Geary]

I had a very young niece try to "install" a waffle (syrup included) into my iMac once. The older ones messed up stuff by installing all kinds of weird games that had drivers that conflicted with my existing apps. All in all, I'd have to agree.........keep the kiddos away from the workhorse computers.......especially the rugrats!!

 

[Volker]

And whatever the decision is for buying a Mac... don't buy before Wednesday next week as there will be new products announced on Tuesday

 

[Geary]

Volker,

The decisions are vast and pronounced and you are correct about getting a better deal after the Mac World show. I saved 700 dollars once buying the next day after the announcing of NEW TOYS!

 

[SBowlerDesign]

Dan-
We have had our imac for two years. No complaints, no problems with anything. As for the kids....with every opinion, of course, there is an opposite view. Our children have been using our business computers since they were old enough to pull themselves into a chair. We have rules about no food or drink around the computer, and for the most part they have been good about following those rules. Also they are not allowed to download ANYTHING without permission from us first. The high school senior helps her fellow classmates (and art teacher sometimes) with Photoshop and Illustrator, all because she cut her teeth on our business computers. When we purchased our new computer, we gave the kids the older Mac, but quickly heard complaints about how slow it was, how small the computer moniter was, etc. etc...lol! Yeah, they are spoiled. Of course our parents told us how they had to walk 10 miles in the snow to get to school, we tell our kids how we had to shut down one program to launch another because the computers weren’t powerful enough then. Good luck with your purchase!

 

[Rod]

Smaller profile MacBook is a comfortable unit

The Macbook is nice but unless you need the portability why bother. Plus limited screen size compared to the other options especially from a graphic design point of view. 17" vs 23-24" that makes the decision easy for me. I would go with the 24" Imac for your needs.

Having a smaller profile unit gives you more freedom. I needed some quiet, so I stepped off to the side with my MacBook, and I still have my Internet connection through the wireless router. At other times, I've found it necessary to walk my MacBook to the other side of building and make direct firewire connection to printer.

On the one hand MacBook Pro has more built into it, but a MacBook has a smaller profile and less weight, which is slightly easier to cart about.
With respect to screen size, I agree with Kevin. My desktop system uses twin monitors and having all that screen area provides significant freedom for moving windows about, comparing charts, and keeping things organized.

Something I need to try with this MacBook is the dual-monitor support. I should just be able to hook mini-DVI port to external monitor. I need an adapter cable and I'll let you know how this goes.

Cheers,

Rod