Andy's Un-Official Unsolicited Mac Advice Thread

jdryan3

noeltykay wrote:

...but man I was less than impressed...perhaps I should just stick with a MBP with matte screen.

Very happy with mine. But I will tell you I calibrated both it and my external 24" Dell FPW and there is a difference in how the colors look. They were done at the same time, and I think it may be related to the MBP 'dimming' even with power management off (IOW problem=enduser ). But they do each have their own profile - not a shared one. And I did change the gamma to 2.2.

colourbox

jdryan3 wrote:

Very happy with mine. But I will tell you I calibrated both it and my external 24" Dell FPW and there is a difference in how the colors look.

There's going to be a difference. Even the newest, best-of-laptops MacBook Pro screens have a smaller gamut than a desktop LCD. See the comparison charts about 3/4 down in this review.

kini62

Apparently the 20" iMAc has a 6 bit display, eg. cheaper than last years. The 24" has a similar screen to the old model at 8 bit color depth.

Bummer about the 20":cry

Gene

Ann McRae

DavidTO wrote:

I'll personally know more when I get our new iMac on monday, and have a few days to play with it.

David - any opinions?

ann

DavidTO

Ann McRae wrote:

David - any opinions?

ann

It just arrived this morning at work.

I opened it, took a look, and put it back. So far, so good. It's beautiful. But I've not yet turned it on. More to come...

wxwax

Ann McRae wrote:

So, where does that leave me? Hopefully not dealing with vista for much longer?

Do you suggest buying last years model?

Just use your current monitor a a second monitor for the iMac.

Ann McRae

Unfortunately, this monitor needs to go (or stay with the kid computer, as it were - we did not buy a new one with the new computer). But a second monitor has its merits..I'll think on that for sure.

Thanks, waxy!

wxwax wrote:

Just use your current monitor a a second monitor for the iMac.

ShepsMom

I bought mine back in January, this model:
IMAC 17" 2.0GHZ 2GB/160/SD/X1600, i don't have a glossy screen, i think it's coated. David, is your screen glossy?

DavidTO

ShepsMom wrote:

I bought mine back in January, this model:
IMAC 17" 2.0GHZ 2GB/160/SD/X1600, i don't have a glossy screen, i think it's coated. David, is your screen glossy?

Yes. That's all you can buy now, is the issue. I just got it from Apple yesterday (ordered last week, the day they were announced).

For me, it's no big deal, it's for my wife. She'll be just fine.

Artur C.

eoren1 wrote:

Hi Noel,
I was actually just reading about the new iMac in a thread over at macumors. In person, the glossy screen is apparently a deal-breaker for anyone interested in photography applications.
I was finally set on switching from PC to Mac but now am thinking of going to the new mini with the Apple Pro Display instead of the iMac for just this reason. Take a look at one in the stores before you decide.
E

There has been a fairly large uproar in the mac-photographer-video editor community about the lack of a matte option for the imac. Whether this will get fixed is but a guess (that's apple), but apparently the new iMovie uproar has forced apple to make availabe the old iMove HD as a download, no doubt due to the large dislike of its customer base. Perhaps if enough people complain about the lack of a matte option, one will come down the pipe eventually. I think apple is trying to get photographers to buy the MacPro.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Also, I can't find the link, but Toshiba polled it's users about screen preference and the overwhelming majority (over 78%) has echoed that they do very much prefer a non-glossy display.

eoren1

Since that last post, I've decided that a macbook might be the better way to go and hooked to an Apple Cinema Display. The problem is that all macbooks have glossy screens as well now so PPing on them in the field would be hit-and-miss I think. It would be nice if Apple opened up to 3rd party hardware vendors so that options like matte vs glossy screens would be made possible - though I can't honestly see that ever happening. Right now it really does look like they are pushing photographers to buy their 'pro' models as well as splurge on the nicer lcd displays.
E

Ann McRae

Review for perusal.

ann

caroline

My G4 needs replacing I think - I had been considering an imac but it seems the new screen is a no-no - any suggstions or advice please ?
Caroline

wxwax

caroline wrote:

My G4 needs replacing I think - I had been considering an imac but it seems the new screen is a no-no - any suggstions or advice please ?
Caroline

Are you able to afford a second monitor? That would be my suggestion. Added bonus, you could move your toolbars etc to the iMac screen, only use the secondary screen for the image itself.

mrbill62

caroline wrote:

My G4 needs replacing I think - I had been considering an imac but it seems the new screen is a no-no - any suggstions or advice please ?
Caroline

Check the Apple Store for refurbs on the previous generation of iMacs:
20" 2.16 GHz - $1099 and 24" 2.16 GHz - $1449

DavidTO

mrbill62 wrote:

Check the Apple Store for refurbs on the previous generation of iMacs:
20" 2.16 GHz - $1099 and 24" 2.16 GHz - $1449

Good idea!

caroline

mrbill62 wrote:

Check the Apple Store for refurbs on the previous generation of iMacs:
20" 2.16 GHz - $1099 and 24" 2.16 GHz - $1449

I'm in the UK but have found a couple - I'm not uptodate with what makes for a good buy, if anyone has time could they check out these links for me please ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Imac-20-inch-intel-core-2-duo-2gig-ram-mint-condition_W0QQitemZ320149630504QQihZ011QQcategoryZ4603QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA589

We dont seem to get such good deals on price as you do in the US.

Cheers
Caroline

DavidTO

Buy from Apple.

patch29

DavidTO wrote:

Buy from Apple.

Apple looks to be doing well, hopefully they can keep it going. When is the iPhone 2.0 coming out? I saw the 4GB referb iPhone is $399, starting to get tempting.

Dell takes huge hit as Apple laptop sales soar
'Halo effect' generated by demand for iPhones has caused a transformation in Apple's laptop sales

In an ongoing alteration of the consumer PC landscape, Apple laptop sales have surged to a new all-time high over the past 90 days -- up from 12 percent in June to 17 percent currently.

Source

cabbey

patch29 wrote:

Apple looks to be doing well, hopefully they can keep it going. When is the iPhone 2.0 coming out? I saw the 4GB referb iPhone is $399, starting to get tempting.






Source

Heh, the irony of this is that Apple now makes a better windows laptop than many of the traditional windows laptop companies. A fact that was hammered home for me recently when my mother called to say "you'll never guess what they handed me at work today? " Apparently her school district bought every credentialed staff member a brand new mac book. Which they then loaded Windows onto, locked it down, and set it to default to boot directly into windows. Thankfully she knows the IT support guy, and made some comment about "I'll stick with my personal g4 iBook if you're going to make us run windows..." and he told her how to make it boot into Mac OS/X.

Artur C.

In regard to the new iMac's
This post is completely subjective, as I can't quantify my results, only an experience from playing around with the system at the Apple store.

Here is what I did. I took some prints from a calibrated screen, along with my MBP (also with a calibrated monitor).. and loaded the photos on a flashdisk. I then opened them on each of the iMac's in the store.

Here is what I think about the glossy monitor.

It's not as bad as some posts/web discussins will make you believe. Here is what I found. On monochrome images, the deepest greys will display as blacks, but not none of the iMac monitors went through the calibration process. On color prints/files the deep blue hues tend to go dark due to the glossy display, but honestly I was hard pressed to see much of a difference, even with the retail store lighting which is pretty harsh as most mac users will. I did notice that the contrast is strong and colors are quite vibrant... not over saturated but vibrant. If you catch my drift.

I think that for very serious pro work this montior may not give you the accuracy one may demand, but for serious amateur work this system is very capable, to include the screen.

On a sidenote... I got a chance to play with the iPhone....man this thing is COOL... I want one!!!!

Just my 2 cents worth... your mileage may vary.

-Art

patch29

ZDnet has an article about the glossy screen here.

crj330

W.W. Webster wrote:

With Adobe's new Lightroom system, versions for both Mac and Windows are on the same disk for the boxed product, and presently availability at introductory pricing.

I know this post is old but, have a question regarding Lightroom that I have been getting conflicting info on. Someone told me because I was thinking of purchasing a MacPro laptop in the future and told him that I will be getting Lightroom, he said to make sure I order the Mac version. Well, my thought was that it would run on both the pc and this new dual platform mac. Then I find out that sure both mac and windows are on one disk, but can be installed only onto one computer. Is this true? I spoke with someone from Adobe and they said if i installed in on a pc then uninstalled it when I make my mac purchase then I can reinstall it on the mac. I just want to make sure I'm getting the right information and not spend money twice.

Thanks for your help!thumb

DavidTO

crj330 wrote:

I know this post is old but, have a question regarding Lightroom that I have been getting conflicting info on. Someone told me because I was thinking of purchasing a MacPro laptop in the future and told him that I will be getting Lightroom, he said to make sure I order the Mac version. Well, my thought was that it would run on both the pc and this new dual platform mac. Then I find out that sure both mac and windows are on one disk, but can be installed only onto one computer. Is this true? I spoke with someone from Adobe and they said if i installed in on a pc then uninstalled it when I make my mac purchase then I can reinstall it on the mac. I just want to make sure I'm getting the right information and not spend money twice.

Thanks for your help!thumb

Yeah, just deauthorize it on the one before you move it to the other.

Van Isle

Parallels and Migrating PC to Mac?
I'm close to slitting my throat here...

why is it so complicated?

PC to MAC. Wireless network. I'm following the directions. I get un-repeatable results that include up to "migrating data...migration failed or cancelled."

Pls walk me through it! I follow the set up directions: "click next. Click next. Once complete, enjoy your new system."

Yeah, not quite.

Many thanks, sorry for the late night rant.

VI

Andy

What are you migrating?

Exactly how are you doing it?

Van Isle

Andy,
PC XP SP 2 to mac OS X 10.4 on a Macbook w/2GB ram (or whatever is latest)

I think I've got it figured: instead of trying to do it over the wireless network, I just plugged the PC in to the MAC. The mac figured out where my PC was. Now it looks like it's working...will update!

Many thanks! (grr...worked on it for too long last night...)

Mitch

mwgrice

Where to buy a Mac in NYC?
Where would you buy a Mac in NYC? I need to buy one for someone in Brooklyn, and I'm wondering if I should buy it at some place like B&H or just online from Apple. Support (or at least the ability to return it) is potentially important.

I should add that I live in Wisconsin, so my ability to deal with anything in person is limited.

DavidTO

Buy from Apple, IMO.

Giphsub

iPhoto: How much can it do?
Sorry if this has been asked before. I am considering moving to a mac from a windows. I have been using photoshop elements and am mostly happy to use it for my needs. Does the included iPhoto software allow me to do most of what elements does? I mostly just fiddle contrast, lighting and colours. Basic stuff really. Thanks.