iMac or HP touchsmart I have always owned pcs. Starting to get into photography and want a new computer for photo and video editing. Would get either the iMac 27 inch with i5 processor with stock options or HP 610 series. The HP would be 200 less and specs would be better - 10 gb ram, 2 gb video card, blue ray writer, i7 CPU. Screen on mac is 27 and HP is 23. Having a tough time justifying mac purchase. Any thoughts iMac or HP touchsmart I have always owned pcs. Starting to get into photography and want a new computer for photo and video editing. Would get either the iMac 27 inch with i5 processor with stock... » Read More iMac or HP touchsmart I have always owned pcs. Starting to get into photography and want a new computer for photo and video editing. Would get either the iMac 27 inch with i5 processor with stock options or HP 610 series. The HP would be 200 less and specs would be better - 10 gb ram, 2 gb video card, blue ray writer, i7 CPU. Screen on mac is 27 and HP is 23. Having a tough time justifying mac purchase. Any thoughts « Show Less
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I'm curious to know what you chose and how you feel. I'm having this same problem right now. I bought the touchsmart, and it's on the way. But I'm thinking I should have considered imac. Every mac customer loves them, i'm told they last better, perhaps I should pay more for the less equipped machine.For us we primarily use the computer for websurfing, email, word processing, spreadsheets, and picture storage and minor editing (pics of our toddler for grandparents) We're as basic as they come. I have an ipad, she has an hp touchpad, we have an hp netbook, and we have 3 iphones in our family. So we're an eventually split apple/hp household. The question becomes what should i home base computer be? I'm curious to know what you chose and how you feel. I'm having this same problem right now. I bought the touchsmart, and it's on the way. But I'm thinking I should have considered imac. Every mac customer loves them, i'm told they last better, perhaps I should pay more for the less equipped machine.For us we primarily use the computer for websurfing, email, word processing, spreadsheets, and picture storage and minor editing (pics of our toddler for grandparents) We're as basic as they come. I have an ipad, she has an hp touchpad, we have an hp netbook, and we have 3 iphones in... » Read More I'm curious to know what you chose and how you feel. I'm having this same problem right now. I bought the touchsmart, and it's on the way. But I'm thinking I should have considered imac. Every mac customer loves them, i'm told they last better, perhaps I should pay more for the less equipped machine.For us we primarily use the computer for websurfing, email, word processing, spreadsheets, and picture storage and minor editing (pics of our toddler for grandparents) We're as basic as they come. I have an ipad, she has an hp touchpad, we have an hp netbook, and we have 3 iphones in our family. So we're an eventually split apple/hp household. The question becomes what should i home base computer be? « Show Less
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Can I hook up 2 additional monitors to this machine. I have 2 hooked to my Dell laptop and I love it!!! Any info would help....Thanks....Steve
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Ivy Bridge processors are coming out in a few days. They will hit Macs in June/July.I was considering an all-in-one but I'll wait for the refresh. Who knows, I might go for a Macbook Pro instead.
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Thanks for the input Greg. One of my other main reservations was having to learn a new operating system - since I have never used or owned a mac before. I've been to the Apple Store a few times to play around with the imac and it does not seem to be too bad. I am somewhat tech savy and can fix or diagnose things on my pc. I am leaning toward the imac and will likely end up pulling the trigger. I plan on getting extra memory and installing it myself.
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Amazon now shows only 16 Imacs available and it says "order soon". Usually when they are running low and expect to get more it says "more on the way" after "order soon". I wonder if this is a sign that Apple is putting out a refresh soon?
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I think the "entry level" newest iMac 21.5" for $1299 is the MD093 with Nvidia GT640 graphic card, and the "upscale" iMac 21.5" for $1499 is the MD094 with the faster GT650 card.
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If you are really looking for that level of detail in buying a monitor your undisputed choice should me an iMac display or a dell 30USharp. There are no other things out there that can beat that, but that being said, this monitor has all the guts needed and can draw brilliant pictures just like an apple display. There are still issues with pure black/saturation, but they are almost invincible to the naked eye, except for extremely avid photo editors. I don't know if that answers your question, but H-IPS vs S-IPS shouldn't make your mind boggle.
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It mainly depends on what you would be using the Mac for. The MacBook is a newer model and will perform just as well if not better than the older MacBook Pro. It is very easy to upgrade the RAM and HD on the MacBook which would result in better performance. Video cards have the same amount of VRAM, so they are comparable in that regard. Either Mac would be a good option, but I would personally go with the newer MacBook.
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haha go ahead and vent :)If I were you I would just wait. But dont buy the AppleCare for your 80gig. Just use it till it dies and isnt covered by warranty, and get whichever new one comes out. However next time check out macrumors and they have a buying guide, it shows you the past "update" history of the various mac products and gives you a small bit of advice on wether to buy or not. I'm going to stick with my 30gb for now too. Maybe give it to a family memeber later and buy a new one later :)
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For photo editing in Lightroom or Photoshop this i5 would be a little underpowered.... You'd be much better off with the i7 version. A little more money, but very worth it. I think it was around $800. Hope that helps. I'd be happy to answer any more questions if you have any.
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I have an iMac but am not certain what year I got it. But I had to upgrade to 4 gigs (I couldn't add more than that) and buy the windows program to go with it. I have been as happy with it as with any new computer workings. My iMac sometimes runs slow and I must delete temp files etc to keep it efficient.
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If you spend the extra $300 on the more expensive MacBook Pro you get the following: - a faster processor (2.53GHz vs. 2.26GHz) - more memory (4GB vs. 2GB) - bigger hard disk (250GB vs. 160GB) These are all desirable things, however you can do the memory and hard disk upgrades yourself (probably for less than $300). It involves removing the bottom panel (something like a dozen screws) and replacing the hardware. I have not done it myself yet, but it does not look too difficult. I plan to wait for SSD and 8GB RAM prices to drop. The processor is about 11.2% faster, and I doubt that can be upgraded later. However, for me 11.2% is not a significant difference. The faster processor also generates more heat and uses more battery power, so it's a trade off. You could also increase performance with a faster hard drive, but that too would eat into the battery life (which is why I am waiting for the solid state drive prices to drop). Snow Leopard promises to run more efficiently than Leopard, so be sure to sign up for the Snow Leopard up-to-date program so you'll get the latest software when it comes out in September (it's a $10 fee). AppleCare is like an extended warranty. I believe you have up to a year after your initial purchase to sign up for it. It gives you an extra 2 years of service coverage and continues your telephone support after the initial 90 days. I am more of a do-it-yourself guy, so I didn't consider it, but it would be nice knowing you are covered. I bought it for my Mac Mini, but I never used it.
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Hi Jeffrey,I have used both PCs and Macs. The transition is temporary. The joy lasts a lifetime. The Apple software bundled with the Mac is designed as beautifully as is the machine.
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I just answered this a few minutes ago for Travis. The following is what I posted for his question. I went back and your machine has the same specs and requirements as his. Hope this helps. I went to the Apple website and pulled the specs for your machine. According to their specs the following is what they specify.......PC3-10600 (1333) DDR3, 204-pin SO-DIMM. These are the exact specs spelled out by this HP Dram. Also, according to the Apple website your machine is capable of utilizing either 2G or 4G memory modules and you should have a total of 4 slots. So it looks like you should be good to go with these modules. Hope this helps you out some. Best Wishes and a Happy New Year. P.S. I just went back and cut and pasted the footnote specifying the size of DRAM you can use. You can see it here........... 2.The iMac (Late 2009), iMac (Mid 2010) and iMac (Mid 2011) have four SDRAM slots, each of which can accept a 2 GB or 4 GB SO-DIMM.
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It was for sure... Some years ago, but you have to understand that the Intel Core 2 Duo is a bit old for Today standard CPU. And for Graphic Design software, 1GB RAM will be not enough. Photoshop and software alike, commonly require at least 4GB RAM (and more is better) in the machine to run smoothly.I would recommend the newest Mac mini above this old iMac.
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I bought an apple ibook G4 for one of my children to use for homeschool. Even though it is used he has no problems whatsoever....sometimes it will run slow but I believe that has more to do with our internet speed than the actual computer....I actually like the preformance so much I will be looking to purchase 2 more for my other children...if you are familiar with Mac products then this would be a good purchase. Hope this was helpful
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Depending on the video editing that you are trying to do, this may not be the best solution. While the video on this Macbook is definitely sufficient for most normal needs and would be fine for light video editing but not heavy professional editing. That being said, the hard drive can be updated, and the RAM memory can be upgraded to 16GB, but the processor speed can not. I hope this is helpful information.
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This computer is amazing. It came with Windows 8 pro and you can work with Photoshop in it. It is a computer/tablet, with e-mail and everything. I have the wacom 24", it is very good, but you Need a computer attached in it. This one is lighter and easy to use.
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It was for sure... Some years ago, but you have to understand that the Intel Core 2 Duo is a bit old for Today standard CPU. And for Graphic Design software, 1GB RAM will be not enough. Photoshop and software alike, commonly require at least 4GB RAM (and more is better) in the machine to run smoothly. I would recommend the newest Mac mini above this old iMac.
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First off I used PC's for over 20 years so I am not biased. Apple laptops are easier to use, you have less issues with viruses and spyware, especially if you get programs from the Apple App Store. The machines themselves were designed with what the user needs in mind.
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I think it would be fine for photo editing. I actually sent back the one I ordered because I liked the color on my HP better. It seems to work well for all graphics, though I'm not a gamer. I did watch a couple of movies and they were fine, but not good enough to make me give up my HP which I use primarily for photography.