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Trying to decide...help a girl out!

aimeeinohio

aimeeinohio

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
216
2
OK I am trying to decide whether to get:

an iMac & an iPad

:apple: OR :apple:

a Macbook Pro

I am in art school. My dearly beloved almost 7 year old HP laptop has DIED. I do Photoshop work, lots of photos, stuff like that.

What say ye, Apple fans?:D
 
Seems like you would be better served by a MBP. That way you can take it with you to/from school and have the ability to use PS and any other programs on the fly. The iPad would suffice for most email/browsing/etc, but is not gonna help you with PS.

If you're worried about portability, get a 13" MBP and spend a couple hundred bucks on a nice flatscreen monitor for the house. :apple:
 
rgarjr said:
If you like playing with PS, then you need a full blown machine.
Click to expand...

Can you be more specific? A MacBook Pro can be had with 8GB RAM and a Core i7 processor with a discrete NVIDIA Geforce 330M GPU.
 
In school, I would go with the notebook. In general, it is fairly powerful, certainly enough for your needs. You can take it around, which is always nice, just in case of a project that requires you to take your work away from your desk.

rgarjr said:
If you like playing with PS, then you need a full blown machine.
Click to expand...

That's not true. I used PS CS4 on my computer for a while and it worked beautifully.
 
I've no intentions of doing actual WORK on the iPad! LOL I loved having the lap top to be able to surf the web, emal, etc,etc, on the couch, which is why I was looking at the iPad. :p

I need to run CS5 for school work. I need a mchine that can handle it, and handle it well, and I do need something portable...I was wondering which would be better cost wise...
 
aimeeinohio said:
OK I am trying to decide whether to get:

an iMac & an iPad

:apple: OR :apple:

a Macbook Pro

I am in art school. My dearly beloved almost 7 year old HP laptop has DIED. I do Photoshop work, lots of photos, stuff like that.

What say ye, Apple fans?:D
Click to expand...

I'd go with iMac & iPad...orrrr.. how bout an iMac & MBA ?
 
aimeeinohio said:
I need to run CS5 for school work. I need a mchine that can handle it, and handle it well, and I do need something portable...I was wondering which would be better cost wise...
Click to expand...

I have CS4 on a 2.4Ghz MBP that is 2.5 years old with 4GB of RAM and it runs fine. I would imagine a newer MBP would have no problems with CS5.

A 13" MBP can be had for ~$1,000 (entry level) if you shop around a little. The cheapest iMac is $1,200. An basic iMac + basic iPad is gonna run about $1,800. For that much you could pretty much get a 13" MBP, beef the RAM up and get a decent monitor to have as a bigger workspace -OR- you could get a 15" MBP.
 
aimeeinohio said:
I've no intentions of doing actual WORK on the iPad! LOL I loved having the lap top to be able to surf the web, emal, etc,etc, on the couch, which is why I was looking at the iPad. :p

I need to run CS5 for school work. I need a mchine that can handle it, and handle it well, and I do need something portable...I was wondering which would be better cost wise...
Click to expand...

I run CS5 Master Collection daily. You'll be MORE than fine with a MBP. No need to get an iMac just for that.... these machines are more than able to handle CS5.
 
millerb7 said:
I run CS5 Master Collection daily. You'll be MORE than fine with a MBP. No need to get an iMac just for that.... these machines are more than able to handle CS5.
Click to expand...

So tell me what i would need in it as far as hard drive, memory, etc....

Ya gotta remember I've been PC all these years...;)
 
Being a college student that also frequently uses PS, I would recommend a MBP (which is what I have)..it's powerful enough to get the job done, and portable so I can take it to class with me or wherever I happen to be going.
 
aimeeinohio said:
So tell me what i would need in it as far as hard drive, memory, etc....

Ya gotta remember I've been PC all these years...;)
Click to expand...

A new bare bones MBP will come with a 250GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM. I suggest a Firewire external drive for additional storage and of course if you can afford to upgrade the RAM go for it. Honestly though, you shouldn't need either of those add-ons initially (unless you already have 200+ gigabytes of media waiting to move onto it).

applefanDrew said:
Get an SSD for sure. Thats the way to go. And ram.....4 is good but if you can afford 8 get it
Click to expand...

SSD is nice but is still relatively pricey for what it offers (especially for a student and parent on a budget) so I don't think its the most practical choice for the OP.
 
aimeeinohio said:
So tell me what i would need in it as far as hard drive, memory, etc....

Ya gotta remember I've been PC all these years...;)
Click to expand...

I would get 8GB of RAM from somewhere like OWC (Having an upgrade on the RAM directly from Apple costs a wee bit too much to be practical), a 7200RPM drive or SSD would be beneficial too - personally I like my 500GB WD Scorpio Black.
 
MacBook Pro hands down.

I'd suggest a 13 inch and a 24 inch monitor... you get the tiny laptop for traveling and the big honkin monitor for PS work.
 
Like most fellow members who had responded to this thread, I'll highly recommend going with a MBP. :)

However, if the OP doesn't mind, maybe she can tell us what her budget for this purchase is. In that way, we all can better offer her our suggestions in order to help her make the "best" decision (not only in terms of which machine, but also related/relevant accessories). :)
 
I would second that suggestion to get more RAM if you can afford it, 4GB will work, but if you do go for 8, definitely buy it from a third party and install it yourself, maybe install a Hitachi 500GB HD at the same time. OWC has RAM cheap and will take your old RAM, making it even cheaper. They also have a wide selection of HDs too, I personally have had great luck with the Hitachi 500 GB 7,200 rpm and the Seagate 500 too. Bad experience with a WD Scopio Blue.
Installing the stuff is easy enough, steady hands and a Philips Head #00 screwdriver and a Torx 6 if you install a HD. Be careful with the tiny screws, they are prone to fall and roll off a table! If you are careful it's really only a 10 minute job. Instructions in the manual that comes with the MBP.
If at all possible, go to an apple store and check out the size of the machines as well as the Glossy/Anti-glare option and the High res option, which ca be too small for some folks (personally I like the standard Glossy 15" MBP best). Some folks like the huge 17" and even carry it around all the time. A friend has a 13" 2010 and it is sweet too, small but VERY usable.
Ah.... decisions!!!:eek:
 
SPEEDwithJJ said:
Like most fellow members who had responded to this thread, I'll highly recommend going with a MBP. :)

However, if the OP doesn't mind, maybe she can tell us what her budget for this purchase is. In that way, we all can better offer her our suggestions in order to help her make the "best" decision (not only in terms of which machine, but also related/relevant accessories). :)
Click to expand...

Approx $1500..........student loan overage the end of Feb/beginning of March :D ...unless someone would like to donate to the help a starving mommy artist fund!!:p:p:p
 
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