I need some advice

[Willy S]

Initially I bought 2 iMacs G5 Rev A last year, for me and my wife. Initially we were very happy, no troubles etc, but after a few months we were having more troubles than with our PCs.

First, the mobo in the other iMac broke and will be fixed under warranty. Then we couldn´t print with our new Epson R220 printer, but in PC it was very easy.

Then I tried to install Aperture, but the computers, less than a year old, were too obsolete. In the PC world, you can run every programs with a $1300 computer that is less than a year old! If not, you can easilly upgrade the parts that are obsolete etc..

Now, when I wanted to to some Photoshoping on the iMacs, I noticed that they have very cheap and bad panels, probably TN that are totally unusable for photo editing. The damn panel changes considerably if I view it from a slightly different angle or if the monitor is moved. Unfortunately, I wasn´t a panel expert when I bought the iMacs..

After my experience with the iMacs, I´m not going to buy any Macs again soon, it is just easier and cheaper to have PC with Windows and Linux. If I had money to burn, I would buy a Powermac, but unfortunately I don´t.

Now, since Intel Conroes aren´t out yet, it is tempting to try to get these iMacs to work as I would like, mainly getting the printer to print photos and connect some decent monitor to it so I could use the iMac screen for the pallettes and other stuff that don´t require accuracy. Does anyone know of a around 20" LCD with S-IPS panel that performs very well when the VGA mode is used?

I would be very thankful if somebody could help me finding solutions so I won´t have to buy a PC right now. I would rather upgrade to a brand new PC in a year when the new hardware is out and Vista has been tried and tested.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I know its not a particularly elegant solution but if you want near perfect colour and contrast on a vga input you should consider getting a decent 19" CRT. Yeah its big and bulky but it'll give you a fantasticly accurate colour range and will cost a fraction of the price for a semi-decent LCD screen.

Edit: Aperture's minimum requirements for iMacs are a PowerPC G5 1.8Ghz processor so you're top end iMac shouldn't have a problem installing it.

I do think its a bit anal of Apple to say the minimum requirements for a Powerbook are a 1.25Ghz G4 processor but a Mac Mini of G4 PowerMac with a 1.25Ghz processor is not supposedly powerful enough to run it!! There is a patch floating out there on the internet that disables Aperture's CPU and GPU checks btw.

Edit 2: I notice that the original iMac G5s don't have a supposedly powerful enough graphics card for Aperture, hence why neither of your computers can run it. I suggest trying to find that patch I mentioned though and give it a try.

 

[Eidorian]

Do what I did.

http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html

The Rev. A's have the GeForce FX 5200. You need a Radeon 9600 at minimum. I don't have any issues with my Rev. B's flat panel at all.

 

[Willy S]

I know its not a particularly elegant solution but if you want near perfect colour and contrast on a vga input you should consider getting a decent 19" CRT. Yeah its big and bulky but it'll give you a fantasticly accurate colour range and will cost a fraction of the price for a semi-decent LCD screen.

Edit: Aperture's minimum requirements for iMacs are a PowerPC G5 1.8Ghz processor so you're top end iMac shouldn't have a problem installing it.

I do think its a bit anal of Apple to say the minimum requirements for a Powerbook are a 1.25Ghz G4 processor but a Mac Mini of G4 PowerMac with a 1.25Ghz processor is not supposedly powerful enough to run it!! There is a patch floating out there on the internet that disables Aperture's CPU and GPU checks btw.

Edit 2: I notice that the original iMac G5s don't have a supposedly powerful enough graphics card for Aperture, hence why neither of your computers can run it. I suggest trying to find that patch I mentioned though and give it a try.

I managed to find the patch, but the damn thing was just too slow. Adobe Lightroom however runs very well and I´m using it.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Do you mean Aperture was slow or the download was slow?

 

[Eidorian]

I managed to find the patch, but the damn thing was just too slow. Adobe Lightroom however runs very well and I´m using it.

Well in all honesty the original iMac G5 was nice for it's power and size but it had the terrible FX5200 video card. I held out on my iMac purchase and for Tiger. You'd best do some more research next time.

In addition you could try to sell one of the iMac G5 and try to get a refurbished Rev. B or even C.

 

[Willy S]

Do what I did.

http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html

The Rev. A's have the GeForce FX 5200. You need a Radeon 9600 at minimum. I don't have any issues with my Rev. B's flat panel at all.

Nice!

But I would like to use LCD, they have some advantages over the CRT...it´s a big LCD vs CRT debate which I won´t like to get into.

I sounded maybe too pessimistic in my first post on this thread....I really like Tiger....it´s so simple and easy to use, so I hope I will find a monitor with good VGA capabilities so I can use the iMac.

 

[Willy S]

Do you mean Aperture was slow or the download was slow?

The program was slow.

 

[Eidorian]

Nice!

But I would like to use LCD, they have some advantages over the CRT...it´s a big LCD vs CRT debate which I won´t like to get into.

I sounded maybe too pessimistic in my first post on this thread....I really like Tiger....it´s so simple and easy to use, so I hope I will find a monitor with good VGA capabilities so I can use the iMac.

Well you'd have to get a LCD with VGA only. You only have VGA out until the new Intel iMacs.

 

[Willy S]

Well in all honesty the original iMac G5 was nice for it's power and size but it had the terrible FX5200 video card. I held out on my iMac purchase and for Tiger. You'd best do some more research next time.

In addition you could try to sell one of the iMac G5 and try to get a refurbished Rev. B or even C.

Yes, but it works well in other 2D task that I have had to do, at least with Lightroom, Photoshop and video editing programs. I´m using and old and bad 15" LCD as an external monitor without any problems, I just need a better quality monitor...

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I'm with Eidorian on this one, sell one of your iMacs and get a slightly newer one from eBay or the Apple Refurb store. The Rev Bs are vastly superior to the first generation I think, much better graphics cards and a faster FSB. The Rev A iMacs are still lovely machines but Aperture would love a Rev B or C.

 

[Eidorian]

Yes, but it works well in other 2D task that I have had to do, at least with Lightroom, Photoshop and video editing programs. I´m using and old and bad 15" LCD as an external monitor without any problems, I just need a better quality monitor...

Oh alright. I've heard lots of good things about Lightroom over Aperture. Most of them lie in the system requirements. 1 GHz PowerBooks seem to run it just fine. Just get a good display for your work.

I'm with Eidorian on this one, sell one of your iMacs and get a slightly newer one from eBay or the Apple Refurb store. The Rev Bs are vastly superior to the first generation I think, much better graphics cards and a faster FSB. The Rev A iMacs are still lovely machines but Aperture would love a Rev B or C.

I think he's sticking with Lightroom.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I've heard good things about Lightroom too, if it does what you want then go for it!

Although I think its fine to have quite high system requirements, I don't approve of Apple's way of stopping the program from running or even installing if it doesn't meet the minimum requirements.

 

[Eidorian]

I've heard good things about Lightroom too, if it does what you want then go for it!

Although I think its fine to have quite high system requirements, I don't approve of Apple's way of stopping the program from running or even installing if it doesn't meet the minimum requirements.

Neh, that is annoying. Aperture appears to be the most demanding of Apple's most recent applications. Most of the other professional ones require a good G4 (+500 MHz) and Quartz Extreme.

 

[Willy S]

Yes Lightroom gets the job done well and easilly. Aperture has far more features, but it was just too slow for me to learn to use it.

And I´m just getting too used to Lightroom so I doubt I would want to switch...

 

[Eidorian]

Yes Lightroom gets the job done well and easilly. Aperture has far more features, but it was just too slow for me to learn to use it.

And I´m just getting too used to Lightroom so I doubt I would want to switch...

Well I believe Lightroom is still in Beta. Adobe is taking suggestions so give them! You might just get what you want.

 

[Willy S]

I've heard good things about Lightroom too, if it does what you want then go for it!

Although I think its fine to have quite high system requirements, I don't approve of Apple's way of stopping the program from running or even installing if it doesn't meet the minimum requirements.

Well, yes, but Aperture is too slow in iMac G5 Rev A even with 2GB ram installed...

I think Aperture was a mistake of Apple´s behalf since they have been skimping on the hardware for so long. Not many % of Apple owners can use the program and that fact made me realise you get so much more speed for the money when buying a PC to build yourself.

Linux is always getting better and hopefully Windows as well....

 

[Willy S]

Well I believe Lightroom is still in Beta. Adobe is taking suggestions so give them! You might just get what you want.

Yea....it would be nice to being able to sharpen the photos before jpg conversion, but I don´t think they are going to put it into the program.

 

[Eidorian]

Well, yes, but Aperture is too slow in iMac G5 Rev A even with 2GB ram installed...

I think Aperture was a mistake of Apple´s behalf since they have been skimping on the hardware for so long. Not many % of Apple owners can use the program and that fact made me realise you get so much more speed for the money when buying a PC to build yourself.

Linux is always getting better and hopefully Windows as well....

I think it was mostly on the original Rev. A iMac G5. There laptops have been lagging for a long time but their desktops weren't that bad.

I was amazed at what the new Intel machines offered. (Minus the new Mini of course.)

Apple really corrected the video card issues in the Rev. B/C iMac G5. I never thought the G5 was that powerful until I started doing video encoding and image editing. It really started to shine there with Apple/Adobe/freeware applications for OS X.

 

[Willy S]

Well, I have no complaints about the G5s, they do their job quite nicely in other programs except Aperture.

Do you know what panels are being used in the Intel iMacs?

 

[Eidorian]

Well, I have no complaints about the G5s, they do their job quite nicely in other programs except Aperture.

Do you know what panels are being used in the Intel iMacs?

More than likely the same ones as in the G5 iMacs. I was surprised at the quality of the panel on my iMac. I don't get any color issues until I reach rather large angles. (45-60 degrees left/right)

 

[Willy S]

The 20" iMac screens are better than the 17", they have better viewing angles so I guess the 20" have PVA panels or something like that.

Only ACDs have 178° viewing angles so I guess they are the only displays that have S-IPS panels which are best for photo editing.

 

[Eidorian]

The 20" iMac screens are better than the 17", they have better viewing angles so I guess the 20" have PVA panels or something like that.

Only ACDs have 178° viewing angles so I guess they are the only displays that have S-IPS panels which are best for photo editing.

Have you tried a different calibration profile? I found the default Mac one terrible. (Washed out and pale colors.) I use Adobe RGB (1998) on all of my Macs now.

Edit: After a bit of examination the default iMac profile appears to be the best one for me. The Adobe RGB (1998) profile left my images with a bluish tint. Does anyone have a more professional opinion?

 

[Willy S]

I have tried many profiles on my 17" iMac, but these are TN panels and never look the same, varies very much depending on your angle from the screen. I never know which is the the right angle. Calibration helps, but the panel just lack accuracy that is needed for photo editing.