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Adobe Suite Question....Mac Really better?

E

efoto

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2004
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Cloud 9 (-6)
I have been looking into a *book for ages now, and I am finally ready to pull the trigger and order one (as soon as Jobs speaks in Jan.).

My major concern is that I am getting a slower computer (going to start off my Mac experience with a PBook I think) in comparison to a related PC (I know its a strecth, just go with me for a second).

I use Photoshop extensively, 7.0 on the ol' PC desktop, and a trial of CS now. I am moving everything to CS for obvious reasons, but my question is this:
Is Photoshop tailored to Macs? (I believe I read something on this somewhere..)

I am wondering if the design and way that the G4 core works is optimized for use in programs like Photoshop. Setting price aside it feels like I can get a more up-to-date PC laptop than a Mac (hoping this changes at least slightly in Jan.) and I was just wondering if a 1.33G4 can handle CS stuff effectively (comparison to latest P-M and CS in Win :( ).

Sorry to reword the arguement three times...just wanted to make sure there is a phrasing for everyone :p. Thanks for the responses.

Edit: To stave off the onslaught I foresee...the reason I am looking at the 12" 1.33 is for portability, screen real estate is a null concern because I will always have larger monitors for display purposes, I want the power and portability here. I hope that keeps the "why you gettin a 12" for CS!??" comments away.
 
If you look only at the raw speed of processing Photoshop CS files on a 12" 1.33 PowerBook vs. a comparably priced PC, then perhaps you will find CS running better on the PC laptop, simply because the processor you get will be slightly faster (don't rely purely on the GHz numbers, though). I don't think CS is specifically "optimized" for the Mac, although it is designed to run better on the dual-G5 configurations, and will take advantage of their design.

That being said, there are other things that may impact the overall performance of the system. As a PC owner already, you may be prepared to deal with the various, um, "nuances" of the Windows world - viruses, spyware, adware, etc. These are things you don't generally deal with when using a Mac.

Also, I would hazard a guess that the Mac will tend to be inherently more stable, so the amount of uninterrupted time you will have on your PBook will be more that with the PC.

Of course, the PB looks better, and OS X is a definite winner.
 
I have both a 1.33Ghz Powerbook G4 and a 1.4Ghz Centrino Sony Notebook. They both have the same amount of ram and relatively same hard drive space. The Sony outperforms the G4 in every built-in and third-party filter (Eye Candy), except for gaussian blur.

The G4 processor is ageing. Its time for a new processor from Apple/Motorola/IBM that is built from the ground up to be a mobile processor (like Pentium M).
 
In respect of a comparative experience of Photoshop CS Mac/Win; there really is something very odd when running under Windows XP.

It feels very sluggish almost unfinished, admitedly it is only the trial version as d/l'ed from Adobe that I've used under Windows - although I am a frequent user of PS7 Windows and that feels just fine!?

On the whole running under an iBook G4 12" 800 Photoshop CS Mac is fine and dandy for the kind of work I personally perform... general image editing, often with the comps being taken into FW04 for final web-tweaking. So nothing "to" taxing really!

HTH :)
 
I think the PB has given me a piece of mind, which made it all worth it when I switched from PC->Mac.

I also use Photoshop CS, although it didn't run too bad on either setups to the point where I noticed a huge difference, the startup lag, adwares, and whatever general slow downs usually make me want to take a bat and whack the crap out of my PC. By no means was my PC slow, it was pretty well built, just the downfalls of a PC that brought me to switch.
 
I didn't mean to imply that CS was 'optimized' for Mac, but it just seems like I have read in other places that Adobe has been very good with producing products semi-tailored to the Mac platform. (Dreamweaver obviously produced for PC, is usable but not as effective on Mac...so I've heard)

I am sure the newest and top of the line Dothan core P-Ms will probably outperform a 1.33 G4...I guess my true intent comes down to workable preferences.

For those of you that do use CS, is it relatively quick and responsive or does it lag in every feature? (some high level filters and full-image aspects take a long time, taken into account...)

Also, what type of files and what sizes are you all using? as this makes a large difference in initial 'lag' and image responsiveness.
Thanks again.
 
If you are *so* concerned about performance, why are you looking at a laptop (either mac or pc) when the best performance on the dollar is in the form of a desktop?

Sounds like you already have an idea of what you want.
 
efoto said:
Edit: To stave off the onslaught I foresee...the reason I am looking at the 12" 1.33 is for PORTABILITY, screen real estate is a null concern because I will always have larger monitors for display purposes, I want the power and portability here. I hope that keeps the "why you gettin a 12" for CS!??" comments away.
Click to expand...

I tried to make it easier to read this time....

I said I was looking for a portable solution. I realize that a desktop will outperform any mobile solution, but sometimes a mobile solution is what is required.

Your thoughts on a 1.33 12" for use with CS would be appreciated...
 
I don't know of a clear advantage to using Adobe CS on a Mac versus a PC.

I've been managing the prepress department at a printing company for seven years, and every electronic prepress operator we have ever had always says the same thing: "Macs are better for design and publishing applications." While this is an old saw which becomes less true every year, I think the Mac still holds the following three decent advantages:

• Font management - We virtually never have font problems with Mac files, even when our clients forget to provide their own fonts. We frequently run into font issues with jobs provided from a PC, usually because the person doing the work is somewhat ignorant of the fact that they need to provide fonts (or that there are even such things as screen and printer fonts).

• Applications - Most jobs we get on the Mac platform are created in the industry standard applications - Quark, Adobe CS, Freehand. We rarely get Mac Word or Powerpoint files. People who use Macs are generally savvy enough to know which applications are best suited for print production (which distills down to "can you print color separated lasers of your doc?"). More than half of our PC files are Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, badly created pdf files, that sort of thing. This is because these people are doing design and producing files as a way to concerve their budget, and are merely using the applications available to them. Most companies who have a non-designer type person create their files are not likely to go spend $2,000 on a Mac and $800 on Quark or $1200 on Adobe CS, when they can make perfectly acceptable docs with Word. Scary, but true.

• Ease of OS - Since the Mac has held dominance in this environment for so long, operators have historically been far more comfortable with the Mac OS than any version of Windows. Despite the improvements with XP and the temporary challenges caused by switch to Mac OS X, there is still a Mac advantage, but once you get to the applications, it really boils down to personal preference.
 
efoto said:
.....Your thoughts on a 1.33 12" for use with CS would be appreciated...
Click to expand...

The fastest Mac we have (out of 19 production machines) is a 1.25GHz G4 PM. CS runs fine for us with this hardware. I think your 1.33 PB will service you fine. Sure, it won't be the fastest machine on the planet. If you really think you need a faster portable solution, go with a PC now or wait for a revelation in Apple laptops, sometime between WWDC '05 and MWSF '06.
 
That is a decent deal, but $1500 is esentially the same I will pay for the same laptop new from the Apple Store online with an 80 5400 drive, which from the reads sounds like a good purchase. I already have ram that *should* work, but since I have it already its worth a shot before purchasing more.

Thanks for the heads up though.
 
efoto said:
I tried to make it easier to read this time....

I said I was looking for a portable solution. I realize that a desktop will outperform any mobile solution, but sometimes a mobile solution is what is required.

Your thoughts on a 1.33 12" for use with CS would be appreciated...
Click to expand...

Well I use the CS Suite on a PB 12" rev. B, and been very pleased with the performance. Though I would make sure you get a fast HDD. I was surprised at the performance of the eMac 1.25 with the 160gb HDD compared to my PB.

Also in my limited experience, I found that the Mac version rendered PS files "smoother" than what I experienced with a PC based system.
 
Blue Velvet said:
If you wait for a bit, you may get a better deal on a more powerful machine plus the new rumoured-to-be-released Creative Suite 2 early next year.

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0409adobecs20.html
Click to expand...
:

eek: thats a bit soon! or so i thought until i read the thinksecret article. Ahh well i can't afford to buy the new version even if i wanted to, even with my whopping educational discount! I just bought an iPod and will just have to be as creative with the creative suite 1!
 
Maybe this is just an issue with my Powerbook, but when I perform a filter on a image, after the render is complete I have to press (command) + (plus), therefore zooming in on the image, to see the changes. After I press (command) + (minus) the image is refreashed. Photoshop does not automatically render a refreashed view. Anyone know how to fix this? It's not memory, I have 1.25GBs!
 
Would it be a safe assumption that the Creative Suite 2.0 would debut for a similar pricepoint to the current v1.1?

I am waiting to see if I can pay less for similar product or snag a slight upgrade on the computer, and that new software sounds intriguing, I will have to wait and see.
 
efoto said:
Would it be a safe assumption that the Creative Suite 2.0 would debut for a similar pricepoint to the current v1.1?

I am waiting to see if I can pay less for similar product or snag a slight upgrade on the computer, and that new software sounds intriguing, I will have to wait and see.
Click to expand...

yeah, the pricing is pretty much set in stone. There aren't usually price drops i wouldn't say. Its always been expensive! :rolleyes:
 
Going back to the original topic, I do own a Rev B 1 Ghz 12" Powerbook, and I run Photoshop CS on it regularly. Startup is pretty fast, not instant, but like around 3 to 4 seconds? I haven't had much experience with top-end windows machines running Photoshop CS recently, but comparing it roughly with another friend with a new Windows laptop it gives roughly the same performance, although the interface is slightly more friendly in the Mac version, or maybe I'm just biased. What kind of PS work do you do? There was no real visible lag when I was playing around with big photo files, and no real visible lag when I was fooling around with a multiple layer wallpaper-sized file. But I guess if you're looking at it from a professional's viewpoint, or someone who uses Photoshop for his/her job, it may not be as satisfactory than a higher-end Windows laptop. I must say though, multi-tasking WHILST using Photoshop on the Mac OS is a LOT better than on Windows. I can play a movie in the background whilst editing photos and it still doesn't lag.

You really might want to look into getting a big screen to connect your laptop to at home though. A 12 inch screen is okay once in a while, but it feels a little small after a trip to the Apple store to stare at the new cinema displays.
 
I use PS for my hobbie-job. It does assist me to generate some income but not my fulltime position.

I do have an external display (Dell 2001FP 20") which I will use as a larger screen for this laptop upon my return from Europe (where I will be traveling for three months leaving in March).

If your running it fine on a 12" with a 1ghz processor (assuming a lot of ram...how much?) then I should be fine with the newer 1.33, so thank you for helping me feel safer with that.

So basically, if I max it out at 1.25gb of ram, it should be fine powered by a 1.33? despite the screen being small...but it should actually function fine and almost approaching speedily??
 
I think if you max the ram out you would probably be faster than an off-the-shelf new Windows laptop. Even with a higher processor count. I only have 512MB and I'm already very happy.

It will function just fine, I should think. Good luck on your new pb-baby!
 
chiiyo said:
I think if you max the ram out you would probably be faster than an off-the-shelf new Windows laptop. Even with a higher processor count. I only have 512MB and I'm already very happy.

It will function just fine, I should think. Good luck on your new pb-baby!
Click to expand...

Great, I was hoping for more good reviews like this one. I am glad to hear that the processor itself is enough to power PS effectively. I planned on maxing the ram already, so with 1.25gb I am confident it will be fine.
 
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