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Horrible Conundrum

I

ibilly

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 2, 2003
248
0
Boulder
I recently got a bit extra cash (about $1000) for a couple of photos that I sold. Now, I've been wanting to do a few things to my list of equipment for updating. I have a Rev A 12" PB, a Digital Rebel, and Photoshop 7. I am starting to shoot in RAW, and iPhoto doesn't really deal with it. Also, PS 7 doesn't deal with it at all. I mush open Canon's clunky software, and spend several minutes exporting each image I want to deal with and still take advantage of RAW with. Photoshop CS (8) deals quite well with RAW and has a host of other upgrades that I would find quite useful. I'm quite cramped by my 12" screen, but have a really old apple 17" CRT (centris era) that works OK with my PB, but slows things down, and has some distortion and convergence problems I can't seem to fix. Not only am I cramped by the screen, but it crawls in almost every task I put it to, w/ maxed ram (640 MB, I didn't shell for the 1 GB chip.)

So basically, i could use a faster computer, a new Photoshop version, and many of the things I'd like to do with my photography, I can't due to the limitations of my camera. Add that to the list. Also, there are several lenses for my camera that I would love, but are about $700 each.

$1000 is stretching it. I actually don't have that much, but could scrape it together in a fer months. Tiger will be covered by my dad, so I won't need to buy that.

Advice on what to get, workarounds, good deals, etc?
 
first thing i would do if i were you is get a pen and paper, and list what you need and want replaced, and what else you would like, figure out the pros and cons of each as well as the cost

from here you can start to figure out what will benefit you the most so that you can make more money and upgrade the other pieces along the way, but i really think that even though this may take a bit of time, it is the best way for you to come to the right decision youself because only you know what will benefit what you do the best in the end
 
good advice. the problem is taht I don't really NEED any of these, but all of them would have significant benefits. I'm thinking that I a 1.25-1.33 Ghz powerbook would be good. the 15inchers are out of my price range all the way down to around 800 mhz. the 12" aren't in constant supply so an average price is hard to gauge... 17" is not what I need. too big, and I don't want to pay the premium for the extra realestate. I'd rather get more kick from a smaller model
On Photoshop, it's really expensive, even on ebay, for the beneifits. I don't think that anybody that views my shots has the scrunity to appreciate the extra detail, except me...
the camera: I t seems to hold everything that I wanted from my current one, but it's at least $900 and my current one does fine.
the lenses would be great, but I don't think I could mentally deal with handling such an expensive thing that is so fragile. they're at least $700, and my current set does ok w/o the big price.
so basically i'll have all this dough, a lot of things I want, and I wouldn't be able to get everything as a complete package w/o around $3000. now that's a pile of dough.

everthing is dependent on everthing else in the network, so I guess I'm asking if anybody thinks that one would have the greatest impact for me over the others. I hust can't decide...
 
well then seeing as you dont feel that you NEED any of this right now....

you mention screen real estate would be nice, well why not just use part of that to get yourself a decent LCD monitor to hook up to your powerbook

i would get that, and save the rest, and wait until you see and can figure out what will benefit you the most in the long run, just because you have the money doesnt mean you have to spend it, but i can see you getting the most benefit out of the screen space and how much easier it would to use at a desktop area
 
I'd sell your 12" rev A (867 MHz G4) Powerbook and get an older base model 15" Powerbook, maybe the 1.33 GHz G4 or something. No need for a new display, really.

Do you already have iPhoto 5? If you don't, then spend some cash on iLife 05 and get your RAW images that way. Does Image Capture allow for you to get RAW images from your camera?

Either that, or get a new 17" LCD. It can't cost THAT much, and yet the resolution might be much better.

The camera stuff isn't necessary.
 
Abstract said:
I'd sell your 12" rev A (867 MHz G4) Powerbook and get an older base model 15" Powerbook, maybe the 1.33 GHz G4 or something. No need for a new display, really.

Do you already have iPhoto 5? If you don't, then spend some cash on iLife 05 and get your RAW images that way. Does Image Capture allow for you to get RAW images from your camera?

Either that, or get a new 17" LCD. It can't cost THAT much, and yet the resolution might be much better.

The camera stuff isn't necessary.
Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards Photoshop Cs2 and then working on replacing the lappy. The 15"ers have such a strong resale value....
It's strange how many different models easily fetch anywhere between $900 and $1300 (awesome ones more) but very rarely is there a decent powerbook that hasn't depreciated from 4-6 years of oldness that is under $900... interesting and frustrating (I really want to see some decent machinrs in the 6-700 range). oh well

what would you all think of an iMac G5 for heavy duty photo editing? Minis are waay out of the question, and imacs seem to have some decent deals around. i'd go for 1.8, 17". thoughts?
 
what's wrong with a good quality CRT monitor?

Yeah they take up more space, but I edit photos all day on mine just fine, and so do allot of people.

That way you would have more money for other upgrades, since large CRT monitors usually cost allot less then the CRT eq.
 
I can tell you that the iMac G5 display is much brighter, clearer, and truer than most run-of-the-mill CRT's. Of course there are external monitors out there that would do you right, but if you are looking to upgrade your machine and display simultaneously, the iMac G5 would be a great solution.

If you go that route, it would be the easiest and cheapest way to get into the G5 realm. It would last you a long time, and they are reasonably portable, if you must have portability.

Also, if I were you, I would check in the classifieds of MacRumors.com for a used Photoshop CS deal. People are always selling great stuff around here. What you can do is post a "Wanted to Buy" (WTB) Phostoshop CS thread and someone may just make you an offer.
 
about the CS want ad: I'd look for the new version. I'll have to wait to see when it's availible.

about teh iMac: IT seems good, but I'm wondering about how it does under heavy load, with all these burdens that most people bon't laden their compys with (performance-wise)

About my monitor: I have a reallly old 17" CRT that doesn't do things great, but gets me by. I just have problems with it on my desk (too deep) so it's either on a nightstand, or a side table, and then keyboark/mouse/tablet are all on my lap... it's not great. SO i don't plug in often.
 
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