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mscherer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
1
0
Hi!

I do freelance photo retouching and graphic design. I'd like to purchase a new computer, but am having a hard time deciding between the MacBook Pro and an iMac (please see the attached image for specs). Can someone help me out??
 

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Hi!

I do freelance photo retouching and graphic design. I'd like to purchase a new computer, but am having a hard time deciding between the MacBook Pro and an iMac (please see the attached image for specs). Can someone help me out??
Any Mac model, including the Mac mini, can easily accommodate the work you describe. You have to decide on what other factors are important to you, such as portability, screen size, etc.
 
Hi!

I do freelance photo retouching and graphic design. I'd like to purchase a new computer, but am having a hard time deciding between the MacBook Pro and an iMac (please see the attached image for specs). Can someone help me out??

This might not be the fast answer you want but hope it is helpful.

Putting "power" and such aside - the one item you should research is calibration of the screen for each and just how one might prove easier or superior to the other. Nothing worse than doing great work on a poorly calibrated screen and finding that printing becomes an issue and doesn't match or you cannot faithfully match when sending graphic files to a client.

On the techie side - highly suggest getting third party RAM and as much of it as you can for either (up to their limitations). I'll leave comments on faster drives and such to you to look for in terms of how far you are willing to go to optimize either for your work.

On an aside - I have used Lightroom and Photoshop 5/6 on a Mac Mini quad server with reasonable results. I got great results when I swapped out the drives for SSD, maxed out the RAM. Out of the box was 'okay' and with upgrades - like an entirely different beast and very usable. My choice of monitor is an NEC from the PA series. Last thought - I find the smaller iMacs such as the 21" to be usable with the glossy screen but the 27 is more area to get reflections and you would want to be careful where you position it so that you don't get glare or reflections. Best to you on your selection.
 
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