Please help me choose the right Mac...

[jfk23]

I was directed here by someone from another forum to help me buy a new Mac, this was my original post:


"Im after a Mac that will run the most recent version of OSX and the only software I need it to run will be Adobe Creative Suite 2 and perhaps a couple of similar design programs. I'm not as clued up on Mac's as PC's so don't know where to start.

I'd be happy with an iBook, iMac, MacBook or MacPro, but don't really know which would be better than the other. The advantages of a laptop would be very handy as it will be used for work and home, but then a decent desktop would suffice at home.

Is there anywhere that I can get hold of the older machines (brand new preferably) at a cheap price? Or do I really need the most recent machines?

Thanks in advance."



So that I don't end up asking the same questions again, you can read the thread here.

Hope you guys can help out some more.

 

[iBookG4user]

Well Adobe Creative Suite 2 is not a universal binary yet so it won't run as fast as it could right now. Apple's older laptops are a lot slower than the current ones because they just switched over to the intel processors so you wouldn't want to get a G4 based one because it will become dated a lot quicker than the new ones. I think that you should get a PowerMac now and then once Adobe gets Creative Suite 3 out which will be a universal binary then go to a Mac Pro. Although, are you on a budget?

 

[jfk23]

Well yes kind of, I had settled on a 17" 2.0GHz iMac but then since then I've been told otherwise.

 

[iBookG4user]

The iMacs are nice also, I have a core duo iMac and it does everything pretty fast. Although it needs more RAM because it gets pretty slow with only 512MB. Also, if your programs aren't GPU intensive then you can get a MacBook and it won't be that much slower than the iMac and will be roughly the same price. But make sure you get 2GB of RAM for them.

 

[jfk23]

So you would say that the current laptop range are not much different from the iMac range?

 

[andrewmulligan]

If you don't need a Mac right this instant then you could hold out and get one when Adobe (never) puts out the Creative Suite as a Universal Binary.

The notebook/desktop thing really depends. If you want lots of power and don't care about portability then you could go for a 20-24" iMac or a Mac Pro. For notebooks I would recommend a MacBook Pro.

 

[miles01110]

I think an iMac would be quite good for you.

 

[budugu]

Well yes kind of, I had settled on a 17" 2.0GHz iMac but then since then I've been told otherwise.

If your sole purpose is ADobe CS2 you might want to get those 500-600$ core 2 Duo PCs or Core Duo Laptops (windows) and buy a mac once there are universal binaries. OR just by a new intel mac and just run it using bootcamp .. so that you can take advantage of dual Core