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My Pc at home is giving up the ghost it is sruggling with dealing with photos. Any recomendations for a manufacturer that allows you to customise your computer online, I have a decent screen so I need the option of buying without. I would love to get a macpro but that is well out of my budget at the moment I have had a look at dell and evesham.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
All I can say is stay well away from boltonpc. They sent me a PC that didn't go and I had a rotten time trying to get them to sort it out.
You could go for a mac mini if you've got a screen and want to go the apple way.
All I can say is stay well away from boltonpc. They sent me a PC that didn't go and I had a rotten time trying to get them to sort it out.
You could go for a mac mini if you've got a screen and want to go the apple way.
In reply to brothersoulshine: I dont think the macmini will have the oomph to run some of the software fast enough to avoid frustration thanks for the warning.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
You could try HP Business (rather than domestic). As they use slightly different cases and motherboards check with their upgrade compatibility site to ensure you get everything you need. They are not that cheap, but not outrageously expensive and you should be able to combine a good video card with enough RAM and not be too busted.
On the Mac side, the Macpro needs several things added to be adequate for photography and will cost c £2500 (4GB RAM, XT1900 card, lots of disk space and intermediate processor) and I don't think this is good value for money for most. P.S If you are going to use Aperture definitely go for the most RAM rich and up-market video card you can afford or it will be very frustrating.
HTH
You could try HP Business (rather than domestic). As they use slightly different cases and motherboards check with their upgrade compatibility site to ensure you get everything you need. They are not that cheap, but not outrageously expensive and you should be able to combine a good video card with enough RAM and not be too busted.
On the Mac side, the Macpro needs several things added to be adequate for photography and will cost c £2500 (4GB RAM, XT1900 card, lots of disk space and intermediate processor) and I don't think this is good value for money for most. P.S If you are going to use Aperture definitely go for the most RAM rich and up-market video card you can afford or it will be very frustrating.
HTH
In reply to jethro kiernan:
Mesh is the other standard name in the frame:
http://www.meshcomputers.com/
Mesh is the other standard name in the frame:
http://www.meshcomputers.com/
In reply to jethro kiernan:
What's the budget for the box (i.e. without monitor, keyboard software etc).
I'd recommend three internal SATA drives:
Drive 1 - Windows & programs (say 160GB)
Drive 2 - Images & Data( say 600GB)
Drive 3 - Backup drive (say 600GB & compressed files)
What's the budget for the box (i.e. without monitor, keyboard software etc).
I'd recommend three internal SATA drives:
Drive 1 - Windows & programs (say 160GB)
Drive 2 - Images & Data( say 600GB)
Drive 3 - Backup drive (say 600GB & compressed files)
In reply to jethro kiernan:
Unless you're dealing with professional-size images and doing very heavy editing (or unless you're almost unbelievably impatient I suppose), the Mac mini should have plenty of grunt. We've got one here in the office and it's plenty quick enough for our needs.
Unless you're dealing with professional-size images and doing very heavy editing (or unless you're almost unbelievably impatient I suppose), the Mac mini should have plenty of grunt. We've got one here in the office and it's plenty quick enough for our needs.
In reply to jethro kiernan: We bought a bunch of Mesh diual-cores a while back and they seemed ok. I think some people have had problems with their customer service but that hasn't been my experience.
In reply to brothersoulshine:
I didn't spot where he said that. But if he is then he should definitely be considering a Mac with a big external hard drive. The Core 2 Duo processors are much, much faster with graphics then anything a reasonable PC can offer. Both the photographers here use Macs.
I didn't spot where he said that. But if he is then he should definitely be considering a Mac with a big external hard drive. The Core 2 Duo processors are much, much faster with graphics then anything a reasonable PC can offer. Both the photographers here use Macs.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
Dell, In my research I've found them to be the best value all round, If you get VISTA then make it VISTA business, not home or home premium, get at three year warranty and by buying one of the small business models you can choose not to get a screen. You may find that a good 17" flat panel is just an extra £50 though. Get 2GB ram.
Dell, In my research I've found them to be the best value all round, If you get VISTA then make it VISTA business, not home or home premium, get at three year warranty and by buying one of the small business models you can choose not to get a screen. You may find that a good 17" flat panel is just an extra £50 though. Get 2GB ram.
In reply to ChrisJD:
Don't have backup drive in same box. If you get the wrong kind of power supply failure, all your hard drives are fried. I have an old PC with a selection of big hard disks as a backup for the other PCs / laptops in the house. I'm currently using an HP AMD Turion laptop with 2GB memory for Photoshop.
Don't have backup drive in same box. If you get the wrong kind of power supply failure, all your hard drives are fried. I have an old PC with a selection of big hard disks as a backup for the other PCs / laptops in the house. I'm currently using an HP AMD Turion laptop with 2GB memory for Photoshop.
In reply to sandywilson:
I've been using an online service for backups. http://mozy.com
It works fine for me and my writing, although I suspect it might be a little slow for a photographer.
I've been using an online service for backups. http://mozy.com
It works fine for me and my writing, although I suspect it might be a little slow for a photographer.
In reply to sandywilson:
You need a decent surge protector ! I also have a very good stabkle power supply in the PC (custom built).
In addition to the internal original & internal back up, I also have two external hard drive back up (2x 600GB Firewire 800). All my images are in three places at once (all mirrored using a Soft RIAD system).
I went across to XP 64 bit to get more RAM for large images in CS3. 64 bit has a few "issues", but means every programm can now access up to 3GB of RAM (as opposed to 2GB) and the Motherboard limit is 8GB, not 3GB.
You need a decent surge protector ! I also have a very good stabkle power supply in the PC (custom built).
In addition to the internal original & internal back up, I also have two external hard drive back up (2x 600GB Firewire 800). All my images are in three places at once (all mirrored using a Soft RIAD system).
I went across to XP 64 bit to get more RAM for large images in CS3. 64 bit has a few "issues", but means every programm can now access up to 3GB of RAM (as opposed to 2GB) and the Motherboard limit is 8GB, not 3GB.
In reply to brothersoulshine:
I use Mozy too - think it's a brilliant service. Nothing like an offsite backup, and for £30 a year...
I use Mozy too - think it's a brilliant service. Nothing like an offsite backup, and for £30 a year...
In reply to jethro kiernan: I am looking for 4gb ram pretty fast proccessor, I have the screen I need to sift through quite a few images at a go and some of then are up to 60mb if they are in tiff using adobe lightroom and photoshop, All those extra seconds per image soon add up over a few hundred images.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
Check that you can get 4GB RAM into the Windows 32 bit OS system, else you'll have to go 64 bit (which is not without its issues!).
Make sure its configured in a dual channel set up.
> (In reply to jethro kiernan) I am looking for 4gb ram pretty fast proccessor,
Check that you can get 4GB RAM into the Windows 32 bit OS system, else you'll have to go 64 bit (which is not without its issues!).
Make sure its configured in a dual channel set up.
In reply to ChrisJD: what are the issues with 64bit?
In reply to jethro kiernan: Lots(!!!) of hardware and programs don't work properly (or at all) with 64-bit!
In reply to Gareth James:
That's Pentium 64-bit. AMD 64 bit processors load and run 32-bit Windows and programs perfectly, so their 64 bit capability should best be regarded as a bit of useful "future-proofing" only.
The realisation of the actual potential of 64 bit is still in the future, your implication is quite correct there, though ..
To the OP:
If you are pretty sure of the spec. you are after, have you really not considered building your own? It's a lot more straightforward than most folks realise.
I've recently finished building a machine around this lot:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=314943
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=5546&category_id=5...
.. and it's a cracker. I've got 2GB of ram, but there's slots for the same again.
For your requirements I would definitely suggest putting the operating system and programs on a Western Digital Raptor 10000 rpm SATA hard drive, with another say, 500GB standard 7200 rpm SATA hard drive for storage. Seagate have been my automatic choice here for many years.
As mentioned above, storage drives may be better in external housings. They make the whole setup much more flexible, anyway ..
Cosmic John.
CJ.
That's Pentium 64-bit. AMD 64 bit processors load and run 32-bit Windows and programs perfectly, so their 64 bit capability should best be regarded as a bit of useful "future-proofing" only.
The realisation of the actual potential of 64 bit is still in the future, your implication is quite correct there, though ..
To the OP:
If you are pretty sure of the spec. you are after, have you really not considered building your own? It's a lot more straightforward than most folks realise.
I've recently finished building a machine around this lot:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=314943
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=5546&category_id=5...
.. and it's a cracker. I've got 2GB of ram, but there's slots for the same again.
For your requirements I would definitely suggest putting the operating system and programs on a Western Digital Raptor 10000 rpm SATA hard drive, with another say, 500GB standard 7200 rpm SATA hard drive for storage. Seagate have been my automatic choice here for many years.
As mentioned above, storage drives may be better in external housings. They make the whole setup much more flexible, anyway ..
Cosmic John.
CJ.
In reply to Anonymous: cheers I was going to go for two drives on the computer and back everything up on external drives.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
Then you'll definitely be better off with a Mac.
I'm not some Apple evangelist, I'm the creative director of a design agency and that's my simple advice: get a Mac. I've got 2 photographers here in the studio, and neither of them would even consider using a PC for photographic work, especially as a lightbox.
> I am looking for 4gb ram pretty fast proccessor, I have the screen I need to sift through quite a few images at a go and some of then are up to 60mb if they are in tiff using adobe lightroom and photoshop, All those extra seconds per image soon add up over a few hundred images.
Then you'll definitely be better off with a Mac.
I'm not some Apple evangelist, I'm the creative director of a design agency and that's my simple advice: get a Mac. I've got 2 photographers here in the studio, and neither of them would even consider using a PC for photographic work, especially as a lightbox.
In reply to niggle: I would love to get a mac, the mac pros are just to expensive at the moment a configuered pc is half as much as the mac before you configure it, the price difference is not one I can afford at the moment much as I would like to.
In reply to Gareth James & jethro kiernan:
I've not found it has had any problems with running programs at all. Have had to download 64 bit versions of some software.
Nothing that's a show stopper, its just feels that it is not yet a fully rounded product.
Had major problems with getting the Lacie Firewire 800 card to work on my external drives and have to use USB2.0 or Firewire 400 (tried all the registry fixes recommended for Firewire 800 for 32 bit OS. Lacie support was no help - they said try another brand of card!!)
The RAM was a bit of a disappointment when I found out that each programme can only use up to 3GB (I put in 8 GB hoping for great things).
But it has its advantages with a dual processor: the other day I had PTGUI stitching a 300 Mega pixel image in the background (it can take ages), whilst using CS3 to edit another large image and I had Lightroom open and was surfing the net (two screens are handy!). System just kept working and had a RAM usage of nearly 5GB. Nice !
Would I go 64 bit if I knew what I know now.....probably!
> Lots(!!!) of hardware and programs don't work properly (or at all) with 64-bit!
I've not found it has had any problems with running programs at all. Have had to download 64 bit versions of some software.
Nothing that's a show stopper, its just feels that it is not yet a fully rounded product.
Had major problems with getting the Lacie Firewire 800 card to work on my external drives and have to use USB2.0 or Firewire 400 (tried all the registry fixes recommended for Firewire 800 for 32 bit OS. Lacie support was no help - they said try another brand of card!!)
The RAM was a bit of a disappointment when I found out that each programme can only use up to 3GB (I put in 8 GB hoping for great things).
But it has its advantages with a dual processor: the other day I had PTGUI stitching a 300 Mega pixel image in the background (it can take ages), whilst using CS3 to edit another large image and I had Lightroom open and was surfing the net (two screens are handy!). System just kept working and had a RAM usage of nearly 5GB. Nice !
Would I go 64 bit if I knew what I know now.....probably!
In reply to ChrisJD: just wondering if older hardware like printer and film scanner etc would have problems??
In reply to jethro kiernan:
They could have !
You would need to checkout drivers & support on line. Things are a lot better than they used to be (apparently)
My two Espon printers have had no issues.
They could have !
You would need to checkout drivers & support on line. Things are a lot better than they used to be (apparently)
My two Espon printers have had no issues.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
In that case it might be worth checking out a Macbook. I'm running a black one with 2Gb of RAM and it rips through stuff in CS3 (much faster than my previous dual-core AMD XP box with the same amount of RAM and a scratch disk too). Despite the Mac website only allowing you to customise them to 2Gb, they will actually address 3Gb of RAM as well.
If you're going for a windows machine, 64-bit can be useful but I found I couldn't get drivers for my printer or my monitor calibration Spyder, which was a bit of show-stopper! I'd check everything you'll need to plug in before you commit to it.
FWIW, we've had three Mesh machines which have all been fine, and so far the Macbook is proving amazing.
> (In reply to niggle) I would love to get a mac, the mac pros are just to expensive at the moment
In that case it might be worth checking out a Macbook. I'm running a black one with 2Gb of RAM and it rips through stuff in CS3 (much faster than my previous dual-core AMD XP box with the same amount of RAM and a scratch disk too). Despite the Mac website only allowing you to customise them to 2Gb, they will actually address 3Gb of RAM as well.
If you're going for a windows machine, 64-bit can be useful but I found I couldn't get drivers for my printer or my monitor calibration Spyder, which was a bit of show-stopper! I'd check everything you'll need to plug in before you commit to it.
FWIW, we've had three Mesh machines which have all been fine, and so far the Macbook is proving amazing.
In reply to haydn:
>but I found I couldn't get drivers for my printer or my monitor calibration Spyder, which was a bit of show-stopper! I'd check everything you'll need to plug in before you commit to it.
All sound advice.
My Monaco Spyder worked without any problems. Issues will be brand dependant.
>but I found I couldn't get drivers for my printer or my monitor calibration Spyder, which was a bit of show-stopper! I'd check everything you'll need to plug in before you commit to it.
All sound advice.
My Monaco Spyder worked without any problems. Issues will be brand dependant.
In reply to haydn:
Interesting review of new and old screen on Macbooks here:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-8741-9027
Interesting review of new and old screen on Macbooks here:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-8741-9027
In reply to ChrisJD: Cheers all helpfull advice may have to think about 32 bit for now.
In reply to ChrisJD:
And if you're using photoshop, 4 disks are good - it's a lot faster loading large images with the photoshop swap file on a seperate drive . I have 3 internal and a backup drive in an external USB2 caddy. When that fills up I buy another 150 gig hard drive (or whatevers most cost effective) and put that in the caddy.
And if you're using photoshop, 4 disks are good - it's a lot faster loading large images with the photoshop swap file on a seperate drive . I have 3 internal and a backup drive in an external USB2 caddy. When that fills up I buy another 150 gig hard drive (or whatevers most cost effective) and put that in the caddy.
In reply to JDal:
500GB at £60-£65 seems to be the best value in pence per gigabyte at the moment.
I remember paying £150 for one of the very first 30GB hard drives. It was so enormous that I simply could not conceive of ever filling it ..
CJ.
500GB at £60-£65 seems to be the best value in pence per gigabyte at the moment.
I remember paying £150 for one of the very first 30GB hard drives. It was so enormous that I simply could not conceive of ever filling it ..
CJ.
In reply to Anonymous/ Cosmic John:
We've built a couple of machnies in the past (they are still going strong). The most scary bit is sticking the Processor onto the MB......
> If you are pretty sure of the spec. you are after, have you really not considered building your own? It's a lot more straightforward than most folks realise.
We've built a couple of machnies in the past (they are still going strong). The most scary bit is sticking the Processor onto the MB......
In reply to ChrisJD:Just checked out your website looks good close up stuff is cool, I take it your going to build it up.
In reply to jethro kiernan:
It is the plan - its just a beta site at the mo.
Cheers for the feed back. So much to do !
It is the plan - its just a beta site at the mo.
Cheers for the feed back. So much to do !
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