Mac or PC for the job?

[sphere9]

I am planning to start work as a freelance graphic designer very soon however I am unsure of what computer equipment I should purchase.

Originally I was planning on getting something from Apple's Mac line, as I find Mac OS to be very easy to use and wonderful for design based activity. However, I found that their glossy screens can cause eye-damage and are prone to be highly reflective and result in a lot of glare, as I would be working from home and my desk, which I am unable to shift, is situated near a window this would prove to be a problem.

Additionally I feel that the specs of the computers are very underwhelming for the price that they charge.

This led me to checking out Dell's line of Studio computers, were I feel that I have assembled a fairly powerful machine for a wonderful price, coupled with the discount that I receive through my University. However the monitor has led me to some confusion.

Originally I was planning on getting a Dell "S2409W" but after reading some reviews and browsing the Dell website a bit more I discovered the "S14U2410WAU" and "S142709WAU" are either of these more suited the job? I feel a 27" may be a bit overwhelming however.

There is also the last problem, that most professionals and others whom I consulted with claim that you would have to be mad to do any work of this kind on anything other than a Mac, while some say that times are changing and the PC is becoming a stronger player in the game.

Is anyone able to provide some advice?

Thankyou.

 

[Mangofett]

Yep its a common misconception that Macs are better at graphical applications, coming back from the PowerPC days back when they WERE more powerful than PCs for graphics related stuff... nowadays they're the same. Unless the software you need to use is Mac only but I can't really think of anything.

 

[m3rox]

-PC's are a hella lot cheaper than Macs.
-PC parts are very easy to replace/upgrade.
-You can repair your own PC if anything happens to it (rather than having to take it to a 'mac genius' )

But really it all comes down to what you feel the most comfortable using. So are you a mac user or a windows user? Whatever your answer is, go with that.

Also note that you don't need a powerful computer to do graphic design.

 

[sphere9]

I had a feeling that the saying was a carry over from those days...

 

[Vidboy10]

I have had a Mac pro for a few months now.
and i haven't had any "eye-damage" problems with it.
IMO, its the monitors that cause the eye-damage.
And if your finding any Mac for work get a Mac Mini, They're only 1,049 AUD.

 

[sphere9]

-PC's are a hella lot cheaper than Macs.
-PC parts are very easy to replace/upgrade.
-You can repair your own PC if anything happens to it (rather than having to take it to a 'mac genius' )

But really it all comes down to what you feel the most comfortable using. So are you a mac user or a windows user? Whatever your answer is, go with that.

Also note that you don't need a powerful computer to do graphic design.

If I'm working with the same budget I had established to buy a Mac getting a good Dell is not a problem. I feel this will also be of benefit as I will be able to play games on it (the most recent game I had been exposed to was warcraft 3, I hung with a mate and saw Dead Space on his 512mb, it was amazing, I would be eager to see what the 1024mb card in the dell could achieve!) It would also be useful when I move into 3D at Uni.

The ease of repair is also a great benefit that I had overlooked.

What would you recommend for a monitor?

 

[Joe88]

if you are gonna be doing 3d modeling then you are gonna need a pretty beefy work station card like a FireGL or Quadro FX series card

regular gfx cards dont handle modeling very well at all

 

[sphere9]

I have had a Mac pro for a few months now.
and i haven't had any "eye-damage" problems with it.
IMO, its the monitors that cause the eye-damage.
And if your finding any Mac for work get a Mac Mini, They're only 1,049 AUD.

The eye damage results from the glossy monitors, matte monitors can avoid this problem, this is where I read about it. http://macmatte.wordpress.com/

 

[sphere9]

if you are gonna be doing 3d modeling then you are gonna need a pretty beefy work station card like a FireGL or Quadro FX series card

regular gfx cards dont handle modeling very well at all

The video card I was looking at was the 'NVIDIA GeForce GT220 1024MB DDR3'

 

[Vidboy10]

Thats why i said get a Mac Mini...
A mac mini is a mac where you can plug in any monitor.

 

[sphere9]

Thats why i said get a Mac Mini...
A mac mini is a mac where you can plug in any monitor.

The specs don't seem very strong for the price.

 

[Joe88]

if you are gonna be doing 3d modeling then you are gonna need a pretty beefy work station card like a FireGL or Quadro FX series card

regular gfx cards dont handle modeling very well at all

The video card I was looking at was the 'NVIDIA GeForce GT220 1024MB DDR3'

its seems the GT220 is just a repackaged 9500GT which was a piece of crap to begin with

that card wont get very far


as I said in another thread
more video card memory != better performance

a 512MB card like my 4870 could rip that 1GB GT220 a new one and keep doing it

 

[sphere9]

if you are gonna be doing 3d modeling then you are gonna need a pretty beefy work station card like a FireGL or Quadro FX series card

regular gfx cards dont handle modeling very well at all

The video card I was looking at was the 'NVIDIA GeForce GT220 1024MB DDR3'

its seems the GT220 is just a repackaged 9500GT which was a piece of crap to begin with

that card wont get very far


as I said in another thread
more video card memory != better performance

a 512MB card like my 4870 could rip that 1GB GT220 a new one and keep doing it

My view of the world has just been destroyed.

 

[Mangofett]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814133252

This is an example of what you will need for professional 3D modeling, fyi.

Otherwise

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127426

 

[m3rox]

linkiboy, that's the dumbest thing I've ever read. You don't need anything near that. My laptop has only a 128 mb graphics card and I do just fine. Hell, even my desktop's 32mb graphics card does fine.

 

[Mangofett]

Emphasis on professional. And 3D.

 

[perkele]

I am planning to start work as a freelance graphic designer very soon however I am unsure of what computer equipment I should purchase.
QUOTE(sphere9 @ Sep 7 2009, 04:21 AM) I feel this will also be of benefit as I will be able to play games on it (the most recent game I had been exposed to was warcraft 3, I hung with a mate and saw Dead Space on his 512mb, it was amazing,

Don't install games on a pc/mac you're going to do your job with, that's asking for troubles.

 

[sphere9]

I am planning to start work as a freelance graphic designer very soon however I am unsure of what computer equipment I should purchase.
QUOTE(sphere9 @ Sep 7 2009, 04:21 AM) I feel this will also be of benefit as I will be able to play games on it (the most recent game I had been exposed to was warcraft 3, I hung with a mate and saw Dead Space on his 512mb, it was amazing,

Don't install games on a pc/mac you're going to do your job with, that's asking for troubles.

I won't have much choice if I only have one computer.

Posts merged

Although I understand your point.

Posts merged

I love it when the posts merge, I really can't be bothered clicking edit.

I'm planning to eventually hook a PS3 up to the monitors too, which should be pretty sweet.

 

[m3rox]

Emphasis on professional. And 3D.

Both of which you obviously know nothing about.

 

[Mangofett]

Emphasis on professional. And 3D.

Both of which you obviously know nothing about.

Ive come to the same conclusion after your comment on being able to do it with intergrated graphics.

I'd love to see your 32MB graphics card run 3ds max with a 1million poly model in all 4 viewframes.