What laptop machines are you using for designing

Macs tend not to go wrong. . I have some that are 15 years old or more. They can't now run up-to-date programmes but Quark 4 and Illustrator 2 and Photoshop still do the job. I don't actually use them we have a small museum my hubby won't throw them away! We do use a G3 which must be 12 years old to run our MIS system. . . our PCs (which we also have) tend to die after a couple of years. (Though having said that I have one PC which was custom built for us still working OK!) But that is why Macs cost more.

Go for the highest spec you can afford.
 
oh my god the g3 brings back memories, it was my 1st experience in using an apple mac that machine back when i was at college oo the memories hahaha, then i went to uni and they had the new g5's that came out at the time and i used to think they were awesome but there still worth abit now though. i am getting tempted to put off buying a laptop by a month or so now and save some cash and maybe consider buying macbook now thats if i am able to save some money
 
If Macs were as good as people say it would be wonderful, but they r not. If you are doing mostly print design Mac is ok, powerful one though, but if you do 3d, multimedia and animation go for a powerful pc as plenty of compatibility problems occur with Mac OS and loads of packages not available for Mac.

All software that currently runs on Mac machines is 32-bit which means you cannot use the full amount of your memory - limited to 4gb. At the same time under 64bit windows you can run Photoshop and all the programs using all your memory available.

Lastly, it's a question of personal choice but to make your life easier, do not rush.
Hope this is of any help.
 
SparkCreative said:
"I do mainly design for print using cs3 premium."
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought that... :icon_confused:

I got our first company Mac off ebay, bought from a pre-press agency and then got used everyday as much as the desktop machines and never failed.

I tried using a PC for a while but it blew up. Seriously. Smoke and everything.
 
I'm bias as I've only every used Mac's. You could get a 17in macbook make sure it has at least 4gb of ram then get an adaptor from the mini display to a larger screen I use a 23inch cinema display. Change the screen settings so that you can use both screens as one (hope that makes sense)

That way you can plug in and design on a large screen and lets face it you need a large screen to design on (least I do) and then unplug to use the laptop out and about/meetings/in front of the tele etc etc.
 
hey thanks everyone, got some good info and advice, well i am saving up to increase my budget more so see what i can get then, but i got cs3 design premium for pc windows format and i dont really want to fork out some more money for new design package for mac.
 
Don't know how any of you can design on a laptop...unless you are plugging into a larger monitor like Dot Design mentioned. I worked from a Sony Vaio for 12 months and my neck and back paid the price!
 
haha that doesnt sound good, yep i would do the same as dot design aswell. but laptops just ideal if your traveling about, good to make use of time on long train journeys etc....
 
Boss Hog said:
Don't know how any of you can design on a laptop...unless you are plugging into a larger monitor like Dot Design mentioned. I worked from a Sony Vaio for 12 months and my neck and back paid the price!
Click to expand...

Yeah I work the same way as Dot. The other thing about laptop monitors is the crappy colour reproduction. I got an NEC Spectraview with an Eye One calibration device. Accurate colour is important, but especially important to me when I'm processing my photography. With graphics, at least you can check everything off with a Pantone book.
 
I use a mac mini connected to a mac pro server in the office, a 17 inch macbook pro connected to powermac server for hi res stuff at home and a 15inch powerbook for travel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top