|
|
| *SoulEyes Photography>>>Photography School |
Which Mac/Apple Laptop shoudl I buy for studying photography in college? |
I start school fall 08 but i am going to buy it now. also include why i should get that particular one. i think there are 3 different types. Having been a Mac user for more than twenty years, and as a Digital Photography and Photoshop teacher, I can only say - Go for it! You're going to love the Mac life ... especially if you'll be using Photoshop. Of course, there will be newer, faster, slicker Mac laptops coming out in the future. But you said you need to get one now. Here's are my suggestions: 1. MacBook. It's the lightest, most portable choice. You can get a new one now with an 80 gig HD and 1 gig of RAM for around $1100. I'd suggest that you check out the online Apple Store to see what they have in the Special Deals section. These are machines that are refurbished by Apple, and they'll save you at least $200. I've bought several Refurbed Apple products over the years, and have never had any problems with any of them. If, after you get started in school, you realize that you need more RAM or a larger HD, its easy to upgrade either. In fact, just last month I bought a new 160 gig HD to replace the original 60 in my Macbook, and for an extra $35 I got a USB enclosure to put the old HD in. So now I have 160+60. Best place I know of for buying this kind of stuff is Other World Computing. I did the upgrade myself ... in exactly 6 1/2 minutes! Choice #2, of course, is the MacBook Pro - bigger, faster, and more expensive. But if you've got the $ and don't mind the extra size and weight, go for it. As a student you'll be able to buy Photoshop CS3 for about half of what it costs other people - direct from Adobe. All Macs come with the iLife software suite (iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, iWeb, Garage Band). And you might want to add the iWorks package for another $79. It includes Pages (which blows MS Word out of the water) and Keynote (which, simlarly, blows Power Point away). Your built in browser will be Safari - which is excellent, or you can opt for Firefox or - better yet - Camino (the Mac version of Firefox) for free. BTW, expect whatever Mac you get to last and last! I have three of them right now - an eight-year-old G4, a four-year-old Mac Mini, and my year-old MacBook. The only reason I had to replace my original iBook (which was running perfectly after five years) is that I spilled a glass of champagne into the keyboard! I hope this gives you enough info to work with. Good luck! Source(s): www.jimsdigitaldiary.com Mac or PC it matters not. Photoshop runs well in both. That said, you will be studying photography using film for at least the first year, so having a HOT notebook computer is not necessary ... yet. Wait until you really need to use Photoshop before you buy an expensive computer. A less than $600 computer will do all you need for the rest of your classes. When it does become necessary to have more power, the get a notebook that has Intel Duo 2 processor and 2GB of RAM with the largest screen and hard drive you can afford. In the year between now and then, you will be getting much more for your money Editorial, sports and glamour photographer Not to argue with fhotoace but Photoshop is alleged to run better on a Mac. I work for a screenprinting company and they have a Mac and a PC at each art station. The Mac handles all the photoshop chores, the PC handles most the rest. A year ago there was only a PC, and the Macs (from what I hear) are a vast improvement. We are talking about some hard core graphics however. Since you are buying this for a specific college course, the best thing to do is consult the teacher. If you buy the wrong one you will be wasting your money. Also if you buy too far in advance, the specifications for the right one might change and you would have to buy another laptop anyways. Additional: When ever buying a computer, write down all of the programs you will be using on it. Look at all of the specifications on all of those programs and try to get something that will outperform those specs. This way when you get an even bigger or faster program your investment will still be able to handle the workload. If your going to do video editting, you will need a lot of video ram. If your going to work with lots of pictures, you will want a lot of regular ram. If your going to store all those photos on your computer you will want a large hard drive, or better yet an external hard drive. An external hard drive will plug right into your next computer. You will definately want wifi. Aside from obviously surffing the net, some high end digital SLRs can download straight to your computer while your shooting (wifi transmitter required at the camera; when buying a camera ask if this is an option) You will want something with a decent sized screen. Dont get something too small. Contact the school and ask what programs you will be using. If you plan to purchase them your self go through the school. Student versions of most software (not just the photography software) is much cheaper, usually, when purchased from a school. You could even purchase software that doesnt pertain to your schooling at all and you just want it. Good luck and happy learning No dis to the Ace, im with the other guys. I use PC but are only starting to learn photoshop now. The people I supply raw images to all seem to swear by macs. Buy a laptop. Think about a film scanner also. As for the three different types - dont know about that, get one with decent Ram or the abillity to upgrade the Ram. a |
| Tags |
| Photography Tips Photography Studio Photography School Photography Magazine Photography Jobs Photography Equipment Photography Courses Photo Gallery |
Photography Categories--Copyright/IP Policy--Contact Webmaster |