? to Mac users

Hi,

I am approaching a probable change in computing systems, up till now I have been completely PC based but reported problems with Vista with certain software ( in particular calibration and profiling, very important for much of my work) has made me reconsider things.

To cut a long story short I am considering an 20in iMac, my question is regards calibration, is it possible on the new iMacs to calibrate the luminosity and gamma of the screen prior to profiling, I have searched and can find no definative answer...

Prob lots more questions to follow...

Thanks in advance

Phil

Hi Phil,
Yes it is possible, but you'd need to download a program to do it.
One Such Program

FWIW the 20" iMac is maybe not a great choice for photo editing, it uses the ATI x1600 graphics card which runs Aperture considerably slower than the Nvidia 7600 that the 24" version has, particularly obvious when an additional monitor is being used.
I looked at all the iMacs before settling on the 24" model, but my main concern when looking at them was purely performance of Aperture, and here the 24" one worked out the best.

Can't speak for the iMacs, but I've had no problems with calibrating the desktop systems & monitors. It does take a bit of tweeking to get working profiles for using Mac & PC on the same monitor without adjusting the hardware controls - the luminance output from different video cards is not 'standard'.

C1 has a different feel on the Mac to on the PC..but you get used to it .

If you're looking to run Aperture on the Mac, then go for the best graphics card you can find, and add extra memory too - look at 2Gb+ as both of these will make the biggest difference - hard disk performance isn't important in comparison.

The performance of the graphics cards in the Mac laptops is the reason why I decided to buy a new laptop from Dell, rather than Apple. Why do you think you need Vista?

Another issue to consider is size. A large laptop is almost impossible to use while travelling. Also, avoid machines with shiny (high contrast) screens if you can.

Cheers John, Nick...

Phil... the iMacs are desktop machines not laptops, I don't really want Vista but that is what Dell are shipping out now....

I'm still looking and trying to sort things.

All the best

Phil

probably irrelevant but it'd be good to keep an eye out for decommissioned G5 Powermacs as well. Overall, the Mac Pros and Power Macs have greater expandability and will last you longer. The apple cinema display is no different from the dell equivalent so go for the cheaper of the 2, whichever it is.

Be carefull of older Mac G5 systems if you're thinking of running Aperture at any point in time - many Aperture users have found that the G5's don't have the 'power' to run Aperture fluidly - in many cases the graphics card simply isn't up to scratch.

Phil, you should still be able to specify XP on a new order with Dell rather than Vista, and I believe you have downgrade rights with Vista but I'm not sure where you would get the XP software CD from.

Kev