Posted by Luke Ormand on July 26, 2010 at 12:02 PM
My PC crashed (photos were all backed up, trying to recover some non-essential items from the HDD) after a little less than 3 years. I'm done with PC's for a variety of reasons, the main one being reliability and lack of viruses on Macs (not trying to start yet another debate - it would be near impossible to convince me to return to PC even if I can get "more bang for my buck"). So I was looking at the iMac's but of course they are rumored to be updated in the end of september... I need a computer between now and then. Should I just pop in cheap HDD with vista/xp loaded on it to hold me over until then?
Can anyone who owns the 21.5" or 27.5" please tell me how well they work for you? I want the larger iMac for better specs and the big big big screen that would allow me to do some serious multi-tasking and would act as a tv for my bedroom.
I'm also concerned how to get CS3 on the new machine. I got mine originally from a professor who had 3 licenses on a disk so I don't have a disk... I did however register it. So will Adobe allow me to get CS3 (or even pay the upgrade to CS5)? Thanks for your input.
I'm looking at the same machine, even coming from a lengthy Mac background. A couple of friends have them, and I've done a fair bit of my own work on them as trials. Smooth and quick, and you'll like the big monitor. Only complaint I heard is that one of the owners runs a lot of peripheral devices, and felt it needed more USB and Firewire ports.
As for the transfer, I'm not sure if this applies in going from PC to Mac. But when we transferred everything to a new machine a couple of years ago (a slick, automatic process accomplished by connecting the old Mac to the new), all we had to do was contact Adobe for a code to activate the software on the new machine. Hopefully it's that simple for you, too.
We switched our studios over to Macs about 5 years ago. I was a hard core PC guy but finally switched and have been very happy since. Between desktops and laptops we have 9 (macPros, imacs, laptops) and they all get very hard use. We've upgraded some while others have been in use for the entire 5 years. they are more expensive but you will keep them far longer than you would a PC. We just added a new 27" imac really like it. Color on the new monitor is pretty good and processing speed also good. One bit of advice: if you are planning on keeping it a while, I'd buy the extended warranty.
I'm not sure I can answer all of your questions, but here's my thoughts on a few:
(1) Wait for the next round of CPU Refreshes or buy now? You are correct that Apple - which never announces new products in advance - is apparently refreshing the iMac line soon. MacRumors reports inventory is tight or even unavailable, so your question may answer itself: you may not be able to find iMacs, especially the 27 inch models. Only rarely are the new features so compelling that you kick yourself for not waiting. Instead, it's usually a lower price for the new models. If you are computerless, I think it is doubtful that the new features of lower prices are worth it. I'd buy now.
(2) 21.5 inch or 27 inch iMac? I own both a 21.5 inch iMac I use at home and a 27 inch LCD display (on a Mac Pro) I use at home. Get the larger display. It's the Great Gatsby Rule: no one can be too rich or too thin. For computers, no CPU is too fast, no hard disk is too big, and no one has too much screen acreage. With PS, it's particularly nice to have all of the PS palettes open and still have room to work the photo at high resolution. I urge you to shop an Apple Store that has PS installed on an iMac, so you can try it and see the difference.
(3) PS CS3 - Adobe is greedy, in my experience. Probably the best you can hope for is a cross-grade, an upgrade and platform change. And then only if the CS3 license is registered to you. Otherwise, you'll likely have to start from scratch. Last time I looked, the PS Elements -> PS CS5 path was the least outrageously priced. I urge that you just get PS and not fall into the "Suites" trap that I did. A lot of expensive, difficult-to-use software that I rarely use.
I purchased my imac about 9 months ago. Went right out and got the mac book pro to go with it. I am very happy so far. It seems alot less buggy than the pc's I have owned. I purchased mine refurbished and it looked and performed like it was brand new. I figured with a refurbished unit it was reviewed by a human and far less likely to have issues out of the box. I really think you will enjoy your new mac.
Mike
Posted by Dan Baumbach on July 26, 2010 at 3:01 PM
I've heard reports that iMac's are hard to calibrate. You might want to check that out before purchasing one.
I purchased my imac about 9 months ago. Went right out and got the mac book pro to go with it. I am very happy so far. It seems alot less buggy than the pc's I have owned. I purchased mine refurbished and it looked and performed like it was brand new. I figured with a refurbished unit it was reviewed by a human and far less likely to have issues out of the box. I really think you will enjoy your new mac.
Mike
Posted by Phillip Noll on July 26, 2010 at 6:20 PM
There is a thread here on NPN (about a year or so ago) on issues calibrating the displays of iMacs. The newer ones might be better but my two iMacs are so incredibly bright (even at the lowest setting) that I have to use a 3rd party app to dim the screen further. Makes it hard to match prints to the display.
I would search for the thread for you but the NPN search function does not work on my work computer (not sure why). Works fine at home.
Posted by Kah Kit Yoong on July 27, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Great timing. iMacs refreshed today!
Posted by Luke Ormand on July 27, 2010 at 12:10 PM
I was literally minutes away from placing an order for a refurb... thanks Kah Kit!
Just setup my new iMac.... man am I in love. With all of this screen space I can finally look at my photos in hi-res!! Thanks for all the input everyone.
I've never calibrated a monitor before so bear with me....
I was playing around with the mac and found the color profile section for the screen. You can choose from several presets (iMac, Adobe RGB, SRGB, etc.) or make a "custom" by going through the calibration steps provided which I did and I'm pleased with the results. There is a more "advanced" calibration, but I didn't try that out as I don't really know what I am doing....
I set the brightness to about 40% and it looks quite nice to me... the full brightness is total overkill (not sure why anyone would need it outside of a store display) but the adjustments look good to me. I posted 2 images yesterday and looked at them on various other screens and they look fine to me... I don't do any printing from home and I don't do a lot of landscape (i.e. color heavy) work, so my needs may not be the same as others.
I've got a 24" iMac and love it, despite the glossy screen which is the only negative I've found in over a year of use. Even that isn't that big of a deal if you can work in a somewhat dark room.
As for calibration issues, I had some at first but I found a solution that has worked flawlessly. You can read about the solution that worked for me on my blog. Note: the new iMac's have apparently resolved the brightness issue and you should be able to calibrate accurately using the software bundled with whatever hardware you purchase.
Discussion
13 repliesCan anyone who owns the 21.5" or 27.5" please tell me how well they work for you? I want the larger iMac for better specs and the big big big screen that would allow me to do some serious multi-tasking and would act as a tv for my bedroom.
I'm also concerned how to get CS3 on the new machine. I got mine originally from a professor who had 3 licenses on a disk so I don't have a disk... I did however register it. So will Adobe allow me to get CS3 (or even pay the upgrade to CS5)? Thanks for your input.
- Luke
As for the transfer, I'm not sure if this applies in going from PC to Mac. But when we transferred everything to a new machine a couple of years ago (a slick, automatic process accomplished by connecting the old Mac to the new), all we had to do was contact Adobe for a code to activate the software on the new machine. Hopefully it's that simple for you, too.
I'm not sure I can answer all of your questions, but here's my thoughts on a few:
(1) Wait for the next round of CPU Refreshes or buy now? You are correct that Apple - which never announces new products in advance - is apparently refreshing the iMac line soon. MacRumors reports inventory is tight or even unavailable, so your question may answer itself: you may not be able to find iMacs, especially the 27 inch models. Only rarely are the new features so compelling that you kick yourself for not waiting. Instead, it's usually a lower price for the new models. If you are computerless, I think it is doubtful that the new features of lower prices are worth it. I'd buy now.
(2) 21.5 inch or 27 inch iMac? I own both a 21.5 inch iMac I use at home and a 27 inch LCD display (on a Mac Pro) I use at home. Get the larger display. It's the Great Gatsby Rule: no one can be too rich or too thin. For computers, no CPU is too fast, no hard disk is too big, and no one has too much screen acreage. With PS, it's particularly nice to have all of the PS palettes open and still have room to work the photo at high resolution. I urge you to shop an Apple Store that has PS installed on an iMac, so you can try it and see the difference.
(3) PS CS3 - Adobe is greedy, in my experience. Probably the best you can hope for is a cross-grade, an upgrade and platform change. And then only if the CS3 license is registered to you. Otherwise, you'll likely have to start from scratch. Last time I looked, the PS Elements -> PS CS5 path was the least outrageously priced. I urge that you just get PS and not fall into the "Suites" trap that I did. A lot of expensive, difficult-to-use software that I rarely use.
Hope this helps.
Jim
Mike
- Dan.
Mike
I would search for the thread for you but the NPN search function does not work on my work computer (not sure why).
I was literally minutes away from placing an order for a refurb... thanks Kah Kit!
I was playing around with the mac and found the color profile section for the screen. You can choose from several presets (iMac, Adobe RGB, SRGB, etc.) or make a "custom" by going through the calibration steps provided which I did and I'm pleased with the results. There is a more "advanced" calibration, but I didn't try that out as I don't really know what I am doing....
I set the brightness to about 40% and it looks quite nice to me... the full brightness is total overkill (not sure why anyone would need it outside of a store display) but the adjustments look good to me. I posted 2 images yesterday and looked at them on various other screens and they look fine to me... I don't do any printing from home and I don't do a lot of landscape (i.e. color heavy) work, so my needs may not be the same as others.
As for calibration issues, I had some at first but I found a solution that has worked flawlessly. You can read about the solution that worked for me on my blog. Note: the new iMac's have apparently resolved the brightness issue and you should be able to calibrate accurately using the software bundled with whatever hardware you purchase.