My mom has $1900 to blow on a computer, suggestions

[Schadenfroh]

She got a HUGE grant for her department. she and her students are artists. she says that she does not want a Laptop. the place will only let us buy one prebuilt. Im thinking Mac Thoughts on what to get?

 

[Tab]

I think I actually might go with the Mac, get that big Apple Cinema display along with the expensive cheese grater Smack PhotoShop with that and you've got a nice Graphic Design Machine.

 

[Ionizer86]

Only prebuilt? Eww, that's much more limiting. Look for something like a P4 2.8c or 3.0c with a gig of PC3200 ram and a Radeon 9800/Pro graphics card or a GeForce FX5900 graphics card. Do get a good monitor. It does'nt sound like you can put off any of the $ for future upgrades, but if you can, it's a good idea to save. Parts like P4 3.0c's and Radeon 9800's will lose hundreds of dollars of value in no time.

 

[Corporate Thug]

check out ABScomputers

 

[IanthePez]

Does this $1900 include the software if she buys a mac? Like photoshop for example.

 

[tec699]

I can build you d00ds a computer! It will be super fast to!! Just send the money to me!!!

plz..

 

[Intelman07]

Get a nice high end dell possibly with that radeon 9800!

 

[Bruck]

Originally posted by: Tabb
I think I actually might go with the Mac, get that big Apple Cinema display along with the expensive cheese grater Smack PhotoShop with that and you've got a nice Graphic Design Machine.

How could you get all that for under 2 grand. Is this a typo , did he mean 19,000?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Mac or PC, memory is most important for PhotoShop (you want 1 - 2 GB), not processor speed and certainly not the graphics card since it's a 2D application. A CD or DVD burner is a good idea for backups.

 

[Lyfer]

Get her a dell and be done with!

 

[addragyn]

Apple does special pricing for education. She can get there using this link.
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/routingpage.html


Also consider contacting them for help. They are know to be very generous/helpful to edu.

Burck under education pricing available to students & staff (schools get even lower prices) you can grab a G5 and a 20" Cinema for $2,762.

Another thing, sometimes the bookstore can have better pricing than the online store. See here for example.

 

[Bruck]

Originally posted by: addragyn

Burck under education pricing available to students & staff (schools get even lower prices) you can grab a G5 and a 20" Cinema for $2,762.

yes but budget is 1900. that is less than 2,762. ???

 

[addragyn]

It's also under $19,000 genius.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Originally posted by: Bruck

Originally posted by: addragyn

Burck under education pricing available to students & staff (schools get even lower prices) you can grab a G5 and a 20" Cinema for $2,762.

yes but budget is 1900. that is less than 2,762. ???

Dude for even $3000 that is an awesome deal! Have you ever gone to CompUSA and seen how much those cinema displays cost? And not to mention the cheese grater is another $3000.

 

[Sid59]

Get a DELL

 

[Bruck]

I agree its an awesome deal. I know what pc's cost and I know what mac's cost. I just didnt understand why someone wrote, i have under 2k to spend, and someone reccomended a system combo that is close to 3k. I thought maybe everyone knew that it was a typo, and the person had 19k to spend or something, just wondering why suggestions would be 800 dollars over budget (even with edu discount) i wasnt being an ass, i was wondering if the original post had a typo.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: SpeedFreak03

Originally posted by: Bruck

Originally posted by: addragyn

Burck under education pricing available to students & staff (schools get even lower prices) you can grab a G5 and a 20" Cinema for $2,762.

yes but budget is 1900. that is less than 2,762. ???

Dude for even $3000 that is an awesome deal! Have you ever gone to CompUSA and seen how much those cinema displays cost? And not to mention the cheese grater is another $3000.

If I have $20,000 to spend on a car, offering me a brand new Mercedes for $30,000 might be a great deal but it's still outside the budget.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: SpeedFreak03

Originally posted by: Bruck

Originally posted by: addragyn

Burck under education pricing available to students & staff (schools get even lower prices) you can grab a G5 and a 20" Cinema for $2,762.

yes but budget is 1900. that is less than 2,762. ???

Dude for even $3000 that is an awesome deal! Have you ever gone to CompUSA and seen how much those cinema displays cost? And not to mention the cheese grater is another $3000.

If I have $20,000 to spend on a car, offering me a brand new Mercedes for $30,000 might be a great deal but it's still outside the budget.

Alright... I'll give it to ya for $25,000... Now let's talk financing...

 

[addragyn]

Originally posted by: Bruck
I agree its an awesome deal. I know what pc's cost and I know what mac's cost. I just didnt understand why someone wrote, i have under 2k to spend, and someone reccomended a system combo that is close to 3k. I thought maybe everyone knew that it was a typo, and the person had 19k to spend or something, just wondering why suggestions would be 800 dollars over budget (even with edu discount) i wasnt being an ass, i was wondering if the original post had a typo.

When you wrote the following it could read in two ways.

Originally posted by: Bruck

Originally posted by: Tabb
I think I actually might go with the Mac, get that big Apple Cinema display along with the expensive cheese grater Smack PhotoShop with that and you've got a nice Graphic Design Machine.

How could you get all that for under 2 grand. Is this a typo , did he mean 19,000?

1. OMG MAcs si 50 expensiv3!!! U need like 19,ooo buks!!!!!!!1

or

2. Maybe the original poster fogot a zero. He did say, and I quote, HUGE.

I choose door #1. I wasn't reccomending a system I was responding to your post, in jest.

 

[Lyfer]

Originally posted by: Sid59
Get a DELL

 

[Bruck]

Originally posted by: addragyn

Originally posted by:
2. Maybe the original poster fogot a zero. He did say, and I quote, HUGE.

I choose door #1. I wasn't reccomending a system I was responding to your post, in jest.

I was going for door #2. I just didnt understand why everyone else kept door #1ing me. All i meant was door #2. "is that a typo, you wrote huge, but it says 1900, and people are suggesting systems for more than that, so maybe everyone knows something I don't"

 

[mechBgon]

Unless by "artists" you mean "first-person-shooter artists," then I don't know where the Radeon 9800 suggestions are coming from Or am I missing something... does Photoshop now come with a UT2003 plug-in or something?

 

[tweeve]

Get a Dell, mac's are too expensive.

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: shady06
check out ABScomputers

 

[Macro2]

RE:"Mac or PC, memory is most important for PhotoShop (you want 1 - 2 GB), not processor speed and certainly not the graphics card since it's a 2D application. A CD or DVD burner is a good idea for backups."

Exactly.

I'm getting tired of the "Get a Dell" bandwagon effect though.

Our graphics department uses Athlons w/512 to 1024 mb of DDR with Matrox video cards. Why Matrox? Pretty colors. No reason you couldn't use an mid range ATI though...
We also have a Mac or two around because that's still the standard for Graphics.
A P4 would do fine as well.


Adobe stuff is cross platform too.