Need a Mac

[Soccerman06]

Sorry but I unfortunately have 0 experience with Macs and dealers and whatnot. Ive built many PCs but no Macs. So...

I need a Mac for Photoshop Pro, needs to be powerful enough to run it without much delay and :roll: under 1k. Used, new w/e need advice on where/what to get for video editing/Photoshop rendering/sound editing.

 

[GhettoFob]

If you're going for a new Mac in that price range, it's gonna be a MacBook or iMac (though they're a little over 1k). I'd suggest waiting a week or two for MacWorld to see if there are any new Macs or bumps in speeds though. You may also want to take a look at refurbs on Apple's site to save some cash.

 

[Soccerman06]

Out of curiosity, can I build a Mac out of spare parts from teh internetz?

 

[erikistired]

no, not legally. you can hack something together, but it's not going to be something you want to use for work.

 

[programmer]

Buy a Mac, and I'd strongly suggest something with an Intel chip. They are much better performers than the older PPC chips, and rumor is the next OS after Leopard may not support PPC anymore (just a rumor at this point). Under 1k is going to be tough.

The very latest Macbook just added Intel GMA X3100 on-board graphics--not nearly as fast as a discrete graphics card, but I am guessing for Photoshop that CPU and available RAM are more important than GPU speed?? See http://arstechnica.com/reviews...osa-macbook-review.ars for a good review. This guy bought the most expensive (black) one, but you can save about $400 by getting the least expensive model, then add up to 4GB RAM afterwards for cheap.

Or try for a used Macbook Pro, but I doubt you'll find anything under 1k that isn't at least 3-4 years old.



You can get the

 

[Eug]

Get an iMac Core 2 Duo, and add lots of RAM and maybe an external USB 2 drive as well.

 

[umrigar]

Under $1K, get a Mac Mini with Intel Core 2 Duo. You can max the RAM and use most USB keyboard, mouse, and DVI or VGA monitor you already own.

Buy refurbished from Apple, you save hundreds and get the full warranty.

 

[jhu]

can't you just buy the windows version of photoshop?

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: umrigar
Under $1K, get a Mac Mini with Intel Core 2 Duo. You can max the RAM and use most USB keyboard, mouse, and DVI or VGA monitor you already own.

Buy refurbished from Apple, you save hundreds and get the full warranty.

:thumbsup: qft. that or ebay is your best bet...education discount hardly gets any money off (you have to buy the "pro" line to get more of a discount compared to buying a mac mini, imac, or macbook).

 

[umrigar]

or a refurb iMac intel, get the Core 2 Duo, those run $850 + tax.
then you can add some RAM and yer still under $1K.