arw_86 Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I'm really struggling at the moment to decide which Mac to get (i want a mac, not pc so dont bother telling me which pcs are better etc). I want to be able to use Creative suite on it and it to be capable of video editing if required. I may end up just using it for porn and browsing but it may well become more than that as I am trying to get back into the designing world. So would like a mac capable of delivering the use of CS and video editing without it being sluggish and annoying. my friend is willing to sell me this... http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/pcs/1286434/apple-21-5-inch-imac/specifications for £650. The only headaches it gives me is it has no usb 3.0 ports and the fact it is already 2 years old (although hardly used) and im unsure as to whether the graphics card is good enough combined with all the other spec parts to be honest. I just need someone with comp spec understanding to turn all these facts and figures into understandable average joe terms. Would you suggest spending hundreds more to get a newer mac? If so which one? Another annoying fact is apple are due to make new releases next week which I would normally wait for but I need to get practising on CS asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewEH1 Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) I wouldn't be too worried about only have USB 2.0, things will just take a little longer to transfer if you are using external drives. You could always use the FireWire instead. Edited June 6, 2013 by AndrewEH1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 aren't most of the things you've listed more processor intensive and pretty lightweight on gfx card? Just as an aside my mac mini i5 (not the latest) is just fine for editing video in iMovie full hd from a 5d. I went with the base upgraded the Ram to 8GB for £30 and added an ssd for £50 and its good enough for most things, I have a PS3 for games that I don't play. Im never that bothered at not having usb 3 - as its rare I need to transfer anything big via usb, and anyhow my microserver does all my network storage now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arw_86 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) good points dudes, thank you. Im slowly trying to learn the ropes with all the tech side. Technology advances so fast that as soon as you buy something there is something else faster or better. I just want peace of mind that this 2011 imac wont be unusable in 2-3years or beyond hopefully. Similarly actually whilst we are on the subject. Is a macbook out of the question? Ive always believed that for performance its got to be a desktop. But i do like laptops for portability Edited June 6, 2013 by arw_86 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooo Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 A Quad Core i5 will be fine on a Mac for learning Adobe Suite etc.. it won't be lighting fast but imo the extra money on a speed increase isn't worth it. I use a 2013 mb pro 13 (the cheapest one which is much slower than the one you put up I think) and multi task heavily with CS and the delays are manageable for me. I mainly use illustrator and After Effects. IMO save your money until you are really good at the packages or are using your mac to make money. Then you can buy another one with an even higher spec than you can get today. Also the relative difference between a 2011 mac and 2013 mac will be very small in 3 years time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazykid009 Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I do everything on my Macbook Pro 13" 2012 mid model. Granted I am running 16GB RAM, a dual core i7 2.9 gHz processor and two 256GB SSD. Saying that I can simultaneously run After Effects, Motion 5, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and Dreamweaver without any issues as well as browsing the web and listening to music, so a slightly lower specced model should be fine for any one or two of those tasks at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolver Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I have a PS3 for games that I don't play. Haha, don't we all... As for something relevent, yes, as much ram as you can cram in there for design work. It's true that rendering shit out doesn't use much GPU and instead relies on CPU and ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HippY Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 what about Hackintosh? would you take that into consideration or only macs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arw_86 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) what about Hackintosh? would you take that into consideration or only macs? wish i knew what you meant, although I can sort of imagine given the name. Care to expand a bit more? Edited June 6, 2013 by arw_86 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HippY Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 hackintosh : you can only install Mac OS into Apple approved hardware. but, what if you can go around that limitation (hacking it) and maybe you can set up a dual boot system, with win/linux+mac. For that you will need a similar spec they need, and a mac OS. sadly that is all my knowledge about it, because I was planning to do it, but I have an AMD CPU, and loads of forums are saying that it wont work well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skoze Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 i've got what your mate's offering you (albeit the best spec one they did last year or whatever, but there's little difference) handles being sat for days with photoshop, indesign and all sorts open with a lot of individual projects on the go no problem. Edits 1080p from my 550D on premiere pro no problem too, really can't fault it. just lovely to use, too... Thought about upgrading the ram, but it just doesn't need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD™ Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 I wouldn't buy the 21.5 inch model personally. The 27 is just so much better in terms of screen real estate for not much more money. For what you're looking at, I'd probably buy a similar age 27" as you're looking at, not worrying too much about spec, and then whacking the top amount of RAM in it that you can. Mainly because that's what I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 I have 28" monitors at home and 22"s at work, definitely worth the extra spendage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Just a quick side note, I've got a 7/8 year old iMac 20", at the time I had a ram upgrade and a few other add ons but that still handles Photoshop, autocad, lightwave rendering and a few other tasking duties in its stride. It's still as quick as the day I bought it home too. I've had the back off a few times to just clean in there when it starts fanning heavily and it's back to normal again. Really really pleased with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolver Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Macfag! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Call it all you want, it's out lived 3 semi decent laptops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 But cost 4 times as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HippY Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 I had a laptop, it had 7 years of use, a cpu upgrade ( because I could upgrade it a 2x faster one) and it is still works fine! Toshiba l30 is it. Alright, I am off to forum, I think noone wants a pc lover here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 £1200 iMac vs 3 £4-500 laptops? No hassle too, good deal I recon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzo Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 £1200 iMac vs 3 £4-500 laptops? No hassle too, good deal I recon. Nahhhh fanboy. you f**kin' ghey bellend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 Look dik'ed! A busz ticket!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzo Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 Lets have a game a f**king coins then you dickhead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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