Computers and Tech Stuff?

[rocketphoto]

I am fairly new to DSLR and need to purchase a new PC and printer to save, edit and do some production for my personal use. I do not think I can afford a Mac at this time and besides I have been using PC's all my life and at this point this will be an easier starting point. My basic question is what should I look for as far as hardrive configuration, space, RAM, speed, etc.
Do I really need to spend the money on the full PhotoShop suite or can a beginner get by with something like elements? My basic approach is to start with something quality that I like and make minimal adjustments. I am not too thrilled with spending alot of time in front of the computer since I am a hobby photrograper.

My budget is between $1500 and $2000. I take photos in Raw and then save the working files as tif. Thanks.

[ProPhotoInsights]

I think the stock answer is go for as much as you can afford to.
You can't have enough storage or ram in my opinion but it does come down to your workflow.
I sometimes end up with PSD files of as large as 1 gig as I prefer to keep as many of my layers intact as possible.
I also shoot on a 17Mp Canon 1DS Mk2 and often stitch images together further placing the need for storage and ram.
Hope this kinda helps.
Cheers,
Simon

[gldiana]

With $1500 you can get one of the most powerful PC with Quadruple core processor and RAM to spare, same identical hardware on the Mac would cost you around $3500. I recommend you get the 64 bit version of the Operating System because DDR2 RAM is very cheap nowadays, you can get 4GB for just around $80 (DD3 is faster and more expensive being the "new" memory but prices are dropping quickly as more people chose it); ONLY a 64 bit OS can address more than 3GB of RAM, so if you have, say, Vista 32 bit is totally useless to put 4GB as it will see it but won't be able to use it. With that your PC will be very responsive and capable to handle large image files without delays due to swapping from the Hard Drive.

This is my recommended setup:

AMD Phenom II X4 925 Quad-Core CPU (The Intel i7 CPU is a bit faster, but also much more expensive and uses more power)

8GB of DDR3 RAM (4 X 2GB bars)

NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 1GB Graphic Card (the difference in price between the 512MB and 1GB is minimal, just $20, might as well get more memory to free the CPU)

RAID0 1TB Hard Drive setup (this means 2 Hard drives of 500GB each used as if they were one, when you save files each drive will save half almost doubling the effective speed of the drives, same when reading that file. Makes a huge difference with large RAW files and loading large software).

1TB extra hard drive (3rd hard drive) for backup of your images (better safe than sorry). Cheaper and faster than an external drive.
(I get about 80MB/sec transfer with mine).

DVD writer

Windows Vista Business 64 bit with free upgrade to Vista 7 Professional 64 bit

All this is going to cost you about $1050 and you'll have a speedy computer that will be good for years (setup includes keyboard, mouse, wi-fi card). Since this is below your budget I recommend adding a nice 24" High Definition screen (another $400 or so).

Hope this helps.

[MNRyan]

Just a little FYI 8gb of DDR3 is, from what I understand, a 2gb waste. From my research it's better to go in increments of 3gb. So like 3, 6, 9, 12 and this is just for DDR3 not DDR2!

[gldiana]

I wouldn't call it a waste but it is true that new DD3 motherboards have 6 memory slots instead of the classic 4 and therefore accept 3 memory banks at a time (triple channel instead of dual channel). By human speed it might be hardly noticeable, a rendering that takes 30 minutes with 2 memory bars (say, 2GB each = 4GB) might take 29 minutes and x seconds with 3 memory bars (2GB each = 6GB) and mostly has to do with the increase in memory, for everyday application there might no be any difference at all. Of course without a 64 bit Operating System that's useless.

[Traumuh]

What would you recommend as far as laptops? I'd prefer a nice desktop, but that just won't do for college.

[MNRyan]

I guess that would depend on what your looking for, extreme mobility or a mobile monster, of a laptop. It's possible to get a quad core 17" machine that will rival most of the average desktops out there but the downside is that it will be pretty heavy, get much warmer and for the most part probably wont have a very long battery life compared to 14.1" that will be the complete opposite and be less powerful for editing. Then you have a middle of the road 15.4" that wont be the fastest, but also wont be like hauling around a tank. Like I said before it depends on what your going to need it for and what uses it needs to be able to handle. But right now seems to be the best time to be in the market for a computer, price and technology wise.

[Traumuh]

Well I won't be traveling with it, but I will be using it around campus and what not. Reasonably sized, 15.4" is fine. I want something powerful though, where I can run Photoshop and other creative suite programs seamlessly. My desktop now works fine for photoshop, but when I open bridge it's gameover. I want to run these applications on WindowsXP by the way, can't stand Vista even though it's installed on my current laptop. I don't wanna boot XP on it, I don't have a disc to boot Vista if anything goes wrong..

[Mitchell]

well if you dont mind paying a ton of money,
then this is a great laptop for photographers.. if i had enough money i would get it!
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... tographers

[gldiana]

I want to run these applications on WindowsXP by the way, can't stand Vista even though it's installed on my current laptop.

I had been using XP for a long time and also hate Vista. I even have the Vista upgrade disk and refused it to install it. But since my computer's motherboard died and had to re-build my system 2 weeks ago I installed Windows 7 64 bit and I cannot go back to XP. This is not even the final version and it is so stable and so much better than XP, and so fast since it can see more than 3GB and I have 4. My next computer will have 12 or 16 GB of RAM. I really like it, lots of cool features and for once useful once that make my life on the computer easier. Right now manufacturers are selling sytems with Vista and a free upgrade to 7 when it comes out on October 22. Microsoft is selling 7 on pre-order at 50% off for a limited time and I already ordered a copy of the Professional Edition.

[Traumuh]

Any recommendations for laptops Luca? Mitchell, I really want a w700 now, thanks!

[Jamfore]

I use Windows vista with Bridge cs3. When I open bridge I get the message "bridge has an error and must shut down" and it does. Nothing I do seems to work.

Someone told me that you have to manually clear Cache and some other stuff but they didnt have time for me. They said to email them and they would get back to me. Well they didnt. Does anyone have an idea where to turn for this??