any Apple MAC experts?

[BLACKVANDRIVER]

I have always ran corel or PS from a windows based machine for use with plotters and graphic designs for vector use for vinyl plotter.

My laptop is on its very last leg and thinking about a MAC. But cant afford a new and looking at used Imacs and some macbooks. I think I want atleast an I5 but not sure on what software that would best suit my needs. I also do alot of music storage as well as graphic image storage.

Can anyone help me figure out what I really need? Beyond the above metioned I only will be using to surf.

[thundersnow]

You should be fine with the i5. Anything Intel and forward should be supported by lion. The current mac os. If you get a model with 64 bit processing, the velocity engine in Photoshop cs3 or better supports that.

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Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) P6 /// Ruger Target 10/22 /// Kel-tec PF9

[BLACKVANDRIVER]

You should be fine with the i5. Anything Intel and forward should be supported by lion. The current mac os. If you get a model with 64 bit processing, the velocity engine in Photoshop cs3 or better supports that.

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Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) P6 /// Ruger Target 10/22 /// Kel-tec PF9

Most the CL posting that are reasonable they are running snow leapard with additional option ($$) to run update to Lion. I have all my files for both music and images on an external HD so I dont need one with TB. I just chose I5 from running searches and seeing what others out there wish they would have gotten or currently have.

Any other words of wisdom for me?

[ted]

You can always get fusion software and install a windows operating sys on it like xp or win7 and you can install your graphic design software on the windows part and you have the best of both worlds can't do that with a pc but can with a mac .and you can run both sys at the same time and work between both Mac and windows with every thing working if you need some advise pm me I went with a Mac 3years ago, it is like Thay say get a Mac you want go back it jest works any thing I plug into it. Thay are real good work horse make sure it has a intel base and put a lot of ram in it and this baby will fly

Edited May 1, 2012 by ted

[BLACKVANDRIVER]

You can always get fusion software and install a windows operating sys on it like xp or win7 and you can install your graphic design software on the windows part and you have the best of both worlds can't do that with a pc but can with a mac .and you can run both sys at the same time and work between both Mac and windows with every thing working if you need some advise pm me I went with a Mac 3years ago, it is like Thay say get a Mac you want go back it jest works any thing I plug into it. Thay are real good work horse make sure it has a intel base and put a lot of ram in it and this baby will fly

Thanks for the info and I will PM when I get a potential machine lined up.

[FJCrusing]

Check the Mac Authority. They sell some used / refurbished Mac's. You should be fine with an i5 processor. The update to OS X Lion is only about $20-25 if you need to upgrade as chances are that it will come with Snow Leopard but maybe not. OS upgrades are very reasonable for Mac. I've been using them for a few years now at home and at work and have really liked it.

[ted]

I have a mini Mac and a iMac and a 17" MacBook pro if ya need any advise jest let me know I'll be glad to help and the good thing about it all Thay stay synced with each other so if I'm at the office and there is something I put on one Thay all have it so when I go home and get on the computer wala it's there And on my iPhone and iPad to, contacts any thing I do hope this helps

Edited May 1, 2012 by ted

[Glenn]

Look for one that accepts more than 4 gigs of ram. Lion loves a lot of ram.

Glenn

[ted]

I agree with Glenn on what he said you need alot of ram with lion but you can also turn up your virtual ram memory to adjust if you do not have enough regular ram capacity if you get a i5 sys you should be ok Thay will go up to 8 gigs of ram

[mcurrier]

As an Apple Solutions Expert this is what I recommend to a lot of people on a budget -

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC936LL/A

Refurbished Mac mini with Lion Server 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

$849

Originally released July 2011

4GB memory


Dual 500GB hard drives


Thunderbolt port with support for up to 2560-by-1600 resolution

HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution

Intel HD Graphics 3000

[Guest Lester Weevils]

VMWare Fusion is wonderful emulator software and I like it. If you need certain software that was never written for Mac it is a good thing. I think Fusion used to sell around $80 or $100 but haven't checked lately.

There is also a program "free" with the MacOS install disks called Boot Camp. It is usually best to have a pretty good sized drive to use boot camp unless you just don't need very big disk partitions to make you happy. Boot Camp will typically run faster than Fusion. The drawback to Boot Camp is that it turns your Mac into a dual-boot system. You can turn on the puter and tell it to boot MacOS, or you can turn on the puter and tell it to boot Winders. But you can't run Winders and MacOS at the same time. With Fusion or another program Parallels, you can run winders and MacOS side-by-side at the same time and even copy/paste or transfer files between the two "virtual computers" running on your Mac. Well actually there's no rule saying you couldn't have more than two virtual computers running on your Mac at the same time.

There are also one or more free virtualization softwares that work like Fusion or Parallels. I've never tried or even researched any of the freebies and dunno if it would work good or pleasant.

Another idea, in the case you have some mission-critical software that was never written for MacOS-- You could check if there is a unix/linux version of your mission-critical software. Maybe if your software authors were too PC centric to write for Mac, then maybe they were also too PC centric to write for unix, but never hurts to check. MacOS is based on unix and you might be able to run the unix programs right in a window of the Mac without doing anything special at all. In case it is real difficult to get the unix program to run straight on MacOS, you can install linux or about any intel-based operating system into Fusion

Sorry if it sounds like I'm talking in circles-- It has to do with penching pennies versus buying a retail copy of Winders to install on your Mac. If your only winders install discs are OEM install discs that were either installed by a computer company like HP or Sony or whatever, or if you bought the "bargain" OEM install discs when you built your computer-- The inexpensive winders installers that parts suppliers are sposed to only sell you along with computer parts-- Even if you throw your old PC in the dumpster and set it on fire, then Microsoft knows about those OEM install serial numbers and it won't let you reinstall that system into fusion or any other new computer. The licensing for OEM versions is one-time-only and it might be a raw deal but MS will not be friendly to allowing you to install an old OEM winders on your new mac, or any new puter.

Sometimes you might be able to call the friendly MS tech support staff in India and lie yer butt off that it really is on the same puter but lightning struck it and the motherboard, video card, and hard drive were all replaced with different models. That has been known to work but it was easier to get away with in the past than today.

So anyway if you have full-retail copies of winders that you paid thru the nose for, as long as you don't run em on more than one machine at once, you can install that retail winders on the next 10 computers you buy and MS can't say anything about it. As long as its only on one machine at a time. So that is why I usually pay quadruple and buy full-retail winders nowadays rather than OEM, so it is portable.

Just sayin, if you are pinching pennies then a full-retail copy of winders (if you don't already have a spare old full-retail copy on the shelf) will spoil a budget in a hurry.

But linux is free--

[Romad7]

That's a good price on a Lion Server but you can find cheaper Minis if you don't need the power of the i7 and Server. I have a late 2009 Mac Mini with 2.53 core 2 duo and it runs CS5 apps with no problem. The new Minis don't have internal disk drives but external ones work fine (I have 4 hooked up). I also have 8gb RAM and a 512 gb ssd that I bought instead of upgrading the whole Mac. I use Parallels for the few windows programs that I need to use and also have 3 23" monitors running too. Even the older Minis are very capable machines. Small and very quiet too.<b><b>also, while looking older Macs do not get a pre-intel one, only intel processor based Macs can run Windows.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Romad7

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Romad7. Do you use some kind of USB or Firewire video boxes to drive your multi-monitors from the mini? I've not studied on the minis much lately. Looked around for an external video box for Dad's all-in-one HP PC I got him, to drive a bigger extra monitor. A year ago, reviews were mixed on all the little USB video boxes. Too many people had complaints so never got around to trying a particular product.

[Romad7]

I use a USB converter for the 3rd monitor http://www.amazon.co...ils_o01_s00_i00. The Mini supports 2 but you will need adapters based on your monitor's input type. This work great for static stuff (email, text, PowerPoint, etc) but not great with movement. On Lion you'll have to download the new drivers from the site. I don't have any real complaints, works great for a second/third monitor

Edited May 1, 2012 by Romad7

[LagerHead]

Most the CL posting that are reasonable they are running snow leapard with additional option ($$) to run update to Lion. I have all my files for both music and images on an external HD so I dont need one with TB. I just chose I5 from running searches and seeing what others out there wish they would have gotten or currently have.

Any other words of wisdom for me?

Just so you know, it's only something like $35 to upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion. And when I upgraded my MacBook Pro (2nd computer to upgrade) it didn't charge me again when I downloaded it at the store. So for me it was like $17.50/computer.

[Capbyrd]

I just bought a base model Mac Mini for the house. I have a Mac Pro at work and Macbook Pro for the road. The Mac Mini is working out great at the house. It was around 600 bucks and is running all of my programs just fine. I use it fro PS a lot and am running CS5.5 on it. If you want to get into Macs, the Mac Mini is a great machine. If you need an optical drive, there are plenty of externals on the market and the Apple one is only 71 bucks if you get it with the Mini.

[Fourtyfive]

Just so you know, it's only something like $35 to upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion. And when I upgraded my MacBook Pro (2nd computer to upgrade) it didn't charge me again when I downloaded it at the store. So for me it was like $17.50/computer.

Yup , it's like buying an App , you can download it again and again under the same Apple ID.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Threeeighty

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I use a USB converter for the 3rd monitor http://www.amazon.co...ils_o01_s00_i00. The Mini supports 2 but you will need adapters based on your monitor's input type. This work great for static stuff (email, text, PowerPoint, etc) but not great with movement. On Lion you'll have to download the new drivers from the site. I don't have any real complaints, works great for a second/third monitor

Thanks its good to know of a box that somebody has got good results from. Video speed wouldn't be real important. Last time was researching the devices, found too many people complaining that the video would malfunction and hang erratically and such. But maybe they were expecting to play games which require nuclear-fusion powered video cards.

[BLACKVANDRIVER]

Finally broke down and just got a iMac 27" this evening. It will be the last computer we buy for some time. Hey Mcurrier,was I supposed to get a disk and some sort of book in the box? It was an open box from Bestbuy so not sure if I should be concerned. I already hate the keyboard. Its gonna have to go!

[Fourtyfive]

I don't recall getting any disks with mine or book for that matter.

[Capbyrd]

Finally broke down and just got a iMac 27" this evening. It will be the last computer we buy for some time. Hey Mcurrier,was I supposed to get a disk and some sort of book in the box? It was an open box from Bestbuy so not sure if I should be concerned. I already hate the keyboard. Its gonna have to go!

You can send the keyboard my way. I love the mac keyboards. And there should have been a book in the box but I don't know about a disk.

[Sam1]

Finally broke down and just got a iMac 27" this evening. It will be the last computer we buy for some time. Hey Mcurrier,was I supposed to get a disk and some sort of book in the box? It was an open box from Bestbuy so not sure if I should be concerned. I already hate the keyboard. Its gonna have to go!

The new ones don't come with a disk, but they will provide you the link to a download if you want (I would recommend keeping it around), we have never had to repair anything in 3~ years. If you go with VMware make sure to set a static ram amount on the image, that runs much better than the auto setting.

[Caster]

Hey guys, lemme hi-jack the thread a minute and ask a iMac Q.

For the longest time, if I wanted post a pic I found on the web, here on TGO, all I had do was right click and copy image address. Then I could could either click the add image in the tool bar and paste the addy, or I could manually add IMG tags. UNLESS of course it was protected.

Well, for some odd reason not too long ago, the option under my right click menu is gone. I mean it's just not there. You can't copy the web address because that just links to the web page. I need to have the IMAGE address. I've restarted the machine and I even backed up all my data with the intention of reformatting the whole computer, but alas, my start up disk for OSX 10.5.8 got scratched really bad and I can't buff it out enough for the computer to read it.

Any thoughts?

[Caster]

I can still use photobucket IMG tagged addresses. Here's what's in my right click menu. There's always been an option to copy image address. Not anymore.

[Capbyrd]

What browser are you using? Do you have any extensions installed?

What do you get if you control+click?