[diissar]

Hi all,i hope you are all doing fine
i have a small question,i m planning on buying a laptop(notebook) for digital painting(Photoshop and painter) and Zbrushing.
i never bought a Mac before and PC's are way cheaper here.
any suggestions?

[aftertouch]

Well, I have a Dell Precision M6300 which works pretty well w/ Photoshop, Painter, and Zbrush. It's not OMG crazy fast, but it gets the job done.

I know that they've released the 6400 version, so you might wanna check that one out.

Hope that helps!

[diissar]

aftertouch: thanks for your infos

[Horus397]

I think it largely depends on your budget and what your past experiences with Windows has been. Most creative software or good alternatives are available on both platforms and work pretty well. If you've had a decent set of experiences with Windows, can deal with the stuff that happens and have a bit of a constrained budget than go for the cheaper alternative with the Windows machine. If however you're at the breaking point with Windows and have the extra money to buy a Macbook Pro I wouldn't just save the money because you can. Generally, I go Mac first anymore, because adding hardware 9 times out of 10 works as advertised. Software 9 times out of 10 works as advertised and you can actually go on the internet without the constant threat of potentially destroying the information on your computer. On top of that you still have the option of running Windows if you already have a seat of Windows.

[diissar]

Horus397: I totally agree with you,i'm using windows vista 64bits right now (on my desktop PC) and i don't have any problem with it,as you said it's a budget matter.Thanks for advice i shoul'd decide soon

[garrymikedavid]

I have to disagree with jameschg, because I'm working on a MacBook Pro for two years now after working in Windows for 6 years beforehand. It's not all about the brand name it's also about quality. I like to think that you get what you pay for and it's certainly the case with Mac in my opinion. I'm still running OSX Tiger and I've never done a fresh reinstall after I took the thing out of its package. On top of that Apple provides it's own security updates so no need for third party virus scanners and all that crap that slows your machine down. The thing that I favor the most is how intuitive and direct the interface is, this is a timesaver in general. I'm still talking about Tiger while Snow Leopard has recently been released!
So definitely give it a good thought, it's worth every Dollar; every Euro in my case!

Cheers,

Garry

[CcoVillar]

Friend... if you plan to use your computer for graphic art work .... buy a Mac it's computing power is jaw dropping especially when your working with hardware breaker software..... but if it just for a hobby... just buy a strong powerful pc instead.... Windows tends to... run many services if you are not careful enough....

[diissar]

thanks a lot guys for your help,i think i will wait until i get enaugh money and buy a 15" Macbook pro.

[garrymikedavid]

Good choice!

Cheers!

[joevriens]

I was a PC guy for over 10years and finally had enough of the nonsense-A buddy of mine got a Mac and couldn't stop talking about it...so when my PC decided to buzz loudly whenever I used Pshop I bit the bullet and got a 24inch iMac...I'll never go back to PC

as an artist you will likely appreciate the design aesthetic of Apple and the 'personality' of a Mac...I don't mean to sound like one of those Mac guys but whatever!

I use my iMac with my Cintiq and the screen of the Mac is sooo much brighter and better imo. I hope Wacom and Mac get together on the next Cintiq's!

anyways good choice!
cheers
joe

[Ardescoere]

I have been using PCs for about 15 years. And I have to say my experience was for the most part good. What got me though was the PC manufacturers. Not to say they are all bad. But I also work as an IT sales person right now. We're exposed to a lot of brands.

What I personally had an experience of was an acer laptop - the PSU went out within 8 months. I've heard that problems are common in acers. And I wouldn't recommend them to my clients at work.

I then bought a desktop replacement from dell. It was a beautifully specced laptop. And within 6 months, the motherboard was fried by a malfunction from the video card. Both died. It needed to be replaced. But the service was SO POOR from dell I was ready to kill someone. But then I get it back and within another 7-8 months, the video card does the exact same thing. I was really upset. I had spent 2500 on a computer and kept having this shit happen.

Since then I've found out part of the reason is that dell buys everything in bulk and there is no standard. If seagate comes forward with a better price on drives one month, the dell computer will be made with that. If western digital comes forwards the next month, they'll get it. You could buy two of the same machine at the same time and have completely different name brand parts inside of it. There is no standard, which isn't the best. And my experience with their customer support ant over 5 hours on the phone to convince them that yes, I had done my diagnostics, was so brutal I would never buy another one from them.

While I was going through that my boyfriend had a power block issue with his macbook which was out of warranty. We went to the local apple store. And since ti was a known issue with that model, and even though it was out of warranty, they gave him a new power block no questions asked. That was such unbelievably good service I was like wow.

Then I bought one and the battery life is fantastic even when I'm running lots of heavily intensive programs. And the weight is great, even on a 15inch model. Everything works exactlly as I want it. And I can still run windows 7, which I do think is a good OS through vmware fusion or bootcamp.

Overall, windows 7 is a good OS, but I think you also have to think of the manufacturers of the PCs as well. Just my FYI

[pjmagalhaes]

Man i was so ready to buy a pc laptop since all the search i have been doing, and now this thread. you guys are not helping! :P LOL

But what about the fact that macs only have 2 usb ports and you cannot bypass the fact that it uses the crappier video card when you are on battery mode?

[gihh]

thanks for info

[unjx]

Great thread.

"buy the best, cry only once" really fits here. I have used both PC's and MAC's both in laptop and desktop form for years and what I have found is that I have spent quite a bit more money over time on the computers running Windows and Linux, mostly in the buying of additional hardware to fit my graphics and sound needs. MAC OS and the hardware it is designed to work with (that is a really big plus in my book) cost more on the initial purchase but you will find yourself not screwing around with it at as much, and using it more.

A good comparison is gaming. If I buy a PC for gaming I will be tweaking the thing forever to get better frame rates, blah blah blah..if I go buy a PS3, the thing is just going to work, games will be smooth as glass and I will play more.

So for graphic design and in the interest of you staying creative, I would highly recommend a MAC, and your choice of a Macbook 15" is great start.

Good luck!

[rikksterritory]

Confused