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Thinking about Apple laptop
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Jun 19, 2018 18:17:36   #
BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England
 
I am in the process of replacing my Dell Inspiron laptop. It originally ran on Windows 7 and was upgraded to Windows 10. My need is to do post processing with Lightroom CC Classic an d Photoshop which I have been using for quite a few years. So my question is for apple users who use LRCC classic and Photoshop. What are the advantages, if any, over a PC, and what configuration and costs.
Thanks in advance.
Bud

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Jun 19, 2018 18:46:30   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
2X the cost for similar performance (and you get to learn a new OS).

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Jun 19, 2018 19:22:09   #
Joe Blow
 
TriX wrote:
2X the cost for similar performance (and you get to learn a new OS).




Plus it is more difficult to upgrade.

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Jun 19, 2018 19:49:58   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
WF2B wrote:
I am in the process of replacing my Dell Inspiron laptop. It originally ran on Windows 7 and was upgraded to Windows 10. My need is to do post processing with Lightroom CC Classic an d Photoshop which I have been using for quite a few years. So my question is for apple users who use LRCC classic and Photoshop. What are the advantages, if any, over a PC, and what configuration and costs.
Thanks in advance.
Bud


I don't quite agree with TriX, but an Apple laptop is at least 50% higher, and regardless of how you spec it, which for the most part you can only do at initial purchase time - you can generally build a similar performing machine with more storage for less money, or build a totally awesome machine for the same amount of money. It is a great "lifestyle" computer, but you pay for features and extras that don't help with post processing, and you are denied the opportunity to properly customize the machine with a 6 core CPU - which is ideal for Lightroom - a 10 bit graphics card to properly support wide gamut photo imaging, lots and lots of internal drive space, which is generally cheaper and less prone to mishap than external drives - and 32 gb of ram is pretty standard these days. A very expensive extra cost item.

I use MSI workstation notebooks, and Sager/Clevo gaming notebooks for custom builds. Companies that sell them provide all sorts of support and options.

You might want to start looking here:

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-we63-8sj-233.html?startcustomization=1

For about $3000, you get a six core 8th gen i7-8750 cpu, 32 gb, 4 gb vram 10 bit display card - a NVIDIA® Quadro® P2000 4GB DDR5, 1 TB m.2 PCIe NVMe system drive, and a 2 TB SSD data drive. Obviously, if this is too rich for your budget, you can look at something like this for around $2200:

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7871-clevo-n870ep6.html?startcustomization=1

Same cpu, 32 gb ram, 8 bit display card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB GDDR5, 1 TB m.2 system drive, and a 2TB SSHD fusion drive - so you give up a little performance, but it will still be snappy and probably lightyears ahead of what you are using now.

You can even go down a tier and get a great system for under $2000.

But the hallmark of all of these systems is that the memory, hard drive(s), graphics cards, etc are all user replaceable/upgradeable - and you don't need to buy Apple-specific components - everything is totally standard.

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Jun 19, 2018 20:28:28   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
Gene51 wrote:
I don't quite agree with TriX, but an Apple laptop is at least 50% higher, and regardless of how you spec it, which for the most part you can only do at initial purchase time - you can generally build a similar performing machine with more storage for less money, or build a totally awesome machine for the same amount of money. It is a great "lifestyle" computer, but you pay for features and extras that don't help with post processing, and you are denied the opportunity to properly customize the machine with a 6 core CPU - which is ideal for Lightroom - a 10 bit graphics card to properly support wide gamut photo imaging, lots and lots of internal drive space, which is generally cheaper and less prone to mishap than external drives - and 32 gb of ram is pretty standard these days. A very expensive extra cost item.

I use MSI workstation notebooks, and Sager/Clevo gaming notebooks for custom builds. Companies that sell them provide all sorts of support and options.

You might want to start looking here:

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-we63-8sj-233.html?startcustomization=1

For about $3000, you get a six core 8th gen i7-8750 cpu, 32 gb, 4 gb vram 10 bit display card - a NVIDIA® Quadro® P2000 4GB DDR5, 1 TB m.2 PCIe NVMe system drive, and a 2 TB SSD data drive. Obviously, if this is too rich for your budget, you can look at something like this for around $2200:

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7871-clevo-n870ep6.html?startcustomization=1

Same cpu, 32 gb ram, 8 bit display card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB GDDR5, 1 TB m.2 system drive, and a 2TB SSHD fusion drive - so you give up a little performance, but it will still be snappy and probably lightyears ahead of what you are using now.

You can even go down a tier and get a great system for under $2000.

But the hallmark of all of these systems is that the memory, hard drive(s), graphics cards, etc are all user replaceable/upgradeable - and you don't need to buy Apple-specific components - everything is totally standard.
I don't quite agree with TriX, but an Apple laptop... (show quote)


And don’t underestimate the pain and cost of switching OS. In addition to the learning curve, if you have existing aps that won’t run on a Mac, you can either buy new aps or run Windows on a Mac, but why would you? Now if you were currently running on a Mac and are familiar with the OS and aps, then sticking with a Mac makes some sense.

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Jun 19, 2018 23:08:21   #
BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England
 
Thanks to all who responded. As usual, Gene came through with some in depth comments. I think I will visit my local computer expert and see about specking out a new PC. One decision is my commitment to ham radio software, Little of which is written for Apple.

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Jun 19, 2018 23:14:16   #
Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI
 
Although I’m a long time Apple user myself (going on 20 years now), I wouldn’t purchase a new MacBook Pro until they come out with 32gb ram capable machines. That likely won’t be until late this year/early next year.

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Jun 19, 2018 23:27:28   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
TriX wrote:
And don’t underestimate the pain and cost of switching OS. In addition to the learning curve, if you have existing aps that won’t run on a Mac, you can either buy new aps or run Windows on a Mac, but why would you? Now if you were currently running on a Mac and are familiar with the OS and aps, then sticking with a Mac makes some sense.


Yup!

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Jun 19, 2018 23:28:02   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
WF2B wrote:
Thanks to all who responded. As usual, Gene came through with some in depth comments. I think I will visit my local computer expert and see about specking out a new PC. One decision is my commitment to ham radio software, Little of which is written for Apple.


Thanks!

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Jun 20, 2018 05:53:44   #
steve49 Loc: massachusetts
 
My kid has ( had ) a 1 1/2 yr old Mac Book Pro that the keyboard died... $500 to replace.
Very common on these machines. At one time they were solid... Maybe not now.
Quality has declined precipitously over the years.

My 7 yr old Toshiba still works perfectly.

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Jun 20, 2018 05:56:18   #
johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio
 
Geez, always hear this "learning curve" etc., stuff. It is simply not true. You turn on, you open a program like excel, or photoshop, or other software and it is virtually identical. A few keys are different, which takes a minute or two to understand. Filing systems are easy and excellent, OS upgrades are simple, rarely cause any issues, and are free. I have used photoshop, Lightroom, OnOne, Nix, Topaz, Luminar, and a few other trials on software, and have not had any issues. I use external hard drives, even though they say Windows on them, just format and done, ready to use.
As for the hardware, you cannot beat the screen quality for photo editing. I assume you are looking at new ones, as the older screens, 2 years or so old are the prior version.
We have had three Apple laptops, my wife has one and I have one. We have one that is a 2007, works, but there is only 2 gb ram, so not much. But still works.
I have an Imac 27" for photo editing. It's a 2012 Imac.
Do Macs have component failures, yes, but not nearly as frequent as my now dead PC's that I had years back. My experience with Apple is great. I had a motherboard go bad on my 2007 PC. About 5 years ago, the motherboard went bad, specifically the part of the board that connects to the power supply. I took it in, they said it would cost about $400. 2 days later, it was fixed, new motherboard. Even though it was a 2007, about 5 or so years old, out of warranty, they didn't charge me a nickel. They said there was a quality defect on the board and they honor the warranty.
I also had a hard drive fail on my Imac. I am a heavy user of the computer, so it failed after about 5 years. I took it in, cost $190 to fix. About 3 months later the video card failed. I mumbled that I had just had the computer in for repair. The new video card was around $300 installed. But they gave me $190 off, saying they will write off the amount of the hard drive, so I paid $110.
As for the initial cost, I am willing to pay it for the screen quality of the Macs, for their customer service, for good useful live, and for the operating system. I am not a fan of windows at all.

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Jun 20, 2018 06:08:58   #
groenfeldt
 
Take a look at MacSales which carries used Macs and some new ones -- I just got a new 11-inch MacBook Air which I believe Apple stopped making -- with a MacSales OWC installed larger SSD for about $800. They also have a varying range of other notebooks and desktops.

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Jun 20, 2018 06:36:35   #
tcthome Loc: NJ
 
WF2B wrote:
I am in the process of replacing my Dell Inspiron laptop. It originally ran on Windows 7 and was upgraded to Windows 10. My need is to do post processing with Lightroom CC Classic an d Photoshop which I have been using for quite a few years. So my question is for apple users who use LRCC classic and Photoshop. What are the advantages, if any, over a PC, and what configuration and costs.
Thanks in advance.
Bud

Gene, , is on the money with what you need. If you want to save $$ , the Dell XPS 15 loaded for around $2200.00 is a much better choice than the new MacBook pros.

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Jun 20, 2018 06:44:31   #
Wakko12 Loc: New Hampshire
 
I switched to Mac 15 years ago and have never been sad. It’s true I paid twice as much for each computer, but I need a new computer half as often as the people that paid half the price. To me, it’s about quality of parts. Gene51 (above) speced out some beautiful machines for you with mostly quality parts, but that’s why his machines cost more than the MacBook Pro that you could buy. You get, for the most part, what you pay for. My MacBook Pro from 2003 still runs. I currently edit on a 2012 MacBook Pro that is just starting to show its age, running only 8Gb of memory. PC users would scoff at this, but it’s because they run a bloated OS that needs tons of ram just to function. I have replaced one battery between the two computers, and that’s the only part I’ve had to deal with.

I know very few people that go from Mac back to A PC. The Macs just work. I have never had my OS freeze, and I run tough programs. My windows 10 machine for work can’t always run excel and PowerPoint at the same time without crashing (I thought they had gotten rid of the blue screen of death, but I was wrong) and it’s brand new.

So it really comes down to this:
Do you want full customization and access to all of the new programs? Get a PC.

Do you just want a computer that works and will be solid for years? Get a Mac.


Both are good choices for different reasons that are more in-depth than i presented here, but these are the quick, boiled down answers.

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Jun 20, 2018 06:54:35   #
sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey
 
I was in charge of computers in a school. We had Dell computers and had lots of problems. When my daughter’s Dell crashed (shewas getting a PhD in bio-chemistry), she brought a MacBook (not pro) with 2 gigs of memory. That computer was retired after 9 years. I also bought a 17” MacBook Pro. I had a problem and the computer was refurbished. Apple paid for it. I did get a new hard drive, and I need to replace the battery. I love the computer. Very user friendly. Apple service is great. I live near a Genius Bar. Also there are dozens of free classes at the Apple store. Also open workshop time where you can get help with projects.
I would never go back to a pc.

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