mapster wrote:
I am in need of a new lap top. Its whole purpose would be to use it for my pictures and software for them. I have never used a Mac before.
Could anyone give me a suggestion of the size I would need for the usage mentioned above. For a Mac? I looked at some on line, and am confused as to what capacity would be needed for photo storage and software use for the photos. I currently would be using the software that. Came with my camera, or GIMP, and would be using an additional external back up drive.
I really don't want to spend a bundle of money for a laptop, as we already have two other ones that my husband uses, in addition to the Lenovo I mentioned as well as my I-Pad.
Thank!
Clif wrote:
Take a look at a Mac referbs on a MacBook Pro. You can buy these from Apple on line. You will never know it was not a normal production computer. as to memory I think you will want to go to outboard on 1 or 2 drives of 2 or 3 TB capacity. You will want to look for the outboard drives that are configured for the Mac. All the upgrades you add into the computer will improve speed but I can't tell you how much atcual time savings you will get. I am sure someone will have differing opinions, so consider all the input you get here before you plunk down your money.
Take a look at a Mac referbs on a MacBook Pro. Yo... (
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I am in need of a new lap top. Its whole purpose ... (
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Clif has the right of it, but missed a few points.
Yes. Get a Refurb from Apple's online store:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
Refurbs come with a new guarantee and that's all I've bought in the last 15 years (except for my current 15" MacBook Pro Retina display.)
You will love the Retina Display so it boils down to how much money you can spend. Get the fifteen-inch if you can, the 13 if you can't.
Whichever you get, at home it'll drive a big honkin' monitor. Add a keyboard and mouse and you're set. See the "Setup" pic below. (Shown is the setup from a couple years ago. I've since upgraded to a big honkin' monitor.)
Memory is RAM, not hard drives. Mine is the 8 gigs it came with and I have yet to run out of memory, even with 100-meg Photoshop files. GIMP runs fine.
External hard drive storage is key. My Mac has the 250-gig SSD (solid state drive) instead of an internal hard drive. It boots from a cold start in 13 seconds!
You will want an external hard drive or two. Make sure they are USB 3 and you have a USB 3 hub. Don't worry about them being formatted for the Mac. You simply use "Disk Utility" to reformat as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
I use iPhoto to sort my pictures. iPhoto handles and displays RAW files just fine. I have my personal pictures in an iPhoto Library called "Personal". I have two more named "Working" and "Finished." Just drag the photo from iPhoto to the desktop, swap libraries, and drag them back.
The "Finished" library shares the hard disk with my backups on it. Set "Time Machine" to backup to that hard drive.
I bought a book holder from Barnes and Noble to hold my laptop up at an angle so it uses practically NO room on my desk. If I need to, I pull the wires, drop the computer in my bag and off we go.
Feel free to ask any specific questions.