best computer for starting with digital photography: I need some advice as to what would be a good desktop to get to start editing digital photographs. I do now that I will need...

4ellen4 Loc: GTA--Ontario

I need some advice as to what would be a good desktop to get to start editing digital photographs.
I do now that I will need something with a big memory at least 1TB or more.
And want something with Windows7. Am looking at an Acer model--same brand as my laptop :-D which I really like

Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

Brand is not as important as the memory, processor, and hard drive size. Check and compare, and also video card. You can get different specs on any brand. Your three to four hundred dollar pc will do what you want, but it will be slower and not satisfactory than one with more power.

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

Don't get mixed up.

You want a computer for photo work with lots of memory which would be 6 to 8 Gigabytes of memory with Windows 7.

32bit system would be restricted to 4 gigabytes of memory while a 64bit system is more or less unrestricted for memory.

You need lots of disk space which would be your size mentioned about 1 terabyte of memory.

Sarge

MIKE GALLAGHER Loc: New Zealand

High computer memory might not be such a requirement if you keep your photo collection on an external hard drive and plug that in. They come in many capacity sizes. Even your Editing Programmes can be kept there and the whole lot becomes portable.

And I think that a good investment would be a reasonably big monitor screen to make everything more visible. It could be calibrated to give correct colours.
Mike

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

4ellen4 wrote:

I need some advice as to what would be a good desktop to get to start editing digital photographs.
I do now that I will need something with a big memory at least 1TB or more.
And want something with Windows7. Am looking at an Acer model--same brand as my laptop :-D which I really like

I don't have any links available for computer reviews, but I would recommend that you take some time and find reviews. Try PC World, PC Mag, Consumer Reports. Google "computer reviews."

Every manufacturer has a model that is the latest, best, fastest, and they charge accordingly. If you go one step down, you will not be losing anything, but you could save hundreds $$. My son does a lot of video and photo editing. Before he got his last computer, he did a Google search for "multimedia computer." That led him to an HP for a reasonable price.

You cannot judge a machine solely by memory and processor. Just as not every car with 300hp is the same, it takes more than memory and processor to make a good computer. I would recommend getting a second hard drive of at least 1TB. Put all your programs on the C: drive and all your data on the second drive.

Consumer Reports will have reliability records for various brands.

dbmaxwell Loc: Mogadore, Ohio

A separate video card helps with speed while processing. It doesn't share memory and processing with the rest of the computer. When I replaced my laptop, Samsung, Sony and HP each had one with separate video and a 1tb hard drive. Did my looking at Best Buy.

4ellen4 wrote:

I need some advice as to what would be a good desktop to get to start editing digital photographs.
I do now that I will need something with a big memory at least 1TB or more.
And want something with Windows7. Am looking at an Acer model--same brand as my laptop :-D which I really like

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

Memory is Memory ( Random Access Memory ) RAM
Storage ( Hard Drives ) is Storage ie., 500 Gig HD, 1 Terabyte Storage

and the two shall never meet.

Sarge

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

MIKE GALLAGHER wrote:

High computer memory might not be such a requirement if you keep your photo collection on an external hard drive and plug that in. They come in many capacity sizes. Even your Editing Programmes can be kept there and the whole lot becomes portable.

And I think that a good investment would be a reasonably big monitor screen to make everything more visible. It could be calibrated to give correct colours.
Mike

Memory is for processing power and a disk is for storage. Unless you are are playing intense video games don't waste money on a separate video card.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

How about screen resolution and graphic display?

actigner wrote:

quote=MIKE GALLAGHER High computer memory might n... (show quote)

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

Brucej67 wrote:

How about screen resolution and graphic display? b... (show quote)

If you get other than a very basic PC today it will have all the video power you need. Having a good display is more important.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

MY SYSTEM AND IT SERVES ME WELL
I BUILT IT MYSELF ABOUT 4 MONTHS BACK

I7 2700K
2 X 4GB DDR3 RAM ( 8GB TOTAL )
750W POWER SUPPLY
2 X 1 TERABYTE HARD DRIVES
AMD 6870 PCIe VIDEO CARD WITH 1GB DDR5 RAM
22X DVD BURNER
24.7 LCD FLAT PANEL MONITOR

I USE PHOTOSHOP CS6 EXTENDED FOR PHOTO EDITING AND THIS SYSTEM
HANDLES ANYTHING I CAN THROW AT IT. BUILDING YOUR OWN SYSTEM GIVES YOU EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT, EXACTLY THE WAY YOU WANT IT. IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE CHEAPER HOWEVER .......... GOOD LUCK!

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

authorizeduser wrote:

MY SYSTEM AND IT SERVES ME WELL
I BUILT IT MYSELF ABOUT 4 MONTHS BACK

I7 2700K
2 X 4GB DDR3 RAM ( 8GB TOTAL )
750W POWER SUPPLY
2 X 1 TERABYTE HARD DRIVES
AMD 6870 PCIe VIDEO CARD WITH 1GB DDR5 RAM
22X DVD BURNER
24.7 LCD FLAT PANEL MONITOR

THE REST IS THE USUAL STUFF LIKE KEYBOARD AND

MOUSE

Did mine also a few years back:

Core 2 E8400 3.0 GHz 1333 FSB
6 MB Cache
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
AMD Radeon 4850 - 1GB
500GB NCQ SATA HD 7200rpm w/16MB Data Burst Cache
16X DVD+R/RW
Extra 1TB External HD

No more building for me. I'll special order next one hopefully.

Sarge

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

sarge69 wrote:

Don't get mixed up.

You want a computer for photo work with lots of memory which would be 6 to 8 Gigabytes of memory with Windows 7.

32bit system would be restricted to 4 gigabytes of memory while a 64bit system is more or less unrestricted for memory.

You need lots of disk space which would be your size mentioned about 1 terabyte of memory.

Sarge

Sarge,
64 bit Windows 7 is not the limitation for RAM size. The restriction is with the BIOS and motherboard itself. Presently, most motherboards have a top amount of RAM to be 16 Gig. For any beginner, the more important stuff in a desk top computer is the CPU (at least Intel I3 or I5 or better and AMD has many quad core that are up to the task for less money). I do not recommend Asser as a system for any desk top since their motherboard and Bridge system are not exctly up to par nor is their quality of lasting value. There are many preassmbled desk tops out there of reasonable cost now. You are correct about the hard drive size if you intend to store lots of photos as being about 1Tera byte so you can use it for both photo storage and all the programs you run. I also recommend a good video card and monitor that has a calibration routine for color correctness.
One piece of advice would be to also include a removeable hard drive as a back up device for storage. Also, a good firewall program is recommended. Good luck in purchase though. May it bring you years of enjoyment.

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

You do mean Acer for a system not to get right ?

I never heard of an Asser

Sarge
:shock:

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

Physical Memory Limits: Windows 7
The following table specifies the limits on physical memory for Windows 7.
Version Limit on X86 Limit on X64
Windows 7 Ultimate 4 GB 192 GB
Windows 7 Enterprise 4 GB 192 GB
Windows 7 Professional 4 GB 192 GB
Windows 7 Home Premium 4 GB 16 GB
Windows 7 Home Basic 4 GB 8 GB
Windows 7 Starter 2 GB N/A

I just did a good on RAM limitations Windows 7.

X86 is a 32 bit system

Sarge