Can you recommend an affordable computer for photography?

[Merlijn53]

At work, I still using an older "late 2009" MacPro (dual Xenon w/ 12gig RAM). It ran 10.6.8 when I started working there and has since been upgraded to 10.8.x. Some of the external drives are SCSI 800 and our Imacon 848 is SCSI. All worked fine under 10.6.x and still work fine under 10.8.x. Admittedly this old beast isn't quite as fast as my personal off-the-shelf 2013 vintage Dell XPS8700 (quad cord I7 w/ 8gig RAM) when working with larger Ps files (large=600mb+). The old hard drive as lethargic by today's standards and are the main bottleneck.

We'll likely replace the MacPro in the not too distant future and the replacement is likely be a top model iMac stuffed with at least 32gb RAM and a new Thunderbolt external drive or drive array. Our off-site backup drives are USB3, which a new iMac can make good use of but the old MacPro requires that they fall back to USB2 speeds making a full backup take some 30+ hours (3 nights).

The budget restricted user should seriously consider using Windows. Mac's are great, but the cost more for the same quality and performance.

Afaik, there is no scsi 800. I suppose you mean firewire 800.
The 848 has scsi and firewire, so that's no problem with a new computer/system.
Frank

 

[photomoof]

The budget restricted user should seriously consider using Windows. Mac's are great, but the cost more for the same quality and performance.

That used to be true, but if you run the numbers for exactly the same configuration, prices are nearly identical. And right now there is simply nothing quite like the new iMac displays at that price.

If you spec out a Dell workstation exactly the same as a Mac Pro, the Dell is actually more expensive.

Where PC's are cheaper, is when you simply buy low end monitors, keyboards, and mice. Apple does not make any low end items, the closest they come is the mini.

The new rechargeable Apple mouse and keyboard, included with the new iMacs are simply in a class by themselves for instance.

I personally have a mini, but at under 2 grand (USD) the iMac 27inch is currently unbeatable, unless you are a professional.

 

[paulfish4570]

Mac Pro laptop is plenty enough for me.

 

[willie_901]

Mac Pro laptop is plenty enough for me.

And MacBook Pros can drive a larger monitor when/if needed.

 

[G Dogg]

Dave,
I am also a fan on the MAC platform. I have my original 24'' IMac (first gen) still going strong, and also use a "late 2012 27" IMac with i7 3.4 GHz, and loaded with 32 GB ram. Recently upgraded the OS from Lion to El Capitan, and everything went flawless, and the Epson printer, scanners behaved perfectly with no issues. I do not believe MACs are over priced as some suggest. They work, they work well, and generally for a very long time without the slow down issues often seen in a PC. My son is a PC fan, makes his living doing coding and programming, and he says the MACs are very stable and enjoys writing code with the MACs. The MACS are , for the money cost effective, given that they do not need replacing very often. My 2009 I Mac runs as good as the day I purchased it. I was able to easily upgrade the RAM (easy on earlier models). I can count on two fingers the times that the computer "crashed", which was nothing more than a restart.

 

[Dwig]

Afaik, there is no scsi 800. I suppose you mean firewire 800.
The 848 has scsi and firewire, so that's no problem with a new computer/system.
Frank

You're correct; I misspoke/typed. Our Imacon is connected via Firewire rather than SCSI.