I'm gonna buy a laptop soon. But I dunno what to buy. My college is using Dell Computer. And I see lots of the students bought different brands. As a student studying graphic design, I thought of wanting to buy Apple ibook. But when I ask my lecturer of what to buy, he said Mac will give some problems, i.e. can't use/install pirated cds, or moving the files to another computer might not work. He told me to reconsider it and suggest to buy Dell instead.

On another hand, my auntie recently told my mom that I should buy Apple since I'm taking graphic design. So it comes down to which brand should I buy. Please help, I'm desperate! >_<

Trying getting one with good RAM and a nice graphic cards..
I would get a Vaio or HP, but I guess it really depends on what you are mostly gunna do with your new laptop.

Well, I have friends in arts like you. She uses a Mac computer.Whatever it is, make sure it has a good RAM, a great gigahertz, a lot of memories, a god vcard since you're doing arts, and a lot of utilities or can use a lot of utilities.

I suggest you get a toshiba, they make good ones.

What you CAN do is buy an Apple ibook and then install windows XP onto it. It does take some time but you will have all of apples programs and windows capabilities. Then all you need is good memory and good graphic cards.

Btw I'm not sure if you're allowed to post this kind of thread. If you read the guidelines, it'd be under recommendation threads. I have no real power but if an admin notices this, please try to refrain from posting topics like this.

Mac is pretty good for graphic design and such.
if you look for a PC I suggest Toshiba. Vaio is not reliable, sometimes you get a good one last forever, sometimes you get crappy ones with problems no one can fix. I have a Toshiba Satellite P30 for almost 3 years, runs perfect. I had problem with power supplies, that is because I never clear the dust.

Killer-Teddy

What you CAN do is buy an Apple ibook and then install windows XP onto it. It does take some time but you will have all of apples programs and windows capabilities. Then all you need is good memory and good graphic cards.

Btw I'm not sure if you're allowed to post this kind of thread. If you read the guidelines, it'd be under recommendation threads. I have no real power but if an admin notices this, please try to refrain from posting topics like this.

Ah, thank you for the notice. I do hope the mod can move this to another thread. Sorry for not reading the rules. ^_^"

KeyEternal

Ah, thank you for the notice. I do hope the mod can move this to another thread. Sorry for not reading the rules. ^_^"

Np I've seen admins put up notices to members and I'd hate to get one myself.

IzumaBakumatsu

a god vcard since you're doing arts, and a lot of utilities or can use a lot of utilities.

Graphic design applications rarely use 3D acceleration, for example Photoshop's performance is almost entirely dependant on your RAM and CPU. A high end graphics card isn't needed for graphic design work, even if your doing 3D modelling.

I thought of wanting to buy Apple ibook. But when I ask my lecturer of what to buy, he said Mac will give some problems, i.e. can't use/install pirated cds, or moving the files to another computer might not work.

Apple no longer makes the iBooks, their laptops are either the MacBook or MacBook Pro. Moving files to another computer is no problem, I share files between OS X, Linux and Windows and have never experienced any problems. As was mentioned earlier Mac's can also run Windows now.

What I don't understand about the Graphic design industry is why they choose to use macs. I don't really see how they are better. I mean I have a OC Dual Core setup with 4 GB DDR2 800mhz. And that will blow away any Mac.


I say just get what you are most comfortable with. Doesn't matter what you work on. It's the end result that matters. Tired of all the people that jump on the Mac band wagon just because every "Graphic Designer" uses them.

Also to whom ever said something about problems transfering files...I think that is very untrue. There shouldn't be any problems transfering files...only in cases where maybe the transfer device is faulty and makes the files corrupt. Or you saved a file in a format that isn't supported by whatever version of the program. For example CS3 files transfered to a CS1 probably won't open...or their will be problems. That's why you should save as tiff or legacy files.

CrimsonStigmata

What I don't understand about the Graphic design industry is why they choose to use macs. I don't really see how they are better. I mean I have a OC Dual Core setup with 4 GB DDR2 800mhz. And that will blow away any Mac.

Mostly it's for legacy reasons, Vista has helped as far as colour workflow's and a few other areas go, though it'll take a while before Vista gets used by businesses. Another question is why not choose Mac's for graphic design?

So your Dual Core setup will blow away an 8-core 3GHz Mac Pro with up to 32GB RAM (of course you could buy a similar Dell workstation)?

So which means I can buy the Mac book and install Windows XP (or XP Pro Pack) in it?...
I just hope I'm not buying the wrong one...cus what I do are all presentation and using Adobe Illustrator. I'm afraid that if I transfer the files to, let's say, a Dell computer with Windows XP (my college), the files might not open, as what my lecturer had said, causing trouble.

KeyEternal

So which means I can buy the Mac book and install Windows XP (or XP Pro Pack) in it?...
I just hope I'm not buying the wrong one...cus what I do are all presentation and using Adobe Illustrator. I'm afraid that if I transfer the files to, let's say, a Dell computer with Windows XP (my college), the files might not open, as what my lecturer had said, causing trouble.

If you install XP on a Mac it will run just like any normal Windows PC, in-fact Mac's are made from the same components as PC's. Mac = PC. I have never had any problems transferring and opening files from OS X on Linux, Windows etc... as long as there is a suitable program to open it.

If you create a file in Adobe Illustrator on any platform, Illustrator running on any other platform will be able to open it. This is a moot point if both are running XP anyway.

The thing to consider is whether there is any point in buying a Mac if all your going to do is run all your programs in Windows, as the major reason for buying a Mac is to be able to run OS X. Also bear in mind that your Windows programs will not run on OS X (well there are ways).

If you are thinking about buying a Mac it would be best to try one out first, though it takes a while to get used to a different OS. If you do decide to buy one and your in education, you can get a discount from Apple.

DeepDragoon

So your Dual Core setup will blow away an 8-core 3GHz Mac Pro with up to 32GB RAM (of course you could buy a similar Dell workstation)?

Umm no thanks I wouldn't buy a Dell even if you had a gun to my head. I make my own stuff. For a fraction of the price and better. My current OC setup is 4GHz, so meh to the 3 GHz of the Mac Pro. >_>" I can easily switch over to a quadcore as well. I don't have the money ATM because I'm broke from buy art supplies.

Obviously I don't have a workstation, this computer was built for gaming.

CrimsonStigmata

Umm no thanks I wouldn't buy a Dell even if you had a gun to my head. I make my own stuff. For a fraction of the price and better. My current OC setup is 4GHz, so meh to the 3 GHz of the Mac Pro. >_>" I can easily switch over to a quadcore as well. I don't have the money ATM because I'm broke from buy art supplies.

Obviously I don't have a workstation, this computer was built for gaming.

Precisely, your computer was built for gaming and I'm sure it would "blow away" any Mac at gaming, especially as that's not what their meant for (not very good graphics cards, fully buffered memory etc...).

However not every computer is used for gaming, so you can't easily make a blanket statement that your machine will simply blow away" any Mac (at any task).

As for Dell... well their servers and workstations aren't bad.