New System Decision

L

lgsimone

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My current PC is on its last legs. It has lasted me throughout college, but I am graduating this May and I want to use my student discount while I still can a new system. I'm a graphic design major going into alot of publication and corporate identification work (along with some flash and web design. I have my choices on Macs narrowed down, but I'm not quite sure what system to go with. I'm debating between the 20" iMac and the PowerMac G5 (either a refurb of the dual 2.7 ghz or the dual-core 2.3 ghz systems) but I'm not sure which would be a better choice.

I want a system that can handle large CS (Photoshop/Illustrator/Indesign) files easily, but not break my wallet for the next five years. But at the some time I want a reliable workhorse. I've never owned a Mac before (I've only used them at campus) so I don't know what to expect or look for in one for a Publications system. So any input you folks have would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
15" Powerbook G4 • 24" iMac • iPhone 3Gs
iMac would be fine for everything you're going to do in your field.

PowerMac would be overkill and it's very very expensive after you get a monitor.

I would, however, recommend a good RAM upgrade on the iMac. RamJet has some good deals on RAM. I have 2 Gigs in my Powerbook and I can have what seems like endless amounts of images (9.1MP Fuji Camera) open in Photoshop CS2 until I start seeing some slowdown.

I would scour eBay for a good deal on an iMac, a member named homer_j just bought an iMac with 2GB of RAM from eBay for a little over $800.
 
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hey guys well I'm not even going to be using my Mac to those levels it is just for my mom's personal photography and things like that using Photoshop CS2, writing word documents, internet, things like that. I was also considering the Power Mac do you think it will be over kill. I also dont want to be constantly upgrading i want to buy something that will last me a long time and will need minimal work and parts.

Another question does MSN messanger work on Macs?
 
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Your Mac's Specs
15" Powerbook G4 • 24" iMac • iPhone 3Gs
Yes, it does. You can download it, or it comes with Microsoft Office.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Aluminium Macbook 2.4 Ghz 4GB RAM, SSD 24" Samsung Display, iPhone 4, iPad 2
I'd also recommend the new iMac...
Just be careful when ordering RAM as the new intel iMac needs a different type of RAM than the old iMac G5.
 

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