New Equipment - what shall I buy?

M

Mookamoo

Guest
Hi

I am designer (Mainly print and web) about to go freelance and need some advice on what kit I should buy. I have worked for agencies for the last 12 years and now is the time to go it alone.....

The idea is that I have a number of contacts who use freelancers, but don't want to update all their kit etc and keep a workstation going, so I will be a 'traveling studio'.

I am thinking of the following

G4 Powerbook (poss a refurb? Anyone got any nightmare stories?)
A3 Colour printer (any recommendations - I don't really want to spend a fortune, but don't want to mess around having to get a separate rip. This will stay in my studio)
DVD writer (I have an existing G4 at home, so I want to hitch that up to the burner - whats the best one?)
Digital Camera (Any ideas? I need a 5 megapixel one, but it has to look like a traditional SLR. If it doesn't, my clients won't believe it is doing a good job - weird but true)
Portable Firewire Harddisk (I have a Firelite which is pretty good - any better out there?)

Cheers
Mook
 
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Mookamoo said:
Hi

I am designer (Mainly print and web) about to go freelance and need some advice on what kit I should buy. I have worked for agencies for the last 12 years and now is the time to go it alone.....

The idea is that I have a number of contacts who use freelancers, but don't want to update all their kit etc and keep a workstation going, so I will be a 'traveling studio'.

I am thinking of the following

G4 Powerbook (poss a refurb? Anyone got any nightmare stories?)
A3 Colour printer (any recommendations - I don't really want to spend a fortune, but don't want to mess around having to get a separate rip. This will stay in my studio)
DVD writer (I have an existing G4 at home, so I want to hitch that up to the burner - whats the best one?)
Digital Camera (Any ideas? I need a 5 megapixel one, but it has to look like a traditional SLR. If it doesn't, my clients won't believe it is doing a good job - weird but true)
Portable Firewire Harddisk (I have a Firelite which is pretty good - any better out there?)

Cheers
Mook



i can recommend the Powerbook, i love mine. For a digital slr, i can recommend a Canon EOS 300D, i believe this is called the Digital Rebel in the US, that's 6M pixels, highest resolution is 3072 x 2048, that will look very sharp if you print in the A3 format a lot, oh i noticed you're from the Uk too. You can look here for more details on the Canon 300D. I'm sure somebody else will come through with answers for the rest of your questions.
 
OP
M

MickMAC

Guest
Powerbook G4 1.3 or 1.5 for sure! and if you can get the 17inch go for it. I use mine as my only computer and I am a freelance graphic designer. The 17 is great for two reasons, 1. the screen is big enough for just about any job. 2. the screen can be color calibrated pretty well, (not perfect but good). I use a seperate crt monitor for color correction and photo manip.

I use a Phaser 780 for all of my color proofs and picked it up for $800 off ebay.

The rest I am not so sure about!

good luck
 
OP
B

BigGntHed

Guest
For a Digital SLR I would go with the Nikon D70. It costs a little more than a Rebel Digital, But it's worth it for the lens it comes with alone. Super silent and fast focus. Also It looks a lot more professional than the Rebel. It's got an all black body like the professional DSLR's do. The Rebel has a Silver body that looks a little cheaper.

Just my two cents.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
12" 1.33 GHz PowerBook w/SuperDrive, 60GB HDD, 1.25G RAM.
I was just wondering whether the nikon has a vertical grip to go with it.
 

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