[RXrenesis8]

I use OSX, Windows 7, and Ubuntu on a regular basis. "Mac" is a fine choice for photography, their displays tend to be better than the cheapie monitors typically bundled with windows machines, and I certainly like the operating system more than windows. Getting a mac mini however you will be getting very few of the Apple hardware benefits, and in fact some limitations from such a small form factor.

First and foremost: RAM. When your computer (be it running OSX, Windows, or "Other") runs out of free space in memory (RAM) it will begin writing data to its virtual memory (your hard drive). Using virtual memory for processing data is NOT what you want to be doing, it becomes a slow and painful process.

I would go so far as to say an old desktop with a Pentium 4 and 8 gigs of RAM could stitch a 50 megapixel panorama faster than a core i7 machine with 2 gigs of RAM.

I use lots of it, and I want more, always more. I am running with 16GB on my main machine right now and that is good for quickly stitching panoramas consisting of up to 9 photographs in photoshop (other programs may differ). You should be good with 8GB of ram for most photography and never notice any slowdowns related to memory. My Macbook pro is an older model and only supports 3GB of RAM, Definitely not enough for making panoramas quickly (though it will still chug away if you give it 20 minutes or so).

Even without making panoramas I find 3GB to be quite limiting if I am running more than one graphics program at once, say: Lightroom and Photoshop, a pair I need to use together frequently.

[Ash]

I'd wonder why someone would want to invest in an i7 and skimp on RAM...
I'll reiterate that 8GB of RAM is highly advisable, and I'd also agree that going at least to an i5 iMac would be a better and longer-lasting investment than a Mac mini for these applications.

[RXrenesis8]

I'd wonder why someone would want to invest in an i7 and skimp on RAM...

I went to a school with a couple of people who were building gaming rigs when the nehalem based chipsets were just coming out. Apparently you don't need a lot of ram for gaming?


Also: as a side note to the OP, you do NOT have to be limited to systems that come with 8GB of RAM. If you know your way around a screwdriver you can upgrade almost any computer's memory. You need to check and see what the maximum amout it can support is though.

[Coeurdechene]

Apparently you don't need a lot of ram for gaming?

mmm...depends on the game...and on the OS...if you use bloatware you will need more RAM than with an efficient OS.
Here you are talking of 8Gb, i got 1 and for the litle processing i do with Rawtherapee it's enough.
For panos while using a heavy desktop with editing programs open...well then you will likely need those 8Gb...but one thing has to be clear, your computer is very capable! no need to buy another one, if you are not satisfied with it's performance try MacOS or linux.

[65535]

Well gents, got a refurb mac mini.

Went for the 2.4Ghz processor, bought an 8gb ram kit separately. Will be hooking it up to my 24" benQ pva panel... not great but the best lcd under 1000 back in the day.

Will try it alongside my Quadcore.

Assuming this mac thing works out I would not be opposed to buying a Mac Pro in the future, but so far I really like Windows 7. It's my favorite Microsoft OS since Windows 2000, so we'll see how it goes. Dual quad of hexcores seem extremely enticing... would really obliterate video transcoding tasks

Btw, refurbished deals are better than educational discount... and they come with a full warranty.

As it turns out, the CPU in the thing is the same as my work laptop. 8GB ram and 64 bit should help a lot. Work laptop was pretty decent in Lightroom last time I used it.

[Ash]

Looks like a good deal - should serve you well, and I'm sure a good improvement on what you currently have.

[cats_five]

"Mac" is a fine choice for photography, their displays tend to be better than the cheapie monitors typically bundled with windows machines.

Nothing forces people to buy the monitor as well as the box, but a lot of people (most people outside specialist areas i suspect) have no idea how different an IPS panel is to a TN one.

Also there is also a big trend towards laptops instead of desktops and very few laptops come with an IPS panel - the only solution with most laptops is an external monitor.

However on the bright side the cost of IPS panels is slowly coming down.

[Verglace]

I have the 2.4ghz Core2Duo 13" Macbook pro, I find it quite sluggish compared to my i7 desktop, however its still usable, I think the biggest bottleneck is the harddrive read speed and not the processor.

[65535]

So the thing is SLOOOOOOOOW

After an upgrade to 8GB of ram it is much much better. However as verglace mentioned the laptop-spec drive is sluggish.

So for now, RAW is on my quadcore Windows 7 machine and the mac is for organizing and sending and viewing the jpeg versions in Iphoto

[65535]

As far as usability goes.... I love it. I really love it. So much more user friendly than WIn7, and this from a real win7 fanboy.

[mtroute]

Haha, oh wow. I had to giggle at the naivete of that statement. Putting it kindly, it shows the triumph of hope over experience.

Wow, it's surprising that you can make those statements with such authority and still have no idea what your talking about.

Here is my test of secure. On a windows machine I can get a virus/trojan or malware without even knowing it thanks to the lovely DLL system and the registry. The ONLY way to get a virus/trojan or malware on a OSX Mac is by actively giving the program permission to install by providing an admin password.

Those are two separate levels of secure. Is the mac totally virus free, no but it's not the system that is insecure it's the user which is not the case with Windows.

Flame on...

[mtroute]

Macs are just overpriced machines (where the aditional hundreds of bucks are payed for design reasons..), since they got the same hardware as PC..so do yourself a favor, instead of buying another computer just install MacOS on your fine machine.
MacOS is better than windows, but as with anything it needs a certain degree of involvement to tweak and learn to use it to really get the most out of it. You will still have to learn better practises to avoid rootkits, worms,etc...and learn the difference between user and administrator (it's one of it's strongpoints, and the thing that is less understood by newcomers...i inherited a Ibook plagued with filth because the former user wasn't carefull with user/admin difference).
Buy the 40$ dollar OS instead of the 1000$ computer since you already own a powerfull machine.

This has been debunked over and over and over and over again. Look, Macs are tier one machines. Take any tier one manufacturer like HP or Dell and compare it spec for spec and you will see that the price is almost identical. The problem is that you have no lowend options so it seems that the Mac is more expensive.

compare it to an emachines or asus and yeah they are more expensive.

[Ash]

As far as usability goes.... I love it. I really love it. So much more user friendly than WIn7, and this from a real win7 fanboy.

This is precisely how I felt when I made the move from Win2000 to OS9 on a G3. I haven't looked back since.

I still use PCs at work but keep finding that using my Macs is a more pleasurable experience in every way.

[Tonto]

Thought I'ld ask this here rather than generate a new thread.
Now I'm not getting a new computer soon,I have only a Core 2 Duo Vaio laptop with 2gb ram and Nvida graphics.
Currently use Photoshop Elements 6 and abit of GIMP but really keen on getting Lightroom, it just covers all the right bases for me so no worries there.
If I get it do I get both a Mac and PC version in one box or are they seperate?
I feel my next PC upgrade will be to an iMac mainly for the accuracy of the monitor and would good for me to get familiar with using macs.
But I feel I need Lightroom first and its not cheap so don't want to buy it twice.
So...either
How would a decent PC system with an RGB accurate monitor compare price wise?
and
How easy and fast is to run something like Lightroom as virtual PC on the Mac?

[kbrede]

Thought I'ld ask this here rather than generate a new thread.
Now I'm not getting a new computer soon,I have only a Core 2 Duo Vaio laptop with 2gb ram and Nvida graphics.
Currently use Photoshop Elements 6 and abit of GIMP but really keen on getting Lightroom, it just covers all the right bases for me so no worries there.
If I get it do I get both a Mac and PC version in one box or are they seperate?
I feel my next PC upgrade will be to an iMac mainly for the accuracy of the monitor and would good for me to get familiar with using macs.
But I feel I need Lightroom first and its not cheap so don't want to buy it twice.
So...either
How would a decent PC system with an RGB accurate monitor compare price wise?
and
How easy and fast is to run something like Lightroom as virtual PC on the Mac?

The Lightroom license is such that you don't have to purchase separate licenses for Windows and Mac. One license works for both.