New iMac 24" for photo work/some video work?

[shootergirl]

I need a new Mac. My circa 1999 G4 (with a 2.0GHz upgraded processor) just won't cut it anymore, especially since more and more Mac software is requiring an Intel processor. I'd most likely buy it after Christmas so I can roll my birthday and Christmas presents from the SO into buying a new one. I've got a MacPro at work and love it, but I just don't have the $$ to spend on one at home. My question is, will a 24" iMac do the job? I'd be running CS4 applications, doing a bit of high-def video editing with iMovie HD (I hate the new version), and other "normal" stuff like word processing which doesn't take big processing power. Would the standard video card (ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO) be good enough, or would it be better to get the upgraded one (NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS)?

What about the display? Will it work fine? I don't mind glossy screens--my MacBook has one and it doesn't bother me. And in my computer room at home, I don't have a problem with reflections. I imagine I could calibrate it the same as I would any other monitor... I've seen in some of the LL videos that Michael uses an iMac, so I guess it must work for him.

Any help and thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Donna

[Phil Corley]

I use a new 24" iMac for my photo work no problems (with the ATI graphics card); Aperture 2.1 and Photoshop CS3 (just about to install CS4).   Glossy screen is no problems for me and I calibrated it fine (albeit it I needed to use ColorEyes as the software for my One Eye Display).

You can read my experience of calibrating on the journal pages of my web site,

Regards

Phil
www.philcorley.com

[Chris_Brown]

I use one for tethered shooting and occasional retouching. For best performance use an external FireWire 800 drive for your data. Even though the internal drives spin at 7200RPM you'll get better/faster performance when using an external drive. Also, max out the RAM to 4 GB. You'll be very happy with your purchase.

[Jonathan H]

For best performance use an external FireWire 800 drive for your data. Even though the internal drives spin at 7200RPM you'll get better/faster performance when using an external drive.

Huh?  That's absurd.

Internal drives are connected directly to the motherboard.  You can't get any faster than that.  eSata is the fastest external connection (other than a gigabit fiber optic, but realistically speaking) and eSata is still not as fast as an internal drive.

[Josh-H]

Huh?  That's absurd.

Internal drives are connected directly to the motherboard.  You can't get any faster than that.  eSata is the fastest external connection (other than a gigabit fiber optic, but realistically speaking) and eSata is still not as fast as an internal drive.

Agreed - an internal Sata drive will be a lot quicker - and SAS even quicker again.

I just recently moved my catalogue from an externally mirrored Raid 1 NAS connected via firewire 800 to my mac pro on 3 x 500 gig internal SATA drives in RAID 5 and its more than significantly faster.

[The View]

I need a new Mac. My circa 1999 G4 (with a 2.0GHz upgraded processor) just won't cut it anymore, especially since more and more Mac software is requiring an Intel processor. I'd most likely buy it after Christmas so I can roll my birthday and Christmas presents from the SO into buying a new one. I've got a MacPro at work and love it, but I just don't have the $$ to spend on one at home. My question is, will a 24" iMac do the job? I'd be running CS4 applications, doing a bit of high-def video editing with iMovie HD (I hate the new version), and other "normal" stuff like word processing which doesn't take big processing power. Would the standard video card (ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO) be good enough, or would it be better to get the upgraded one (NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS)?

What about the display? Will it work fine? I don't mind glossy screens--my MacBook has one and it doesn't bother me. And in my computer room at home, I don't have a problem with reflections. I imagine I could calibrate it the same as I would any other monitor... I've seen in some of the LL videos that Michael uses an iMac, so I guess it must work for him.

Any help and thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Donna

Your alternatives are:

1. to get a refurbished white 24" iMac with a matte display from Apple, which has warranty. Max it out to 3 Gb, great machine. Or any other model you'd like.

Here's an overview for today, October 22nd.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...&esvid=1989

2. Invest your money in an excellent screen, and use it with your MacBook ( how old is it? Would it be fast enough/have enough RAM?).

[Chris Sanderson]

The short answer is, yes.

I have a maxed out 24" iMac 2.8GHz / 4GB ram / 1TB drive.

This iMac can easily be used for shorter HD video projects with Final Cut & AfterEffects and is quite satisfactory for most Lightroom / Aperture / PS work.

If your video or stills require fast render (to different formats or for complex multi-layer effects) in a short turnaround time, get a maxed out MacPro desktop, you will need the quad core for the renders.

[Chris_Brown]

Internal drives are connected directly to the motherboard.  You can't get any faster than that.  eSata is the fastest external connection (other than a gigabit fiber optic, but realistically speaking) and eSata is still not as fast as an internal drive.

With large image files (500MB+) & video editing an external drive is always faster than using a single internal drive to run the OS, the application, the cache I/O and data read/writes. The iMac offers only a single SATA internal drive and additional drives must be external.

[shootergirl]

The short answer is, yes.

I have a maxed out 24" iMac 2.8GHz / 4GB ram / 1TB drive.

This iMac can easily be used for shorter HD video projects with Final Cut & AfterEffects and is quite satisfactory for most Lightroom / Aperture / PS work.

If your video or stills require fast render (to different formats or for complex multi-layer effects) in a short turnaround time, get a maxed out MacPro desktop, you will need the quad core for the renders.

Well, it sounds like I'll be happy with a new iMac! My video projects wouldn't be hollywood-blockbuster type anyway, so it should work fine for me. I'll be sure to max it out on RAM. I've already got an external FW800 drive that I can use so I wouldn't have to buy one.

Thanks everyone! Now it's time to start saving!  

Donna