[adamm321]

Hello :-)

Haven't been here for awhile, since my MacBook Pro has been working great and loving it. A family member has to choose a new Mac Desktop to use for creating brochures at their office. Their boss has given him cart blanche to buy top of the line computer and software to use. Not sure if we should just ask the salesperson at the store for whatever they consider the best machine, but I would be happy to get some input on what we should be looking for, from anyone using their desktop for graphics and desktop publishing.

Thanks
:-)

[adamm321]

I forgot to mention they will be learning Web Design on this computer too and wonder if there is anything special we should be sure to include in the purchase?

Thanks

[macfan777]

If cost doesn't matter, tell him to get a Mac Pro. The processor upgrades really aren't worth it (I mean, who needs more than 22.4 total GHz anyway?) DEFINITELY upgrade the RAM to at least 8 GB, maybe even 16. The important thing here: DO NOT BUY APPLE'S RAM! It's insanely expensive. Go with Crucial or some other good-quality brand. I'd also recommend the RAID card, dual 15,000 RPM 300 GB drives using some type of RAID configuration for redundancy (in case one fails, the other has a mirror of the data) and maybe a couple extra larger drives in bays 3 and 4 for extra storage and backup. Upgrade at least to the GeForce graphics card, and if he really wants to go crazy, the QuadroFX 1.5 GB card is insane. I'd highly recommend the Cinema Displays. A single 30" or dual 23" should more than sufficient, but the more the better if he's going to be doing serious design work. Dual optical drives are a nice feature, though not entirely necessary. iWork is a nice suite, although somewhat redundant if he's got Office '08 (which is probably what he'll need in an office environment). On the other hand, for creating brochures and stuff, it simply has no equal - anywhere. Aperture is nice for digital imaging, but is more for photographers than graphic designers.

So that's my idea of a not-too-super-insane, yet still insanely powerful setup. It'll run somewhere in the neighborhood of $9000 with 2 TB of extra storage and 16 GB of RAM from Crucial.

The other option, which is much less expensive, is to go with the latest 24" iMac, which should still have plenty of horsepower for the job. Just load it with the best graphics card, memory, and storage, and get an external FireWire 800 drive or a RAID enclosure for additional storage.

In addition, I'd highly recommend a tablet like the Wacom Intuos 3 or a similar model.

As for software, Adobe's CS3 lineup is the standard for just about everything, but there are also a lot of great alternatives. If I knew more about exactly what he would be doing, I might be able to suggest a few.

Hope you find this helpful!


Edit: I should really stop using the word "insane." Also, the first large paragraph is easier to follow if you go to the Apple store and pull up the configuration page for the Mac Pro.

[ferrija1]

If you're only doing desktop publishing, you could use any Mac, even a Mini! Anyways, I'd look at the 24 inch iMac. Unless you need the expansion options of a Pro, an iMac should work fine.

[macfan777]

It depends on what kind of publishing. The above machine could handle anything from a simple business card to reproducing the Library of Congress. My thought, though, is if his boss has given him the go-ahead to get the very best, then he might as well. They could even use that machine as a server in the background! At the very least, he can do some SERIOUS impressing with it! And it'll almost never be outdated - I wonder how many CS releases Adobe will have to go through to outgrow that kind of system. <begins counting the decades it will take...>

But seriously, I forgot one of the MOST useful pieces of software for any web designer - webserver software. MAMP is the one I'd recommend here. It's contained within a single package and has Apache, MySQL, and PHP5. It can be used either for testing sites locally before uploading them to a server, or it can even be used as a standalone webserver (like I do.) Go to http://www.mamp.info/en/index.php for more information.

[dannyn]

you can get dreamweaver for web design

[macfan777]

Honestly, any serious web programmer uses a text editor for programming. As for WYSIWYG editors, Dreamweaver is a bloated piece of crap. Granted, it's a bloated piece of crap that can do just about anything, but it's still a bloated piece of crap. To each his own, I guess.

There are some much more elegant Mac alternatives out there that may or may not be better. RapidWeaver is one, and there's another one too - I'll post that one when I remember what it's called.