Are imacs or mac mini's good for prepress

Started by prepressDog, November 22, 2010, 09:46:23 AM

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What are you using for Prepress

Mac Intel Towers
2 (15.4%)
new imacs
7 (53.8%)
Mac G5 PPC (non intel)
7 (53.8%)
Mac mini
2 (15.4%)
or Other (PC or Whatever)
6 (46.2%)

Total Members Voted: 13

Voting closed: November 28, 2010, 11:09:32 AM

prepressDog

Are the days gone for the need to buy nice G5 towers?

Would imacs or mac mini's with a nice LCD monitor work ??

We have 1 monster machine... bought about 3yrs ago. Use for Big files / Jobs to RIP, etc. (how do you show screen shots in post?)

But it seems the new imac's and mac mini's be fine for everyday prepress op.? Thoughts?

David

Quote from: prepressDog on November 22, 2010, 09:46:23 AMAre the days gone for the need to buy nice G5 towers?

G5's are no longer available unless you buy a used one. All the new Macs are Intel.

and...
Depending on how you use them, they will ALL work.
I prefer the tower for ease of repairs (adding RAM, replacing hard drives, etc.) and, if the monitor goes south on you, you don't lose the whole machine while it's in the shop.
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gnubler

I use a pair of 3 yr old iMacs, 2.4Ghz Intel, 2Gb RAM. I'm pretty happy with overall performance.

Of course, I spent three years at my last job entirely Windows based. So any kind of Mac is a treat to me. :laugh:
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Quote from: pspdfppdfx on December 06, 2012, 05:03:51 PM
So,  :drunk3: i send the job to the rip with live transparecy (v 1.7 or whatever) and it craps out with a memory error.

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Joe

We use all iMacs. There is a lot to be said for David's point of view. The towers are much easier to work on than the iMacs and Minis. Unfortunately we're never going to see towers in prepress here again because of the initial cost of them.
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Grimace

 we got four 27" iMacs here, 2 for marketing and two for prepress.
Would love to have the tower, but as Joe said, crazy expensive, and we don't RIP huge files to warrant that kind of muscle.
On the other side of that, you may not need to upgrade for 5 or more years with a new tower.


There is an "Additional Options" pull down when you post that will allow you attach screen shots, etc..

Stiv

We have a Mini. It gets very hot so I have it lifted up off of the desk. The USBports go wonky every now and then making a restart necessary. By wonky I mean the keyboard doesn't work and the Preps dongle key goes out. You can't put much RAM in this one and it cannot drive a large monitor. I wouldn't get one for production other than a Preps station or something like that.
I've seen the iMacs and they are cool but the "all-in-one" scares me.

gnubler

Quote from: Stiv on November 22, 2010, 11:03:29 AMI've seen the iMacs and they are cool but the "all-in-one" scares me.

Likewise. For anyone who didn't follow my thread about the dead iMac hard drive, I ended up having to take the whole machine to an Apple store for hard drive replacement (covered under Applecare). I found an online tute on doing it yourself but it terrified me so I took it in. Changing out a hard drive should not be terrifying...
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Quote from: pspdfppdfx on December 06, 2012, 05:03:51 PM
So,  :drunk3: i send the job to the rip with live transparecy (v 1.7 or whatever) and it craps out with a memory error.

Member #14 • Size 5 • PH8 Unit 7 • Paranoid Misanthropic Doomsayer • Printing & Drinking Since 1998 • doomed ©2011 david

Joe

Quote from: gnubler on November 22, 2010, 11:06:59 AMChanging out a hard drive should not be terrifying...

Agreed...but to cram all that stuff in such a little place is going to cause inconveniences like this. Plus you have to have the special Apple tool for the screwheads if you do want to do it yourself.
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The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

G_Town

2 imacs, on Intel tower and my tired old G5.

gnubler

Quote from: Joe on November 22, 2010, 11:19:10 AM
Quote from: gnubler on November 22, 2010, 11:06:59 AMChanging out a hard drive should not be terrifying...

Agreed...but to cram all that stuff in such a little place is going to cause inconveniences like this. Plus you have to have the special Apple tool for the screwheads if you do want to do it yourself.

And don't forget those suction cups to gingerly lift off the glass display. :scared:  ...and good luck getting it all back together.
Hicks • Cross • Carlin • Kinison • Parker • Stone •  Colbert • Hedberg • Stanhope • Burr

"As much as I'd like your guns I prefer your buns." - The G

Quote from: pspdfppdfx on December 06, 2012, 05:03:51 PM
So,  :drunk3: i send the job to the rip with live transparecy (v 1.7 or whatever) and it craps out with a memory error.

Member #14 • Size 5 • PH8 Unit 7 • Paranoid Misanthropic Doomsayer • Printing & Drinking Since 1998 • doomed ©2011 david

NefariousDrO

I used to tear into the original iMacs a few times, it was alot easier back then. Still, I've had 3 of the flat-panel iMacs with no trouble of any sort. I did see one monitor go bad on a friend's machine, but I'm still suspicious that it wasn't the monitor but the video-card. He dumped it and bought a new one, though (it was a G5, after all) I recommended them to my current employer, they seem pretty reliable, and certainly can do anything you'd need to do in Prepress, I even use them for more demanding 3D modeling and rendering on my personal machines.

almaink

I replaced both my workstation with and new Intel and Bossmans G4 with a used G5 iMac. Easy enough to open and replace hard drive, DVD drive, and or Ram. The power supply just died in Bossmans used iMac. Cost me $125 for a new power supply and about 1/2 hour to replace it.
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Joe

Yes, the G5 iMacs are easy to get into and replace things. Once they went to the Intel CPU you can't get to anything other than RAM without pulling the LCD. PITA...
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

prepressDog

Thanks all for replies...

Thinking stick with Intel towers, cust build and repair (although BossMan prob rather send out for repair)... but nothing beats mac cinema displays...seems.

but mby a few imacs...for norm everyday prepress op.

Gives me something to think about. Hate seeing bossman shell out 2-5 GRAND for awesome Towers.... then a new imac comes out year later that can spank it. hmm...

frailer

Late to this cos been asleep.  :rolleyes:  There's no Intel equivalent, really, for G5 towers. Mac Pros look like them, but the price has gone up, relatively, by about 40%. If they will let you, get one. People have covered iMacs. I can only add that the only one worth getting is the new 27" with LED (LCD) IPS panel.
Minis. I'm one-eyed. I love them, especially the new ones. They've dealt with the heat dissipation in the latest ones better. Flatter form factor. Plus they're easier to get into.
RAM is a breeze to add, and they'll take 8GB. My son has put an OWC 120GB Solid State Drive in his MacBook Pro, and it flies., like really flies. I had plans to do same with Minis for prepress but my plans were scuttled.
Cinema Displays? For that kind of money, look at entry-level NEC or EIZO. Chalk and cheese.
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