x86 Laptop vs Mac Pro for photography ?

86JR

86JR

86JR

Permabanned
Joined
19 Oct 2007
Posts
6,322
Location
.
I am in need of a laptop for photography, for sorting out my images etc.

But I am not sure what to buy!!! it needs a lot of ram, and i was using a mac with aparture 2 the other day, plugged into my camera when i took the pic it would show up on the laptop...is this possible with lightroom 3 on a normal pc, without importing all the images constantly ?

I have never used a mac, can you set them up to dual boot windows 7, and set up the mouse to work like a normal mouse ?

Thanks!
 
You're talking about "tethering". It's available in most pro apps.

To answer your other concerns, yes, you can dual boot Windows 7 on a Mac.

The Mac Pro is not cheap, so I'd try downloading a demo of Lightroom to test before you take the plunge.
 
For studio tethering (as mentioned what you're referring too when you say plugging your camera in and photos showing up on the computer) your two best options are Lightroom or Capture 1 Pro (My favourite of the two). Both programs are available on PC and Mac and are nion identical in both (Couple of keyboard shortcuts are different, usually swapping CMD for CTRL does the trick).

By normal mouse do you mean no acceleration control? Or do you mean still having right click etc with the singular big touch pad?

Edit: I also presume you mean x86 laptop or Mac BOOK Pro, not the workstation? Bit of an odd comparison if so!
 
I see, why are they retarded? They work just like a normal track pad if you configure it to!
 
No buttons whatsoever? any and all motion does something different. having to press the pad down instead of a much less crude tap that normal track pads have been using for an age.
Its just loads more clutter, step in the wrong direction.
 
The acceleration is different to a PC but personally I find it annoying on Windows, having used Macs for as long as I can remember - it's just what you are used to.

You can turn on tap to click instead of physically pressing the touchpad down if you really want in System Preferences.

How is having a totally clean trackpad that is configurable exactly how you want it, made from smooth glass and not horrible scratchy plastic a step in the wrong direction?!
 
Last edited:
OllyM said:
How is having a totally clean trackpad that is configurable exactly how you want it, made from smooth glass and not horrible scratchy plastic a step in the wrong direction?!
Click to expand...

It would appear you arent talking about the newest ones.

Anyway, Ive not used a trackpad with 'horrible scratchy plastic'. HP do have some odd ones.
 
BIGBC said:
No buttons whatsoever?
Click to expand...

It's got a button underneath.

BIGBC said:
any and all motion does something different
Click to expand...

You can turn gestures off.

BIGBC said:
having to press the pad down instead of a much less crude tap that normal track pads have been using for an age
Click to expand...

You can turn on tap to click if you want.

BIGBC said:
Its just loads more clutter, step in the wrong direction.
Click to expand...

Turn off anything you don't like, keep anything you do. ALL the features of the glass trackpads are useful. Also, unless you make a habit of rubbing more than one finger around your trackpad for no reason, you wouldn't even switch the unwanted features on if you left them on.
 
Exactly, quite how anybody could call the new Apple trackpads a step in the wrong direction I really do not know, unless you had no actual experience of using one.
 
My mates 3 day old MacBook was nothing like as you descirbe. Felt like flexible vinyl - cheapest Ive experienced in a while.

Either way, this isnt helping OP. He doesnt like them either.

EDIT: just noticed this has been moved, no wonder im getting pounced on.
 
Last edited:
The new Apple trackpads are all made from glass, how it can feel like flexible vinyl I don't know.
 
What we're saying is you CAN set it up to be a bog standard boring trackpad if you like, which is what he asked.

He mentions a windows laptop and a Mac Pro, he either means Mac Pro in which case he can set the mouse up how he pleases again, and if he doesn't like it he can use his normal mouse as well, it'll work.

How you manage to think a glass trackpad feels like flexible vinyl though is beyond me.
 
In my view the trackpads on the MBP's and the very new MB's is on of their killer features... and I'm a Windows user!
 
Laptop for processing photos is far from ideal. The colours will be off when you process as colours will change with degree of screen tilt.
If photography is your main reason for laptop I'd get a windows or a mac laptop and run a monitor off it. Aperture or Lightroom is great for processing, note that Aperture only available for OSX, I personally prefer LR though.
 
Exactly, the trackpad on the newest MBPs is nothing short of bloody marvellous; that and the awesome battery are the killer features of the newest MBPs
 
Basically there are two important questions for you to answer (and one less important one)....

Do you absolutely want to use Aperture (or some other mac specific software)? If so you have no option but to get a Mac.

Do you want to use OSX over windows? If so you have no option once again.

If you're not saying yes to one or both of those then it comes down to the less important question -

Are you prepared to pay extra for the quality/design of a apple laptop over a similarly specified windows machine? If you are then buy a Macbook pro, otherwise get a decent HP/Dell machine and be happy with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom