Re: Advice on good computer?

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From: Marilyn Saarni (saarni@eps.berkeley.edu)
Date: Thu May 15 2003 - 13:21:00 PDT

Hi Ana et al -

I do computer support as well as web work. Unfortunately, I'm a Mac
specialist, so I can't address specifically Windows gear if that's
your preference. But a lot of this info is generic.

Assuming you'll be using Photoshop frequently as well, you'll want as
wide a screen as you can afford (min. 18") for all those palettes,
and from an ergonomic perspective, get a flat screen--less
distortion, no flicker, and no glare--much safer for your eyes. VERY
important to take care of your eyes! (Don't forget a good
table/chair combo and height adjustments.)

If you buy Mac gear, the new pricing for the Mac flat screens is
excellent. I've liked the colors of the Sony flat screens and we've
purchased them for our Macs here (18"). My experience on Viewsonic
service on a defective screen was terrible, so I'd avoid Viewsonic.
(Who has several hours to waste on an out-of-the-box defective
monitor??)

I also recommend a high-powered portable with the biggest hard disk
you can get (min 20GB to be functional), or perhaps a supplementary
large external--that is, if you keep image archives like we do.

I cannot address Windows (I'm a Mac specialist), but if you're doing
Web work, it helps to be able to do presentations to people off-line
as well as on-line, and that requires a portable, or else you have to
deal with the hassle of burning presentations on CD--and you can't
flip photoshop layers on prototypes, etc, unless the machine you're
visiting has Photoshop (and other irritations). Having a portable
also helps you live a more rational life if you have overtime or
deadline-driven web work.

If you're doing a lot of Photoshop, get a really fast processor. On
the mac, I'm finding 512MB RAM is quite adequate for all but the
Photoshop 8-hr/day user (get the double-processor then).
Top-of-the-line processors aren't necessary for html work.

By the way, one cool thing about Mac OS 10 is while Photoshop is
working on some time-consuming operation on a 5MB file, you can be
checking your email or working on another non-Photoshop file. Quite
an efficiency plus.

You didn't ask about software...that would also require more info
(like print crossover?) from you.

I'd be interested in what other people feel is useful.

- Marilyn

>Hello everyone,
>
>I am looking to purchase a new computer with lots of RAM and I'm
>unsure of what works best for web designing? Any recommendations?
>
>Monitor size? 18.1" ?
>Flat screen? Trinitron?
>Optiplex
>Thanks,
>
>Ana
>
>____________________
>Ana G. Maron
>Public Relations/Senior Editor
>Department of Bioengineering
>UC Berkeley
>Berkeley, CA 94720
>(510) 642-8991 (office); (510) 642-5835 (Fax)
>http://bioeng.berkeley.edu

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