Re: Advice on good computer?

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From: Kirk Franklin (jkf@dev.urel.berkeley.edu)
Date: Thu May 15 2003 - 14:09:45 PDT

I'll second Marilyn's suggestions for RAM and monitor. I dunno about
Windows, but with Macs it's cheaper to buy the computer with low RAM and add
third-party RAM later than to buy the RAM up front from Apple.

For software, I'd recommend Dreamweaver MX as a visual web development tool,
and BBEdit (on Macs) or HomeSite (on Windows) for HTML editing.

http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/
http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/
http://www.macromedia.com/software/homesite/

Also, I use VirtualPC to get around Windows' inability to run multiple
versions of the operating system so I can check sites in the various Windows
versions of Internet Explorer:
http://www.connectix.com/products/vpc5w.html [Windows]
http://www.connectix.com/products/vpc6m.html [Mac]

> From: Marilyn Saarni <saarni@eps.berkeley.edu>
> Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 13:21:00 -0700
> To: webnet-list@uclink.berkeley.edu
> Subject: Re: [Webnet] Advice on good computer?
>
> 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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