A good graphic design computer?

Question

I am 15. I am saving up to buy a new computer. Although im pretty young, i do a lot of graphic design work including Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, and many more. I am very familiar with all tools in Windows. I am trying to keep my budget at under $1500. This will include not only the computer, but also a keyboard, monitor, and mouse. But as for the computer, I am considering a Mac, but I am not familiar with it at all. I am also considering an HP. But as long as it meets the below specifications, it really does not matter:

- 3 or 4 GB of ram

- SuperDrive

- at least 350GB hard drive (sata/xsata)

- duo core quad processor

- monitor at least 20"

- any other suggestions

If the computer is from a respected company and meets the criteria above, I would really appreciate it if you listed it/them. Thank you =]

Answer 1

MAC

Answer 2

Sounds like you are used to using Adobe products. CS3 can be had for both Windows and Mac OSX. There's no real reason to switch to Mac if you are already comfortable with Windows. However, a Mac Pro is something to consider as you can easily dual-boot OSX and Vista (especially if you would like to do some gaming).

HP offers a line of workstations with Quadro FX cards and quad core Xeon processors. But I'm not sure if you really need a professional workstation, and you're not going to get one for under $1,500 -- an entry-level "gaming" PC might do just fine.

Check out this machine from HP:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shoppi...

EDIT: And an 8 core Xeon Mac Pro is going to be outside your budget anyway. An iMac is not recommended because of upgrade problems (basically like a laptop -- makes a good doorstop after a few years ;) )

EDIT: Pinoon appears to be a spammer. Reported.

Answer 3

A Mac is easily recommend by many graphic artists, so yes go for Mac. PC is not popular by graphic designers.  In my college, many grahic arts students work with Mac. And in their computer labs, there are only Macs.

Answer 4

You basically can get any decent brand. What you primarily need for heavy duty design work is a high powered cpu, lots of memory and a high tech monitor. The memory and the CPU you are describing fit the bill although you'll probably want a higher end duo core.

The following articles will provide you with more information

http://www.ask-the-computer-doc.com/buy-...

http://www.ask-the-computer-doc.com/vide...

http://www.ask-the-computer-doc.com/pc-v...