Too Apple Mac or not too Apple Mac? thats the question!

[Nick Minall]

Rob, the new intel processor macs can run both operating systems, that’s about all i can help you with 😕

[Warren Beard]

Hi Rob

I have worked on Mac’s and PC’s and you are thinking correct.

Mac’s are more stable…..but …….. do also crash like a PC, just not as often.

You cannot get all PC software’s for a Mac and vice versa but from what I have seen is the gap is closing on the software cross overs.

The best thing about Mac’s are their processing power especially for graphics, this is why most design agencies and reproduction houses use Mac’s.

Overall Mac’s are a better machine IMHO but you pay for that as well.

If you have not used a Mac before it does also take some getting used to with regards to set up and functionality but hardware installations are easier too.

That’s about as much as I know from my experience.

Cheers

Warren

[RobGF]

The Mac OS is very stable but that doesn’t mean that all programs written for the Mac are written perfectly and none of them ever crash. Perhaps you should mention what your key apps are and somebody can chime in about their experiences with Mac OS and that program combination.

If your key apps are Adobe apps that a new Mac might not be your thing right now. The Adobe stuff right now doesn’t run very quickly on the Intel hardware (although a public beta of PhotoShop does).

Rob

[John Childs]

There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents……….

Seriously though, Macs are better computers but not necessarily more expensive. Take any Mac and spec up a PC to an equivalent level and there won’t be enough difference to worry about if you make sure to include everything, like dual monitor support out of the box etc etc.

OS X will take a bit of learning after years of Windows but it is very intuitive and shouldn’t take too long. It’s worth the effort because OS X is much nicer and easier to use once it is mastered.

Reliabilty? Well, read the computer problem threads on this board and others. When did you last see somebody having trouble with a Mac? Even after allowing for the relative proportions of each type in use, Macs are much, much less trouble.

OS upgrades? No worries. Apple take much more care over their upgrades and they always work straight out of the box, unlike the buggy garbage sometimes released by Big Bill. Install with one mouse click and a password and it will work. No angst with it suddenly not recognising installed devices, or any nonsense like that. It just works.

Macs do crash, but so infrequently that I tend to forget that it might happen and don’t take precautions, so when it does, I lose work. Fortunately it is infrequent.

Practically every major piece of software is available for the Mac but you won’t get the small market low volume specialised stuff. I’ve never found that a problem but if it is, like Warren says, Macs now have Intel processors so you can now run anything. In fact there is a piece of software available now that allows you to run Windows and OS X at the same time and flip from one to the other.

Rob is right about Adobe stuff, although I don’t find them THAT slow. This is due to the change to Intel processors, and the next Adobe upgrade will fix it. Then watch them fly.

If you don’t want to be a computer guru, and just turn it on and start work, then a Mac is the way to go.

All the above is in my humble opinion and I appreciate that others may have different views. I put this down to one of two things. Either they have never used a Mac or they are deluded. 🙂 No, I know some people prefer PCs, and may have valid reasons for doing so but, for me, Mac is the only way to go.

[David Rowland]

Apple and Apple quicktime will go together very well, a lot more toys in the video work is easier but I am not knowledge enough on them.

although, for work use our mac has been unplugged for about 4 months now, although my collegue Joe wants to plug it in to convert text from a mac font to AI.. so thats the only reason lol

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Dave Rowland:

our mac has been unplugged for about 4 months now

ive not plugged mine in either for well over a year… 😮 i do like macs also, but a bit of getting used too rob if youve never used one before 😀

mind you ive never had a pc crash for ages….(touch wood) 😉

nik

[Harry Cleary]

Is it a seriously steep learning curve?, have been tempted to change over myself as I do a lot of graphic design these days.

[Robert Lambie]

advice has been great so far! thank you….

my software, like Dave says is all quick time – apple orientated. its easy to work with etc but i cannot be doing with the crashes, as i have limited time for this sort of thing.
i am a firm believer in that i "get what you pay for" and at this time i just feel that if i am to move forward, i must pay my dues….

i.e. buy a mac if i want to run and edit HUGE MAC type files.

any further input is greatly appreciated!

[Peter Normington]

Oh no not this same argument again.
My computers run on windows, even the steam driven one, and have never crashed after upgrading to xp (about 5 years ago?)
Some programs do go wobbly, but windows os just hangs on in there.

does anybody use Linux? another contender for toppling MS,

the majority of the world use windows, I wonder why?

Rob, it may be just that you are not using the best software for doing what you want

Peter

[Robert Lambie]

peter, i hear and agree with what you say… but…

the software thats crashing is mac software… the software i use for conversion, amongst a few others converts to apple/ quciktime. takes ages and sometimes crashes. as conversions are getting upto 3 hours at a time, i cannot afford crashes half way anymore…

my idea is… it is recorded in .mov for editing. then it needs to convert to mac "different format, it has be
better chance starting from a mac using mac software?

[dominique]

Well, I have to say that from my personal experience, Macs are a more stable platform to work with when you deal with graphics (from a work’s point of view). I have worked with both platform for years but have now given my PC a very humble rest for all these years of good service!
The Macs run on Unix which is so stable that it’s used by all government machines (to name a few!!) When it comes to crashing or freezing this still happen from time to time but the beauty of the Mac is that you can isolate the troublesome software and ‘Force Quit’ it, this leaves all you other running programs unaffected and you can carry on with your work !… Not more issues with rebooting your machine because of one program misbehaving !
If you work with Adobe software then look no further, the powerhouse Mac will make your life a dream !! My work is ‘graphic design’ based, altho I’m now also doing some sign work…
I could go on for a while like this but just to finalize, Mac are lot more intuitive machines, they are ‘user-friendly’ and reliable.
I have used a my Powerbook for a good 6 years and altho it’s not the fastest machine, it still deal with all the graphics I throw at it ! 😉
Embrace the Mac technology, it makes sense !!!
If anyone has any questions, I’m happy to help !

[Peter Normington]

the argument mac v pc will go on for years, it is down to your own preference and experience, Rob the best way to find out, buy a mac, see how you get on with it, no amount of comments here will persuade you one way or the other.

peter

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Peter Normington:

the argument mac v pc will go on for years, it is down to your own preference and experience, Rob the best way to find out, buy a mac, see how you get on with it, no amount of comments here will persuade you one way or the other.

spot on peter 😉

nik

[Peter Mindham]

Where Nik?? 😛
Peter

[RobGF]

Doesn’t sound like the question is Mac vs. PC. Sounds like the question is will Quicktime and Final Cut Pro on a Mac provide a smoother experience than using the same software on a PC… If that’s the case maybe you should move the discussion over to someones video editing forum where chances are there are people who have used both platforms and the software can provide real world advice. I would assume if probably works very well on the Mac as that combo is frequently used to edit motion pictures.

Rob

[John Childs]

quote Peter Normington:

the majority of the world use windows, I wonder why?

For the same reason the majority of the world uses VHS video. Nobody has ever pretended that VHS was better than Betamax, it was just a bit cheaper and reached critical mass first.

Rob wants a video editing machine. Guess which platform is used by Hollywood.

[Alan Drury]

Your choice is down to the software, I run Signlab and Corel neither are now available on MAC so no choice. I wonder why your stuff freezes on a PC, is it because PC’s arn’t so capable or because the software isn’t written well for a PC.
Alan D

[Aitor Asencor]

I’m a happy mac user since 1988, and really they are far away from a pc.

I’ve bought about a dozen of different macs, and still using some of the oldest ones.

The actual macs have intel core duo processor, so you can run in windows if needed ( 😮 strange case..), and with different options (start as a pc, run both systems simountaniously,..)

The actual system (10.4) has got and advantage over the pc system of 4-5 years easily, even with the future release of Vista. The core of the systems is unix, so it’s very secure.
No virus, no open ports attacks, no spyware,…

The software available is not so huge as for pc, but you can get all done. The only problem is with some specialized vertical markets. For example, I’d like an utility as CutMaster Pro. Also I’d like more sign programs as signlab. Maybe that things will change in a near future. 🙄

The latest CorelDraw version for mac is v.11 (sorry, it’s very bad and mac users got Freehand and Illustrator 20 years ago… however needed to export archives that we receive from pc users).

Remember that adobe, macromedia, quark,… were first releasing mac software.
For video, mac is perfect. You got imovie and idvd just with your mac system and they are very powerful and easy.

Also got more professional software for video production as FinalCut Pro.

Check this apple ad about create home movies (very funny):
http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple … 80×376.mov

Aitor

[Frank Horner]

Rob,

My main PC suffered a heart attack last week and barring major organ transplants is as good as dead. I am, like yourself looking at the Mac option.

I am lucky as I have an Apple shop just a 10min walk away, and they are very helpful, and not pushing to sell me a machine without first confirming that it will run my equipment and applications.

My main software is Wasatch Softrip, Gerber Omega, Corel, and Adobe CS2. As the new Mac can run windows the software appears to present no problems, however, there has been no confirmation yet as to wether my Gerber Edge and Gerber Plotter can be run because of the parallel and serial port requirements.

On a like for like spec there is very little difference on price, and the information I have gathered on reliability favours the Mac.

If anyone can enlighten me on using the Gerber equipment from a Mac it would be very much appreciated.

Frank.

[Paul Jamieson]

I use PC’s for my sign business, not because I feel they are better, it’s a case of having to buy all that software again 😮
I use a mac running OS X tiger in the recording studio, It’s rock solid.
I used to use a dual processor PC but it would sometimes crash, causing me to lose hours of work. Hence no hair 🙂 It’s not funny when you have someone spending hours trying to get a vocal right, and then when they do finally get it right the PC crashes and you loose it…. F#@k, did I save that?
The arguments for and against a mac carries on into the music industry too, it’s just a matter of personal choice I guess. I do prefer OS X over MS windows though, like someone said, it’s based on UNIX :thumbsup:

Paul

[Aitor Asencor]

Well, the Wasatch Softrip is also released for mac, as Adobe CS2 and coreldraw (latest version is v.11). Ask them for an upgrade to mac version.

Gerber has released the MacImprint, so you can print directly to the Gerber Edge & edge 2 from a mac, it includes a PCI parallel port hardware interface, so it costs some $.

So ask Gerber as they are supporting mac.

Aitor

[Robert Lambie]

thanks a million for all the replies on this… i must say, i think if the way to speed up the time i spend on conversions and editing, then take away the amount of crashes of massive files with hours of work. investing in a mac maybe the way to go. i think the quality of the video i loaded last week is very good but i recon that could also be sharpened even more if starting from mac and ending in mac output.

i bought a magazine on macs on Saturday from borders while getting my fortnightly magazine fix :lol1:

this may sound naive/daft i don’t know… but is there any compatibility issues if i bought my mac from the states? it appears i can buy twice the machine buying from the states… due to the strength of the pound against the dollar… if i am buying from a registered mac distributor should there be any issues?

also, i have two PC’s in my office and a laptop. all networked. if i add a mac to this network, will there be any compatibility issues?

again, thank you very much in advance for any help/advice.

.

[Robert Lambie]

as this video posted by aitor shows, sharp as a tack is possible.
this video is around the same viewing size as uksb videos, maybe this is a little smaller but quality is top notch for the net!

http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple … 80×376.mov

[Alan Wharton]

I have had 1 crashed pc since using xp pro when it came out years ago, i find it near 100% stable compared to win 98se its a dream, but like all pc’s and im sure macs (no nothing about a mac btw) the thing has to be setup correctly in the 1st place, iv 3 pc’s atm 1 at work and 2 at home, the work 1 and 1 of the home pc’s are more or less identical and set up identical so i can take work home and do it on the home pc, the other pc i mainly use for gaming totally set up different than the other 2. Wont you have to buy all replacement software if you go mac or will pc software run on a mac, i think i seen bill gates saying that something like 90% of all pc’s run windows 🙄 he may have the market by the (!) but ms software in general is good, Vista im now looking at its cheaper than xp atm lol 😕

[John Childs]

Hi Robert.

How brave are you feeling? I don’t think that there any compatibility issues with a US bought Mac, but I’m not quite sure how you would stand in the event of a warranty claim. As mentioned above, Macs are very reliable, but I once received a new Mac which was DOA, but a replacement was delivered next day by my UK supplier.

Also, exactly how much cheaper would a US version be after paying insurance, shipping, duty, VAT, import procedures etc etc? Is it really worthwhile bearing in mind delivery delays, potential loss of warranty and general service backup? I suspect not (but stand to be corrected).

Networking is no problem. I have one PC on our network running the printer, and it shows up on the Mac desktop just like any other computer or drive.

[Robert Lambie]

ill be honest, the mac is for video editing only. the software program for editing will be mac and the final output is mac. i honestly don’t see me having to buy any other software as there is no need. my pc’s have everything else i could need on them anyway, its just when your chucking 6gig of video footage about a screen, hours on end, something normally gives when using the PC and it drives me nuts 😕 :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[Robert Lambie]

you posted while i typed john… thanks for the reply. 😀

yeh i guess you could be right on various things john.
DOA is probably covered if sent by carrier ide guess, but other things do add up…
i have a authorised mac seller not far from me and my thoughts were, if the same machines etc and that i bought from another mac store, they would be able to maintain/help with whatever i needed. i just wasnt sure if there were any actual differences in how they are built/run.
sorry, im not much of a tech head on these sorta things…
running a computer is not a problem, but is about as far as my knowledge goes :lol1: :lol1:

[John Childs]

quote Robert Lambie:

i have a authorised mac seller not far from me and my thoughts were, if the same machines etc and that i bought from another mac store, they would be able to maintain/help with whatever i needed.

I’m sure they would be perfectly capable Robert, but will they do it?

Certainly you will be the very lowest priority, and well behind all their own customers.

How do you deal with folks who had their sign work done elsewhere and then come to you because they are not happy with it?

[Robert Lambie]

ah, i see what you mean… i wasnt actually meaning if i wasnt happy with it. i just mean say i needed extra this or that added, or a repair needing done, but for a fee of course? i guess i what i am meaning is… its not like buying a cheap japanese cutter from ebay that i will be stuck for parts and upgrades should i need them?
having said that, i guess the parts are easily bought over the net anyway.

[Daniel Gillen]

once you try mac you cant go back :lol1:

Would there not be voltage issues between US and UK desktop machines?
Laptops would be fine… as the power pack is universal.

[David Rowland]

Might be worth while reading up on this rob
http://www.apple.com/macmini/

The MacMini I think can be purchased quite reasonably with Mac video editing software u need… but you can use your existing monitor (DVI?), USB keyboard, USB mouse, etc and just rest it on the top of the PC lol

Remember windows xp is very stable… it is down to how well the software is written and how well other software on your computer reacts to the other software.

[Bruno Raworth]

We run our rip software on mac & PC…our cut software Flexi7 on mac…no probs. Networking is pretty straight forward, we use maclan & can drop files from one to the other through a shared folder. I used a PC first, then changed jobs to a mac environment…wish I had sooner…iMac at home now
as well 😀

[Jamie Wood]

If you do decide on a Mac, it’s worth looking at John Lewis for purchase,
as they do a 2nd year warranty for free. You should be able to take your
Mac to any dealer for repair, should it need it during warranty. On the support section of Apple’s UK site, there is a section telling you your
nearest dealer by postcode. There are no voltage issues, as the Mac will
change voltage on the fly. All you need is to change the plug to a UK one.
For video, I would recommend a Core 2 Duo iMac, MacBook Pro, or MacPro,
with plenty of RAM.

Cheers,
Jamie.

[Andrew Boyle]

http://www.jigsaw24.com/

http://www.macwarehouse.co.uk/

some links for macs 😀

http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=MA200BA

[Ben Innes]

I come from a printing back ground, Quark and Photoshop mainly. I’ve been a Mac user for as long as I can remember.

Yes G3 / G4 Mac’s do crash (only got my intel mac mini this week), especially when you ask them to do unreasonable amounts of work at the same time. Huge image in photoshop rendering, 10 apps running in the background, itunes running and surfing the net… You know, the usual! But 9 times out of 10 you can force quit the problem app without having to restart.

I’m a firm believer in right hand on the mouse, left hand on the keyboard for short cuts. The obvious one being ‘apple’ – ‘s’.

My working day with Quark used to go something along the lines of:

Open file, save, open picture box, save, import image, save… And so on. Basically, after virtually any change you use the left hand to apple – s. After losing hours / days of work this becomes second nature to the graphics operator as things can take so long to re create. 5 mins before deadline you don’t want to lose 8 hrs of changes!

Also now you have the ability to run XP in a window on an intel mac, or even create a dual boot option, no one has a reason not to go mac.

Yes macs do look more expensive to buy, but their working life is much greater than a windows machine as they aren’t obsolete in about 2 weeks.

While I’m on here, I’m interested in steering my graphics work towards ‘signs’ in general and would appreciate some tips on where to learn more about signage in general. Any help would be appreciated.

Ben.

[Robert Lambie]

great links and feedback guys, thank you very much.
i am gonna go for one over the next couple of weeks, should it i regret it, im blaming the lot of you! :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

i hear there is a little getting used to the way a mac works, is this something you overcome in a matter of hours of use or something that has to be worked at over weeks. im willing to adapt but i dont want it to be a burden for any "real" length of time. 😕

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Robert Lambie:

i hear there is a little getting used to the way a mac works, is this something you overcome in a matter of hours of use or something that has to be worked at over weeks. im willing to adapt but i dont want it to be a burden for any “real” length of time. 😕

does yer head in………………. :lol1: :lol1: 😉

nik

[Robert Lambie]

nik? oh no… your kidding… 😕 :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
i was hoping this was going to be a bit of a quick fix of the PC problems. am i kidding myself? is there allot of changes to get used to?

binnes, having re-read your post. i know what you mean about multiple apps running and the like but im not one for doing that.
if i am working on video, thats it… nothing else open. as i said previously… the last video i was working on for the site lasted only 25 minutes, but was over 6gig in filesize. i have a very powerful pc here for videos but still it crashed. like you said, i was working for 5 minutes, save, working 5 minutes save and so on… at one point it crashed and corrupted the file. "that was enough for me" and i though macs must do this better… i havent cut corners on the pc’s or the software so i wouldnt blame that.
now i am working 5 minutes, saving, then saving on external backup drive… working 5 minutes, saving, then saving on backup drive… arghh! :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

this is the one i am looking at, but with some additions like two more 250gig hard drives for backing up. another gig in memory etc
http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=MA456BA

[Nicola McIntosh]

wow ive just been to configure a mac… 😮

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/W … B2D/3.?p=0

the ultimate machine…look at the price tag 😕

im not kidding 😀 and they do your head in at first…but you will get used to it like averything else…if you do decide to get a mac…leave all the learning until out of working hours….. 😉

nik

[Peter Normington]

I dont know nowt about video editing Rob, but I doubt if you want to be in the same league as Spielberg or dream-works, the mac you have linked to is very cheap, and I doubt no better than a pc speced up to do the same job. for the same money. + the progs

There a millions of good quality amateur videos on the net, most done on pcs, so maybe its not your equipment that is the problem. Perhaps you need a bit of guidance on how to do it, ever thought (you probably have) about joining a video editing forum, there must be the equivalent of uksb about somewhere? 😉

Peter

[Robert Lambie]

i agree peter, the machine i linked to was only about £1350 but they have come down in price allot…. by the time i add on the extras that i feel a necessity I’m easy over £2k
the monitor is costly for the 24inch one, but at present i am using a 21.5 inch and at that cost me about £800 alone anyway… so its not a big difference in price… the beauty of macs or PCs is you can keep adding to them should i need too…

other than having a play at footage, I’m strictly newbie to video, i don’t have a problem editing the footage for things like demos… the software does it all basically, the rest comes with practice and experience i guess.
my issue is the computer crashing… I’ve no doubt the 6 gigabyte files are straining the PC… but adding the multiple conversions before i get it to the "mac based" output. something has to give…

[Jamie Wood]

I would recommend the optional graphics upgrade to
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM [+ £80.01].
Also, an extra gig of RAM, although it may be cheaper to get this from Crucial, http://www.crucial.com/uk and use the configure tool to select the
correct RAM for your Mac. If you can afford it, a larger hard drive wouldn’t
hurt either, although you could add a Firewire one later…just make sure
it’s a fast one, the faster the better for video. It should say in the technical
specs if it’s fast enough for video.

By the way, if you can drive a PC, you shouldn’t have any problems at all
with a Mac. They are very similar, with most short cuts being the same,
except you use the command key instead of the control key

Cheers,
Jamie.

[Robert Lambie]

well it finally arrive…
my very own MAC Computer 😛 :lol1:

The one i posted above was completely wrong… 😳

in the end i have went for the MAC Pro Tower
with additional gig memory and an extra 256gig hard drive.
http://www.apple.com/macpro/

i also went for the 23" monitor.
http://www.apple.com/uk/displays/

the machine comes with everything i need other than the extra software Final Cut Studio 5.1 which i should take delivery by tomorrow i think.
http://www.apple.com/uk/finalcutstudio/

i have just set it all up and love it… i think it will take me about a week to get my head around to the point i am familiar and can happily begin working with it and the new software. the only thing i don’t like so far is the loss of the "right click button" (as nik said :lol1: ) oh and the fact it is connected to the keyboard via usb cable. 😕
thanks a million everyone for the help and advice, if i have no hair by signuk you know things didnt work out. :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

.

[Jamie Wood]

Hi Rob,

If you got a mighty mouse with your new Mac, and you should have, then you do have right click. Macs have supported this for years. If you only have a one button mouse, hold down the control key when clicking
the mouse, and you get the contextual menu as though you had right clicked.

Welcome to Macworld….I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Cheers,
Jamie.

If you get stuck, there’s a few users on here.

[Robert Lambie]

thanks jamie, your right, just gave it a go… nice one mate 😉
i am surprised about the cable with the mouse and keybord. everything is so sleek on the mac, just powered it up and it was ready to go. but the cables seem a bit of a dated thing to have.

look at me… 5 mins turned on and im moaning about a little cable. 😳 :lol1:

[George Kern]

I am sure you will love your new Mac in no time Robert. I have been using Macs since System7 (not OS7 lol System7 🙄 ) I never really had a transition from Mac to PC because as a little kid, you really have no fear about breaking the computer from doing something wrong. If you have any questions just ask.

Here is a link to download a much better FontManager for your new Mac then the FontBook software it comes with.

http://www.linotype.com/2631/freedownload.html

[Jamie Wood]

You can get wireless keyboard & mouse. They are usually available as an option when you order your Mac for about £40.00 extra. If you forget to
add them on, you can buy them afterwards for about £90.00 together.

Even at that price, they are probably worth getting, although I use a Logitech wireless laser mouse, as I’m not keen on the Apple one.

Cheers,
Jamie.

[P. Harris]

Hi Rob, just thought id have my ten pence worth!!
I’ve worked on macs for the past 15yrs+ you’ll find them
the easiest to install a new programme. graphics wise their the
dog doo-dars, as for stabillity there like tanks, the power book im
e-mailing you on has half of its hard drive partioned off with the old
mac operating system on it which i de-juggered and all i had to do was
swop over and boot up in the excellent mac osx system which was 2yrs
ago!! Internet wise, their the the most secure, you don’t get attacked
by all those pop-ups etc.. Last pc i used on the net had to have its
hard drive re-formatted and system re-installed (then again it had no
anti-virus!!)
Personally i find every install i do on a mac easy, kids play, just click
install, agree terms, bang jobs done. PC wise well what can i say but
window after window of options i dont even know so i just click ok and
hope for the best! Sorry to waffle on…
Rob, go for the mac if you want to do graphics, photos to your best,
But even as a Mac Man, PC’s are the dogs doo-dars for running wide
format printers and cnc machines, i’ve got a branded piece of software
for my Mac to run my Solvent Printer and all i can say is its S**t,
but hats off for the PC to do the job Faultlessly.
Conclusion- Macs for sheer Graphics Power, PC’s for Running the programmes that produce the end product.

[John Childs]

*rofl*

Be careful Robert.

A few weeks on a Mac and you will hate having to revert to a PC.

[David Lowery]

quote Robert Lambie:

i also went for the 23″ monitor.

Won’t you get a stiff neck looking up at that all day Rob :lol1:

Dave

[John Childs]

quote Robert Lambie:

i also went for the 23″ monitor.

Only one?

A second monitor is plug and play. No additional hardware, software or complicated configuration. Just plug it in, adjust a couple of settings to tell the computer whether you want it to act as a mirror or as one continuous screen.

The left hand monitor is connected to an old Mac that I just use for internet and email, but the right two are where the work gets done. I mainly use Illustrator and keep all the palettes on one screen which leaves the whole of the other as a working area. I’ve got a matching pair, but in reality the palette monitor doesn’t need to be as big, or even as high a resolution as my working screen, so any old monitor of any size would do the job.

There’s no substitute for acreage when it comes to monitors. 😀

[Warren Beard]

When I worked in a reproduction design studio all our Mac were dual screen like Johns set up, man what a huge difference it makes especially when working on larger graphics. Also he is right, 2nd monitor can be an old small one just for your palettes.

Warren

[Phill Fenton]

I’ve got an old Mac.

I mainly wear it when I go to the cinema to watch X rated movies on my own 😕

[David Lowery]

Phil on a night out :lol1:

Dave

[Robert Lambie]

quote Dave n Rob Lowery:

quote Robert Lambie:

i also went for the 23″ monitor.

Won’t you get a stiff neck looking up at that all day Rob :lol1:

Dave

dont be silly dave, i have a high chair 😉 :lol1:

john i have the 23 inch monitor with my mac, i haven’t the best eye sight this weather due to so much sitting in front of monitors 😳 :lol1:
after that purchase a dual screen would stretch my budget a bit far just now. :lol1: :lol1: that said, ide really like to have one. i have a 21.5 inch veiwsonic on the computer that runs the boards and toyed with doing same, but its the old story, once you put the money aside you spend it on something else and make do with what you have. 🙄

[Harry Cleary]

Is it possible to do that double screen thing with a PC? Looks like a great way to work.

[Steve Curry]

Yes it is, you can run double screens with Signlab 7 print and cut, you can have print queues on one screen and main work screen on the other, then drag and drop between them, (I’m sure you can do this with all programs) you need a graphics card that supports dual screen though.