Mac Vs Windows

[boristhemoggy]

Sadly, even the Mac people can't help me out in the Mac store so if I get one it's going to be second hand methinks

[OSD]

I'm going to tag onto this thread instead of starting my own because several of my questions arose from reading it. I'm NOT particularly handy with computers - my ex-husband was the geek in our house - and I am leaning towards replacing my struggling Dell laptop with an iMac. I know all platforms have issues, but I don't want to do the research/decision making to get an equivalent PC and I just want the machine to work. I don't enjoy the troubleshooting/problem solving/decluttering that seems constantly necessary with my current computer, and I'm willing to learn to use the Mac to get a simplified streamlined system.

If I bought today I would get the 21.5" 2.7GHz iMac with upgraded RAM. I think a 1TB hard drive will be big enough but I am considering upgrading to 2TB and then planning on keeping all my current use photos on the hard drive rather than migrating everything off to externals. I'm thinking I don't need to upgrade the processor to the 2.8GHz i7, or really to upgrade anything else, but I'm open to suggestions.

Originally Posted by boristhemoggy

I am going to buy one, but apparently a new model is due out in June, so I am waiting for that release to either buy a new one, or pick up the existing model at a better price.

I did a quick google and saw indications this is true (not that I don't believe you, but I figured it would be rude to ask "Is this true?" without looking for myself ). I'm going to wait, but I'm trying to brace myself for what is coming. Might a new model mean more bang for my buck or should I just expect an increased pricetag for a better machine? Will the old models drop in price?

Originally Posted by E

I've added ram to my iMac myself, just snap it in and go...piece of cake, easy as pie.

So if I want to upgrade to 12GB should I just buy the iMac with 4GB and add 8GB myself? If I upgrade to 8GB through Apple can I then upgrade to 12GB later if I want to or will I be wasting the money spent on the first upgrade? (In other words, does upgrading to 8GB fill all the available slots? I'm assuming it does but it wouldn't be the first time I assumed wrong...)

My other questions really belong in other forums. I'll ask them there. Thanks in advance for any help!

Originally Posted by xpclassified

Forget the Mac!
Windows FTW!

I shouldn't even comment on this post but every time I see it I laugh. It has to be a contender for the Least Helpful On-Topic Post Of The Year. Five words, loads of rhetoric, no useful information - it is really quite impressive!

[boristhemoggy]

OSD, I would strongly urge you NOT to keep your photos on your main computer drive, unless you back up nightly.
I have 2 x 1tb USB powered drives which I backup to every single session. I highly recommend you look at backup systems and never rely solely on one drive, especially for things such as images, which are incredibly difficult, if not impossible to replace.

[OSD]

Oh yes, I know! But thank you for pointing it out just in case I didn't.

My current process is to move the RAW files off the camera and onto an external drive. At the same time I also move a backup copy onto a second separate external drive. My LR catalogue is stored on my computer hard drive and the LR backups (done every time) are on one of the externals. I put jpg copies of all important photos on SmugMug. I know that I might lose my edits and PSD files but that unless my house burns down I should have a RAW copy somewhere, and even if my house burns down I have the jpgs up on SmugMug of anything I value. I delete all but the most important photos from my LR catalogue when I am done with a session but I do not delete the files from the drive, so if someone dies (or whatever) I am still able to go back and find them. I've never needed to, yet, but it makes me happy to think that I could.

(Tangent - I try to flag the important files I want to keep permanently, delete the obvious bad ones immediately, and colour code all the others red. I have been periodically deleting the red-coded photos from the catalogue but not from the drive. For the future I am thinking of exporting them as a catalogue to a separate folder on an external drive and then physically deleting them from my main hard drive, but I've not actually tried this yet.)

I've not worked out the process yet (partly why I've not decided on the size of drive) but my tentative plan is to back up the RAWs to one external and use Time Machine to back up my entire hard drive to another. As always I'm open to suggestions though.

[boristhemoggy]

Well we all use a system that suits us best.
I have four main catalogs, one of those is erroneously called 'archive', and it consists of RAW files which I don't need or want right now, but don't want to discard totally. I keep one folder of JPG's that I create, and that is not in Lightroom, it's just a folder.
The other catalogs are one for my travels, one for portraits, weddings, etc, and one for miscellaneous stuff.
I work from the main folder which also holds backups, and save this twice to external drives after each session.
I only have RAW (or for old images, DNG files converted from the JPGs) in Lightroom.

Everyone works differently, I don't think there's a right and wrong way, as long as there's a backup it's all cool.

[amosorobin]

guidelines can be downloaded ask mr Google..

[Dirk]

backups are crucial they learn that if you ever get a job like a system adnimistrator ..

always according to the rule: Better Safe than Sorry and always on more than one medium , backup plans can be :

Mo - Full backup
Tu - incremental
We - Full backup
Th - Incremental
Fr - Full backup

or by the week : one week only incrementals and the next week full backups

the above plan is what i would do if i would be a system admin again
just keep the medium (often Tapes) out of each other , label them rightfully

as i backup at home most are incrementals , monthly a full backup
one external hdd for incrementals and one for full works great

and if you do it right rent a banksafe and put the backups in the bank safe or at a friendsplace