New Equipment

[Geoff F]

From what I remember about the history of that age, they also helped out at Yorktown.

But, eventually, we have to forgive so I replaced my Proton Pick Up with a Renault car/van. Another small diesel which is easy to drive.

However, to return to the question in hand. I find most decisions difficult and one of the worst is thinning down a batch of photos to just leave the best two or three images.

Choosing a printer is certainly difficult once you get beyond the basic 'office type' all in one multi machines. And lenses certainly require a lot of research.

It's where there is little in the way of personal reviews, or my own prejudices, that I really ponder. 'Be the first to review this item' always makes me wary even when purchasing from a reliable organisation.

[GeorgeM]

"However, to return to the question in hand. I find most decisions difficult..."

I think that most often there is no one "right" choice, so I second this.

George

[Shadowman]

From what I remember about the history of that age, they also helped out at Yorktown.

But, eventually, we have to forgive so I replaced my Proton Pick Up with a Renault car/van. Another small diesel which is easy to drive.

However, to return to the question in hand. I find most decisions difficult and one of the worst is thinning down a batch of photos to just leave the best two or three images.

Choosing a printer is certainly difficult once you get beyond the basic 'office type' all in one multi machines. And lenses certainly require a lot of research.

It's where there is little in the way of personal reviews, or my own prejudices, that I really ponder. 'Be the first to review this item' always makes me wary even when purchasing from a reliable organisation.

I rarely see unfavorable reviews on the retailers website. You have to find an online forum for the manufacturer. A few years ago I purchased a DVD player/burner that could also convert VHS to DVD. It worked fine for a few months but then the laser would lockup and you couldn't use the drive even to view a movie. I searched through the manufacturers website for a fix but none was available, they usually suggested returning for repair but the warranty had already expired. i checked a forum for the manufacturer and it seemed like everyone who purchased this and other models had the same problem, yet the manufacturer still sells these items and consumers continue to have the same issue. I have also learned that it isn't just one manufacturer but almost all have the same issue. I still have the unit and it seems that if you disconnect it long enough from a power source the laser will reset itself and the burner function will begin to work again but after a few uses you get the same problem of the laser sticking. So now I just use it for viewing movies.

[Sonic4Spuds]

John,

The choice of camera was made because of macro capability, as the purchacer new I like macro images they shoped for the feature. I would not recommend this camera for anyone, because of poor auto focous and the complete lack on any manual settings, not even iso.

Personally I do not like the apple products. This is from personal use and NOT prejudice. After using the iPhone iPod iMac and other products I find the hardware subpar and the interface non intuitive. As all of the deciplines I have done best at are artistic, I can't see that the choice for artists, or anyone for that matter, to use their products. ANYway enough about apple for me!!

As for the computer I am planning, it will have a six or eight core processor, 16 or more GB of ram, and a high end nVIDIA graphics processor. For those wondering why nVIDIA, it is because their GPUs have extreme number-crunching power. This is useful for acceleration 3D rendering, and soon will be useful for both GIMP and Inkscape, two graphics programs that I use regularly.

-Sonic

[Black Pearl]

There is very little difference between the two operating systems...when it comes down to file handling, storage or speed. Mac has the graphics advantage because early on when they first came into the marketplace, they targeted that industry...it was a smart move. They also targeted higher education and set up a system of upgrades that pretty much left a user with no financially good options but to stay with them. Again, good marketing.
That said, the world in general depends on PC's for everything else and their graphics support programs aren't too shabby, either...that's why they have an Adobe crossover for just about every Mac based platform. Do ya think! I look at it from an intuitive standpoint. Macs feel "left-handed" to me and PC's don't, so I use the PC. I can cross over when necessary but I always feel like I'm having to think at every turn. Oh well, to each, his/her own.
Phone...push the right combination of numbers and reach a friend...listen to the ring and get a call back. Enough for me.

There is nothing to choose between the two operating systems and I don't think one is left or right handed, one simply gets used to a certain way of doing things and we can all switch if needs be.

As I don't have a dedicated space to have a computer I wanted a tiny footprint, a large screen and lots of reserved power - an all-in-one was the only option (laptops are great but my Dell hasn't moved for at least six months and the screens tend to be poor on a money for money basis) and which ever way you look at it the iMac is the best all-in-one on the market today. If I could have bought a Windows based all-in-one that had as good a monitor as the Apple I would have bought it and would still be running W7 - which I really like as as OS.

As to the iPhone - it's a smart phone and the brand is irrelevant - once you have one you just can't go back. I can be online all day, access some useful apps and play with some fun ones. I love them.

[Colin Southern]

I am afraid to get an I-phone.

In two words, "don't be". Traditionally, I'm not an Apple product lover, but I love my iPhones ... I've introduced quite a few people t o them, and they ALL love them too; one even went so far as to say it changed his life (and he was being serious) (it's certainly changed mine). It's mind boggling the sheer number of other devices that one iPhone can replace (still camera, video camera, notepad, GPS, Google Earth, printed books (although better on iPad), calculator, stopwatch, alarm, calender, eMail, MP3 player, video player, web browser, photoviewer, flashlight, skype, time & billing, pedometer, Remote Destop Connection, news reader, ... and a WHOLE lot more) (300,000+ apps at last count, so I'm told).

[MiniChris]

What! After the French helped you out (loans) in 1776. As I recall Ben Franklin was US Ambassador to France at that time.

We paid them back by taking France away from the Germans (twice) ...and only stole half their wine.

[Mario Xavier]

My DSLR was by far my most hesitant tech purchase. I rely on cold hard specs with performance stats to back it and influence my decisions. When approaching this arena where the camera is only as good as I am, there was no way of really saying, "this is best" without knowing what works for oneself.

I own 3 Macs, 1 custom built pc, and one Windows based laptop. I upgrade my phone every 6 months. I've owned at least two of every generation of Zune mp3 players. I've got my eyes on a PalmPad. And I'm always buying the latest in music software and peripherals. I'm ridiculous. I'm an irresponsible wastrel only when it comes to gadgets and software and I knew that the DSLR arena was:
1. just too expensive for my bad habits.
2. Unknown and without guarantee that I'd like it.
3. Vast. There was no way of just coming in and specifying something that would fit me immediately fit me.

[Mario Xavier]

PS - in my defense I'm young, single, childless, work fulltime, and I have no major bills outside of rent, car, and 2 student loans (that's 4 months from being paid off).

[Sefirothe]

Best bit of tech ever - though they completely take over your life and you find you can't live without it very quickly

So very true. The other day I was remembering a book I read as a kid about a boy running away from home and making his way in the wild mostly on his wits and surviving off the land. I thought of myself doing that, and thought to myself I could do that as long as my iPhone battery never ran out and had eternal wifi connection!

My DSLR hands down made me do the most research. I think mostly because I'm still new to this.

My last desktop PC may as well have been custom built, as I upgraded and replaced nearly all the guts in it (it was a Dell). I now have a high end gaming laptop thats about twice as powerful as that desktop. I dont print my photos at home (yet) so a black and white all in one laser printer does us just fine.

Car wise, once I saw the Scion xD I totally fell in love with it!

[Fleshpiston]

As for the computer I am planning, it will have a six or eight core processor, 16 or more GB of ram, and a high end nVIDIA graphics processor. For those wondering why nVIDIA, it is because their GPUs have extreme number-crunching power. This is useful for acceleration 3D rendering, and soon will be useful for both GIMP and Inkscape, two graphics programs that I use regularly.

-Sonic

Sorry Sonic but what card are you contemplating buying? Also where did you come across that information regarding nVIDIA have extreme number-crunching power (is that compared to ATI)?
I only ask as I use both nVIDIA and ATI and both high end cards do exactly the same job in the same time. As for CPU's much the muchness when you go over 4 cores. 8 cores and you are really in the world of servers. Never confuse cores with threads. The big daddy is still the i7 9XX but AMD are releasing the Bulldozer platform shortly and I think it will be the one to watch. I spend most of my time over at Tech-PC forum. http://www.tech-pc.co.uk/forum/

My day job is industrial CNC's (electronics) but for the past 20 years starting with the 386 I have built, sold and supported PC's as a hobby and as a job. When it comes to post processing it is important to remember that most people only deal with ~4 images open at a time (Lightroom will happy eat 1-4 gig of ram) 16GB is overkill IMO unless you are either video editing larger files or using it for VM's.

Buying my camera at the time was very straight forward as I knew what I needed. I have never bought a scanner as I use the one at work (A3 Konica jobbie). I am currently looking at an A3 printer and it has actually got me on the search and so far has been the hardest thing to find. I enjoy checking reviews and doing the homework before buying something.

As for the Apple vs Everything else never-ending debate. I have a creative Zen 60Gb that does me for what I need it for .......... music. I have a camera and a video camera so I didn't and don't need an Ianything. I did buy the better half a Ipod Nano touch and it's very good but it doesn't do what I would need it to do and that is hold all the songs I want. The better half has a refined music taste and does not need the mass of space I do and loves it to bits.

Just got hold of a Kindle and my oh my wow! Its not mine though...... for the better halfs birthday Will get one for me at a later date though I did the read the reviews bit and they were all quite correct awesome sauce!


If you like small PC's then mine is not for you:


That is 35kg of PC and large. Case is a Kandalf LCS (Liquid cooling) I now have a larger screen as that was taken almost a year and a half ago. Internals have been chopped and changed since.

[Sonic4Spuds]

Sorry Sonic but what card are you contemplating buying? Also where did you come across that information regarding nVIDIA have extreme number-crunching power (is that compared to ATI)?
I only ask as I use both nVIDIA and ATI and both high end cards do exactly the same job in the same time. As for CPU's much the muchness when you go over 4 cores. 8 cores and you are really in the world of servers. Never confuse cores with threads. The big daddy is still the i7 9XX but AMD are releasing the Bulldozer platform shortly and I think it will be the one to watch. I spend most of my time over at Tech-PC forum. http://www.tech-pc.co.uk/forum/

My day job is industrial CNC's (electronics) but for the past 20 years starting with the 386 I have built, sold and supported PC's as a hobby and as a job. When it comes to post processing it is important to remember that most people only deal with ~4 images open at a time (Lightroom will happy eat 1-4 gig of ram) 16GB is overkill IMO unless you are either video editing larger files or using it for VM's.

If you like small PC's then mine is not for you:


That is 35kg of PC and large. Case is a Kandalf LCS (Liquid cooling) I now have a larger screen as that was taken almost a year and a half ago. Internals have been chopped and changed since.

I say about the number abilities because of the cuda technology that nVIDIA uses now is far in advance of the openCL language which AMD uses in terms of power and usefulness. The 400 and 500 series can render atleast twice as fast as even the best of AMD's cards (I am talking about rendering for creating animated films not games).

The processor is again for rendering, as a single frame can take days even on my friends 6core AMD. If it was purely a gaming or graphic design, or even a video editing machine I would go for a 4core. Again that is the main reason to want 16+ GB of ram.

Yes the buldozer is planned to have 8core consumer processor by the end of the year. I have not visited tec-pc before, but I am on Toms hardware and listen to This week in computer hardware from www.twit.tv .

-Sonic

PS: nice system!