Good Computer for Web Design?

[whodi]

Was wanting to get into web design, what's a good computer? PC or MAC?

I'd kinda like it to be mobile, but arent most laptop hardrives just 5400rpm; if so isn't that bad for web design?

Anyways, what do you all think I should get, mobile or not.. doesn;t matter as long as it'll get the job done. I don't need anything way spectacular, just something that can handle all the software fine.

thanks

 

[Dank-j]

Skip the mac, it's overpriced for what you get for the hardware UNLESS you are buying it for the 'artsty-fartsy-i-like-mac's-cause-they-are-better' nonsense.

You can get about 4-8 times the machine for the same price. If you want something to just grab and go, look in dell small business (they offer small businesses better deals then residential/home users)

I just built a quad core 2.6ghz, 8 gig ram, 1 terabyte hdd, 512 meg nvidia 8600gt for 700 bucks off newegg. If you want the same version of mac, expect to spend 3-4,000.

I personally run linux for my development and when I NEED something that only runs on windows, I run Sun Systems 'VirtualBox' with a version of TinyXP.

 

[whodi]

ya that's what I was thinknig as well, D. I noticed you can get much more for the moeny with a PC

what video cards are best for web design? I'll probably be putting one together myself.

 

[Tony Aroma]

ya that's what I was thinknig as well, D. I noticed you can get much more for the moeny with a PC

True at one time, but not any more. Don't believe the Microsoft propaganda. Granted, Apple does not make bargain-basement computers, but at the mid and high end, Macs and PCs are comparably priced. In fact, at the high end I challenge you to find a Dell for even close to what you can get a comparable Mac for. High-end Macs are the biggest bargain in the industry. High-end Dells are ridiculously over-priced, IMO.

Now if you want to build your own PC, that's a different story. Of course you will save over buying a Mac, and even over a Dell.

A few other things to consider. If you buy a Dell, you are OS limited. You can only run Windows (or UNIX if you like). With a Mac, you can run Windows natively and Mac OS (Mac OS is UNIX), or any flavor of UNIX you like. So you are really getting two computers in one. In fact, Macs in general are better at running Windows than most dedicated Windows boxes.

You can also be assured that each new (reasonably-priced) OS upgrade will not make your current hardware slower and clunkier. Quite the opposite, each Mac OS update makes current hardware even faster. And one size fits all. You don't have to pay more to get all the features.

And there's always the virus and malware situation, which is not a problem on Macs. No virus software is required. No worrying about what might infest your machine. And wiping your hard drive on a regular basis is unheard of.

FWIW, I am a computer programmer (not artsy-fartsy in the least) and have been using Macs for over 20 years. I have also been using Microsoft products since DOS 3.1. So I speak from experience. Most Mac haters have never used one, or haven't used one in a long time.

Oh, and if you must by a Windows machine, I'd be leery of Dell. They've been in financial trouble for a while and it's been getting worse. You can't operate on razor-thin margins indefinitely. You're extended warranty might not be worth much. HP or Sony, for example, may cost a little more but they will likely be in business for a while.

 

[ka0tik_kreati0n]

Was wanting to get into web design, what's a good computer? PC or MAC?

I'd kinda like it to be mobile, but arent most laptop hardrives just 5400rpm; if so isn't that bad for web design?

Anyways, what do you all think I should get, mobile or not.. doesn;t matter as long as it'll get the job done. I don't need anything way spectacular, just something that can handle all the software fine.

thanks

I am currently making payment son a studio xps from dell. This baby is fully loaded, I am a graphic designer & need a very fast pc. If you are lookin for a great computer, this is the one for you man... But I would recommend getting XP on it instead of vista. I do hate vista. Its got 1 TB harddrive. 6 gig ram. dual core processors... If I could make love to this machine I would LOL

 

[sirgrassalot]

I am currently making payment son a studio xps from dell. This baby is fully loaded, I am a graphic designer & need a very fast pc. If you are lookin for a great computer, this is the one for you man... But I would recommend getting XP on it instead of vista. I do hate vista. Its got 1 TB harddrive. 6 gig ram. dual core processors... If I could make love to this machine I would LOL

Did it come with a web cam? In the event your sexual creativity takes over.

 

[strydr]

Well said Tony!
I've been in the IT biz for 17 years, and have been through just about every incarnation of PC. My first Mac was a MacPlus (first apple was a IIci), and my first PC was a swapmeet built 66MHz PC running DOS and Windows for Workgroups (3.11).

I will say you can *buy a PC for cheap, but that's just the up front costs. Every PC will need additional resources, like anti virus software and anti-malware stuff. When it breaks (and believe me, it will), then you need to have it fixed. My going rate for tech support is $129 a hour (and that's if were friends), and a typical data migration/reload could take 10 hours or more, with all the patching and migration needed (OK, most of that time is waiting for updates/os to install..) So, that *cheap Dell isn't so cheap in the long run.

Now, on the other hand, I have a iMac G5 that has been running (24/7) for the past 5 years. It had a bad power supply (replaced under warranty) about 1 year into owning it, but that's the only problem I've ever had with it. I just replaced my 4 year old MBP with a new one (Oooo, shiny). The old MBP is still perfect. It's even put up with some serious physical abuse (I dropped a 30Lb metal bar on the top of the display, and other than a small ding, nothing wrong with it). It will be resold or donated to a friend.

As for web design, I doubt you need a lot of horsepower (I'm not a web designer, IMO). Something that is less than a year old should suffice. Make sure you have plenty of RAM, and enough disk space for your projects. The 5400 RPM disk won't be a bottle neck unless you plan on any rendering (video stuff). If you are going to build a tower, make sure to have (at least) two hard drives, so you can keep a backup. Even better, get a external to back up everything on to.

If you decide to go the Mac route, look at the (online) apple store (they offer a refurbished store too), find something mid range, and you're good. If you go the PC route, build it yourself- you will save $$ (over buying a Dell), and at least you will know how to take it apart to fix when it breaks

 

[ka0tik_kreati0n]

Well said Tony!
I've been in the IT biz for 17 years, and have been through just about every incarnation of PC. My first Mac was a MacPlus (first apple was a IIci), and my first PC was a swapmeet built 66MHz PC running DOS and Windows for Workgroups (3.11).

I will say you can *buy a PC for cheap, but that's just the up front costs. Every PC will need additional resources, like anti virus software and anti-malware stuff. When it breaks (and believe me, it will), then you need to have it fixed. My going rate for tech support is $129 a hour (and that's if were friends), and a typical data migration/reload could take 10 hours or more, with all the patching and migration needed (OK, most of that time is waiting for updates/os to install..) So, that *cheap Dell isn't so cheap in the long run.

Now, on the other hand, I have a iMac G5 that has been running (24/7) for the past 5 years. It had a bad power supply (replaced under warranty) about 1 year into owning it, but that's the only problem I've ever had with it. I just replaced my 4 year old MBP with a new one (Oooo, shiny). The old MBP is still perfect. It's even put up with some serious physical abuse (I dropped a 30Lb metal bar on the top of the display, and other than a small ding, nothing wrong with it). It will be resold or donated to a friend.

As for web design, I doubt you need a lot of horsepower (I'm not a web designer, IMO). Something that is less than a year old should suffice. Make sure you have plenty of RAM, and enough disk space for your projects. The 5400 RPM disk won't be a bottle neck unless you plan on any rendering (video stuff). If you are going to build a tower, make sure to have (at least) two hard drives, so you can keep a backup. Even better, get a external to back up everything on to.

If you decide to go the Mac route, look at the (online) apple store (they offer a refurbished store too), find something mid range, and you're good. If you go the PC route, build it yourself- you will save $$ (over buying a Dell), and at least you will know how to take it apart to fix when it breaks

I'd have to disagree on web/graphic designers not needing horsepower. All the programs that are used for page layout, web designing, photoshop, quark all require a lot of memory & need speed or you wont be able to do what you need to do. sometimes you need more than one program open at a time... and if you have a slow computer you would barely be able to run 1 of the programs even.

 

[McSnappler]

^^ Agree to a certain extent, all depends how much into the graphics design side of things you want to get though.

If I'm not using Photoshop (which isn't often, to be fair), the only applications I'm running when developing are web browers (it's best to check your shit on a variety of them), an FTP package (Filezilla), and a text editor. Definately doesn't require a firebreathing beast of a computer.

I do have a beast, however. It might not be strictly necessary, but it helps.. nothing fucks up your workrate like waiting for your PC to catch up with itself..

 

[ka0tik_kreati0n]

^^ Agree to a certain extent, all depends how much into the graphics design side of things you want to get though.

If I'm not using Photoshop (which isn't often, to be fair), the only applications I'm running when developing are web browers (it's best to check your shit on a variety of them), an FTP package (Filezilla), and a text editor. Definately doesn't require a firebreathing beast of a computer.

I do have a beast, however. It might not be strictly necessary, but it helps.. nothing fucks up your workrate like waiting for your PC to catch up with itself..

since I am still in school for this, we are being taught dreamweaver. I think its cheating. lol!

 

[clorox]

http://www.sun.com/desktop/workstation/ultra27/index.xml

 

[slappyjack]

Any computer for sale today will handle 99% of web design/development work. Flash tends to tax low-end CPU's but it will still run fine. You'll spend most of your time in a text editor, photoshop, FTP and maybe a DB app. No problem for any modern computer with about 2G of RAM.

If you're producing media, video, high-end 3D and audio, or you want a system for gaming then you should probably go high-end and/or home-brew. Otherwise don't waste your money.

Modern computing power is seriously underestimated these days. It's kind of funny IMO.

 

[whodi]

Nice replies, thanks all.

I was wondering though.. If I go pc route, I don't plan to use Vista. I heard that 32 bit XP can't recognize more than 2 gigs of ram. What does 64 bit xp recognize up to? Was thinking about going with 8 gigs of ram. I have 2 now and it doesn't suffice for my mult-tasking. Also, What size power supply should I go with now? And do any of you have preference to Intel or AMD?

 

[ka0tik_kreati0n]

Nice replies, thanks all.

I was wondering though.. If I go pc route, I don't plan to use Vista. I heard that 32 bit XP can't recognize more than 2 gigs of ram. What does 64 bit xp recognize up to? Was thinking about going with 8 gigs of ram. I have 2 now and it doesn't suffice for my mult-tasking. Also, What size power supply should I go with now? And do any of you have preference to Intel or AMD?

I have 6 in mine.. and mine is 64 bit. DONT get 64 bit. xp all the way

 

[strydr]

I'd have to disagree on web/graphic designers not needing horsepower. All the programs that are used for page layout, web designing, photoshop, quark all require a lot of memory & need speed or you wont be able to do what you need to do. sometimes you need more than one program open at a time... and if you have a slow computer you would barely be able to run 1 of the programs even.

Like I said, I'm no web designer.
I fix computers, and build out DB systems. My current system has 51GHz of processor power, and 186GB of RAM.

Having horsepower is a good thing. The more the better. I just doubt having dual Video cards in SLI, dual quad core CPU's, and all that jazz is needed to run Quark, or Dreamweaver. Obviously, trying to design on a old PIII, 1GHz is a bit slow..

My point is, he doesn't need the biggest, baddest system to do web design. Don't break the bank building out the fastest rig you can, get something that works, and can get you through a few jobs. Then think about building (or buying) that mega-fast machine. Computers are expensive (weather PC or Mac), and the tech. always gets cheeper.

You can always upgrade (yes, even on a Mac)

 

[dreadvik]

Macs are like crack but you can web design on a 486 using vim Depends what your doing IMO if your gonna do back end stuff what's it gonna run on is it more unix native or windows native? If your gonna do heavy graphics can you get that software to run on your hardware choices?

I'd get a mac of course

 

[strydr]

Nice replies, thanks all.

I was wondering though.. If I go pc route, I don't plan to use Vista. I heard that 32 bit XP can't recognize more than 2 gigs of ram. What does 64 bit xp recognize up to? Was thinking about going with 8 gigs of ram. I have 2 now and it doesn't suffice for my mult-tasking. Also, What size power supply should I go with now? And do any of you have preference to Intel or AMD?

8TB of RAM in 64 bit mode.

32 bit can recognize 4GB. more, and you just need to modify the registry..
I prefer Intel, but they are more expensive.

I would avoid 64 bit, unless you KNOW all the apps you plan on running have extensions for 64 bit. If not, you are just wasting $$.

More RAM=Faster performance.
If you plan on building your system, look at either a SSD or a WD Raptor for your boot disk. Speeds up the system significantly.

 

[exploziv]

I'm running Vista Ultimate 32-bits on a 4 GB RAM/ Intel Core 2 DUO P series processor/512 DDR3 VGA/ 7200 rpm 320 GB S-ATA HDD and have no problems running any software I want. If you quit all windows settings and services you don't use... Vista is a great OS.
The boot is slightly longer than if using XP, but I'm using Hibernate instead of SHUT DOWN... and I get the login screen in less than 30 seconds (maybe 20 never counted but it's fast enaugh for me) and all programs are allready running after I log in.

 

[ka0tik_kreati0n]

Like I said, I'm no web designer.
I fix computers, and build out DB systems. My current system has 51GHz of processor power, and 186GB of RAM.

Having horsepower is a good thing. The more the better. I just doubt having dual Video cards in SLI, dual quad core CPU's, and all that jazz is needed to run Quark, or Dreamweaver. Obviously, trying to design on a old PIII, 1GHz is a bit slow..

My point is, he doesn't need the biggest, baddest system to do web design. Don't break the bank building out the fastest rig you can, get something that works, and can get you through a few jobs. Then think about building (or buying) that mega-fast machine. Computers are expensive (weather PC or Mac), and the tech. always gets cheeper.

You can always upgrade (yes, even on a Mac)

I guess im a power whore... the faster the better....

 

[strydr]

I guess im a power whore... the faster the better....

O, believe me, I'm all about power too..

I was just trying to recommend something that doesn't break the bank, and can get the job done.

If it was my choice, I'd suggest the system I just got (and am typing on right now) MBP 2.8 (Dual core), 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD. I always buy the fastest system I can get. Luckily, it's a business write off, so the cost doesn't matter to me.

Like I said, my work system has 51GHz of processor power and 186GB RAM. This system should be upgraded in the next 2 months- going to 136GHz of CPU, and 640GB of RAM. I'm am a power whore for sure