DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Computer hardware input needed!
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 7 of 7, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 06/04/2006 03:29:57 PM · #1
This is kinda like those "I have $2000, what do I get?" questions but not really. I don't know what my budget is, and I have to work within some unique parameters.

So I'm going back to school part time in the Fall and one of the new and interesting features of the Stafford Loan Program that's been added since I got my first bachelors ten years ago is the Computer Upgrade caveat. Basically, if I submit an estimate for a computer, they'll consider it and increase my school loan funding accordingly. Of course, I'm thinking of how I can powergame this into a photo-friendly workstation. (If anyone else has ever taken advantage of this, I'd love to hear how it worked for you.)

I am currently running on a three year old Dell Inspiron 1100, which is my one and only household computer. I've worked it half to death over the last three years and a couple of the keys are starting to get flaky... not to mention that editing on a laptop is less than ideal, eh? (Except when the weather is nice and it lets me work out on the balcony... but I digress.)

So without going too overboard, since a $3000 fantasy desktop is unlikely to fly with the approval committee types, what is an absolute Must Have regarding desktop hardware for photo editing?

Edit: My budget is $1700 maximum.

Message edited by author 2006-06-04 16:44:08.
 06/04/2006 03:49:23 PM · #2
Get a 17" Apple imac with 2 gigs of ram. As a student you can get one for $1493. Great display, a dedicated 128mb graphics card, 160 gig HD, and a 1.83 gighertz dual core chip. You can also get an academic copy of cs2 for mac for $289 since you don't have one. Or use adobe lightroom as it will probably be released by then, and will be much cheaper than cs2 more than likely, plus it's optimized to run on intel macs.
06/04/2006 03:55:51 PM · #3
I second the iMac, but try to get the 20" if possible, those 3 inches are a LOT bigger when it comes to screensize :)
 06/04/2006 04:03:29 PM · #4
Price out the parts you want and submit for that. Then just assemble it yourself.
 06/04/2006 04:03:37 PM · #5
Originally posted by DanSig:
I second the iMac, but try to get the 20" if possible, those 3 inches are a LOT bigger when it comes to screensize :)


I agree. You are eigible for the Educational discount, you can get the 20" iMac with 2GB RAM, 250GB HD for $1869 Click Here
 06/04/2006 04:38:04 PM · #6
Originally posted by doctornick:
Originally posted by DanSig:
I second the iMac, but try to get the 20" if possible, those 3 inches are a LOT bigger when it comes to screensize :)


I agree. You are eigible for the Educational discount, you can get the 20" iMac with 2GB RAM, 250GB HD for $1869 Click Here


Yes, ditto.
 06/04/2006 06:35:18 PM · #7
if you sell your laptop soon, pm me... i need one
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 09/24/2025 01:37:43 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 09/24/2025 01:37:43 PM EDT.