Spend my money.... please.

[xcelprint]

I am about to spend a little money and want you to help. We are putting in a xerox 700 with free flow, and need a mac, monitor, and software to go with it.
Please advise. I was told a mac mini with dual core, indesign, big monitor but I would like to hear from folks who know. Thanks.
Neal

We are a small shop, plenty of short run and medium run 1,2,4 color.

 

[Shawn]

If you're going to buy a Mac Mini and a big monitor--and you'll be using it for production--you might want to just look at getting one of the new 21" or 27" iMacs instead. The cost is only a little more and you'll get more memory; a bigger, faster HD; faster processor; and good quality LCD screen.

At this point I'd recommend InDesign over Quark, but you might want to look at the entire Creative Suite Design Standard to get Illustrator, Acrobat, and Photoshop as well.

Shawn

 

[BillJ]

Do some research on the new iMacs, there have some reports of hardware problems with them, especially on the 27. I don't remember the details. I believe I saw an article on PCWorld/MacWorld.

I agree on InDesign over Quark.

 

[WiseGuy]

Agreed on the iMac over the Mini route. Better machine all around for little more money. In fact, if you go reconditioned direct from Apple, you can get a iMac cheaper in some cases. Have fun!!!!!

 

[Shawn]

Do some research on the new iMacs, there have some reports of hardware problems with them, especially on the 27. I don't remember the details. I believe I saw an article on PCWorld/MacWorld.

From what I've heard there has been a Flash playback issue reported on some but not all 27" iMacs. It may be related to connecting through a wireless network, since resetting Airport settings fixes it for a time. Some users have had it fixed by hardware replacement but a few others are reporting that the 10.6.2 update fixed it. Some others have reported that doing a clean install of 10.6 helps.

27-inch iMacs reported to have Flash playback issues
Apple - Support - Discussions - Flash video causing 105% CPU usage ...
Apple - Support - Discussions - New 27" iMac -- Slow Flash Video ...
Apple - Support - Discussions - 21.5in & 27in iMac Slowdown Problem ...

Hard to say if it would be an issue in a production machine. It's probably just one of those "new hardware" glitches that gets worked out with a software revision or two.

Shawn

 

[Blaize]

apart from iMacs, what displays are recommended? We're looking at new monitors as well.
Anything comparable to the Apple 30" Cinema?

 

[edwinb]

Eizo are better than apple and cheaper
the apple tends to have slightly oversaturated colour- designers like the brighter color but it is not such a good proof match as the eizo.
Lacie are even cheaper but lower quality
NEC get good reviews as well in similar price range but I am not familiar with them
I will always choose the Eizo from my experiance of colour calibration
edwin