I am switching from PC to an IMAC. Should I get a 21.5" screen or 27" screen? Also, are experiences with the IMAC decent or should I consider another Mac product, and will there be a sharp learning curve? Thank you for your reply.

Hi Dennis,

The iMAC is very decent and the 27" is great for photographic work. As with any PC, you will need enough memory to make it perform really well with large files.

The tools you are currently using are available on the MAC which will ease the learning curve quite a bit.

Rich

Hi Rich. Thank you for your response.Dennis

Hey Dennis... Last month I moved from a PC to a iMac 27". And just tonight, I officially disconnected the PC as I been busy adding equipment, migrating files and learning some Mac basics. The change-over wasn't too intense; however, there were some frustrations along the way.

I enjoy the Mac's large screen, my previous PC was a 19" flat panel. However, with the Mac's 27 " screen, some of the Utility screens are tiny and therefore a little hard to read. There are no keyboard key combinations to expand these screens (for example, Command, Shift, +" has no effect). I've read that this is a common complaint about the current OS.

I'm currently trying iPhoto to process some sample NEF files. I also have a book to assist using this program. Aperture is also installed but haven't done anything with it. I formerly used Photo Mechanic and Capture NX for NEF processing. The 27" screen is beautifully clear and provides a very large photographic image for processing. So this change alone has been great.

I hope this answers some of your questions, if not I'll check back and see if I can provide more info.

Best Regards, Dennis.

A Nikonian in California

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+1 on the 27" screen. One other thing. If you're going to do post processing of photos or video editing, get at least 8GB of memory. That will assure decent processing speeds for most tasks. It appears that 4GB is just adequate for several Apple applications such as Aperture 3. The applications will run, but not exceptionally fast.

I forgot to mention that there are tutorials on the Apple web site about transitioning from PC to Mac. They help you get acquainted with the differences, but the bottom line is that the transition is not that difficult.

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

Good luck with your new iMac.

Larry

"Red is gray and yellow white, but we decide which is right
....and which is an illusion"

Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin

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If you haven't gotten your iMac yet, be aware that a model refresh is expected soon.

Soon, as in June. According to MacRumors buyers guide.

Kent

Thank you for your reply. I have not yet purchased my IMac and based on your e-mail will wait for the model refresh. Dennis

Dennis,

My first iMac was a 20" model that I bought in 2007. Last January I moved up to a 27" iMac. Wow! The 27" screen is super. I have no hesitancy in recommending it over the smaller screen.

Moving from a PC to a Mac was one of the best moves I ever made. As you can imagine there is a certain learning period involved, but I didn't consider it a problem. It was well worth the effort. I'll never go back to a Windows machine.

Bob

Hi Bob. Thank you for your advice. I am very excited about switching to the Mac and will be obtaining the 27" screen. My purchase timeframe is in about 2 weeks. Dennis

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iMac.

You should get as much screen real estate as possible.

iMac is configurable with a Solid State Drive plus a traditional SATA drive. That's right, two drives and the SSD makes it blazing fast. Put your applications on the SSD and your photos on the other drive. It's not a well known feature on the iMac.

Here's how you afford the upgrade:

Apple memory is very expensive. Most Mac people upgrade after purchase. It's easy and considerably less expensive: 16GB upgrade is $160 from reputable online dealers where it will cost you $600 from Apple.

As for software, you can work fairly inexpensively with Aperture 3, which is available at the Apple App Store for around $80. It's like Lightroom; I use all the NIK plug-ins with it. Add Pixelmator 3.0 for $30, it's more like Photoshop than Elements. If you know how to use Photoshop, then Pixelmator is a snap.

I'd recommend the better graphics card, too. They're not making cameras with fewer pixels. Graphics cards really help.

Rick

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Rick, how do the two drives work? Are they both internal, and do you have to do something so that they talk to each other.

I find the concept of applications on one drive and photos on the other somewhat confusing.

Currently, I'm using a MacBookPro,but I'm re-thinking the setup and iMac is one of the possibilities.

Thanks,
(another) Dennis

Dennis,

It's easy.

Both drives are internal and start up together. You will see icons on your screen for both drives.

Media software like Aperture, Final Cut Pro, etc. allows you to assign where you store your media. So you assign the drive once and afterwards you don't have to do any thinking about where to read and save your files.

Here's the simplified version of the thinking behind this set up.

Your processor and the application that its running are what is doing the heavy lifting. So having fast reads between the application, processor is important. Read and write time of your media file is not as critical -- modern disk hard drives can handle that. Aperture is non-destructive editing -- it reads your photo file and then creates a set of modification instructions for the final output; what you see on screen is a preliminary rendering of that output.

System works really well this way.

Rick

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The Mac does all of the work, you only have to remember to which hard drive you want to save your work. I am running an ancient Power PC with two hard drives and it is a snap once you get the hang of it. In the beginning you might save to the wrong drive occasionally, but that is easily corrected. Time Machine can be set up to automatically save your work to the second drive as back up if you prefer. Carbon Copy Cloner is another app that will clone, backup, whatever, either automatically or manually. Two hard drives just make sense. I have had computers sense the Apple II was king and hard drives fail. this past year I had two failures on two different machines at once, bummer!

Papa Smurf says that life is uncertain, eat dessert first!

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My wife was on the fence about this very same issue, and we ended up going with a 27" iMac instead of a 21". That was almost a year ago, and she has since really acclimated to the larger screen and finds it difficult to work on a smaller one. The ability to have so many things open at once, without sacrificing window size, is really nice. I don't know what the new models are going to be like, but chances are they will also retain the physical dimensions of the current iMacs. Beyond that, there's a lot of speculation as far as features go but I would recommend waiting to upgrade if I were you. I have been in the market for a new iMac for several months, but I figure I've waited this long...what's another month or two if it means I will get a better computer?

Simon: Thank you for your message. I definately will be purchasing the 27" screen, and am also waiting for the Imac with the new OS (mountain lion)which will be available sometime this summer. As you have stated ( and I agree) I have waited this long..... another several weeks will not be of any consequence. Besides, a computer is outdated the day you take it home so why not wait for the latest version? Dennis

Dennis

I have "been there and done that" with the switch from PC to Apple. My biggest problem in the switch was that I subconsciously tried to use PC moves to make my iMac work. It was kind of like you sort of know the area that you are driving to but not enough to get there without making wrong turns to do it. Anyway, I am now an owner of a 17" Mac Book Pro (love the real estate), 24" iMac, and last year I picked up the 27" iMac and an iPad2. I love the way Apple works. Since 2009 I have had only one system hangup (my fault) instead of a couple times a week (PC). The only thing I would suggest you do before purchasing an Apple iMac is to read as many articles by David B. Brooks (Shutterbug Magazine) as possible. He recommends (if you are set on Apple) to get a Mac mini and use a Dell 24" because the Dell is better suited for rendering pictures as your memory remembers it. When I get further into printing my images I may get the Dell and use it as a remote screen. I have probably raised a few more questions then provided answers.

Mike

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Hi Mike. Thank you for your e-mail and comment. I did read the article about the mini-mac and decided,after chatting with several other mac users, that the Imac would better meet my needs. However what you are proposing with the Dell monitor certainly warrants additional research.Dennis

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