[Say What?]

Hello. We are purchasing a new computer for our vinyl decal business. I was wondering if any of you have any advice as far as what processor to get, does it matter? We use adobe illustrator, and we found that the cheap laptop that we have tends to get bogged down by it. I am not a computer person...please help

 

[n.signia]

Best advice I can give you is get a Mac. If your pretty stationary the iMac is awesome, and if you prefer the laptop the MacBook pro is a great choice. They are more money, but so worth every penny.

 

[n.signia]

And if your worried about compatibility with your cutting software or quickbooks or whatever, just get parallels, and you can run windows on your Mac when needed. I do this with quickbooks and it works great. Windows actually runs better on a Mac. Lol

 

[in2infinity]

The two things to look for are going to be Processor and RAM. These are going to be the two big factors in determining your performance. Get a dual or quad core processor with at least 2 GB RAM. Don't worry about graphics cards and any of the other bells and whistles.

On the Mac Vs PC argument ... I'm personally a Mac fan but if you're just setting up a computer to run your cutter then get what its compatible with it. PCs are cheaper so if the system is dedicated to Illustrator and the cutter is Windows only then there's no point in spending the extra coin on a Mac unless you have Mac software you'd like to run as well. I'd avoid Parallels or fusion for anything but windows XP. For Vista and 7 you're much better off using Bootcamp (its free too) to run Windows from startup. The emulators are very slow with Vista and 7 ... bootcamp allows them to run full speed with the tradeoff of not having the MacOS accessible at the same time.

 

[n.signia]

That was my issue with bootcamp, not being able to toggle. As for parallels, we do run XP without issue. Will this computer be doing full duty, or just a dedicated machine for your cutter?

 

[Say What?]

It will be doing everything, home computer, decal designs and cutting as well. We dont want a gaming thing or anything like that. I did have a mac. I absolutely HATED it. Sorry, if youre a mac fan that's great. I am not. We were looking at Sony Vaio with the faster processor. The i5 or something like that? I dont know anything about amd athlon processors.

 

[n.signia]

Have you had a Mac recently? The new MacBook pros are unreal. I can't even look at my wifes PC anymore.

 

[theflowerboxx]

It will be doing everything, home computer, decal designs and cutting as well. We dont want a gaming thing or anything like that. I did have a mac. I absolutely HATED it. Sorry, if youre a mac fan that's great. I am not. We were looking at Sony Vaio with the faster processor. The i5 or something like that? I dont know anything about amd athlon processors.

If you're looking at a laptop then I would recommend an Intel processor, but if you're looking at a desktop don't be afraid of an AMD (athlon), they actually perform better under a lot of tests than the Intel. Also if you're getting a desktop get the best power supply you possibly can. This is probably the most critical part people never think about when it comes to computing power. Also I would recommend 4 GIG of RAM and at least a dual core processor.

 

[bungy]

If you are using mainly Adobe software, then a mac may be the way to go.
Apple owns a fair chunk of Adobe (was around 20%), so the software, you would think, should be optimised for a mac.

If you like to tinker under the hood so to speak...a PC would be a better option.

As far as desktop or laptop...personal choice these days as the top end laptops are just as powerful as a desktop.

 

[theflowerboxx]

As far as desktop or laptop...personal choice these days as the top end laptops are just as powerful as a desktop.

I disagree, a high end desktop will blow away a high end laptop in performance. When configured with the proper components.

 

[bungy]

I disagree, a high end desktop will blow away a high end laptop in performance. When configured with the proper components.

I agree - with the right bits a desktop is all over a laptop, but OP is looking to buy off the shelf.

That narrows choices a bit and then laptops and desktops start to become more even in performance.

A lot of vendors do not put in the high end parts (too expensive and limited market)

 

[BroJames]

It will be doing everything, home computer, decal designs and cutting as well. We dont want a gaming thing or anything like that. I did have a mac. I absolutely HATED it. Sorry, if youre a mac fan that's great. I am not. We were looking at Sony Vaio with the faster processor. The i5 or something like that? I dont know anything about amd athlon processors.

A PC guy all the way.

MAC is acknowledged by many as the better graphics computer, and a more stable platform, so I won't argue with that. However, does adobe illustrator or photoshop operate differently on a MAC? What I am simply saying is that the platform should not dictate the computer you choose. If your are comfortable with a PC, as you said you hated a MAC, then by all means go for a PC no matter how superior a MAC is or is said to be. For computers, I prefer comfortable to better, for as long as don't need the better.

But with regards to Sony Vaio, owned one, hated it and lost no time selling it. Don't really know why but liked my old original Dell more(not a Japanese surplus).

4GB RAM should be the bottom line as adviced above.

A decent desktop is better if you won't be going mobile.