Mac or PC for photo and video editing?

[theostwalts]

What do you guys recommend? I want to get a laptop mainly for Internet, photo and video uploading and editing. Our camcorder needs replacing (it's a VHS ) and our point and shoot has seen its better days!! I guess we will move up to a hard drive camcorder and I am considering one of the Sony NEX cameras.

 

[disneyboy2003]

For Mac vs. PC? Go with PC.

And make sure you're shooting with Canon, not Nikon.

And if you're thirsty while editing your photos, drink Coke, not Pepsi.




Honestly, though, you really can't go wrong with any of these choices. Mac vs. PC is a long-standing debate that has strong & vocal fans on either side.

 

[theostwalts]

For Mac vs. PC? Go with PC.

And make sure you're shooting with Canon, not Nikon.

And if you're thirsty while editing your photos, drink Coke, not Pepsi.




Honestly, though, you really can't go wrong with any of these choices. Mac vs. PC is a long-standing debate that has strong & vocal fans on either side.

I tried to get some info online and know what you mean! Seems like every article ended up with pc users and Mac users in a huge debate. I've always used a pc, but my dds school had a program that allowed them all to use a MacBook this past year. I guess that got me over my fear of them.

 

[YesDear]

I use both but for video and photo editing, I prefer the mac.

I shoot Nikon so I disagree with the camera comment.

I do not drink soft drinks so I do not care in that instance.

Sincerely... If you have an Apple store in your area go and play with one. They are different from a PC but the learning cure is very fast. My PC has more software issues with photoshop than the mac does. Like I said, I use both but use the mac 99% of the time for photo editing.

I have Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, and Capture NX. I tend to use Lightroom, photoshop and Capture NX the most.

Final Cut Pro express is an amazing program for $150.00 which the price you can find on the internet. And if you want something real simple Imovie comes with the computer.

I am a large mac fan but not a mac snob. I do not see this as a debate but rather a preference and to me the mac wins.

 

[photo_chick]

It's really a matter of preference unless you plan to use software that is platform specific. I use Premiere on a high end HP laptop. Regardless of which platform you choose, make sure you have a solid video card and ample memory to do the job.

Now, my personal opinion.... I took a film and video class last semester and the lab had current model Mac towers. I used my laptop while most of my classmates were using the provided Macs. I used Premiere and they used both Premiere and Final Cut Pro, both really similar programs. My videos rendered in less than half the time theirs did at the same length and resolution. Some students had a lot of issues with crashes, I had none. I didn't have trouble playing the video preview in Premiere, some of them did. It's not scientific and completely my personal observation, but my PC stomped the Macs. I paid less for my computer and don't have to shell out $$$ for OS updates on a regular basis to keep current. And I'm not Mac phobic... I used them for years. My last one was a G4 and they date back to Performas in my house. Adn while they were once much better for graphics based applications, today you can get a comparable PC.

 

[handicap18]

It's really a matter of preference unless you plan to use software that is platform specific. I use Premiere on a high end HP laptop. Regardless of which platform you choose, make sure you have a solid video card and ample memory to do the job.

Now, my personal opinion.... I took a film and video class last semester and the lab had current model Mac towers. I used my laptop while most of my classmates were using the provided Macs. I used Premiere and they used both Premiere and Final Cut Pro, both really similar programs. My videos rendered in less than half the time theirs did at the same length and resolution. Some students had a lot of issues with crashes, I had none. I didn't have trouble playing the video preview in Premiere, some of them did. It's not scientific and completely my personal observation, but my PC stomped the Macs. I paid less for my computer and don't have to shell out $$$ for OS updates on a regular basis to keep current. And I'm not Mac phobic... I used them for years. My last one was a G4 and they date back to Performas in my house. Adn while they were once much better for graphics based applications, today you can get a comparable PC.

I was PC for years and finally left the PC world because I experienced nothing but crashes and freeze ups. I used some video editors on a PC and had lots of trouble.

I use iMovie (free with all new Mac's) to do my video's and as a complete amateur this program could not be better. Incredibly easy to use and very fast.

Software updates for Mac are MUCH less than PC's. So I'm not sure where you get that from. To upgrade to the newest OS update on a Mac is $30 for 1 computer and $50 for up to 5 family computers. To upgrade a PC to the newest OS software is $120 for 1 computer.

I've had my iMac for almost 18 months now and have had only 1 problem. During a routing software update my OS got fried. I took it to the Apple store and they not only diagnosed the problem but reinstalled the OS for no charge and it took just under 1 hour. If I were to take my PC to a computer store they would charge $75 just to diagnose the issue and I wouldn't have my computer back for 2 days.

In the end, just like everything else it comes down to personal preference. I can do all the same photo editing on my iMac that I could on my Windows 7 machine with all the same software. DW who is not particularly computer savvy has already created 3 video's each 15 + minutes long on her MacBook Pro. Also the battery on the MacBook Pro has lasted upwards of 9 hours for her in 1 day. The PC laptop she had would last 3 hours max.

 

[Bstanley]

There is very little that you can do on a Mac that you can't do on a PC and vice versa. The difference between them really boils down to the fact that the Mac system (hardware and software) is closed, the PC system (hardware and software) is open.

If words like BIOS, mezzanine bus and protected-mode are gibberish to you the difference between the two basically boils down to price and stability (if you already knew those words you wouldn't have asked the question ).

Mac systems tend to be priced higher because 1) they typically have higher performance components than the lower priced PC offerings plus 2) you typically have to buy everything from Apple (less competition = higher pricing). BUT Mac systems tend to be more stable and have fewer 'what was that?' issues.

PC systems typically offer higher performance for the same money because of competition, but are susceptible to 'what was that?' issues related to the various pieces being sourced from many different companies and not really playing perfectly with each other.

Are excellent stability, good performance and some minor physical tweaks worth the price difference? Clearly - Yes! - for at least 15-20% of the buyers.

PS - If you want to come over to the Dark Side of geek-dom I can teach you how to install Apple's Snow Leopard OS on a PC...bwah-ha-ha

 

[photo_chick]

iMovie was mentioned... it's a great consumer app. Way better than Windows movie maker I used the heck out of it back when I got my G4 and it first came out.

 

[photo_chick]

Software updates for Mac are MUCH less than PC's. So I'm not sure where you get that from. To upgrade to the newest OS update on a Mac is $30 for 1 computer and $50 for up to 5 family computers. To upgrade a PC to the newest OS software is $120 for 1 computer.

I got 2 computers around the same time. 1 PC and 1 Mac. OS X had just come out, I had a G4 with 9 and X on it. THe PC had the brand new Windows XP on it (I actually had it about a year before I got the Mac). Every OS update, all the service packs (which MS used as opposed to tiger, leopard, panther), were free for the PC until Win 7 came out and MS is no longer supporting XP. I stopped updating the OS for the Mac at Tiger. That was 4 updates I had to pay for. My newest Mac is pre-Intel so it's pretty much a paper weight now. But that old PC is still chugging as a file server.

I'm not knocking Macs here. They make a great machine. But you pay a premium for the privilege of using one. I personally got tired of paying to keep current.

Dang it... I didn't mean to double post. Sorry.

 

[boBQuincy]

Since Apple switched to Intel Inside there is little or no difference in Mac and PC hardware, anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell something. Macs can run Windows, PCs can't (legally) run Mac OS so with Macs you may have a larger source for programs although you will have to buy Windows separately.

It may really come down to personal preference but here's one for thought: an equivalently priced PC will be faster than a Mac because Apple charges more for their (same) hardware. Thus with the PC we can afford better/faster hardware for the same price!

 

[Shutterbug]

When you buy a Mac you are not just buying the hardware and software you are also buying the service you get from Apple. The service I got from genius bar at the Apple store for any problems I have had was extremely better than any "help" I got for my Windows machine.

Also when I bought Imac a couple years ago...I could not find any Windows machine like it...and that was an All in One unit(no tower), with a 24" screen plus a dedicated video card and firewire ports.

Regardless of what machine you do get...make sure it has a dedicated video card not shared.

 

[saturndb]

I like Macs. But everyone is different. It is like asking do you like a Ford or a GM car, both do what you need them to do, the difference is in the journey.

 

[DVC Mike]

You can do the same editing with Windows 7 as you can Mac OS X.

I just happen to prefer (and recommend) the Mac.

 

[handicap18]

I got 2 computers around the same time. 1 PC and 1 Mac. OS X had just come out, I had a G4 with 9 and X on it. THe PC had the brand new Windows XP on it (I actually had it about a year before I got the Mac). Every OS update, all the service packs (which MS used as opposed to tiger, leopard, panther), were free for the PC until Win 7 came out and MS is no longer supporting XP. I stopped updating the OS for the Mac at Tiger. That was 4 updates I had to pay for. My newest Mac is pre-Intel so it's pretty much a paper weight now. But that old PC is still chugging as a file server.

I'm not knocking Macs here. They make a great machine. But you pay a premium for the privilege of using one. I personally got tired of paying to keep current.

Dang it... I didn't mean to double post. Sorry.

When I upgraded from Window's Vista to Window's 7 it was $119 and I could only upgrade my PC. If I wanted to upgrade DW's laptop it would have been another $119. I did get all the service packs for my older XP and also for Vista, but to go from XP to Vista and from Vista to XP.

Mac's have similar service packs (I haven't updated to the latest Mac OS update, but there have been a number of other service updates to the OS over the last year plus. It is only $30 to upgrade to the latest Mac OS update or $50 to upgrade both mine and DW's.

BTW I prefer Pepsi over Coke and Toyota over Honda and Ford over Chevy.

 

[Experiment_626]

If you get a Windows PC, you can run Windows. You might be able to kludge running the Mac OS on such a machine, but it will be just that -- a kludge.

If you get a Mac, you can run both the Mac OS and Windows.

You get what you pay for.

Scott