I’ve been asked a few times in the past couple weeks to make a recommendation for computers. Photoshop and digi scrapping require a somewhat upgraded computer, since PS by itself takes a lot of power, and with digi scrapping you are usually working with very large files.
So if you’re looking for recommendations for a new computer, this list of specs might help you. However, I have some biases I want to get out of the way first:
- I recommend a desktop over a laptop. Laptops are delicate, have lower quality screens, and are much more expensive for the same amount of computing power. That said, only you can decide if a laptop is right for you.
- I’m a Windows user, so I won’t be able to help you with recommendations for a Mac. However, the specs themselves (hard drive space, processor speed, memory) will be the same on either platform.
- I’m a fan of Dell computers. We run 4 of them here at home and have been very happy with their performance for years. That’s why the link at the bottom of this list is to a Dell computer.
Now that we have my biases out of the way.. I’ll share with you what I consider (backed up by Jared, who is a programmer and wholehearted geek) to be the best computer you can get for photo editing/digi scrapping for under $1000.00. If you’re in the market, I suggest you look for the following (this is a Dell we put together just to get the specs right):
| Dimension E521 | Qty | 1 | ||||||
| AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4600+, Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 | Unit Price | $989.00 | ||||||
Qualifies for an Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium
| | |||||||
| Catalog Number: | 29 DDCWBA3 | |||
| Module | Description | Show Details | ||
| Base | AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4600+ | |||
| Operating System | Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 | |||
| Memory | 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs | |||
| Keyboard | Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse | |||
| Monitor | 19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel | |||
| Video Card | 256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7300LE TurboCache | |||
| Hard Drive | 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ | |||
| Floppy Drive and Media Reader | No Floppy Drive Included | |||
| Mouse | Mouse included in Wireless, Laser or Bluetooth Package | |||
| Network Interface | Integrated 10/100 Ethernet | |||
| Modem | 56K PCI Data Fax Modem | |||
| Adobe Software | Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0 | |||
| CD ROM/DVD ROM | 16x DVD+/-RW Drive | |||
| Sound Cards | Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio | |||
| Speakers | No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) | |||
| Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) | No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD | |||
| Security Software | No Security Subscription | |||
| Warranty and Service | 1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service | |||
| Internet Access Service | 6 Months of America Online Membership Included | |||
| Miscellaneous | Award Winning Service and Support | |||
| Future Operating Systems | Windows Vista™ Capable | |||
| Upgrade to Windows Vista | No Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Selected | |||
| Dell Digital Entertainment | Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo | |||
| Labels | Vista Capable Sticker | |||
Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t allow you to customize computers and then send the entire link, so if you wanted this exact machine, you’ll have to go to the Dell link here to get started customizing (most of the stuff in this list isn’t the default):
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_e521?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
The three main things you want to look for in a computer you’ll use for digi scrapping are:
- processor speed (this computer actually has two separate processors, for extra power),
- memory (this computer has 2GB of RAM - you should have AT LEAST 1 GB in order to run Photoshop, but the extra GB won’t hurt a bit),
- and hard drive capacity (this computer has 320 GB).
This list also assumes that you have computer speakers, Photoshop, and MS Office, so they aren’t included. A 19-inch flat-panel monitor is, though.
I know that not everyone has the means to upgrade their computer. I hope that you don’t take this as my encouragement to overspend. But if you’re in the market, here is what I recommend. Have a wonderful day and Happy Photoshopping! :D