recommend a good computer and digital camera?

I like my Canon A70 ... 3Mpixel (quite enough unless you want to print posters ... and remember that 5Mpixel cameras need a much bigger compact flash card). Inexpensive, simple to use and pictures that look better than my old olympus 35mm on 7x5s.

As for PCs I've always had good luck with Toshiba laptops. Not the most advanced, but quite durable. No experience with Macs.

Jax2,

The Mac is a great machine for digital photography and video editing. I'll give you that. But, it's a lot more money than a PC. I was just trying to give him a low cost alternative from a computer professional.

BTW - I have used and owned Macs in the past. Yes, they are easier to use. But, in order to acheive this, you give of options and software choices.

As far as the PC goes, it was come a long way with the NT Kernal. I've been running XP since beta and have yet to see a "blue screen of death". No crashes, no lockups, just as stable as can be. Granted, I don't have a lot of software installed on my machine; just the essentials - Coreldraw, photoshop, office and the occasional RPG.

>> Didn't anybody read the original post?

Indeed, seems like every professional photographer on the 'Gon chimed in with his Mac recommendation despite what the original poster asked for.

Well, I've got some news for all the Macolytes out there: your box is over-priced for what this guy wants to do. For under $1,000 he can have a nice Wintel-based PC and a very decent digital camera that will do *everything* he needs and then some. Why the hell should he spend upwards of $3,000 for a Mac and such?

Now you'll have to excuse me, I'm in the midst of de-bugging a C# app running on a Dell - I'd *love* to use a Mac [smirk], but darn it, ya just can't get any good development software for that box, can ya?

-RW-

He can easily get an Emac or iMac for around $1000, that will kick a pc's ass, hands down, from every standpoint that matters.

initial cost is but one (small) part of total cost of ownership. Factor in downtime, hassles, virii, crashes, repairs, software, upgrades, frustration, etc. - all of which are much higher with a PC - and the Mac looks like an even bigger bargain than it already is!

Anything written for unix will be viable for a Mac (OS X), certainly more dev software out there for Unix than anything Wintel could ever dream about, IMHO.

-Ed
"Fighting Back For the Mac - let's kick Intel's ass!" (anyone remember that slogan? ;-)

Who said he should spend $3000? I think I offered some options that were 1/2 to a 1/3 that price. You can get an iBook starting at $700, an iMac from around $1000, and an eMac for $800. Just check out www.MacMall.com.

From Cdc's question I gathered that he might not have computer yet, so I offered up the Mac and its great, included software as an easy way to get the pictures from camera to website.

Cdc, as Albert Porter suggested, iPhoto which comes preinstalled on new Macs and is a great way to view and organize all your photos. You needn't buy the full professional version of Photoshop to manipulate, crop, color correct and resize your pictures. Adobe Photoshop Elements runs about 90 buckeroos and will probably do all that you want.

If you ever decide you want to make albums of your photos to share with friends or burn to DVD, Apple's new iLife is a $49 suite of mini apps that includes iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie and Garage Band. It's a great little package.

Boy, all you angry PC guys, what gives? If you read Cdc's original post he asked for nice people only. Notice how the PC guys like to brag about their Microsoft certification and de-bugging a C-whatever app. That's cool and all, but what does this have to with taking, editing and posting pictures on the web? At least a pro photog will have some helpful advice in this area.

Not to judge PC users in genenral, but if one were new to computers and read this thread, he or she might conclude...

Mac people = fun, creative and helpful

PC people = snobby, superior, grumpy, jealous, stiff and repressed.

Have fun Cdc researching computers and cameras like you would a new piece of audio gear for your system. As I said earlier, no matter the machine or that OS you end up with I'm sure you'll have lot's of fun.

Good luck!