New Computer and Monitor

[Richard Crowe]

My computer has been getting old.  In fact, I don't remember how old it is.  I have been experiencing problems and my computer techie says that the hard drive is on its last legs and he strongly recommended not replacing the hard drive because the computer is so old.  My monitor is also pretty old and is actually a combination video monitor and computer monitor or, a jack of all trades and master of none.

I have the On1 Photo program as a Photoshop Plug In on the old computer but cannot use it effectively since the computer is too slow.  It takes ages to do any editing and the computer frequently freezes op.  Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Bridge will also frequently freeze up.

I just sold my motorhome and used most of the proceeds to pay off Judy's car which frees up a car payment and also leaves a little fat in our budget for some goodies.  

I decided to order a new computer.  Costco has one on sale, a Dell XPS 8900 which looked pretty good UNTIL I visited the Costco website and found better equipped versions of that Dell.  I researched what was just about the best over-the-counter (I don't want to build my own) computer for Photoshop and the Dell 8900 model that I ordered rang all the bells, such as:

Intel® Core i7-6700K Processor 4.0 GHz

32GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM

2TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive

Lots of sites recommend having your programs on the Solid State Herd Drive (SSD) and doing your initial editing on that SSD.  Then saving the results on the standard SATA drive.  Apparently this is the fastest way to do any editing

2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card

This thing should scream with speed.  Costco also doubles the manufacturer's warranty.

I then decided, "in for a penny, in for a pound" (as our English cousins used to say) and selected a monitor that is specifically designed for Photoshop rather than using a converted TV monitor or a Gaming monitor.

I selected the BenQ SW2700PT Widescreen LED Backlit QHD Monitor.  I had not heard of that brand but, it gets very good reviews and it is about half the price of the next expensive dedicated photo editing dedicated monitor. It also has a three year manufacturer's warranty.

http://www.color-management-guide.co...or-review.html

Since I really enjoy editing my images and playing with Photoshop and other programs, I am looking forward to having an efficient setup with which to indulge myself. I am getting less and less mobile in my old age so having a great editing setup is important way for me to indulge my photo hobby.

 

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Enjoy your new setup, it sounds great. I do think we need to indulge our interests, in do far as we can, as we get on because we surely can't take it with us.

[Richard Crowe]

Actually, we live a pretty sedate life and don't spend great amounts of money on entertainment or trips.  We prefer to use our money for our dogs and some of the things that we enjoy, like my computer.

[Ann Kendig]

Sounds nice enjoy! Mike