Digital BW, The Print

Keith writes:

> Talk about a statement that means virtually nothing..
> "larger"?
>
> In what sense?

More memory, a faster processor or processors, and more disk space.

> or do you simply mean laptop users should move
> to say a laptop to a desktop chassis/housing?

That is an excellent idea, also, if portability is not essential.  Desktop
machines have more bang for the buck, and are less likely to cause problems.

> of course you'll need to buy a new one pretty often

Only if your requirements change.  As long as they do not change, you can
use the same machine indefinitely.

> that is excluding all that time spent on transferring
> programs and data each time one gets a new system..

That is far less time than would be required to try to "tweak" a system to
resolve performance problems, especially when the environment becomes
dependent on the tweaks and they must be transferred or emulated to any new
system.

> First off, the latter part of that statement may
> well apply to full-time Professionals or others who
> use the Machine primarily for PShop...

I assume that there are many such persons subscribed to this mailing list.

> It is less likely to be the case for non-professionals
> whose machines are not simple capital investments..

People who regard computers as ends in themselves are obviously excluded.
But such people rarely the inclination or time for photography.

> Then  ignore what I said... Leave your Photoshop and
> windows memory settings to the defaults and simply buy
> the absolute fastest machine on the market...

Done.

> ANd, shopping for a machine designed with PShop as
> the target is probably a waste of time also...  Just
> buy the fastest machine with SCSI drives from one
> of the major suppliers..

Done.

> RAID will confuse you, so avoid it, it'll take up
> your time..

It would not confuse me, given my IT background, but for someone not already
familiar with it, it probably isn't worth worrying about, unless they have a
friendly and _competent_ geek to help them (one with real professional
experience, not someone who just happens to know a lot about PCs).

> Fact is, a mid-speed machine tweaked for PhotoShop
> will save a LOT of processing time.. Just as will
> the faster machine..

The faster machine is easier and faster to install, however.

> It's your time and money...

And time _is_ money, so wasting it playing with PC parameters is throwing
money out the window.

> Wanna know a major "secret" about the PC biz?

I already know the secrets of the PC biz.

> I for one would prefer not to get soaked
> every time I buy a new machine..

I for one have other things in life that demand my time, and spending 90% of
it playing with a PC for its own sake is not an attractive option to me.