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recommend a good computer and digital camera?

What do people here use for computers and digital cameras? I need to upgrade for surfing the audio sites and put up photos for my audio gear, of course.
I heard Gateway has quality problems and Dell nickel and dimes you on options. So I was looking at Hewlett-Packard. Is Compaq any good? Any other good brands?
I've been using the throwaway Kodaks on vacations and as much as I hate to get on the camera upgrade bandwagon, blurry photos with NO depth of field is getting too annoying.
For cameras, I've always liked Nikon. J&R sells the 4 mega pixel Coolpix 4300 for $399.99. It takes 8 good pic's or 293 low res pic's. 3x optical zoom sounds useful. Any thoughts on better brands?
Thanks.
And please, only nice people need respond. (sorry, I couldn't resist).
cdc
kennyt's avatar
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
I'll add another vote for MAC, I was always a PC guy since the original XT machines, but when XP came out, I needed a new computer and all my friends had compatability issues. I wanted something for digital music, video and photography. Well, two years later, I will never switch back. My MAC is just so efficient at everything.

As they say... "It just works!"

As for cameras, I have a Canon Powershot S40, though I'd get the S45 now, not the S50 as the CCD isn't that great. One REALLY cool thing about this camera is the underwater case Canon makes for it. This camera goes to the beach, and diving with me and does quite well in both environments!
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
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.
prpixel
826 posts
 
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.
rlwainwright
1,901 posts
 
>> 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-
ed_sawyer
588 posts
 
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? ;-)
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