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By Doug on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 03:06 pm:
I think it would be interesting to get an idea of the different equipment people use.
I myself use a P4 1.4mhz W2K box with 256 meg of RAM (but this is very recent. Only about two of the images on my own website were done with this machine. The rest were done on a 100mhz box with only 64 meg of RAM)
I have an old generic 17" monitor with a Trinitron tube. I use a Wacom ArtPadII (4x5) and my scanner is so pathetic I'm embarrassed to discuss it (though I am proud of a few tricks I've learned to squeeze good quality from it).
I use Photoshop 6, and my only 3rd-party filter I use for restoration work is KPT6 (for the sky generator).
Oh yes, my printer is the notorious Epson 1270, and I don't care what bad things people have to say about it, the prints are breathtaking.
Have I forgotten anything?
What's YOUR setup?
By Sharon Brunson on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 10:43 pm:
I have a Compaq Stinkario. Locks up if you look at it wrong. PIII500, 384mb ram and a 20g hd. Getting a new rig this summer for my "Big O" Birthday. I also have a Wacom tablet, Epson printer and scanner. Now I need my new computer and a live-in instructor.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 11:18 pm:
The Stinkario...didn't that replace the Putrario and Ewww-ario lines?
Actually, I've not heard anything bad about Compaq before, and that sounds like a perfectly fine system (I would have loved to have that system as recently as last Christmas)
By Cedge on Friday, April 13, 2001 - 11:51 pm:
I run a 1.1 ghz AMD powered Gateway with 256 meg of RAM and a 30 gig hard drive. I'm still stuck in mouse mode, basically because after 17 years of computer jockeying, it just feels good. I opted for an HP 952c printer which produces excellent photo quality results. The microtek scanner was a prize won in an gif animation contest, back a year or so ago.
I wanted the processing speed and the RAM to keep up with the 3d work I enjoy so much.
I've always tried to make it a rule of thumb to double my processor speed with each upgrade of my system, so I'll probably be running this one for a while yet.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 01:04 am:
I highly recommend adding a Wacom tablet. I still use my mouse for most things, but for fine photo editing work, nothing can give the level of control offered by a tablet. Since it simply feels like a pen, there's no learning curve.
Wacom had some excellent prices on some older-style tablets (still top-of-the-line, just serial instead of USB) on their website.
By Bruce on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 07:51 pm:
Well... let me be the first Mac user to post here! (he says, proudly) :o)
My setup is a Power Computing, PowerCenter Pro. It started out with a 604e, 210 MHz processor. Last year, I upgraded it to a 360 MHz G3 processor. If you understand the difference between two types of processors, you'll know that the G3 is light years faster than the previous 604 version.
Macs like RAM... lot's of RAM! For a few years, I got by with 128MB, but I now have 320MB and it helps Photoshop run better.
I currently have Photoshop 5.5. I'm in no hurry to make the move to version 6 as money is tight these days. Besides, I have my sights set on purchasing a photo printer before I upgrade Photoshop. Which printer...? Most likely the Epson Stylus Photo 1270. I recently purchased a Nikon Coolpix 990. I believe I can push the limits of the 1270 and get decent 11x14 images. The 8x10 photographic prints I have made are awsome looking!
Boy, I'm getting off the subject...
Anyway, I use a WACOM 6x8 pad when I do anything on images. It just feels so much better than holding a mouse! Besides, the pen tool is sensitive to my touch.
I have Adobe Illustrator too. But I like Photoshop more.
Bruce
By Dan Carlson on Sunday, April 15, 2001 - 11:21 pm:
Although I use a Toshiba laptop for my "official" work as a college prof, my real FUN is working on photos with my Mac G4-400, 192mb RAM, 19" Viewsonic monitor, Epson Perfection 1200 scanner, Wacom Graphire tablet, Epson Stylus 900 printer, PhotoShop 5.0, Illustrator 8.0, and other miscellanea.
Most recently, feeling the need for a 35mm scanner but being unable to afford the pricey, recommended models, I tried out a Primefilm scanner from Pacific Imaging---$189 from CompUSA--since then even offered with an added $40 rebate!. I've been very happy with it--getting nice results through PhotoShop. The basic scanning software seems to do well, though the accompanying imaging software wasn't good. I have hundreds of slides from several years of working in India (about 20 yrs. ago), and scanning/printing has really brought those old images back to life!
What a fun hobby, and I'm beginning to get some good cash return on the investment through friends and acquaintances who see my work and want some help with old photos!
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Monday, April 16, 2001 - 05:22 am:
A friend of mine just bought one of the Primefilm scanners, and has been very pleased.
Check out Vuescan (do a web search), I haven't verified it, but it's a scanning program that works with most scanners, and has a good reputation (shareware)
By Jim Rozakis on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 07:32 pm:
I have a 933 mhz PIII Gateway, 384 MB RAM, 40 gig HD with an Epson 1200U scanner, Minolta Dimage Scan Dual slide scanner, Wacom Intuos 6X8, and an Epson 870 printer. All have been great to use.
Like Dan Carlson above, I'm starting to get requests from people to do restorations. Up till now I have mostly done family and friend's pictures for no or nominal cost, and I'm wondering what some of you, who may do this sort of work regularly, charge for restorations. Is there a standard fee structure out there?
By Catherine Elliot on Wednesday, April 18, 2001 - 08:28 pm:
Hey--how come there's only one other Mac user here? I have a G4/450 with a gig of RAM, and a Wacom tablet.
I must say, that as a Photoshop teacher, I have seen a tremendous increase in the number of Photoshop Windows users in the last three years. That's good to see.
Catherine
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Thursday, April 19, 2001 - 04:03 pm:
I suspect there are many Mac users here, but they are timid creatures, and frighten easily.
We often leave out bowls full of Gummi Bears and pots of coffee, which mysteriously disappear.
If you are confronted by a Mac user, do not attempt to restrain him. They can be unruly, and are known to carry opinions.
If you suspect Mac user infestation, please contact your local Starbucks.
By Scott on Friday, April 20, 2001 - 10:37 am:
Who can resist a thread about toys? I am not a photo restorer although I play at being one.
I'm picking up some great tips though and ordered Photoshop Restoration & Retouching, by Katrin Eismann which I'm hoping really helps me out. I deal with a lot of W.W.II images, mostly aircraft, and they often need a lot of work. My goal is to help them more than hurt them.
I'm using a home built AMD Athlon 700 machine, looking at stepping up to the 1.2 GH processor & board soon, 256mb RAM, 30gb drive. Run dual monitors a 19" Hitachi that I love and an older ViewSonic 17". The 19" runs of an ATI Radeon 64mb AGP card and the 17" runs off a ATI Rage PCI card. Dual monitors = the best thing I've done in ages - tremendous for work space. A Wacom Intous 9x12 tablet that I don't use the full potential of, a PrimeFilm 1800U scanner (I'm using it to capture microfilm of WWII documents and some slides), an old but very functional HP ScanJet 5P, and an Epson photo 1270 for the output side. I use Photoshop 6 and know enough to get in trouble but not nearly as much as I would like to know.
-Scott
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Friday, April 20, 2001 - 12:47 pm:
I'd love to have two monitors, but can't even afford one nice one...twin Mitsubishi 2040U monitors is my dream setup
The Eismann books covers dualism a bit, with a photo of example Photoshop layouts using them.
By Dik Whibley on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 03:09 pm:
My equipment is as follows: Home built PC with Pentium III 667, 128 Mb memory (upgrading to 256 when the postman arrives), 30Gb HDD + 4 Gb HDD stolen from my sons old machine, Matrox G400 Dualhead driving an ADI G910 19" monitor and Belinea 15" monitor. For input I have a PrimeFilm 1800u film scanner, a Canon Canoscan 1220u flatbed scanner and a Kodak DC260 digital camera. I am using a Nisis G3 graphics tablet. The equipment all appears to work fine, it's the human that lets the side down :-(
By Renne Cavanaugh on Monday, May 21, 2001 - 10:31 am:
Is anyone using Win 2000 or NT 4.0? I have been using 98 for several years and have no complaints other than the usual. I have gotten comfortable with it and am loath to change except for the siren call of more stability. I have been using NT at my "real" job and have been impressed with the lack of problems - no blue screen, no "illegal operation", etc. The 2000 is based on the NT engine and I was hoping some brave soul might have some feedback.
I'm using a Dell Dimension 266 with 128mb RAM and that's a full board :< with a Dell Trinitron D1025HT monitor, Wacom tablet (couldn't do without it), Microtek E6 scanner, Epson 1200 scanner, sometimes Silverfast scanning software (I do prefer the Microtek to the Epson - seems to reproduce color more accurately) and, last but not least, an Epson 1200 printer, which I ADORE. I can't believe the things it does.
What a find this board is! You guys also might want to take a look at the Epson inkjet listserve at http://www.leben.com/lists/. It has been the single most valuable resource that I've found for general printing information and discussion.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Monday, May 21, 2001 - 02:34 pm:
I'd definitely go with W2K unless a "full board" means there's no more room for ram. You need at least twice that (maybe a good excuse to upgrade machines?)
The only downside to W2K is that sometimes the permissions can be confusing ("Administrator", "User", etc.). DON'T be tempted to just run all the time in Administrator mode to avoid hassles, though.
If you don't want your Epson scanner, I'll take it
By Paul Certa on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 01:21 am:
I'm using a Dell Dimension 4100, 866 MHz, 512 MB RAM, Dell Trinitron 19" monitor and a Nikon Super Cool Scan (LS-2000) scanner. Running Win 98 2Ed with Photoshop 6.0. Still need a table and color printer.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 05:44 am:
A table? That's a heavy laptop
By Renne Cavanaugh on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 06:14 pm:
Yeah, Doug. That's what I mean by full board. I can't believe Dell could be so short sighted. I DO use the Epson scanner for photos 'cause of the high rez so I'm not ready to abandon it yet :>
I do have a Compaq Proliant 2500R server that I'm just about ready to change over to and I think I'll run Win2K on it, based on your reply. It has dual Pentium processors and can handle up to a gig of RAM. That should be enough. It's not exactly state of the art, but it's all SCSI with a RAID array and hot-pluggable drives and so is pretty brisk. My last thing to install on it was a new SCSI HP rewritable CD drive. Very nice. It can burn a full CD in about 6 minutes. My old IDE drive on my Dell takes about 30 minutes.
For all you guys/gals out there with more talent than cash, I've found ebay to be a good source of computer/graphics stuff for reasonable prices - sometimes the stuff is even new. I've bought 2 17" Dell Trinitron monitors for an average of $ 100.00 per. I've bought memory, video cards, keyboards, 2 computers, CD drive, rails, hard drives and software. I've only gone with sellers who have excellent feedback and haven't had but one problem, which I finally resolved and got a full refund. Happy bidding!
(I think he meant tablet, not table)
Cheers,
Renne
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 06:37 pm:
Duh
There was a guy on ebay that had Epson Expression 800 scanners for $150. That is an incredible deal on an incredible scanner, probably the best scanner anyone doing restoration would ever need since anything beyond its specs is overkill for that kind of work.
But...
Was that particular guy credible? He refused any real identity info, refused anything other than electronic cash xfer...all in all, especially considering auctions are the #1 fraud area, it made me pass on the deal, even though he evidently had hundreds to sell.
By Renne Cavanaugh on Monday, May 28, 2001 - 10:41 am:
Hi Doug,
The one thing I forgot to add about ebay is - I always use a credit card. I have used Paypal (a middleman sort of thing for credit card transactions - Ebay also has their own Billpoint system which is the same type of thing) WITH a credit card on some occasions, but I have found, with the one exception to my positive experiences on ebay, that Paypal has a limited ability to help you get your money back. They frown on you pursuing the traditional method of chargeback via your credit card company because it leaves them holding the bag if they can't collect from their customer. They did provisionally charge back the sales price to the seller in my case, but they have only the ability to cancel the seller's charging privliges if the seller won't refund ultimately. It came out OK, but was very annoying.
It does seem like most sellers are honest, however, it's always a risk.
Renne (ever the Pollyanna)
By avisprobob on Tuesday, June 05, 2001 - 12:48 am:
I have read in a national statistic about a month ago, that the most common internet ripoffs are from the likes of Ebay.
Do YOU send the goods first before receiving the goods from the other party? Hey, since when is this society---especially these days, so honest?
Hellooooooo! Anyone home?
By RJAimagery on Tuesday, June 05, 2001 - 12:55 am:
I got a 12x12 Wacom-------"refurbished" for $300.
It was looking brand new right out of the box! I know this was returned becase it could be a coffee table as well. It's big. 16x15" but it's great and can be had at MacConnection (& others) it's a matter of timing.
By Tom Pinnock (thomasgeorge) on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 05:17 pm:
Guess I'll "fess up" too. I am using a non-brand assembled from off the shelf parts, 500mz AMD, 512 Ram, Minolta Scan Multi 2,astra U-Max 4000 flatbed,Epson 1270 and a Wacom graphire table.All things considered it works pretty well,just wish I did the same!!
By Christie Williams on Sunday, July 08, 2001 - 08:22 am:
Hi all...have recently stumbled onto this site and love it. Guess I'll just jump right in..I'm using a server with dual P3 processors 1gig each, 1 gig ram and 60gig hard drive..I love my epson 1640SU scanner..much better than my hp was. Had to move to a 20inch monitor as the eyes are not as good as they used to be. Hope to dive in to some of the challenges in the near future. Have a great day all.
By Peter Glynn (pglynn) on Sunday, July 08, 2001 - 08:39 am:
i have pentium 3 computer 128 mb ram a 19" monitor which i am hoping to change to 17" flat sreen as my 19" takes up a lot of desk space i have a TINY usb flatbed scanner the computer is also by TINY i have lexmark 3200 jetprinter i have a A5 intuos graphic tablet with intuos pen and airbrush
By David Quinn on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 07:37 pm:
I'm running an Athlon 1.33Ghz, 256Mb Ram, GeForce 2 Pro video card, 17" Philips monitor. The printer I use is the work one - a Fuji Frontier 370 Minilab system - not photo quality, they are photos! Can print from negatives, slides, image files (cd, disk, off the network, digital cameras, smart media) and scan to file from negs, slides etc. Uses 3 ccds to scan, with resolution up to 4500 x 3000. Sorry, just had to show off.
By Flem Snopes on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 12:23 pm:
Hmmmmm. I posted yesterday describing my growing Mac system. At the time I saw the post added but today it is gone! Is this list moderated? It is? Well, if I'd known that I never would have said anything negative about Windows, even with the little 'wink' symbol indicating jocularity. I just assumed that since the web site owner had described us Mac users as timid, easily frieghtened, fond of coffee and gummi bears (and who isn't) and at once unruly and opinionated, that a little humor was okay....you were just being funny right? I mean, you don't really think we _all_ like gummi bears do you.....I know at least two other Mac users that prefer jelly beans (not jelly bellies). All Windows conspiracy fears aside, I think any conversation of hardware brands will engender a little mine-is-better-than-yours tit fot tat. As long as no one's feelings get hurt what's the harm as long as it is good natured? (Of course I'm still not sure how to take the gummi bear remark). In any case I'll try to repost my system set-up later this evening. Maybe getting an account will help.
Flem
P.S. or maybe, just maybe I forgot to press that additional "Post This Message" button. So much for conspiracy theory.....or maybe, just maybe, we Mac users _are_ just a little bit slow....touched is the word they use where i come from.
By Flem Snopes on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 05:15 pm:
Okay. I'm back, here is my system: Apple Macintosh G4/350 AGP, 128 of RAM (starting to feel the pinch, but RAM is dirt cheap right now and will upgrade soon and add 256 more). Hard drive is only 10 GB but I still have 8 GB free because I don't fill it with games.....so few games for us Mac users (thank goodness). I have an old 2 GB SCSI external drive that I use for back ups. My scanner is an old but adequate Umax Astra 610 flatbed. Printer is an Epson 900. I am going to buy a Nikon film scanner at the end of the summer, if and only if I can make it through the summer with out spending the money I've saved to fix the air conditioning in my truck.....it was 95 degrees here yesterday....and yes, we do all drive trucks down here in the South. I'll likely get a CD burner too, Firewire of course.I'm shocked at how few Mac users have spoken up especially for a site all about graphics.....our last but apparently fading foothold.
As to the nature of us Mac users both timid and unruly, it is somewhat hard to explain our affliction these days as parity emerges between platforms. The best way I can think to illustrate it is this. It is kind of like food. I love nothing more than a plate of steamed blue crabs, nothing better. And yet, I saw a tribe of aboriginals on TV eating huge roasted tarantulas and was revolted. They seemed to think they were just great. But if you look at the two creatures objectively both are revolting really...it is just a matter of what you are used to I guess. But I'm going to have to be really hungry to eat a tarantula!
Flem
By G Mantero on Friday, August 03, 2001 - 01:08 pm:
My setup is an SGI 320 workstation with dual 600 MHz processors and 512 MB RAM. The only drawback is its very small hard drive (10GB), but it's good in a way because it forces me to archive OFTEN! Plus, it's 10,000RPM so it's blindingly fast.
I have an Epson 1680 Professional scanner and an Epson 1280 for proof prints, but I outsource everything I actually sell.
On top of that I have a nice, fast CD-RW and a Wacom tablet that I'm still trying to get the hang of. Any tricks out there to that end??
By G Mantero on Friday, August 03, 2001 - 01:10 pm:
Oh--and I have a 19" Mitsubishi Diamond Pro monitor. It's very nice-I highly recommend it. Don't know what I did before I bit the bullet and purchased it!
By Vogonpoet on Saturday, August 04, 2001 - 04:38 pm:
well I am lagging behind most of the above
I am using a self built AMD K6 400mhz (overclocked to 450), 256Mb Ram, 8mb generic video card, Samsung 17" monitor, running win98 OS.
About time I upgraded!
~Vp~
I think it would be interesting to get an idea of the different equipment people use.
I myself use a P4 1.4mhz W2K box with 256 meg of RAM (but this is very recent. Only about two of the images on my own website were done with this machine. The rest were done on a 100mhz box with only 64 meg of RAM)
I have an old generic 17" monitor with a Trinitron tube. I use a Wacom ArtPadII (4x5) and my scanner is so pathetic I'm embarrassed to discuss it (though I am proud of a few tricks I've learned to squeeze good quality from it).
I use Photoshop 6, and my only 3rd-party filter I use for restoration work is KPT6 (for the sky generator).
Oh yes, my printer is the notorious Epson 1270, and I don't care what bad things people have to say about it, the prints are breathtaking.
Have I forgotten anything?
What's YOUR setup?
By Sharon Brunson on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 10:43 pm:
I have a Compaq Stinkario. Locks up if you look at it wrong. PIII500, 384mb ram and a 20g hd. Getting a new rig this summer for my "Big O" Birthday. I also have a Wacom tablet, Epson printer and scanner. Now I need my new computer and a live-in instructor.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 11:18 pm:
The Stinkario...didn't that replace the Putrario and Ewww-ario lines?
Actually, I've not heard anything bad about Compaq before, and that sounds like a perfectly fine system (I would have loved to have that system as recently as last Christmas)
By Cedge on Friday, April 13, 2001 - 11:51 pm:
I run a 1.1 ghz AMD powered Gateway with 256 meg of RAM and a 30 gig hard drive. I'm still stuck in mouse mode, basically because after 17 years of computer jockeying, it just feels good. I opted for an HP 952c printer which produces excellent photo quality results. The microtek scanner was a prize won in an gif animation contest, back a year or so ago.
I wanted the processing speed and the RAM to keep up with the 3d work I enjoy so much.
I've always tried to make it a rule of thumb to double my processor speed with each upgrade of my system, so I'll probably be running this one for a while yet.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 01:04 am:
I highly recommend adding a Wacom tablet. I still use my mouse for most things, but for fine photo editing work, nothing can give the level of control offered by a tablet. Since it simply feels like a pen, there's no learning curve.
Wacom had some excellent prices on some older-style tablets (still top-of-the-line, just serial instead of USB) on their website.
By Bruce on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 07:51 pm:
Well... let me be the first Mac user to post here! (he says, proudly) :o)
My setup is a Power Computing, PowerCenter Pro. It started out with a 604e, 210 MHz processor. Last year, I upgraded it to a 360 MHz G3 processor. If you understand the difference between two types of processors, you'll know that the G3 is light years faster than the previous 604 version.
Macs like RAM... lot's of RAM! For a few years, I got by with 128MB, but I now have 320MB and it helps Photoshop run better.
I currently have Photoshop 5.5. I'm in no hurry to make the move to version 6 as money is tight these days. Besides, I have my sights set on purchasing a photo printer before I upgrade Photoshop. Which printer...? Most likely the Epson Stylus Photo 1270. I recently purchased a Nikon Coolpix 990. I believe I can push the limits of the 1270 and get decent 11x14 images. The 8x10 photographic prints I have made are awsome looking!
Boy, I'm getting off the subject...
Anyway, I use a WACOM 6x8 pad when I do anything on images. It just feels so much better than holding a mouse! Besides, the pen tool is sensitive to my touch.
I have Adobe Illustrator too. But I like Photoshop more.
Bruce
By Dan Carlson on Sunday, April 15, 2001 - 11:21 pm:
Although I use a Toshiba laptop for my "official" work as a college prof, my real FUN is working on photos with my Mac G4-400, 192mb RAM, 19" Viewsonic monitor, Epson Perfection 1200 scanner, Wacom Graphire tablet, Epson Stylus 900 printer, PhotoShop 5.0, Illustrator 8.0, and other miscellanea.
Most recently, feeling the need for a 35mm scanner but being unable to afford the pricey, recommended models, I tried out a Primefilm scanner from Pacific Imaging---$189 from CompUSA--since then even offered with an added $40 rebate!. I've been very happy with it--getting nice results through PhotoShop. The basic scanning software seems to do well, though the accompanying imaging software wasn't good. I have hundreds of slides from several years of working in India (about 20 yrs. ago), and scanning/printing has really brought those old images back to life!
What a fun hobby, and I'm beginning to get some good cash return on the investment through friends and acquaintances who see my work and want some help with old photos!
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Monday, April 16, 2001 - 05:22 am:
A friend of mine just bought one of the Primefilm scanners, and has been very pleased.
Check out Vuescan (do a web search), I haven't verified it, but it's a scanning program that works with most scanners, and has a good reputation (shareware)
By Jim Rozakis on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 07:32 pm:
I have a 933 mhz PIII Gateway, 384 MB RAM, 40 gig HD with an Epson 1200U scanner, Minolta Dimage Scan Dual slide scanner, Wacom Intuos 6X8, and an Epson 870 printer. All have been great to use.
Like Dan Carlson above, I'm starting to get requests from people to do restorations. Up till now I have mostly done family and friend's pictures for no or nominal cost, and I'm wondering what some of you, who may do this sort of work regularly, charge for restorations. Is there a standard fee structure out there?
By Catherine Elliot on Wednesday, April 18, 2001 - 08:28 pm:
Hey--how come there's only one other Mac user here? I have a G4/450 with a gig of RAM, and a Wacom tablet.
I must say, that as a Photoshop teacher, I have seen a tremendous increase in the number of Photoshop Windows users in the last three years. That's good to see.
Catherine
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Thursday, April 19, 2001 - 04:03 pm:
I suspect there are many Mac users here, but they are timid creatures, and frighten easily.
We often leave out bowls full of Gummi Bears and pots of coffee, which mysteriously disappear.
If you are confronted by a Mac user, do not attempt to restrain him. They can be unruly, and are known to carry opinions.
If you suspect Mac user infestation, please contact your local Starbucks.
By Scott on Friday, April 20, 2001 - 10:37 am:
Who can resist a thread about toys? I am not a photo restorer although I play at being one.
I'm picking up some great tips though and ordered Photoshop Restoration & Retouching, by Katrin Eismann which I'm hoping really helps me out. I deal with a lot of W.W.II images, mostly aircraft, and they often need a lot of work. My goal is to help them more than hurt them.
I'm using a home built AMD Athlon 700 machine, looking at stepping up to the 1.2 GH processor & board soon, 256mb RAM, 30gb drive. Run dual monitors a 19" Hitachi that I love and an older ViewSonic 17". The 19" runs of an ATI Radeon 64mb AGP card and the 17" runs off a ATI Rage PCI card. Dual monitors = the best thing I've done in ages - tremendous for work space. A Wacom Intous 9x12 tablet that I don't use the full potential of, a PrimeFilm 1800U scanner (I'm using it to capture microfilm of WWII documents and some slides), an old but very functional HP ScanJet 5P, and an Epson photo 1270 for the output side. I use Photoshop 6 and know enough to get in trouble but not nearly as much as I would like to know.
-Scott
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Friday, April 20, 2001 - 12:47 pm:
I'd love to have two monitors, but can't even afford one nice one...twin Mitsubishi 2040U monitors is my dream setup
The Eismann books covers dualism a bit, with a photo of example Photoshop layouts using them.
By Dik Whibley on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 03:09 pm:
My equipment is as follows: Home built PC with Pentium III 667, 128 Mb memory (upgrading to 256 when the postman arrives), 30Gb HDD + 4 Gb HDD stolen from my sons old machine, Matrox G400 Dualhead driving an ADI G910 19" monitor and Belinea 15" monitor. For input I have a PrimeFilm 1800u film scanner, a Canon Canoscan 1220u flatbed scanner and a Kodak DC260 digital camera. I am using a Nisis G3 graphics tablet. The equipment all appears to work fine, it's the human that lets the side down :-(
By Renne Cavanaugh on Monday, May 21, 2001 - 10:31 am:
Is anyone using Win 2000 or NT 4.0? I have been using 98 for several years and have no complaints other than the usual. I have gotten comfortable with it and am loath to change except for the siren call of more stability. I have been using NT at my "real" job and have been impressed with the lack of problems - no blue screen, no "illegal operation", etc. The 2000 is based on the NT engine and I was hoping some brave soul might have some feedback.
I'm using a Dell Dimension 266 with 128mb RAM and that's a full board :< with a Dell Trinitron D1025HT monitor, Wacom tablet (couldn't do without it), Microtek E6 scanner, Epson 1200 scanner, sometimes Silverfast scanning software (I do prefer the Microtek to the Epson - seems to reproduce color more accurately) and, last but not least, an Epson 1200 printer, which I ADORE. I can't believe the things it does.
What a find this board is! You guys also might want to take a look at the Epson inkjet listserve at http://www.leben.com/lists/. It has been the single most valuable resource that I've found for general printing information and discussion.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Monday, May 21, 2001 - 02:34 pm:
I'd definitely go with W2K unless a "full board" means there's no more room for ram. You need at least twice that (maybe a good excuse to upgrade machines?)
The only downside to W2K is that sometimes the permissions can be confusing ("Administrator", "User", etc.). DON'T be tempted to just run all the time in Administrator mode to avoid hassles, though.
If you don't want your Epson scanner, I'll take it
By Paul Certa on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 01:21 am:
I'm using a Dell Dimension 4100, 866 MHz, 512 MB RAM, Dell Trinitron 19" monitor and a Nikon Super Cool Scan (LS-2000) scanner. Running Win 98 2Ed with Photoshop 6.0. Still need a table and color printer.
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 05:44 am:
A table? That's a heavy laptop
By Renne Cavanaugh on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 06:14 pm:
Yeah, Doug. That's what I mean by full board. I can't believe Dell could be so short sighted. I DO use the Epson scanner for photos 'cause of the high rez so I'm not ready to abandon it yet :>
I do have a Compaq Proliant 2500R server that I'm just about ready to change over to and I think I'll run Win2K on it, based on your reply. It has dual Pentium processors and can handle up to a gig of RAM. That should be enough. It's not exactly state of the art, but it's all SCSI with a RAID array and hot-pluggable drives and so is pretty brisk. My last thing to install on it was a new SCSI HP rewritable CD drive. Very nice. It can burn a full CD in about 6 minutes. My old IDE drive on my Dell takes about 30 minutes.
For all you guys/gals out there with more talent than cash, I've found ebay to be a good source of computer/graphics stuff for reasonable prices - sometimes the stuff is even new. I've bought 2 17" Dell Trinitron monitors for an average of $ 100.00 per. I've bought memory, video cards, keyboards, 2 computers, CD drive, rails, hard drives and software. I've only gone with sellers who have excellent feedback and haven't had but one problem, which I finally resolved and got a full refund. Happy bidding!
(I think he meant tablet, not table)
Cheers,
Renne
By Doug Nelson (doug) on Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 06:37 pm:
Duh
There was a guy on ebay that had Epson Expression 800 scanners for $150. That is an incredible deal on an incredible scanner, probably the best scanner anyone doing restoration would ever need since anything beyond its specs is overkill for that kind of work.
But...
Was that particular guy credible? He refused any real identity info, refused anything other than electronic cash xfer...all in all, especially considering auctions are the #1 fraud area, it made me pass on the deal, even though he evidently had hundreds to sell.
By Renne Cavanaugh on Monday, May 28, 2001 - 10:41 am:
Hi Doug,
The one thing I forgot to add about ebay is - I always use a credit card. I have used Paypal (a middleman sort of thing for credit card transactions - Ebay also has their own Billpoint system which is the same type of thing) WITH a credit card on some occasions, but I have found, with the one exception to my positive experiences on ebay, that Paypal has a limited ability to help you get your money back. They frown on you pursuing the traditional method of chargeback via your credit card company because it leaves them holding the bag if they can't collect from their customer. They did provisionally charge back the sales price to the seller in my case, but they have only the ability to cancel the seller's charging privliges if the seller won't refund ultimately. It came out OK, but was very annoying.
It does seem like most sellers are honest, however, it's always a risk.
Renne (ever the Pollyanna)
By avisprobob on Tuesday, June 05, 2001 - 12:48 am:
I have read in a national statistic about a month ago, that the most common internet ripoffs are from the likes of Ebay.
Do YOU send the goods first before receiving the goods from the other party? Hey, since when is this society---especially these days, so honest?
Hellooooooo! Anyone home?
By RJAimagery on Tuesday, June 05, 2001 - 12:55 am:
I got a 12x12 Wacom-------"refurbished" for $300.
It was looking brand new right out of the box! I know this was returned becase it could be a coffee table as well. It's big. 16x15" but it's great and can be had at MacConnection (& others) it's a matter of timing.
By Tom Pinnock (thomasgeorge) on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 05:17 pm:
Guess I'll "fess up" too. I am using a non-brand assembled from off the shelf parts, 500mz AMD, 512 Ram, Minolta Scan Multi 2,astra U-Max 4000 flatbed,Epson 1270 and a Wacom graphire table.All things considered it works pretty well,just wish I did the same!!
By Christie Williams on Sunday, July 08, 2001 - 08:22 am:
Hi all...have recently stumbled onto this site and love it. Guess I'll just jump right in..I'm using a server with dual P3 processors 1gig each, 1 gig ram and 60gig hard drive..I love my epson 1640SU scanner..much better than my hp was. Had to move to a 20inch monitor as the eyes are not as good as they used to be. Hope to dive in to some of the challenges in the near future. Have a great day all.
By Peter Glynn (pglynn) on Sunday, July 08, 2001 - 08:39 am:
i have pentium 3 computer 128 mb ram a 19" monitor which i am hoping to change to 17" flat sreen as my 19" takes up a lot of desk space i have a TINY usb flatbed scanner the computer is also by TINY i have lexmark 3200 jetprinter i have a A5 intuos graphic tablet with intuos pen and airbrush
By David Quinn on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 07:37 pm:
I'm running an Athlon 1.33Ghz, 256Mb Ram, GeForce 2 Pro video card, 17" Philips monitor. The printer I use is the work one - a Fuji Frontier 370 Minilab system - not photo quality, they are photos! Can print from negatives, slides, image files (cd, disk, off the network, digital cameras, smart media) and scan to file from negs, slides etc. Uses 3 ccds to scan, with resolution up to 4500 x 3000. Sorry, just had to show off.
By Flem Snopes on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 12:23 pm:
Hmmmmm. I posted yesterday describing my growing Mac system. At the time I saw the post added but today it is gone! Is this list moderated? It is? Well, if I'd known that I never would have said anything negative about Windows, even with the little 'wink' symbol indicating jocularity. I just assumed that since the web site owner had described us Mac users as timid, easily frieghtened, fond of coffee and gummi bears (and who isn't) and at once unruly and opinionated, that a little humor was okay....you were just being funny right? I mean, you don't really think we _all_ like gummi bears do you.....I know at least two other Mac users that prefer jelly beans (not jelly bellies). All Windows conspiracy fears aside, I think any conversation of hardware brands will engender a little mine-is-better-than-yours tit fot tat. As long as no one's feelings get hurt what's the harm as long as it is good natured? (Of course I'm still not sure how to take the gummi bear remark). In any case I'll try to repost my system set-up later this evening. Maybe getting an account will help.
Flem
P.S. or maybe, just maybe I forgot to press that additional "Post This Message" button. So much for conspiracy theory.....or maybe, just maybe, we Mac users _are_ just a little bit slow....touched is the word they use where i come from.
By Flem Snopes on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 05:15 pm:
Okay. I'm back, here is my system: Apple Macintosh G4/350 AGP, 128 of RAM (starting to feel the pinch, but RAM is dirt cheap right now and will upgrade soon and add 256 more). Hard drive is only 10 GB but I still have 8 GB free because I don't fill it with games.....so few games for us Mac users (thank goodness). I have an old 2 GB SCSI external drive that I use for back ups. My scanner is an old but adequate Umax Astra 610 flatbed. Printer is an Epson 900. I am going to buy a Nikon film scanner at the end of the summer, if and only if I can make it through the summer with out spending the money I've saved to fix the air conditioning in my truck.....it was 95 degrees here yesterday....and yes, we do all drive trucks down here in the South. I'll likely get a CD burner too, Firewire of course.I'm shocked at how few Mac users have spoken up especially for a site all about graphics.....our last but apparently fading foothold.
As to the nature of us Mac users both timid and unruly, it is somewhat hard to explain our affliction these days as parity emerges between platforms. The best way I can think to illustrate it is this. It is kind of like food. I love nothing more than a plate of steamed blue crabs, nothing better. And yet, I saw a tribe of aboriginals on TV eating huge roasted tarantulas and was revolted. They seemed to think they were just great. But if you look at the two creatures objectively both are revolting really...it is just a matter of what you are used to I guess. But I'm going to have to be really hungry to eat a tarantula!
Flem
By G Mantero on Friday, August 03, 2001 - 01:08 pm:
My setup is an SGI 320 workstation with dual 600 MHz processors and 512 MB RAM. The only drawback is its very small hard drive (10GB), but it's good in a way because it forces me to archive OFTEN! Plus, it's 10,000RPM so it's blindingly fast.
I have an Epson 1680 Professional scanner and an Epson 1280 for proof prints, but I outsource everything I actually sell.
On top of that I have a nice, fast CD-RW and a Wacom tablet that I'm still trying to get the hang of. Any tricks out there to that end??
By G Mantero on Friday, August 03, 2001 - 01:10 pm:
Oh--and I have a 19" Mitsubishi Diamond Pro monitor. It's very nice-I highly recommend it. Don't know what I did before I bit the bullet and purchased it!
By Vogonpoet on Saturday, August 04, 2001 - 04:38 pm:
well I am lagging behind most of the above
I am using a self built AMD K6 400mhz (overclocked to 450), 256Mb Ram, 8mb generic video card, Samsung 17" monitor, running win98 OS.
About time I upgraded!
~Vp~
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