> This is way offtopic, but I'm learning Gimp and Inkscape and planned on
> buying a desktop PC soon and then trying to get some work in graphic
> design - maybe in a printing company for starters.
>
> However, during this learning phase, I've noticed that my 750Mhz /
> 512MB Ram laptop is doing quite well under Ubuntu.
>
> Do any of you think it would be as practical to work on a laptop
> exclusively?
>
> Thanks for reading,
> Jarlath
>
Hi!
I'd say that laptops aren't really suitable for professional work because of
several causes listed here:
- Laptops have awfull (speaking of color rendering accuracy) and small
displays. If you want to work professionaly (by this I mean fast and with
good accuracy), you need a good, big (19" or 20") display (CRT or LCD, no
big difference here...). This is very important when working with
color/contrast correction (when preparing photographs for printed stuff,
like magazines, packages etc...). Also, a big display gives you more freedom
while working with a program having several smaller windows (like Scribus),
you won't have to open/close/hide/move anything to free some screen space.
And keep in mind that the better your screen will be, the less damage it'll
make to your eyes.
Agree at 100%. I can add that is WONDERFUL (not strictly necessary) if you have another extra monitor and use dual monitor to work. One with all the palettes, dialogs and menus of your programs at a lower resolution, maybe 1024 (This is only because I use this one to view websites where I have to read a lot, at BIG resolutions like 1600 or more is difficult to read sometimes); another with your entire canvas seeing only your image/graphic/design. It's like a real painter, He/she has got his/her canvas without anything more and his/her palette apart.
- !!! the following applies only if you'll have an important amount of jobs
(>100)!!!
You need at least 2 physically independent hard drives (not 1 HD divided
into 2 or more partitions). Why? because on the first one you'll have the
operating system installed among with all the programs/settings etc... On
the second one, you'll keep the works (they will then be archived on CD/DVD
after everytime after completion). This is very useful when upgrading the
whole operating system, or even the hard disc itself (replacing an older or
smaller one with a bigger, faster and brand new one). Thanks to that, you
keep the works completely physically separated from the system, it's safer.
A laptop with 2 or more hard discs is very expensive, so it's better to have
a desktop PC. An external hard disc can do the jod as well though...
Well, I prefer to have 2 HD's with different "configuration"; the main disc with 2 partitions, one small for the system, and another bigger for all the data. The second HD is for make BACKUPS of my entire work (I usually have this HD outside with a USB/Firewire Case).
I have an UPS too so in my case IT's VERY VERY difficult for me to lost data unless my house start to burn or a thief steal all my things xD
Okey, this is not necessary too but if you don't really want to lose all your work I think is a GOOD option.
- a conventional desktop HD is faster than a conventional laptop HD. The low
speed of a hard drive can considerably slow down your work when dealing with
bigger files. (7200rpm, 300Mb/sec, and a 8,5ms access time of a desktop PC
HD is way better than 5400rpm, 100Mb/sec, and a 12.5ms access time of a
laptop HD).
Agree at 100%
- about RAM: the bigger it is, the best. I'd say anything bigger than 1Gb is
OK :)
Agree at 100%
- about the processor: the most productivity it has, the best it is. Don't
just look at speed, an Intel Celeron can be faster (speaking of MHz) than a
P4 or a Core Duo, but has 2x, 4x or even 8x less productivity.
Agree at 100% too :D
- graphic card: do not waste money on "extra super great cards that will
increase your gaming experience" or whathever is written on the colorfull
box. All you need is a robust, well known chipset (I personally use an
NVIDIA Geforce 6200 with 512Mb of video memory). 256 or 512 Mb of video
memory is generally more than enough. (If you plan to work under linux, look
after a chipset that has robust linux drivers).
I only have to add that this election depends if you are going to work for 3D or 2D works.
For 2D works whatever normal card with 256 mb is enough, for 3D you need a better card.