Jessie A

Awesome, thanks so much for looking at it. Some of the monitors are coming in next week, I’ve asked the store to put one on hold so I can take a look. Anything else I should ask or be looking for?

Haha absolutely. Agreed. They are 11 and 14 year old boys what could go wrong?

Shoot, ok good to know, I’ll add it to the list, thank you. Any thoughts on the monitor?

Hi Damien! Spyder 4.

Hi, my old Mac is dead and I’m switching to PC. I’ve read through the threads and found your advice for a monitor: What you need: IPS Display Panel Matte Coating / Matte Screen or Non-Glossy sRGB 95% or better No Blue Reduction or other similar tech 60 Hz Refresh Rate Non-Curved Resolution: 2560 x 1440 for a 27" or you can go 4K. The monitor I am looking for needs to also support gaming (at least 160 Hz refresh rate) as I have two teens that are also using this computer. I am a dedicated hobbyist photographer and print my work, so looking for a compromise MSI has a new flat 27” monitor out, MSI MAG 274QRF QD E2, with 94% Adobe RGB, and seems to hit the requirements listed above. But I’m more worried about what to avoid. Some components I am unfamiliar with, like “Fast IPS”, “Anti-glare surface treatment”, and it has DisplayHDR 400. Are there any components to avoid or should this be ok? Specifications for monitor are here: https://ca.msi.com/Monitor/MAG-274QRF-QD-E2/Specification Thanks for any advice. Hard to find a monitor that balances both requirements (and am only looking for one monitor). Jessie

Thanks for your help! Long time lurker, never post.

Motherboard options

Hi Brian, it’s happening… I’m crossing the floor from Mac to PC. I read your article on buying a PC for 2025. Looking at a local customized option to build. I’m following your advice on components, but am stuck on what do to with the motherboard (see options attached). Any advice? I don’t want to overdo it. Thanks!

Thanks so much for your honesty - I appreciate it! I have been thinking about this and my overall disappointment with Apple now (and other companies). It really bothers me that the only options are are technologies that will end up in the landfill within 3 years rather than 8. Sad. Yeah, the $3K plus is not in my budget. I'm thinking now about looking for a pre-owned 27" Mac with at least 32GB RAM. Or... going to film and a dark room - haha. Thanks again!

One more thing... I did have a quick peek a new Macs (maybe something I can save towards). The iMac 27" and iMac Pro are no longer offered in Canada. It looks like there is a new 24" and 21.5" is still there. Thanks again!

Hi Brian, Thank you for your reply. I have additional information in response to your questions: - My desktop is cluttered with jpegs. I will clean that up asap. - I didn't know that the external hard drive can bog things down. That's where I keep all of my photos. It is 2 out of 4 TB full. - My iMac is 21.5-inch, Late 2013. May I ask whwould I need the 27"? Is this graphics card related? - Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1 GB graphics I cannot buy a new computer at this time, as condemned as it may be :). Do you think it would help if I go back to an older version of photoshop and try the CleanMyMac program? Thanks, Jessie

Hi all, First time posting in here :) I know I have an older Mac, but when I had purchased it I had done a lot of upgrades. I am not in the market for a new computer at the moment. I'm not a professional photographer, but I appreciate high quality photographs. Since upgrading to Photoshop 2022, my Adobe software (Bridge, Photoshop) is extremely slow. I am hoping for advice on my system. Or maybe I should go back to an older version of Photoshop? I have completed the info on my computer health: I have a Mac desktop running Mac OS Catalina and Photoshop 2022. It is over 8 years old, and has 16GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 715GB free out of 1000GB. The last time I shut down was more than 2 days ago. I have never run a cleanup program. Any advice to help Adobe run more smoothly and not take forever is appreciated! Jessie