: Media teacher... but really a student... choosing computers I am a new media teacher with dreams coming true - we are upgrading the school and I am getting a new lab. I have been asked to
I am a new media teacher with dreams coming true - we are upgrading the school and I am getting a new lab. I have been asked to make a wish list.
However, I am very novice, so it is a big task to take on.
We have the Adobe CS6 suite and the division has some sort of (tragic) contract with ACER for computers.
What specs should I be requesting for the computers that the students will use in the classroom?
They will be working in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesgin as well as basic stop animation in movie maker or another comparable (or recommended) program
They will be taking photos and editing, designing and drawing characters, logos and basic imagery, and will be working on layout and design for print
I am requesting a (Wacom) graphics tablet, basic photography backdrop, lighting and camera, and a large format printer for the classroom.
Our current lab has touch screens - is this worth maintaining in a media lab? (To me, it has seemed gimmicky rather than functional)
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I would work with your School's IT admin to see if there are issues on the Mac/PC front.
I would need more information on your school to answer a few other things but.
At work as a professional graphic artist. I am equipped with a 3rd gen i5 and 8 gigs or RAM, and a dedicated video card. I use Illustrator CC 90% of the day and rarely run into issues.
Of course my computer is a few years old and well my company is a bit cheap.
For equipping a new lab I would go with PCs based on cost alone. I would push for 16gigs of RAM, get Intel i5s. Make sure the CPU is the true desktop that gives 4 physical cores. A run of the mill video card will do to finish it off.
As for HDD, optical drive, etc. It really doesn't matter that much.
However monitors may be an issue and in need to be upgraded as well. At a min. aim for 23inch 1080p monitors.
If you are working in Adobe tools, you might want to use Adobe’s System Requirements for Creative Cloud, at least as a starting point. They have specific requirements for each app.
The easiest thing to do is just buy iMacs. They meet all the requirements, color management is built in, they require very little I-T support, don’t have viruses, and they are guaranteed to be a tested configuration at Adobe. That is why you see so many graphics studios filled with iMacs and Mac Pros. You can be up and running in a very short time and have a reliable system with minimal downtime and no disappointments.
If you do Windows systems, be sure to do your homework to make sure you are buying a system that is designed and built for graphics because most are not. Generally speaking, you should spend iMac money even on a Windows system if it is for graphics. The way a system gets really cheap is they remove the stuff you don’t need to run Excel, but do need to run Photoshop.
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