recommend a good computer and digital camera?

I'll give you yet one more professional recommendation for the Mac if you have not figured it out by now. In the world of photography and graphic design and image manipulation Mac rules. Period. End of story. I've been taking pictures since I was five and been a pro for over 20 years. The vast majority of profesionals in the fields of photography and graphic arts have relied upon Macs for as long as I can remember (just as has been demonstrated here on this thread). The only reason not to go that way is if you anticipate the need for proprietary software (such as gaming software as someone already suggested) which is not available for Mac. One other great perk about Macs is they are far more stable than PC's and far less vulnerable to viruses, worms, rashes and constipation. As far as digital cameras, there is so much out there that would do a great job for the needs you mentioned, and that technology is changing so fast that by the time I typed a recommendation for a point-and-shoot solution it might be obsolete. The Nikon prosumer solutions that Albert reccommends as well as others (D70 & D100) would be a great tool to have if you don't mind the size. If you are just looking for a snapshot solution to put stuff on the Internet and do the occasional picture of the family you may not want the bulk of a prosumer camera, even though the features and quality of the images are significantly better if you get serious about your digital shooting. I'd heartily second recommendations for Nikon's lineup of prosumer and professional digital cameras and a used one may be a great option if you can verify it's provenance. For point and shoot; as I said, there's a new model out every week it seems. I've seen stuff from Nikon, Sony and Canon that all have offered up some great features in the past as well as offering very satisfying results. The main drawbacks I see in going with a point and shoot is shutter lag (newer cameras are getting better and better about this), rangefinder and or tiny lcd viewing screens, and slow cycling time to shoot a burst of images one after the other. There are other drawbacks as well, but those are the ones that bug me the most. Biggest plus? Portability and economy, though some of the prosumer cameras are offering a whole lot of bang for not a lot of buck these days.

Good luck!

Marco

Photography Website

I would go with a Mac. One you switch to the Mac OS X operating system you will never go back. In particular if you are interested in image processing applications. You don't need to play games anyway, better to listen to you music collection. Otherwise I hate to say it, but I have heard a lot of good thing about ibm machines: long warranty and extremely reliable. Stay away from Compaq, HP, Dell. I have heard about to many problems.

Didn't anybody read the original post? All he wanted to do with his new computer and camera is surf the net and post some pictures on Ebay and Agon when selling items.

Hewlett-Pachard and Compaq are the same company. What I would do is go to Best Buy and pickup the following computer:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1077624680714&skuId=6374167&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01172

Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Desktop with AMD™ Athlon XP Processor 3000+ Model: a510n

It comes with a DVD/CD_RW, a decent sized harddrive and a memory card reader that will work with any digital camera. And for under $600.00 I couldn't build it that cheap. It also has the room for future expansion - better video, audio etc.

As far as digital camera go, for what you want to do something in the 3.2-5.0 Megapixel range will do fine. This will allow you to use low-res for auctions and high-res for vacations. Get one that's easy to use. Canon, nikon and hP make easy to use good cameras.

I have two digital cameras- a Canon Powershot Pro1 (8 megapixel) and an HP935 5.3 megapixel. I use the HP a lot more than the canon because it a great point and shot camera and easy to use. BTW I have taken a few photgraphy courses over at the local college. THe HP can be purchased here for around $300.00.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=1815901

Hope this helps,

BTW - I am a microsoft certified system administrator (MCSA), microsoft certified system engineer (MCSE), and a microsoft cerified A+ technician and have over 25 years of experience in the computer industry.

04-26-04: Prpixel Asked:
Didn't anybody read the original post? All he wanted to do with his new computer and camera is surf the net and post some pictures on Ebay and Agon when selling items.

Nope, just came up with a random answer like everyone else. Dunno' about the others, but I do one of those Johnny Carson things by holding my laptop up to my forehead and just intuit the answers. Wow, seems like all these answers seem to address the very same subject. Imagine that? By gosh, yet all of them are slightly different opinoins, and some not so slightly different.....go figure. Some folks even took the time to expand reflect upon the original questions and provide insight that goes beyond them basing their answers on there very own experience. What in heavens name could they have been thinking?! Perhaps they may have thought that other folks, aside from the person who asked the questions in the first place, may look at the same thread seeking out useful opinions and information on the same subject. Oh wait, I forgot, no one bothers to search the archives! They just ask the same old questions over and over again. So I guess you are the only one who did read the original question Prixel. GoodOnYa' for that!

Marco

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!