Given the sluggish performance of some of the latest computer graphics software on my system, I think it's probably time to upgrade. If you were to go into a computer shop and request them to build your dream machine, what would be the ingredients? I know I'd like a quad core, 64 bit system, but I haven't been following the latest advances in computer hardware. What sort of video card would be best? How much is the maximum memory that a 64 bit computer can handle? Is it advisable to max out?

If I were to upgrade: http://www.apple.com , and go for the high-end (ab't $2500-$3000 or so, not counting the monitor). I'd do it because 1) I'm lazy, 2) OSX kicks arse in the 64-bit department, and 3) I don't have to futz around w/ anti-virus, spyware, or any other resource-sucking apps. PC-only stuff? Prolly the following: * a motherboard that can support everything below... * dual Core2Duo - a single quad core will mean four cores fighting for the same front-side bus, IIRC. Only problem is, Windows kinda sucks hind teat in the 64-bit department for now. They'll get the problems ironed out eventually, though, so 64-bit ain't a bad idea. * DDR2 RAM - the faster, the better. And tons of it, preferably 2-4GB. * Dual SATA2 hard drives, hardware RAID-0 striped. 500MB each will do, but you may want to shoot for a pair of 750's. The big thing is spindle speeds... the faster, the better. Same with hard drive Cache. Skip the 8MB, and go for 16 or 32MB if you can swing it. * video cards - a later-model NVIDIA GeForce works well enough... you won't reap much benefit from SLI or anything just yet - give it a couple of years through and it'll prolly become standard. Other than that, you should be set. HTH, /P

Quote - Only problem is, Windows kinda sucks hind teat in the 64-bit department for now.

How's that?  I have 64-bit versions of Windows XP Pro, Cinema 4D R10, Vue 6 Infinite, 3ds Max 9, and Maya 8.5 Unlimited and all of them work well.  Incidentally there is no point in even considering 64-bit platform and apps if you're sticking under 4GB, that's the main advantage of 64-bit processing (huge memory address space).

Note that Poser can only render in 4 threads, so if you're really keen on Poser then there's no point in considering more than 4 cores, although other apps can make use of more cores.

Note that Poser can only render in 4 threads, so if you're really keen on Poser then there's no point in considering more than 4 cores, although other apps can make use of more cores. I thought 4 cores was the current limit. Did you mean to say 2 cores? What would be the specs for your dream system, pjz99? (which I suspect you already own.)

How bout' a computer that is available now with 4 CPUs (each with duel cores) for a total of eight CPUs to crunch all your apps now and well into the future?

Holy cow! Can current software make use of all those CPUs?

I would go (and did go for) the 8 core Mac Pro if your running Windows or OS X. I have Windows running on a Mac Pro via Boot Camp and have no problems at all.
You can run in a RAID 5 config and all in all it is competitive in the value for money stakes, considering you have in theory, 24 Ghz of processing power ;0)

The only problem I am aware of is that EFI is used to boot a Mac instead of BIOS, so you have to make sure that your software is compatible (I've heard that some people have had problems with 3DS Max).

I just upgraded mine to this, I went for 64 bit because Vue6Inf is a 64 bit app. and the new Poser Pro soon to be released is going to be 64 bit also.

Intel Quad Q6600 processor
Asus P5K-E Mobo
Nvidia 8600GT Graphics
8 Gig 800MHz RAM
2 x 250 Gig HD's in Raid 1 array [mirrored]
Windows Vista Ultimate 64

The dual processor quad-core macs are pretty impossible to beat right now, if you have an app that can make use of more than 4 cores (any of the "big boy" apps).  My personal preference is an Intel running Microsoft, but it's pretty hard to find a dual socket 775 motherboard (I'm unable to find ANY), so if your apps support that much hardware, the top shelf Macs are the penultimate.

What I have currently, and imo pretty close to optimal for the Intel world:
Intel QX6700 (the more recent QX6800 marginally beats it, but both are very overpriced next to the Q6700 at around half the cost)
Asus P5WDH Deluxe motherboard
8GB memory
4x 500GB SATA hard drives, with 3x in a RAID0 array (striping, no parity) and 1x off to the side for backups and miscellaneous stuff
NVidia 8800GTX, 768MB video memory
20" NEC LCD monitor
A too-damn-big Wacom Intuos3 (I think 6x9) with airbrush thingy
A Genuine Clickety IBM Keyboard (the best part of all)
Windows XP Pro 64-bit edition (extremely bulletproof and well-behaved)

fixer and pjz, are you saying the dual quad Macs are the ultimate....to boot windows and run your 3D software?  Or to run Mac versions of that software?

:: og ::

operaguy: I'm not on a MAC, never had one and likely never will, not because I have anything against them, just that I've used windows from day 1 

If you aren't quite ready to upgrade just yet, you might want to keep an eye on the AMD sites; the chip wars are about to get hot once again. The Phenom processors are about to hit the channel (the official end of the Athlon series cores), with 2,3, and 4 core variations (the triple core is a quad that didn't pass on one core, so they plan on burning the fuse to the bad one, and having the triple core as a value slated offering to get the most out of their yields.). There is supposed to be a list of existing AM2 mobo's out there that -will- support the Phenom.....and frankly, the underlying tech is still much better than Intel's. One group unaffiliated with either side has already come out with numbers that show the AMD chips have a better power consumption curve when idling than the Intel duals and dual duals (which is what their quad cores actually are; another tidbit that points to the differences in base tech is that Intel is busy trying to adapt AMD's memory controller on the chip to their product, and copying the HyperTransport scheme and naming something else so they can claim they have this great new idea....not playing catchup with the littler fellow). Now the power consumption is more relevant for the server market....or people who leave the system on all the time. For rendering appliances, it will make a bit of difference in cost to run (as in your power bill, and the ambient heat the thing generates). As for memory; do some research before you choose a memory speed. Bigger numbers do not a cool speed up mean. It's been a rule of thumb (there might have been a change with the very last revision) since DDR2 came out that the actual performance difference between the DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 has been less than 5%....with the prices not exactly reflecting this truth. Most of the testers have found a benchmarking difference, but could notice no actual performance difference. So you get into the 'Do I get the geekiest fastest, or the slower, cheaper memory and get more of it for the same cost?' question. If you are rendering, the latter is the answer, natch. Video is almost totally up in the air at the moment. With uber cards affordable by the masses (not the pro cards, just uber cards), SLI and Crossfire pretty much -not- being supported by anyone save the game companies, M$ dinking around with OpenGL support yet again, it's a coin toss. But if you have the desk space, dual monitors can be soooo helpful. If you go with RAID, then I'd recommend a 0+1 array; that way you get the speed of data striping, and a backup in case your main array go boom. Ideally you'd want a not so large 0+1 for OS and apps, then a second, much larger 0+1 for content and workfiles. But whether you go for RAID or not, plan from the beginning to keep your content and work files on separate physical drives from the applications and OS. That way if one either of them tanks, you don't lose your work. And you might want to invest in one of the networked drives, or put together a 500 gig USB2 safety drive to backup all your perishables onto. And a battery backup. Don't forget the backup. Even if it lasts just long enough for the OS to save the work and shut down, it will save you no end of grief....

f*ixer and pjz, are you saying the dual quad Macs are the ultimate....to boot windows and run your 3D software?  Or to run Mac versions of that software?

:: og ::

take your pick......... either........... or

What they are saying is Apple Has Made the MAC vs PC argument somewhat **moot.
**for those with the $$Means$$

the New Mac Pro hardware can run a true installation of windows or OSX
on separate partitions/drive so if you already have alot a Mac software
you can now buy and run PC only apps like XSI etc on the same hardware
at full (not emulated!!) speed.

but as far as the original posters question
for me personally when I decide I want to re render my own version of
the**" Defense of Helms Deep from "(LOTR**) that is when i will have a legitimate need to justify the $$$Cost$$ of all this uber hardware

Cheers

sorry fixer, i meant to ask pjz and cheers

No worries! [LOL].

I have a different philosophy than Dale about hard drives.

I don't believe in mirroring for artistic work, given a limited budget. Nor do I believe in huge RAID-0 arrays for the working directory.

Instead, I believe in steady, methodical, frequent backup.

I purchase the highest quality, fast HD for my working array, very reliable; but I assume it will crash and burn at any second!

I use the smaller Raptors. When I built my last system I bought two 35-Gig, so with RAID-0 that made 70Gig working directory. On this I put Poser, Runtime Folder and current work files (.pz3).

I have another small drive on which I have only the operating system and the page file.

In my opinion, this creates the fastest access while posing and rendering. 

Since the working volume is 'small' and can crash at any second, I constantly backup my Runtime&Work folders to several large external HDs, and again to DVD-data disks for storage offsite. My most precisous pz3 I upload to my webserver for another layer of backup.

I suppose now a "small" array would be two 74-gig Raptors, yielding a working directory of 148Gig. I don't think you can even obtain the 35GIG anymore!

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/100373?rss=1
NOTE: $129 for a 74 Gig drive might seem expensive to some, but these raptors are very reliable, very fast and very good.

NOTE: The danger of a large working directory is that one gets lulled into thinking this is a "storage" directory, since it is so "big." That is dangerous thinking.

::::: Opera :::::

P.S. My 35x2 Raptor RAID-0 array has never failed, never faulted in two years of steady, heavy use.

operaguy: I went for a Raid1 array [mirrored] on my new set up for one reason and one reason only.
I regularly back up to XHD and DVD and last year I had 2 internal HD's fry on me, the second time, when using the back ups from the XHD it became corrupted and so I had to back up from the DVD's which took a lot longer.
With the Raid1 array I have now, I see it as additional back up and if one fails, it's straight down to the shop for a new drive, hopefully this covers me for most events!  [LOL].
And yes I'm still backing up to XHD and DVD [just in case, LOL].

yes mirroring can pull your bass outta the grass in a crisis. I am not against it, but you have these expensive drives performing nothing but constant current backup that are only used if a certain kind of crash occurs.

I will say one more word about it: we all should beware becoming lulled by a mirrored array on this score: if it causes us to put off REAL backup for a week, two weeks, whatever....if the entire rig is stollen or melted down or something....all is lost back to the last REAL backup.

Quote - > Quote - Only problem is, Windows kinda sucks hind teat in the 64-bit department for now.

How's that?  I have 64-bit versions of Windows XP Pro, Cinema 4D R10, Vue 6 Infinite, 3ds Max 9, and Maya 8.5 Unlimited and all of them work well.

d'oh! I kept thinking "Vista" when I typed that.

Quote - Incidentally there is no point in even considering 64-bit platform and apps if you're sticking under 4GB, that's the main advantage of 64-bit processing (huge memory address space).

True, but things get pricey after 4GB...

Quote - Note that Poser can only render in 4 threads, so if you're really keen on Poser then there's no point in considering more than 4 cores, although other apps can make use of more cores.

Actually, with more than 4 cores, you can do the Poser thang, the Cinema4D thang, and watch a movie all w/o bogging down a computer.

Quote -
I will say one more word about it: we all should beware becoming lulled by a mirrored array on this score: if it causes us to put off REAL backup for a week, two weeks, whatever....if the entire rig is stollen or melted down or something....all is lost back to the last REAL backup.

That's what NFS + cron + an old beat-em-up Linux box in a closet (w/ a couple really big HDD's in it) does for me - provides a nightly backup of all my goodies :)

/P

Quote - True, but things get pricey after 4GB...

Nah.  I've squeeged through this thread to get to my computer specs:

Asus P5N32-E SLI
Intel Q6600 Quad-Core
8GB
2x 500GB SATA-II
320GB SATA-II
DVD+/-RW/RAM/CD 20x
NVidia GeForce 8800GTX
*WiFi
*Windows XP Pro SP2 and Windows XP Pro x64 (dual boot)

All for about $2500. *I already had these.

On the other hand, even the stock 8-core MacPro starts at $2499 - and that is with the less than useful essentials (1GB ram - don't make me laugh).  A similarly specced MacPro 2xDual-Core is $4656 (yike!).  I like the Apple computers, but their prices never made me love them.  $1700 from 1-8 GB of memory is highway robbery.  You can get four 2GB Dimms for $150 each (that's $600).  Why does Apple continue to inflate memory prices when you can get the best out there for half the price (or less)?

Ok...on my Mac Pro I'm running Vue 6 Infinite, Poser 6, C4D XL, Adobe Creative Suite CS3 and Modo...all on windows. On the Mac side I'm running Maya (which I use to verify my shader programming).
As I mentioned, you have to make sure that your windows program supports the EFI boot up sequence of a MAC, as there is no BIOS. As I said, I've only heard of problems with 3DS Max, but not confirmed it myself.

For a consumer accessible peice of hardware (and when money is a second consideration to speed), then the 8 core Mac Pro can't be beat IMHO. In fact I will defy anybody to get a windows box of the same spec at a vastly better price...you will be talking change in peanuts if you can even source the hardware in the first place.

kuroyume0161 - I take your points, but only a mug buys extra RAM from Apple...always go the 3rd party route ;0) As I said, if you want 24Ghz of processing power NOW...then an 8 core Mac Pro is the only way to go.

The 2x Quad Macs (that's 8 cores!) are the top of the food chain when it comes to desktop hardware - so long as you have apps that really take advantage of more than 4 cores, which is prett much all of the high-end 3d suites.  Price and performance usually go hand in hand though; if you want maximum performance, you can usually expect to pay maximum price.

Quote - but as far as the original posters question
for me personally when I decide I want to re render my own version of
the**" Defense of Helms Deep from "(LOTR**) that is when i will have a legitimate need to justify the $$$Cost$$ of all this uber hardware

My attitude towards hardware has evolved over time.  I now regard it as being what it is: a disposable commodity, with temporary utility at best.

I recall a "middle-class poverty-stricken" co-worker of mine taking out a $12,000 bank loan so that he could buy a 386/33 ("486 ready" -- HOT STUFF!!!!!!) machine.  He set the loan up like a car payment.  Perhaps he paid the loan off a couple of years ago..........we lost touch after we went our separate ways.

Basically, the approach to hardware is one of balancing personal resources, need, and practicality -- or at least it should be.  Even if you were to invest -- say $25,000 -- on whatever the latest 'n greatest is right now - your shining new system would be the hot ticket for about a year (maybe).

I've decided to stick to the $1500-$2000 price range for PC upgrades.  I'll use it for approx. 3 years -- and then I'll get another one.  Whatever price the intermediate-level 1000-core processor machines happen to be going for 3 years from now.  And I'll check the local Neighborhood Advertiser tabloid paper for any good, used 8-core machines that might be going for $50 at the time.

I have a Core 2 Duo machine with 4G's of RAM.  It was the hot ticket very, very recently.

*I'll use it for approx. 3 years -- and then I'll get another one.

*Pretty much what I do too, I buy one with a view to having it for 3 years, 4 at a push but that doesn't happen often, it's usually at 3 years it's changed!

My sentiments exactly, Xeonphonz!  My partner did basically the same thing back in the mid-90's - spending something like $8000 for the top of the line, hot off the silicon chip dual Intel Pentium III system.  Two or three years later, you'd be lucky to sell it for $1000.

For instance, look at the two computers being replaced by the one specced above.  A full tower 550W 2.66GHz Dual Xeon w/4GB and all sorts of bells and whistles.  A midtower AMD64 x2 4800+ w/4GB and some nice bells and whistles (a Linksys WMP54G specifically for Windows 64 bit and a Sony DRU-830A DVD+/-R/RW/RAM/DL/CD 18x drive).  Now the Dual Xeon system is about four years old and a bit dirty but works very well.  The other system is only two years old and I invested about $1000 to upgrade the processor, add 2GB, the WiFi, the DVD, 200GB drive).  At the time, these cost $3500 and $2400 total ($5900!).  Now, the Xeon sold for $400 and the other maybe for $600.

The moral of the story, children, is that hardware devalues so fast that it is better to get mid-range systems and update often - or very rarely.

ETA: It is true that these two systems could sell for more to the right people (on eBay or something) or more as components.  But I just want to sell them locally through my computer guy, so you gets what you gets.

Quote - The moral of the story, children, is that hardware devalues so fast that it is better to get mid-range systems and update often - or very rarely.

Amen. :thumbupboth:

We can all break for lunch now (depending on your time zone). :biggrin:

Quote - Holy cow! Can current software make use of all those CPUs?

Most of high end software can...  Programs like Max etc...
I ran Max and Autocad on dual processor machines in late 90's.

Quote - I ran Max and Autocad on dual processor machines in late 90's.

Machines which you could now probably pay the recycle place $15 to take them off of your hands for you.

We just threw a gigantic (and very heavy) circa-early 1990's digitizer away at my office.  It was all metal and glass -- well over 48"x36" -- and probably cost over $10,000 back in the day.  The thing was so heavy that it took about 3 men to throw it into the dumpster.  Along with a boxed-up original square Mac ($3500 new?), and a laser printer for the old Mac ($7000 new?).

Too bad that PC's aren't more like refrigerators.  You can buy one and still be using it just as well 20 years later.

If I invest $2000 on a new Cannondale Prophet (a type of mountain bike), the bike will still be useful to me 10 years from now.  The same cannot be said for my $2200 PC + costly peripherals -- which taken togehter cost about as much as the PC itself did.

What a waste, in sheer economic terms.  But I need / want it -- so I spend the resources to have it.  At least it won't be as much of a waste, from an investment standpoint, as it would have been for me to spend $10,000 on a system that I won't be able to give away 5 years from now.

Hey I have those stories too...like screaming with joy the day I paid $800 for an 80-Megabyte (sic) external hard drive to hook up to my "Fat Mac", which had cost $500 to upgrade from the original 128K RAM Macintosh purchased in May 1984, which at the time cost $3500 for a 9" non-color screen and had 128K RAM, no hard drive, one floppy and a dot-matrix Imagewriter.

But..........................................................

We should have gratitude. The urge to repurchase and free market competition are driving a stupendous increase in power on the desktop. It is worth it.

::::: Opera :::::

Save your old systems! I am. PoserPro network render is coming and may work across old Macs and PCs

OTOH, if  you're a guitarist, you pay top dollar for 1950's technology.

Try buying a circa-1680's violin by a certain manufacturer 

I doubt that 1983-era Mac's will sell for the equivalent of millions of dollars 300 years from now, though.  But you never can tell -- stranger things have happened.

I wish that I still had my old GI Joe stuff from the 60's.......and the comic books.........not to mention my sister's Barbie stuff.

The moral?  Never throw ANYTHING away.  Keep all of your trash!

I wonder if I could get anything for my Acorn Electron on ebay??

well there is some good news for some, but not if you had saved him all your life waiting for the day he'd be worth squillions (someone musta done it ) 

the original Evel keneval toy is available again!!! (with revin' thingy and fire hoop jump )

i think i was the only kid in the world that didn't have Evel Keneval, so damn you scalectrix and you "eagle eyes" action man, neither of you were as good as Evel Keneval,

i would of been good at putting him back together aswell with all my "operation" experience.

(that must be the first time i've made a post and stayed on topic)

The reason for that turnaround disparity is technological advancement.

Bikes don't really advance on any fast scale.  They may add nice shocks, better spoked rims, easier gear shifting, more advanced materials for weight and strength - but this is a mechanical device and innovations there are more on the order of decades.

Computers, alternatively, are at the bleeding edge of technology (they are literally working on so-called 'Quantum computers' and a just-received IEEE email talks about a means to read/write storage data without magnetic fields that would allow for 600 times the storage capacity per surface area).

Another difference here is that, unlike a refrigerator or bike, computers don't serve just a single function.  A refrigerator uses a well-known, efficient heat exchange technology to cool or freeze things.  A bike is a simple form of transport.  A computer (depending upon how far this is stretched) is used in everything.  You car has a computer, your household appliances have computers, jets fly and are guided by computers, satellites are big computers gathering and transmitting data.  They are used as real-time monitors, for communications, for entertainment, for business, for economics, for scientific study/modeling/prediction, for mathematical calculations, for automation, for robotics, and so on and so on ...  It is very hard to compare any other form of technology to this - it has changed the entire planet in just 50 years since the first vacuum tube, room fillers were doing artillery trajectories and bomb target calculations.  And one can say it has changed the solar system as our little probes with their computers whirl through its vastness or explore the surfaces of other system planets, moons, and assorted bodies.

That's all true -- but it's still a bit of a downer that today's $3000 investment is worth half that amount next year -- and then worth zero (0) approx. 4 years later.

Pretty much any other "investment" of such a nature would be regarded as evidence of fiscal insanity on the part of the investor.

I love computers.  But I also recall having once heard a list of 'unintended consequences' for the modern world.

One item on the list:

**Computers have now made it possble to work 100% faster!
**
Unintended consequence:

Computers have generated 300% more work.

The biggest ring-binder I have ever seen held the instruction manual for a piece of software called (I think) "Paperless Office".

*And one can say it has changed the solar system as our little probes with their computers whirl through its vastness or explore the surfaces of other system planets, moons, and assorted bodies.

*And then land on Mars at 20000 mph.   That one must have made a dent in the Solar System.

i think you are all missing the point here!!

that being that Evel Keneval is back in the shops!!!!

sheesh!!

talk about thread drift.

Quote - The biggest ring-binder I have ever seen held the instruction manual for a piece of software called (I think) "Paperless Office".

*And one can say it has changed the solar system as our little probes with their computers whirl through its vastness or explore the surfaces of other system planets, moons, and assorted bodies.

*And then land on Mars at 20000 mph.   That one must have made a dent in the Solar System.

Yes -- someday, it'll be possible for a magnificent $50,000,000,000 space station to be brought down into the atmosphere by the failure of a 50 cent capacitor.

sigh  The wonders of technology..........

Quote - That's all true -- but it's still a bit of a downer that today's $3000 investment is worth half that amount next year -- and then worth zero (0) approx. 4 years later.

Pretty much any other "investment" of such a nature would be regarded as evidence of fiscal insanity on the part of the investor.

What's needed is a form of trade-in policy - akin to cars.  Get a reasonable valued estimate for your computer towards a new one.  The company could then refurbish and resell for those who don't need the latest-greatest or donate them to schools and so on.  Blue-book for desktop/laptop computers, anyone? :)

And, yep, it is fiscal insanity.  If it weren't that computers are a business model, justification of such insanity (for games, for instance) would be, well, insane!

It wasn't technology that brought down the Mars orbitter at 'ramming speed'.  It was, eh hem, human error.  Someone didn't get the memo on the correct units to be used and calculations were done in one unit system when they should have been in another.  the wonders of humans... ;P

I pretty much run a real paperless office.  I don't print much and I don't store scores of binders full of notes - everything is done on the computer.  I do use 3x5 cards to list items to be done - which could realistically be done in the computer.  Books on the other hand, I have several hundred.  When they finally and faithfully put books on computers, I'll move to that and spare the trees.

Next time I switch out my signature, I was going to throw this helpful link in -- I'll do it now --

www.memoware.com 

All of the free ebooks that you can download.  I'm reading more and more often on my Palm.

I've got a gazillion scifi and fantasy paperbacks that I'll never read again.  The paper / pulp industry plants groves of fast-growing pines specifically for the purpose of creating them -- so that angle doesn't worry me.  But tons of ($3.50 for the old ones -- $7.95+ more recently) them collecting dust in boxes isn't my idea of an efficient use of storage space.

Carrying an entire library around in your pocket -- now that's a Wonder of Modern Technology.  For avid readers -- it can't be beat.

Unfortunately, I no longer own a PDA.  But most of my library consists of 'illustrative' textbooks and technical books.  That and about 100 of my books are strictly Japanese - many with kanji/kana.  I do have a nice extensive 'Japanese Martial Arts Dictionary' on CD though.  Although only one remains, I even had the original Japanese version of the 'How to draw Manga' series, right-to-left, kanji and everything. :)

One day, but for now the e-book medium is only good for purely text books.  PDF versions would be great so that you could read on a computer or laptop, illustrations, figures, and all.  IEEE has just shifted their magazines over to this format and are currently in an evaluation timeframe after which members must decide whether to stay with hardcopy or switch over to electronic (I'll go the latter).

What is it?  Looks like an orange swirly thing to me.

M-5. Render me Nurse Chapel in a Bikini with a Sword in a Temple.
....WORKING.....Nurse chapel is not needed. inserting Generic Kirk Love Interest of the Week....

Quote - What is it?  Looks like an orange swirly thing to me.

I think that's the pre-Hal super-computer from the episode of Classic Trek where Capt. Kirk is threatened with being replaced by the Infernal Machine.  It's the episode where the computer runs amok -- for which behavior the Star Fleet officials naturally blame Kirk (after they insisted on allowing the Big Computer to run the ship).  The computer's inventor goes crazy, too.  It's all standard scifi fare -- and the plot uses standard scifi reasoning.

After typing that, I took the time to google it -- the computer was called the M-5 (as hinted by Khai).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Computer_(TOS_episode)

Any computer which is given independent decision-making capabilities will inevitably run amok & go on a rampage.  This is a standard and fully accepted principle which is taught to us by scifi movies & television shows.  And the corollary is taught to us, too: that you can defeat such a computerized menace only through acting like an unpredictable human & being illogical in your actions.  Such tactics will invariably confuse the computer & blow its circuits out.

Standard scifi reasoning -- all the way around.

So.....there's a serious danger in upgrading your computer to the Ultimate System, beyond the merely monetary.  Just when you least suspect it: the machine might take over your brain while you are asleep.  Anyone who's a scifi aficiondo will know this: and they will take steps to prepare a guard against it.  They might even yell at their PC -- threaten it a little.  That'll help to keep the machine in line & on its best behavior.

I've got the Palm OS version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.  It works -- although they haven't updated it in a few years.  I was able to successfully convert at least one of my Lightwave .pdf manuals (the one for Modeler) onto my Palm.  I'll likely convert the other manuals, too.  The results aren't perfect -- but it is most definitely usable.

I have a Palm T|X - which offers a nice, rotatable widescreen.  The technology is about 2-3 years old -- the device has 128MB internal memory.  But it's also got an SD memory expansion slot, WiFi connectivity and bluetooth.  I've used it for WiFi in restaurants, motels, etc..  It does a good job.  Even with displaying images.  The one thing that doesn't work so well is DivX video, as no one has developed this for the Palm OS.  There is a workaround, but I haven't needed it enough to try it yet.

So, yes -- you can get images for your books onto the Palm.  You can expand the images for better viewing by tapping on them, and panning around.  It's not ideal -- but it works.  Ideal image display would require a laptop or a notebook computer.  But that's not as easy to carry around in your pocket as a PDA.

I don't really care for smart phones.  It's like talking into a calculator.  IMO, smart phones are too big to be a good cell phone: and the screens on smart phones are too small to be a good PDA.

If you put a lot of time into right brain tasks like art, textures or 3d point pushing, your eyes will be required and books are out of the question even though the verbal center of your brain is available for input. At these times, rather than a palm pilot, one might make use of a product such as 'Speak Aloud' that can convert any of the thousands of Project Gutenberg e-books into mp3s. My favorite text to speech voice is 'LH Michelle.' Though the timing is sometimes robotic and there is an accent, this synthesized voice does a good job of pacing a narrative, rising appropriately at question marks and pausing at the comas. The best volumes of the last century are freely available with no copyright restrictions and you can create your own audio books on very little disc space. Most mp3 players have a bookmark feature that is handy as you make your way through a 13-hour volume. In my opinion, these home made audio books are vastly preferable to the drone of a tv set during the endless hours of CG creation.

All this talk of computers being an expensive throw away item...well the throw away, I can agree with...but the expensive, I'm afraid not. What has changed over the last 10 years, is that the consumer has access to cutting edge computer technology quite quickly, when compared to 10 years ago.  When was quad core technology developed? Well, you can get it already and only a couple of years after it was developed.
Price is on relative to how much you earn and how much your living depends on it.
I think £3000 on an 8 core Mac is a bargain when I can get 6 x faster processing speed than I could with my previous machine.

If you want real out there cutting edge stuff, imagine the CPU bing the whole computer itself....using the atoms that make up the computer to do the processing. That is beyond Sci-Fi and being researched and developed right now.