What is the appropriate Mac to run DTPO really fast

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hi there,

having bought a Scansnap I am happily scanning every dictionary in my bureau and importing the scans as pdf/text files into DTPO. (and there are loads of dictionaries in my bureau)
Today I received the DUDEN German Dictionary (2700 pages) and I will scan 10000 pages more, I guess.
This is to got a database which delivers fast access to definitions and explanations.

My iMac late 2008 has to be replaced anyway, so I wonder which Mac will provide a really fast usage of my huge PDF dicitonary folders. (Edit: I didn’t ask right: Which Mac do I run at least. I don’t want to buy a Mac Pro and a Display)

Any experiences and recommendations?
Thanks and best regards from Germany, Matze

2

Is your iMac the 27" version? If so, what about a top end Mac Mini (so either i7 Quad Core, probably with a Fusion Drive or SSD) and then use a mDisplayport-to-mDisplayport cable to drive the iMac in Target Display Mode?

My photo editing workstation is just such a set-up and it works like a charm. And it leaves my late 2007 (oops, see below) iMac to run office apps and such. And less in the landfill.

BWs

Russ

3

2008 models were 20" and 24"; the first 27" came out in Late 2009. But there was no Late 2008, only Early, so maybe TAM meant Late 2009.

4

Hi there,

yes early 2008, 24 inch screen, 2008 is too long ago :unamused:

So either Mac Mini solution or a new iMac, it should have a Quad-core Intel Core i7 and a SSD, right?

Best, Matze

5

I did too. :blush:

Only 27" iMacs from late 2009 on can run in Target Display Mode.

Move along, nothing to see here.

6

I have a 27” 2010 iMac i5 quad core, 8 gig RAM tons of stuff happening on this machine all the time and DEVONthink Pro Office doesn’t put a dent in it. Honestly, also use a current MacBook Air and DEVONthink Pro Office is like super fast on that a long with everything else due to the SSD.

The only reason I’d upgrade this iMac, as the cores are only now being fully utilized by software and they rarely hit 50% except when Retrospect runs and that’s with multiple things happening all at the same time and at least 10 apps open, is to buy one with a Fusion drive. The other specs are the new machines just have not changed enough from this one to make an upgrade worthwhile yet.

I wouldn’t even switch to a Mac Pro as that’s not going to buy me anything at all.

I’d say you’d be more than fine with a current iMac.

You may want to though get 16 gigs RAM and an optical drive for those very rare (and they are so rare now I so infrequently use mine except to run Disk Warrior) and I mean so very rare occasions you might need one as to make it worth wiled. Money better spent on RAM.

7

Especially when swapfiles pile up, my Mid 2011 MacBook Air with 4GB RAM and SSD remains fast enough compared to the significant sluggishness of my Early 2009 mini with 8GB and 5400rpm HDD.

What’s an optical drive? :slight_smile:

I temporarily boot from an external drive volume to run DiskWarrior and other apps that can’t modify the regular startup volume when it’s active. Installing OS X, DiskWarrior, etc. on a USB flash drive (less expensive than an optical drive) is another option if your Mac supports running from it.