Running GIMP on netbook

[zba1972]

Hi,

I am a newbie and just picked up GIMP. I am wondering if there are any issues installing and running GIMP on a netbook that has 2G RAM?

TIA

[David Kwok]

Originally Posted by zba1972 Hi, I am a newbie and just picked up GIMP. I am wondering if there are any issues installing and running GIMP on a netbook that has 2G RAM? TIA

No issue running any application on any system spec, it's always a balance between patience and frustration.

Netbook are generally low processing power machine, if you use it for graphical manipulation purposes, they tend to leave with more to be desired.

I suggest you use a high performance laptop or a reasonable desktop.

[zba1972]

Ok, got what you mean. I am actually more attracted to the size and weight of the netbook as compared to laptops plus now it has 2G of RAM. But I do agree that processor speed is also crucial

Thanks.

[David Kwok]

Originally Posted by zba1972 Ok, got what you mean. I am actually more attracted to the size and weight of the netbook as compared to laptops plus now it has 2G of RAM. But I do agree that processor speed is also crucial Thanks.

Well... having 2G of memory isn't going to bring in alot of benefit . Even 4G seems just more farming land with insufficient farmers in it

You can have a laptop with 8GB of ram running on a Intel Atom. You wouldn't get much of a surprise when it comes to your productivity. If you have not purchase a netbook for this purpose, I strongly urge you don't waste your money and end up with less hair because I bet you will be pulling them out while waiting for your filter slowing processing. If you did... then what more I say is pointless and you can start moving off to another thread

At least get a usable large enough screen for your graphic processing usage. Using a 10" or 8" screen will only means you end up spending more $ on a new pair of spectacles in time to come. If portability is your concern, get at least a 15" screen with a core 2 dual running on 2/4GB of ram. A fast HDD anything 5400rpm or even 7200rpm is good to go. If you insist on light weight and small size to do your work, which I don't get why you need to do while you are in MRT or walking on the street... :P then be prepared to spend your time waiting

[zba1972]

Thanks again for the advise. I still haven't got the netbook yet but I thought if I do have one, maybe I can try using it for simple photo editing other than net surfing. But you are right, it is going to be extremely frustrating without the power (I am also abit impatient ) Will run it on my trusty laptop then

[aladynna]

i'm not an expert but i have a netbook and i have it installed with photoshop. it's certainly slow and pls don't even think of running it with your RAW images! generally i only use it for fun shots taken on my G10 (JPEG files only) or my hp camera to be uploaded on facebook or blogger or for use in my powerpoint slides. strictly for web-intended images or ppt presentations only.

for raw images from my 50D or the G10, i only use my desktop which was assembled for photo editing.

i love the netbook for its portability so if it's used for normal fun shots, maybe you can consider it.

[dafansu]

gimp on netbook definitely will be slow. even on my pentium core duo 2, 3.0gh, xp pc i can already feel it's much slower to open than other programs.

[zba1972]

Originally Posted by aladynna i love the netbook for its portability so if it's used for normal fun shots, maybe you can consider it.

Yeah portability and weight are the 2 plus point. Thanks for info.

[tatsbin]

i do run GIMP on my laptop.. it is not run from my harddisk but from a memory card. :-)
There is a number of apps which can run from memory card. It is usefull if you want to do urgent edit from other friend pc/laptop which do not have the software install.
http://portableapps.com/

[zba1972]

Originally Posted by tatsbin i do run GIMP on my laptop.. it is not run from my harddisk but from a memory card. :-) There is a number of apps which can run from memory card. It is usefull if you want to do urgent edit from other friend pc/laptop which do not have the software install. http://portableapps.com/

wow, interesting .. never tried this before. Thanks for the recommendation. Now I can fully utilized my 16G thumbdrive that I got recently.

[eddymerckx]

May I suggest Lightroom2 instead? Its also portable and Ive run it on a Lenovo U10 quite comfortably.

[dexpense]

slightly OT, i installed picasa3 on my lenovo s10, editing process running pretty snappy.

[zba1972]

Thanks everyone, will play around with the recommendations once I get hold of a netbook

[tatsbin]

Originally Posted by zba1972 wow, interesting .. never tried this before. Thanks for the recommendation. Now I can fully utilized my 16G thumbdrive that I got recently.

hope you enjoy playing with it.