Choosing a notebook for digital photographers

[r32]

I'm currently looking for a notebook pc. No, I am not turning pro and getting a notebook computer specially to support my photography needs.

But I will be needing one for work purposes which are really not too demanding, just some wordprocessing and spreadsheet stuff. As I have a $3.5k budget, I may as well choose one which can support my hobby as well, right?

I intend to run CaptureOne RAW conversion programs, as well as ACDsee, Photoshop CS, and such other imaging programs. My desktop PC is a humble P3-800mhz machine with 256mb of RAM, and that already chokes a bit on Photoshop CS and CaptureOne.

A friend suggested an IBM X31-series machine for the CF card slot and light weight. Another suggested an Apple iBook for the color accuracy.

On that budget, are there any others I should be looking at?

 

[espn]

Frankly, my not-gey friend, any notebook that's P4 or Centrino with 512MB of RAM would suffice for your needs, a little bit of wait but it's way above what your PC's config is right now.

I would suggest a larger HDD, more RAM and for the laptop to come with writer.

 

[ericp]

I agree with ESPN's points, especially the one about having a CD-RW capability and large hard disk ... 30 GB should be minimum, and with your budget, may even be able to get DVD-RW.

I would add one more ... go for light weight rather than power. Believe me, when you travel, you will be thankful for this. However, take note of the standard battery's capacity ... there's no point having light weight when you're chained to a wall socket. At least 2 hours on the standard battery should be the minimum.

 

[coke21]

Get a mac... Its cheaper and you can do all what you need to do on it. Maybe you might want to consider the G4 iBooks.

 

[Bluestrike]

no no.. BUY 1D better!!!

 

[zombiez]

Why do you need a notebook?

If not to show potential customers and so on, why buy a notebook? With $3.5k, you can buy a powerful desktop with money to spare. Go buy lense instead with the extra money. :bsmilie:

 

[avatarzero]

Did you even read his first post? He DID mention he'll be needing it for work purposes I believe.

 

[r32]

Why do you need a notebook?

If not to show potential customers and so on, why buy a notebook? With $3.5k, you can buy a powerful desktop with money to spare. Go buy lense instead with the extra money. :bsmilie:

First and foremost I need a portable computer for work, that is very basic word processing, websurfing, spreadsheets. I can't lug a desktop around with me everywhere I go.

I'm not buying a notebook to replace my desktop, but complement it (never mind the notebook will be more powerful than my 2 year old desktop!).

 

[YSLee]

X31 for sure. Or would you like my X20? =P

 

[fox]

IMHO go for the MAC Powerbook 12" (2.1Kg) with superdrive (DVD-Writer) and then add-on a 512MB RAM from Memory World (Funan).

Since you said that you are only using it for word-processing and spreadsheets and there are no specific windows programs, this would be your best bet (there is also microsoft office for mac and PS CS as well). Connecting to the web is also a breeze. Moreover, since you've alreday got a desktop, you can connect your desktop monitor to the Powerbook if you need a bigger screen and yes the colours are much better on a mac.

The 12" Powerbook has better specs than the ibook (www.apple.com.sg) and also pretty small and easy to carry-around.

Hope this helps you in your choice.

P.S. Switching from PC to MAC is a breeze and once you play with the MAC OS you wouldn't wanna switch back to Windows.