Laptop for photo editing and editing?

[aliank]

Hi guys,

Planning to get a laptop for photo editing (CS2) and programming. Budget around 2k - 2.5k.
Roughly what brand should I get ya? I have asus, acer and HP in my mind.

Any recommendation?

 

[tqviet0327]

I think for Photoshop CS2 and that budget, any laptop will do, just make sure your RAM is big enough (personaly I would suggest you take >512MB).

Brand wise, among the 3, i prefer HP bcos i'm using a HP and it is very good for my use.

 

[with_brokenwings]

i heard that ibook's good. apparently the colours on mac are the most accurate and all. which is why many pros use it. might want to consider that..

 

[Stoned]

Get a macbook, no horse run:thumbsup:

You can actually calibrate the screen if you know what you`re doing without any calibration tools. For mine I just needed to tweak the reds ever so slightly to get perfect calibration.I`m using an old power pc Ibook btw.

 

[SilentWave]

Regarding the amount of RAM, I suggest to get at least 1GB of RAM at the minimum. Preferrably 2GB or more if you often shoot in RAW.

 

[microcosm]

Asus are making workstation motherboards for HP, DELL, etc. They are now currently the top motherboard manufacturer for critical applications. With a reputation like that, they have my confidence.

Acer is the ultimate value for money laptop in the market now.

HP, their higher end laptops are really good... but above your budget.

Don't forget the affordable MacBook from Apple as well. They have just released the Core 2 Duo processor series. So you can look into that as well. You can boot into WinXP if you want to use the platform for work or school.

RAM, you should max out the RAM your laptop can take for the best performance for Photoshop. And remember, you also benefit from having an external HDD to be used as a scratch disk for PS. You get better performance.

 

[k3nn3th03]

Regarding the amount of RAM, I suggest to get at least 1GB of RAM at the minimum. Preferrably 2GB or more if you often shoot in RAW.

bought Acer laptop during the recent Sitex..

got 1Gb...

IF i wan to add another 1Gb, would opening the cover ( which there are Acer stickers ) VOID the warantty ??

adding another mean 1++ poorer liao.. :bsmilie:

 

[Yatlapball]

Asus are making workstation motherboards for HP, DELL, etc. They are now currently the top motherboard manufacturer for critical applications. With a reputation like that, they have my confidence.

Acer is the ultimate value for money laptop in the market now.

HP, their higher end laptops are really good... but above your budget.

Don't forget the affordable MacBook from Apple as well. They have just released the Core 2 Duo processor series. So you can look into that as well. You can boot into WinXP if you want to use the platform for work or school.

RAM, you should max out the RAM your laptop can take for the best performance for Photoshop. And remember, you also benefit from having an external HDD to be used as a scratch disk for PS. You get better performance.

13" on the macbook might be a little too small? I thought the 15" macbook pros would be a better choice (though it would be slightly beyond TS's budget).

Sorry I'm abit of a noob when it comes to maximising perfomance, could you explain a little about the external HDD thingy? Because even with core2, ultimately CS2 isn't native on OS X, and thus actually runs slower than a similar specced windoze box. So I'm looking at any method to boost perfomance ^^. CS2 is crawling on my ibook G4

 

[Stoned]

I think the screen size honestly doesn`t matter, good photos will still look good even on a camera lcd. Photoshop can make use of a maximum of 4GB of ram, so that should be about nice.

 

[aliank]

Thank guys for the reply.

Ultimately of cos Apple is the best. But considering upgrading, availability of software, Windows OS operated hardware I think is better rite?

By the way, just curios with Apple MacBook can we run two OS in the same notebook?

 

[VR Man]

i heard that ibook's good. apparently the colours on mac are the most accurate and all. which is why many pros use it. might want to consider that..

iBook's LCD is not very good for accurate colors. You get shift in colors when you move your head around or even the adjusting the angle of the screen.

Better to get the MacBook Pro series. Even then, do not expect the colors to be as good as a dedicated LCD meant for serious color work.

 

[VR Man]

RAM, you should max out the RAM your laptop can take for the best performance for Photoshop. And remember, you also benefit from having an external HDD to be used as a scratch disk for PS. You get better performance.

The MacBook Pros have Firewire 800. Another reason to get it, you can run an external RAID 0 Firewire hard drive for your scratch disk.

 

[VR Man]

Thank guys for the reply.

Ultimately of cos Apple is the best. But considering upgrading, availability of software, Windows OS operated hardware I think is better rite?

By the way, just curios with Apple MacBook can we run two OS in the same notebook?

The MacBooks are using the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Apple has release a software called Boot Camp that allows you to boot up to a Mac OS X partition or a Windows XP partition.

Otherwise there is a software called Parallel. Check here for more details.

 

[jOhO]

I think the screen size honestly doesn`t matter, good photos will still look good even on a camera lcd. Photoshop can make use of a maximum of 4GB of ram, so that should be about nice.

er.. technically photoshop can only use 2gb, but the more the merrier because there'll be other applications that use up ram, and when ps writes to scratch disc, it goes via RAM and whichever will stay in the RAM in case u need to access it.

to TS: i got an acer from sitex, C2D 1.83, 2gb ram, 14.1" screen, 160gb hdd, multidrive, $2588

did a colour profile for my screen, it sux (poor dE's), but will suffice for on the fly editing. "real" editing will still be done on my desktop.

 

[theRBK]

one other factor to look into is portability...which takes into account the size of the screen, battery life and laptop weight, and other add ons like external harddrive, as important factors...no point getting something so heavy you don't want to bring it around...

4GB RAM...you gotta be kidding...cause 4GB of laptop RAM (2 pieces of 2GB) is gonna take up most of the budget...you end up with like $500 to purchase the laptop ;p

firewire 800? might as well have eSATA...much faster and lower processor overhead...

ultimately, Apple is not necessarily better...don't believe the propaganda...people who use Windows and Mac intensively for work can tell you neither has any real advantage...believe it or not, under work stress, both will crash as willingly...and the parts that go into a Mac are just like those in a Win system...fitting your budget and requirments, and not brand attractiveness, should be your priority...

 

[theRBK]

bought Acer laptop during the recent Sitex..

got 1Gb...

IF i wan to add another 1Gb, would opening the cover ( which there are Acer stickers ) VOID the warantty ??

adding another mean 1++ poorer liao.. :bsmilie:

better check if the 1GB consists of 1 stick or 2 sticks of RAM...usually when they give you free upgrades, they put in 2 sticks of 512MB RAM...that would take up both slots of your laptop...and most if not all laptops only have 2 slots...

 

[lovells19]

Mac is the best, chip in a bit more get a 15" macbook pro if u can,
if not a 13" macbook,

1. Mac is faster then windows based Lappie/PC anytime
2. I have 1GB on my Ibook and i edit photo with ease, its faster then my 2.8GHZ HT 1.5GB-DDR PC at home.
3. The LCD resolution is also better, at 12" its sporting a 1024x768, which Laptop LCD can spot this kinda resolutions? most 15" sports 1024x768 if im not wrong.
4. Its accurate in color, seems ok on my ibook and the prints are always more vibrant

im both windows and mac user... I 100% stand by my mac.. other then gaming

 

[theRBK]

Mac is the best, chip in a bit more get a 15" macbook pro if u can,
if not a 13" macbook,

1. Mac is faster then windows based Lappie/PC anytime
2. I have 1GB on my Ibook and i edit photo with ease, its faster then my 2.8GHZ HT 1.5GB-DDR PC at home.
3. The LCD resolution is also better, at 12" its sporting a 1024x768, which Laptop LCD can spot this kinda resolutions? most 15" sports 1024x768 if im not wrong.
4. Its accurate in color, seems ok on my ibook and the prints are always more vibrant

im both windows and mac user... I 100% stand by my mac.. other then gaming

try the Dell XPS M1210

dedicated graphics memory, can take up to 4GB of RAM, 1280x800 12" screen, excellent screen, and faster than the MacBook Pro my boss has...

 

[glennyong]

my poorman's setup.

1GB ram on a acer laptop.

so far so good. can do onsite post processing and "live" presentation and slideshows.

tested and proven also. went to see many "battles"

so if i post wts:acer laptop with 1gb ram.

and if u know my hwz nick. remember.dun buy from me.. :bsmilie: :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[jOhO]

one other factor to look into is portability...which takes into account the size of the screen, battery life and laptop weight, and other add ons like external harddrive, as important factors...no point getting something so heavy you don't want to bring it around...

4GB RAM...you gotta be kidding...cause 4GB of laptop RAM (2 pieces of 2GB) is gonna take up most of the budget...you end up with like $500 to purchase the laptop ;p

firewire 800? might as well have eSATA...much faster and lower processor overhead...

ultimately, Apple is not necessarily better...don't believe the propaganda...people who use Windows and Mac intensively for work can tell you neither has any real advantage...believe it or not, under work stress, both will crash as willingly...and the parts that go into a Mac are just like those in a Win system...fitting your budget and requirments, and not brand attractiveness, should be your priority...

laptops got 1394b? eSATA also meh? never saw b4 haha..

anyway.. have also like that, good luck trying to find a say.. flash card reader in 1394b... 1394 already so rare...