Laptop Recommendations

[Creative_One]

Hi EveryOne,

My laptop died on me a few days ago & Im the official photographer for this one group in my church. Im looking for a new laptop but not sure which one to get. Dell , HP , Apple, etc.

What type of laptop would be the best for photography????
Im mainly going to be doing photo editing & everyday stuff like building websites , internet stuff etc.

Thanks in advance.

[Cajungaltx]

it's a difficult question to answer....

I'm on a refurb Gateway that does a fabulous job running CS3.... I know it's limits though....it's a Pentium Dual Core - 2.00 Ghz with 4 GB of RAM..... I bought it from MicroCenter for about $550.... I'm not a huge Gateway fan...at least I wasn't...but Brad picked up a Gateway prior to his deployment, and got a great deal on his, and is happy with it.

Check out:

TigerDirect.com
NewEgg.com
Pricegrabber.com

Specs:

Dual Core - minimum 4 GB of RAM
You want a 64 bit system - it'll let you upgrade RAM higher - which means Windows 64 bit OS (Win 7 is fabulous)

If your budget is high...go with a Toshiba.... they have a SWEET SWEET laptop - It's the Qosmio....and OMG....I just drool on my keyboard looking at these...

Qosmio X505-Q890 Laptop

* Intel® Core™ i7-740QM processor
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
* 6GB DDR3 1066MHz memory
* 564GB: 64GB SSD (Serial ATA) + 500GB (7200rpm, Serial ATA)
* 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M

See that: 564GB: 64GB SSD bit? That means it has a 64GB Solid State Drive....which is insanely fast....you put all your programs on that... okay.... not 'all' your programs....not the little crappy 'don't care how fast they run' programs....but all your 'I want speed' programs....like your OS, and your photoshop.....you put those on there....and they are wicked fast....

So....if someone wants to buy me a Christmas present....that's what I want.... (no, don't tell my husband that, cause he's building me a new desktop, that will annihilate that laptop, lol)...

But the market is HUGE in options....it depends, entirely, on your budget....

Hope your eyes didn't glaze over with info overload... ;-)

[Charles Putnam]

Being a former Windows fanatic, I have to admit that I'm glad I made the switch to the Dark Side. With the release of Photoshop CS5, I got a MacBook Pro. Went for the "base" 15" model - 2.4Ghg Intel i5, 4gigs of RAM, 320gig HD. The only thing that I've done is to upgrade the HD to a 500gig 7200 RPM drive.

Personally, I've found the Apple MBP screen to be a lot easier to edit on than the Gateway (or my wife's Dell) screen.

AppleInsider noted that MacConnection is having a sale on Apple products, with the base 15" MBP at $1,599. AppleInsider | Apple reseller slashes Mac prices to lowest seen all year

[tukaniray]

Really depends on what you want to do on your laptop and what your budget is.

The 13" Apple MacBookPro is real nice at around 1000-1200 (1000 at microcenter right now)

If you look at the Windows side: the HP and Toshiba computers are usually a real good bet. Quality computers built with some nice components.

Do you have Photoshop or Lightroom for one platform? I would stick with a computer of that platform, because then you would have to buy the programs all over again for the other platform.

-Ray-

[Zack Davis]

If I wanted to do photo work on a laptop right now I'd be grabbing an IBM W-Series laptop. They have 15" and 17" options, high quality screens, built in Pantone monitor calibrators, built in Wacom tablets and flip out second screens. Basically a photoshopping machine in a laptop. On top of IBM having been rated the best in customer service the last few years.

check'em out: Lenovo - Laptop computers - ThinkPad W Series

[Concisus Cognatus]

Originally Posted by tukaniray

... you would have to buy the programs all over again for the other platform.

-Ray-

Not sure this is correct. Seems I have seen posts here on that subject and Adobe has a program that allows a registered user to switch a purchased program to a different platform. Again I am not sure of this so due diligence will shed some accuracy to the subject.

[texxter]

Originally Posted by Concisus Cognatus

Not sure this is correct. Seems I have seen posts here on that subject and Adobe has a program that allows a registered user to switch a purchased program to a different platform. Again I am not sure of this so due diligence will shed some accuracy to the subject.

This is correct. You can call Customer Support and they can switch you from a platform to another. It also means that you can't use license seats across platforms: the 2 or 3 computers you can use your Photoshop license on need to be all Windows or all Mac.

I am happy with a 15" MBP but 4 Gb of memory is the minimum and 8 Gb would be a lot better.

[Charles Putnam]

FWIW, I had PS CS4 (Windows) and purchased a MBP when CS5 came out. Adobe sent the upgrade version which took the (Windows) CS4 serial number as verification of owning a prior version. It will also take the (Windows) CS2 and CS3 serial numbers for verification also.

[Creative_One]

Originally Posted by tukaniray

Really depends on what you want to do on your laptop and what your budget is.

The 13" Apple MacBookPro is real nice at around 1000-1200 (1000 at microcenter right now)

If you look at the Windows side: the HP and Toshiba computers are usually a real good bet. Quality computers built with some nice components.

Do you have Photoshop or Lightroom for one platform? I would stick with a computer of that platform, because then you would have to buy the programs all over again for the other platform.

-Ray-

Hey Ray,
i do have paintshop pro photo x2. My budget is 1315.78 but it has to include taxes & a yr 2 plan from the geek squad. Im thinking about getting my laptop at bestbuy.

[iamvietness]

Originally Posted by Creative_One

Hey Ray,
i do have paintshop pro photo x2. My budget is 1315.78 but it has to include taxes & a yr 2 plan from the geek squad. Im thinking about getting my laptop at bestbuy.

best buy also sells macs as well as most windows platform laptops. the only problem is that the macs in store are the newer models so would more than likely kick you out of your budget. also remember that best buy offers a 0% interest for i think 18 months if you use a best buy credit card. so you wouldn't have to spend the entire 1300 all at one

[texkam]

If you get a Windows machine you might consider installing Peppermint | Linux OS too. Fast, safe and you'll have instant access to thousands of free programs.

[tukaniray]

Huh ... hey thanks for the info on the Adobe Software ... I actually did not know that.

I love my macs ... so I wouldn't jump platforms. But it's nice to know that Adobe does offer such a program.

-Ray-

[tukaniray]

My other selling point ... since you brought up the Geek Squad ... is that Apple has the Best Customer service. And the Genius Bar at the Apple Stores is real hard to beat.

-Ray-

[cooltouch]

Apple is great I suppose. Never been able to afford Apples myself, though.

As a current Gateway laptop user, I'd have to disagree with Donna. I'm glad she likes hers, but I detest mine. This one's a couple years old now, running Vista. Some cheesy Gateway utility that was supposed to indicate screen resolution stopped working shortly after I bought it. The built-in wireless network adapter works sometimes, and sometimes doesn't. The memory card reader has never worked. And the dang mouse pad is so touchy that I swear all I have to do is pass a finger over it and it'll launch the mouse cursor over into the middle of next week. I've even taped two layers of scotch tape over the pad area hoping to reduce its sensitivity, but it hasn't done any good. Guess I need to try two more. Anyway, this one, a model MX8738 has been deeply annoying and I can't recommend a Gateway as a result. Too bad too because one of its strong points is actually its huge 17" display.

[mjoe972]

If you are looking into a refurbished laptop, check out Geeks.com - Computer parts, Laptop computers, Desktop computers, Computer hardware. I have bought from them and had no problems.

The currently have 3 variants of Dell Studio 1747 laptops with Core i7 processors up for prices ranging from $799 - $879. If you want one decide and order quickly, thier stock turns over fast.