Help me choose a laptop

[talan]

Actually this is a very open question because I have no idea what to get.

My PC is getting old and I want the portability of a laptop now.

So I'll need a laptop with the following user requirements:


can handle Photoshop CS3/4, lightroom, etc in terms of graphics and speed
have enough hard drive space maybe 500gb+??
a largish monitor 17" widescreen?
reliable and something I won't need to upgrade for maybe 2+ years
don't convince me to switch to Mac http://www.gpforums.co.nz/images/smilies/cutetongue.gif (I need a PC for work puposes as well)
brand im no so fussed about

I don't have a budget in mind but I think im prepared to spend up to $2500.

Would be good if you guys can suggest the best choices in the following rough price brackets so I can do a cost/benefit of each choice. Please let me know the best retailer for each choice if you can.
- circa $1500
- circa $2000
- circa $2500

A few people are still trying to convince me to get a Mac saying it's the industry standard blah blah.

And if Mac is still out of the picture a few people recommend Sony Vaio.

Is that the way to go or what? Super confused!! :confused:

[Haim]

i'm a mac person..... BUT i use a PC! ONLY due to the fact that unless you are earning a living from photography or are really rich then you cant beat the value that a pc gives dolar vs hardware....

[Fabolous]

Could I ask why you want to stick with PC? most things can be done on Mac OSX in native form and if there's absolutely no way round it, you can install Windows on a partition using "Bootcamp" (native program on OSX). I installed XP on my MacBook and it's freaking simple, took like 5 steps and it worked a charm. Now I can either boot into XP or run OSX and XP side by side!

I'm just saying, you might want to look into it. And the old "mac's are expensive" doesn't really hold true anymore. An equivalent PC laptop is about $100-$200 cheaper, not all that much.

Oh if your sticking to PC, don't get DELL. Mine shat itself within 9 months, and then there warranty people fucked me around. Just use a mac for a week and you will be convinced :)

+1 vote mac!!!! lol

[Haim]

^^ macs are alright.... even by todays prices my pc is still cheaper than an equivelant mac....

E8500 ( core 2 due 3.1MHZ)
P5Kpro motherboard (asus)
Radeon 4870 HD 512GDDR3
Some real good 4GB kit of crosair ram ( low latency stuff)
500gb hdd
750w crosair psu
new case
etc etc.....
the list keeps going and going..... for like around 15 to 18 if i remember correctly!

please dont get me wrong.... i truely love macs but they still are much more expensive! and you are actually wrong.... try buiolding a pc and then try to look at the saving you make when you compare the equivelant mac.

[Haim]

it actually really comes down to if you mind waiting a little longer for the mac to do things like photo editing or conversions from RAW etc etc..... but it definitly is a good choice for an all round computer... for a laptop i would get a mac... for a desktop i would get a pc i hope i didnt confuse you too much.

[EGD]

i was very close convertd to mac, lucky i didn't. i invested a bit on my pc for similar/less amount of $$ as the macbook pro or 24" imac, i have got myself intel I7, 12GB of ram, 1.2GB of graphic card, 2TB HDD, and dual 24" viewsonic HD monitor.

i can tell you my pc probably run twice as fast the similar price mac, opening CS4 takes about 2s.

unless you really really need a laptop for travel or work use, i would suggest get a decent pc for photo editin. editing with laptop sux as;)

[David]

Just buy a decent pc, they are pretty cheap these days i got a scarily similar one to Haim's from computer lounge for around the same price. Then just buy a cheap laptop as well for work off trademe or something - laptops always break or get slow i just dont think its worth it haha.

[Haim]

i was very close convertd to mac, lucky i didn't. i invested a bit on my pc for similar/less amount of $$ as the macbook pro or 24" imac, i have got myself intel I7, 12GB of ram, 1.2GB of graphic card, 2TB HDD, and dual 24" viewsonic HD monitor.

i can tell you my pc probably run twice as fast the similar price mac, opening CS4 takes about 2s.

unless you really really need a laptop for travel or work use, i would suggest get a decent pc for photo editin. editing with laptop sux as;)

that shit must have costed you sooooooooooooooo much!!! wow!@!

[Fabolous]

well I'm not going to turn this into a Mac vs. PC debate but I was in the same boat (and most mac users are) - I had been using windows all my life. I decided to take the plunge and couldn't be happier - you rarely hear stories the other way around? just something to think about.

Anyway back OT. Talan, will you be traveling around a lot with your laptop? Any plans to go overseas soon? Basically if you want a 17" screen - then I think a desktop is the best option. Because 17 is crazy big lol, you wont be able to carry that around anyway. If you want portibility go for 13 - 15 inch.

But if your stuck on laptops - Look into Sony Vaio (http://www.sony.co.nz/vaio/product/vaio-by-price/notebook-panel-pc.jsp) or Toshiba Sattalite range (http://www.isd.toshiba.com.au/retail/default.htm (and click "go to specifications").

[weka2000]

I have a toshiba with 4 gig RAM but job paid for it looking around the $3500 mark for top end.
What size are your photo files and are they RAW?
This year I went 64 bit with my PC, dealing with 21meg RAW files and trying to stich 10 togather gave 32 bit a major headache :)

[talan]

I use RAW if I do any 'shoots'. So confusing. I think I'll stick with PC... I really want the portability of a laptop now, even if I sacrifice some performance and cost.

So Dell's not the go. Will check out some Sony and Toshiba ones.

So if I were to get a laptop what's the system requirements for a decent machine?

4GB+ RAM?
What about graphics card, duel core processor etc?

Thanks!

[Moppie]

15 inch Mac Book Pro, with 8MB of ram running windows Vista 64bit.

Really good, high quality parts, running a really good OS, with lots of RAM to try and make for the fact that its only a dual core.


Otherwise look for something with 2.6 to 3ghz processor, and 4-8GB of ram, and 64bit Vista.
If you get a 15inch machine and use a seperate monitor at home you get the portablity, with out having to always the crap laptop screen.

It will cost you though.

[tainted creative]

I agree with those that recommend the mac, even if it is a bit naff because people have said it is industry standard. They handle graphics programs well bottom line and are reliable and sturdy wee machines.

Whatever you do steer well clear of Acer regardless of what people may say I worked at dick smiths and they stopped accepting faulty acer goods back unless they had tracking numbers because there were so many.

Asus is a solid brand, their laptops seem to be a bit on the bulky side however but you cannot beat them for service and they come with 2 year international warranties in most instances (pays to double check with the retailer though)

[talan]

For those who are interested... im haven't bought anything yet.

I was close to getting an HP DV-7 when it was on special at Harvey Norman for $2999.

I think I might hold off a little bit or even consider getting a nice desktop.

Still walking in circles and thinking lol :(

[Fabolous]

$3k!!

get a mac :P

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3750965167_9c15140e2d.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3750965167_b39a528952_o.jpg)

[robo git]

I went for a Asus Eee 1000H:
2.13 GHz Atom processor
1GB DDR2 RAM
160GB HDD
XP Home OEM
10.1" screen
$890 from JB HiFi

Runs GIMP, Paint.NET, Photoshop and Lightroom well enough for basic image-editing on the road, but I haven't found any laptop screens with really good colour gamut, and this is no exception.

[Moppie]

I don't think I could edit photos on a 10 inch screen.

To much of a step down from the current 21inch at 1800x1440 sitting next to a 19inch at 1600x1200

[David]

whatever you get make sure its got plenty of ram (Y)

[robo git]

I don't think I could edit photos on a 10 inch screen.

To much of a step down from the current 21inch at 1800x1440 sitting next to a 19inch at 1600x1200@ Home I use a 24" 1920x1200 screen with excellent colour reproduction. That's where I do any serious editing or batch prep.

The Eee is actually quite surprising if you're using it as an occasional editor, plus it's got VGA out so can connect to TVs, monitors etc that have VGA in. You do need to get out of the habit of having all your tools on-screen at once though :D

[Moppie]

I've used an E-PC a couple of times, very cool little machines for internet etc, especially if your gmail user and use google docs etc.

I've even used one to preview photos and upload to facebook and flickr during an event, but I wouldn't want to edit photos on it :)