Desktop or Laptop?

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Fotografia

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simon
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Just wonder what most people use for Post Processing.

I currently use a 15in laptop. It's just a general purpose machine that I originally bought for email, surfing, WP and watching movies etc.

It's got a decent screen, but I don't find it that great for post processing, and am thinking of getting something a bit more suitable.

So what do you guys use? Desktop, Laptop, Laptop + screen, or dare I say it, an Apple?

I apologize in advance if this subject has been thrashed to bits already.
 
Desktop
 
Generally laptops screens are much harder (some impossible) to callibrate properly so I'd suggest a desktop as your best bet. That said I know a few people using laptops with no major problems.
 
I use a 15" MacBook Pro, I'd love to upgrade it to a desktop unit but it's out of my budget at the minute
 
I use a 15" MBP also..only reason i bought it and not an iMac/desktop etc is i need the portability for my football etc.
 
I use an old laptop (very good specs 5 years ago) with a dell u2410 IPS screen the screen was the best money I've spent on photography. The laptop screen had at least 2 stops difference top to bottom so couldn't calibrate properly.
I have a new desktop machine in build at the moment which has cost me about £550. I did toy with just adding an SSD drive to the laptop because hard disks tend to be the bottleneck on most modern computers but felt like a new toy to play with.
 
Small footprint desktop with a separate and decent 24" screen. I replace every 3 or 4 years or, so my argument being that they always get better. What was top end and expensive 3 years ago is pretty much entry to mid level now.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I did not realise there were issues with calibrating laptop screens. I have not calibrated a screen yet but it is something I want to try. I was originally leaning towards buying another laptop, but now I think I'll probably go with a desktop.

Thanks again.
Simon.
 
Fotografia said:
Just wonder what most people use for Post Processing.
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A 15" Macbook Pro with a Trackpad for retouching. I work almost entirely with Adobe Photoshop CS4 but have Lightroom 2 if needed. I have a desktop PC aswell. It's one of those things thats down to individual preferrence I guess :}
 
doesnt really matter too much, youll get more bang/buck with a desktop, better upgrade options.

whatever you choose its the screen that really matters, a calibrated IPS panel is ideal.
 
IamAshlyRose said:
A 15" Macbook Pro with a Trackpad for retouching. I work almost entirely with Adobe Photoshop CS4 but have Lightroom 2 if needed. I have a desktop PC aswell. It's one of those things thats down to individual preferrence I guess :}
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I think you're right about individual preferrence, the trouble is I can never make a decision :-) and I wanrt to give a calibrated monitor a try.

I see you're from Carshalton, well I'm from Wallington originally and went to Carshalton college in my deep distant youth. I also did the first year of a photograpy course at NESCOT, I wasn't really good enough though so ended up doing computing instead. With hindsight I wish I had stuck with photography :0(

Simon.
 
Using a 15" i7 Dell laptop - to do PP.

Works a treat!

Not sure on the calibration though.
 
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@Fotografia/Simon Oh close by :} I was considering Nescot but on the open day found out Photography is only a small part of the Media course so I ended up doing a National Diploma at Kingston Art where I discovered my love for darkroom & traditional techniques. Apologies for going a tad off topic Mods.

Yeah its definitely always about personal prefference, I guess we just have to experiment with new things to find out which they happen to be! I'd never have considered an Apple 'til college & these days for Photography purposes I just don't consider my Desktop up for the work.
 
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I've got i7 desktop and laptop ... While my screen on the desktop is better, i like using the laptop .. it seems faster, probably because it's new and doesn;t have all the crap on it yet!
 
I plug an old Lacie Photonvision low-res monitor into my laptop for editing. I calibrate that and only us
 
Oops that should have gone on to say " and only use the laptop for viewing".

Seems to work okay.
 
Another one for using a Desktop if you have the choice. I'm sure you will notice that when you use a laptop, when you move the screen/lid the picture differs.
 
IamAshlyRose said:
@Fotografia/Simon Oh close by :} I was considering Nescot but on the open day found out Photography is only a small part of the Media course so I ended up doing a National Diploma at Kingston Art where I discovered my love for darkroom & traditional techniques. Apologies for going a tad off topic Mods.

Yeah its definitely always about personal prefference, I guess we just have to experiment with new things to find out which they happen to be! I'd never have considered an Apple 'til college & these days for Photography purposes I just don't consider my Desktop up for the work.
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I was always very interested in darkroom technques, especially tone separations and solarizations, ah the old Mackie line :o) By the way, what do they use as a bible these days? In my day it was The Ilford Manual.

Back on topic. I suppose I should look more closely at Apple, I know a couple of people that use them (not for photography), and they are popular in the Graphics and Media industries. The IMac always looks good, and I know the OS is rock solid, so not too many re-boots :0)
 
tonyq said:
Another one for using a Desktop if you have the choice. I'm sure you will notice that when you use a laptop, when you move the screen/lid the picture differs.
Click to expand...

You're right, viewing angles are rubbish on my current laptop.
I am leaning towards a Desktop, and the IPS monitors sound like the way to go.
 
Fotografia said:
I was always very interested in darkroom technques, especially tone separations and solarizations, ah the old Mackie line :o) By the way, what do they use as a bible these days? In my day it was The Ilford Manual.

Back on topic. I suppose I should look more closely at Apple, I know a couple of people that use them (not for photography), and they are popular in the Graphics and Media industries. The IMac always looks good, and I know the OS is rock solid, so not too many re-boots :0)
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Without wanting to turn this into an osx vs windows thing. Apple for media is a legacy thing, no real need for a particular platform unless the software you're using is only available on one. Photoshop and lightroom etc work exactly the same on both.

Believe me I work with OSX and windows 7 on a daily basis and neither platform is more stable or without its quirks than the other :)
 
neil_g said:
Without wanting to turn this into an osx vs windows thing. Apple for media is a legacy thing, no real need for a particular platform unless the software you're using is only available on one. Photoshop and lightroom etc work exactly the same on both.

Believe me I work with OSX and windows 7 on a daily basis and neither platform is more stable or without its quirks than the other :)
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Thanks for the input. I knew OSX was a bit quirky as I have played with it a few times in the past, I did not realise it had lost ground in the graphics/media arena though, but thats not altogether bad thing :0) I was never really overly keen on going down the Apple route, as I like the openness and flexability of Windows. Although I'm currently running Vista, and it does drive me round the bend every so often. :bang:
 
Fotografia said:
Although I'm currently running Vista, and it does drive me round the bend every so often. :bang:
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Win7 is significantly better than Vista IMHO.
 
neil_g said:
actually vista in its latest form is very good, certainly no less stable than 7.
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It's not about stability Neil... It's just badly designed as a UI compared to Win7. And it's slower on the same h/w AFAICT (not tried it recently, we're all Win7 here).
 
arad85 said:
It's not about stability Neil... It's just badly designed as a UI compared to Win7. And it's slower on the same h/w AFAICT (not tried it recently, we're all Win7 here).
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really? id have to disagree to be honest, when i went from vista 64 bit to 7 64 bit (on the same machine) performance was not noticably better.

im trying to remember the last time i used vista and how the interface was noticably different (i cant remember any, 7 cant have made an impact on that then :D)
 
neil_g said:
really? id have to disagree to be honest, when i went from vista 64 bit to 7 64 bit (on the same machine) performance was not noticably better.
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I was running on older hardware which may have had a bearing.

As to UI, 7 is just that it appears more logical. Really simple things like leaving spaces between the different groups of items in explorer and from memory UAC was better organised. Ms arad85 went from hating Vista (hers was the only machine that ran Vista in the house) and now loves Win 7. There must be something that makes it a nicer experience....
 
From a non image point of view, Laptops, when using Lightroom and Photoshop, can struggle with overheating issues (especially if used on the lap, and not on the table).

I would use a desktop every time. Get a big IPS screen. 27 iMac's are good, if a little pricey.
 
A personnel preference for many,I love my desktop, but my laptop is faster.
Windows 7 on the desktop, I use Lightroom or photoshop.
LInux on the laptop, I use darktable.
All up to what you like and are comfortable with
 
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