Good enough for Photo Editing?

Uncle Fester

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Name
Danny
Edit My Images
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Hi

I'm thinking of buying a pre-owned laptop and would like to do some basic photo editing. I'm talking
about maybe a dozen or so photos a week at most. It will be for fun and not commercial use.

I don't yet have any editing software, but was thinking of using Capture One or Lightroom.

The specs of the laptop are -

Processor model

i5-8265U

Discrete graphics card model

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050

Total storage capacity

2TB

Internal memory

32 GB DDR4 Kingston Ram


Would it be up to the job? - or should I look for something newer/ more powerful?

Cheers
 
It will do for what you want, about the same as the laptop I use.

There is other software like Darktable, Gimp, and Irfanview (for very basic stuff) that is free, and things like Affinity that don't cost much (and had a ten day trial) that may be worth trying out, then you will know how the laptop performs.
 
Its about the same spec as my desktop and that's fine,
If it has an SSD drive so much the better, you might have difficulty finding a standalone copy of LR now ,if not the only option for LR is the adobe photography plan which is LR+PS at ca £10.00/ month so as Steve says you might be better with one of the others if you don't want to pay that.
 
It will do for what you want, about the same as the laptop I use.

There is other software like Darktable, Gimp, and Irfanview (for very basic stuff) that is free, and things like Affinity that don't cost much (and had a ten day trial) that may be worth trying out, then you will know how the laptop performs.

Thanks.

Unfortunately, I'll have to buy the laptop to try the software - if it doesn't work well it will be too late!

My main concern is whether the processor is up to the job.

Cheers
 
Its about the same spec as my desktop and that's fine,
If it has an SSD drive so much the better, you might have difficulty finding a standalone copy of LR now ,if not the only option for LR is the adobe photography plan which is LR+PS at ca £10.00/ month so as Steve says you might be better with one of the others if you don't want to pay that.

Thanks.

That's two people with similarly specced laptops.

It looks like the laptop will do, I'll see if anyone else chimes in before deciding.
 
Might be worth checking if it can be upgraded to Windows 11, since Windows 10 is only to be supported until 2025, I believe.
 
Just been Googling the i5-8265U processor here -



Here's an extract from that link -

  • iGPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620
  • Boost/Base Clock: 3.9 GHz / 1.6 GHz
  • Core/Thread Count: 4 Core / 8 Thread
  • Cache: 256 KB of level 1 cache + 1 MB of level 2 cache + 6MB of L3 Cache
  • TDP: 15 Watts
  • Memory Speed: DDR4 2400 MHz, LPDDR3 2133 MHz
  • CPU Socket: FCBGA1528
  • CPU Transistor size: 14 Nanometer
  • CPU Series: Whiskey Lake

Launched in late 2018, i5 8265U by intel is part of the 8th gen Whiskey Lake line-up for thin and light laptops based on Intel’s 14mn architecture with a base clock speed of 1.6 GHz, and a boost clock of 3.9 GHz. Other key specs include 15 watts of TDP, an L3 cache of 6MB, support for dual-channel DDR4 memory of up to 2400MHz, and on the graphics end of the game we have Intel UHD Graphics 620.

The Intel Core i5 8265U can easily handle your day-to-day tasks such as Browsing, Streaming, and using office productivity software. If your day-to-day workflow involves using video editing, photo editing, and CAD applications, the 8265U isn’t a great option.


Not sure if I should be concerned by these comments or not, there isn't any real context to them.
 
Just been Googling the i5-8265U processor here -



Here's an extract from that link -

  • iGPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620
  • Boost/Base Clock: 3.9 GHz / 1.6 GHz
  • Core/Thread Count: 4 Core / 8 Thread
  • Cache: 256 KB of level 1 cache + 1 MB of level 2 cache + 6MB of L3 Cache
  • TDP: 15 Watts
  • Memory Speed: DDR4 2400 MHz, LPDDR3 2133 MHz
  • CPU Socket: FCBGA1528
  • CPU Transistor size: 14 Nanometer
  • CPU Series: Whiskey Lake

Launched in late 2018, i5 8265U by intel is part of the 8th gen Whiskey Lake line-up for thin and light laptops based on Intel’s 14mn architecture with a base clock speed of 1.6 GHz, and a boost clock of 3.9 GHz. Other key specs include 15 watts of TDP, an L3 cache of 6MB, support for dual-channel DDR4 memory of up to 2400MHz, and on the graphics end of the game we have Intel UHD Graphics 620.

The Intel Core i5 8265U can easily handle your day-to-day tasks such as Browsing, Streaming, and using office productivity software. If your day-to-day workflow involves using video editing, photo editing, and CAD applications, the 8265U isn’t a great option.


Not sure if I should be concerned by these comments or not, there isn't any real context to them.
As you said. it is not your day to day activity.

The difference between my laptop and my fast I7 desktop processing a 7 shot HDR is 20 seconds vs 15 seconds.

I usually use the laptop, don't know what I would do with those 5 seconds.

However, if it was work or making a living, my choice would be different.
 
As you said. it is not your day to day activity.

The difference between my laptop and my fast I7 desktop processing a 7 shot HDR is 20 seconds vs 15 seconds.

I usually use the laptop, don't know what I would do with those 5 seconds.

However, if it was work or making a living, my choice would be different.

Thanks, that's a useful insight.

Cheers
 
It will do basic stuff just fine, but if you expect it to handle multilayer 50MP files then straight away forget about it. More importantly how likely is the screen rubbish TN type unusable garbage give the other weak spec?
 
It will do basic stuff just fine, but if you expect it to handle multilayer 50MP files then straight away forget about it. More importantly how likely is the screen rubbish TN type unusable garbage give the other weak spec?

Thanks.

It will be just the basic stuff that I'll be doing.

As to the monitor, I'll be using an external one, not the inbuilt one.

Appreciate your input.
 
Thanks.

It will be just the basic stuff that I'll be doing.

As to the monitor, I'll be using an external one, not the inbuilt one.

Appreciate your input.
The strange thing about calibrated monitors is that most people will be looking at the results on un-calibrated monitors.
All good if you are printing to printer calibrated in the same way though.

You soon get the feel of the monitor you are using, you see the original, and you see what is on your monitor.
 
Did you buy it, or are you still deciding?
 
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