New laptop for editing

ChrisHeathcote

ChrisHeathcote

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3,717
Name
Chris
Edit My Images
Yes
I've finally decided its time for me to upgrade my 6 year old PC. I have decided to go for a laptop for ease of mobility, the question now is which one.

Originally I thought this would be easy as I wanted a MBP due to always wanting one due to reliability etc, however after looking at the specs of the new MacBook I'm not sure, the max memory is 16GB and it can't be upgraded. Now I know 16GB is high for today's standards, but I don't particularly want to spend circa £1500 and have to upgrade in a couple of years.

So this brings my second question is, is 16GB enough? The laptop will be used primarily to operate LR and Photoshop, both of which are through Adobe CC, so will be upgraded as they become available.

I was looking at
MacBook 13" I5 2.6ghz
512GB SSD
16GB RAM.
I know the 13" isn't ideal for editing however I have a 24" IPS monitor which will be used when at home.

I was also looking at
Dell XPS 15
I7 4702
1TB Sata + 32GB SSD
2GB Graphics
Even though the memory can be changed it would appear that 16GB is it's max, and it appears that Photoshop has an issue with hi-res screens

As it's a while since I've looked into computers I wondered what everyone's thought were, feel free to suggest alternatives

Thanks
 
Last edited:
That's why I ended up buying mac mini i7 4-core last year at fraction of price. It won't hurt so badly when time comes to up the spec. But to answer your question you probably will have 3-5 years before 16GB will start to annoy you to death. The dual core i5 sounds a bit less powerful if you ever do something CPU intensive (LR and PS are not... yet. But try some video!). If you need laptop you don't really have much choice apart from ebay fun
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
it appears that Photoshop has an issue with hi-res screens
Click to expand...
Got a source for that out of interest?

Normal spec really applies, at least a quad core (check because some i5 are only dual), at least 8gb ram, ssd preferable.

Otherwise it's going to be personal preference. Macs aren't any more reliable than mid-high end dell in my experience (supporting a floor of macs and two floors of PC), osx vs windows is personal preference (7 and Mountain Lion are comparable). Personally I cannot work on glossy screen macs, that might factor into your decision.

There's another mac/PC thread here somewhere where a few people were recommending a Lenovo model with good screen.
 
If you are using Photoshop then I would suggest not spending more for a Mac as it's essentially the same on both platforms.
 
It was me but it was the X230 and given its small screen it's strength is portability and not editing.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm starting to think that I may be being a bit paranoid about the memory situation and 16GB is enough for the foreseeable future. I also made a huge mistake today of going into PC world to actually try the 2 operating systems. The Macbook and OSX just seems so slick at the way it does everything, the 15" is very tempting, but at £2200!! I get your point Neil about the glossy screen, however most of my editing and review will be done on my external screen at home, which has a matte IPS screen. Im after a laptop for the occasions I'm away with work, I can do minor edits and cataloging, also I can be at bit more sociable at home rather than shut in a room on the top floor :)
 
Have a look at the Dell outlet. Some really keen prices for warrantied machines, I buy a lot from there. The Dell 17R is available at 369 for example with a Core i5. The 17" ones also have a spare empty drive bay for an SSD.
I have a 15" one with the 25GB mSATA. I removed this and swapped it for a 256GB mSATA, installed the OS on it and use the 1TB original drive for data. Works really well. The 32GB one only works as Intel cache...
 
landwomble said:
Have a look at the Dell outlet. Some really keen prices for warrantied machines, I buy a lot from there. The Dell 17R is available at 369 for example with a Core i5. The 17" ones also have a spare empty drive bay for an SSD.
I have a 15" one with the 25GB mSATA. I removed this and swapped it for a 256GB mSATA, installed the OS on it and use the 1TB original drive for data. Works really well. The 32GB one only works as Intel cache...
Click to expand...

a very heavy beast with vastly inferior TN screen... give me a desktop any day over this.
 
Because that would be lighter? Inferior to what, exactly? It was a suggestion for a very serviceable machine for under £400. Thanks for the well reasoned, helpful suggestions of an alternative. Oh no, wait. There weren't any. Did you miss OPs statement they already had a monitor, too?
 
Last edited:
I went for the XPS15 as per this thread. It really is an excellent machine - by my counting about £700 less than the Apple. It really depends on what software you have already bought and for what platform. I had LR5 and PS6 along with a load of other programs including Office that meant it would have cost me a small fortune to change all the programs over unless I dual booted. I really love the machine still, very very fast and the screen is brilliant for editing. The Adobe scaling issue is that the menus can seem very small in PS and Illustrator but it depends on if you know were they are already. Personally it doesn't bother me although I hope Adobe do a HiDPi update soon.

The only thing about the XPS compared to my old Samsung gaming laptop is that despite having slightly more power (newer i7) it can't play games well because of the resolution and even scaled down it can be jumpy. That said I didn't buy it to play games and it is a huge amount lighter and more portable so I'm not concerned.

Thanks

Stevie
 
You get rights to install Office on 5 machines with 365, just in case it's useful :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top