Photography Based Laptops?

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bildo

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Bill
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I'm looking to purchase a new laptop and I have around £1200 to spend, I could raise this slightly if necessary, but from what I've seen there's a lot out there within this price range.

I am a travelling photographer, so I have some rather specific requirements as to what I want from the machine.

It needs to be:
Lightweight
Good battery life
Fast, capable of running Adobe suite and various often numerous Chrome tabs etc
Maximum screen size 15" due to needing to fit in a specific bag
Ideally the screen would be well suited to photography and be useful outdoors in strong light situations

Now, everyone I've asked has recommended that I go for a Mac, however I've been Windows/Android since day one, so I'd prefer to stick with this for the time being. I don't really have the time or the energy for learning something new right now, and everything is pretty much set up how I want it so seems silly to change.

After looking around, the initial suggestion seems to be the Dell XPS 13, while 13" feels a little small to me, I'd much rather have a 15" screen in a 13" chassis than a 13" in an 11", it does seem like an incredible little machine.

Having read quite a lot of user comments with regards to the QHD+ screen, it almost seems like I might be better off going for the FHD (1920x1080) screen instead. Seems weird with photography but the compability of the QHD+ and the amount of issues that people have noted with them, I think it's maybe one step ahead of itself right now and I could do without light bleed etc affecting my images.

Here's the current Dell that seems best suited to my needs:
http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd?oc=cnx4304&model_id=xps-13-9343-laptop

If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'd be more than happy to listen, I'm also very interested in personal experiences with the QHD+/FHD differences.

Thanks in advance!
 
XPS 15 with the4k high def screen is stunning and within budget.
 
Byker28i said:
XPS 15 with the4k high def screen is stunning and within budget.
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Thanks for your message. I worry that the 15" would be really bulky compared to the 13" (which is the same size as a typical 11"). At just 1.18kg weight I feel it'd be awesome in the camera bag which I'll be carrying on my back throughout long trips.

Do you have any experience with the high def screen? As it looks great on paper but it doesn't look quite so epic once you start reading further into it - whether these were just a bad batch or something is what I'd like to determine.
 
bildo said:
I worry that the 15" would be really bulky compared to the 13"
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retina MBP 13. Best laptop there is for travel and serious work.
 
daugirdas said:
retina MBP 13. Best laptop there is for travel and serious work.
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I appreciate that this is the obvious answer, however I did state that I sadly don't have the time or energy to dedicate to switching OS. I'm familiar with Windows and have always run it since the 98 days - I'd rather not be switching over at the current time.
 
I have a 15" Dell XPS 9530, and before that I used a Macbook. Biggest weakness of the XPS is that battery life, which was around 3-4 hours, simply can't compete with the Macbook. The trackpad is also less slick than Apple's trackpad and performance isn't as completely stunning as I'd hoped. But the screen is excellent, and makes you feel like you're working on a much larger monitor, the machine is light & comfy to carry (weighs the same as my 13" unibody Macbook) and internal components are fully upgradable (nothing can be changed in a Macbook). I have had no significant problems using lightroom, DX Optics pro, Capture One and Perfect Effects with the high screen resolution.

Overall I have no regrets returning to Windows.
 
I switched from a MacBook Air to a Microsoft Surface Pro....It is really good with Adobe Creative Cloud.....as per ancient_mariner battery life is pants compared to the Mac....I really do have to carry a charger around whilst I didn't do that previously...and the touchpad is super pants.....

No issues with the high resolution screen though...other than that windows can't change the resolution/scaling on the fly and you have to sign-out/in when using it with an external monitor...unless you have a matching 4K external monitor....I would also consider the Lenovo Yoga 3, and the Lenovo X1 as nice lightweight alternative options...
 
I was quite anti-Apple for years, however when I was looking for a new laptop around 4 years ago, a Macbook Pro ticked all the boxes. When we needed a second machine a year ago, I didn't hesitate to get the 13" Retina MBP. The screen is absolutely lovely. I have Parallels installed running Windows 7, but to be honest OSX is so straight-forward I tend to default to that now.
 
The Dell XPS 13 is an amazing little laptop. It can be specced with an FHD or QHD screen depending on your preference. Although it has a 13" screen it is the size of a 12" laptop and is made from high grade materials such as aluminium and carbon fibre.

You can also spec your choice of processor and RAM in case you need more power. Battery life is also excellent.

You can read an in-depth review here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-13-9343-Touchscreen-Ultrabook-Review.135817.0.html

If you are interested in buying, it is worth checking the Dell Outlet store for any refurbished machines.
 
You could look at the new MacBook Air, but I suspect you'll want the 12" version which will probably take you over the top of you budget. It's small lightweight but compared to other laptops has a slower processor. But it does have an amazingly long battery life. I've edited on a 13' MBP and it is possible. The smaller screen is a drawback, apart from that I'd use a mouse rather than the track pad. Nothing wrong with it but it's far easier. I'd suggest that whatever laptop you go for. Remember though photo editing does keep the display alive and can use a lot of power via the hard drive so whatever machine you go for be wary of quoted battery life.

Switching from Windows to Mac OS really is no big deal. They are very similar in the way they work.
 
I think the new Macbook (non Air, non Pro) will be underpowered, it is essentially the equivalent of a chromebook and less powerful than the Air
 
A 13" screen is really lousy for editing (even 15" QHD is too small really) though it can be done, but you will miss things that you would spot on a bigger screen.
 
Dell 7540?
 
The new generation of the XPS 13" is excellent and easily comparable with the MacBook Air. Lightweight & an superb battery life.

As is the new version of the XPS 15" for that matter.
 
bildo said:
I appreciate that this is the obvious answer, however I did state that I sadly don't have the time or energy to dedicate to switching OS. I'm familiar with Windows and have always run it since the 98 days - I'd rather not be switching over at the current time.
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It's really not the massive swing that people think it is. Everything you'll ever need is a couple of clicks away at most, unless you like to 'tinker under the hood'. I was the same, having ran Windows since 95, up until Vista. Change over wasn't an issue in the slightest.
 
purpleclouds said:
It's really not the massive swing that people think it is. Everything you'll ever need is a couple of clicks away at most, unless you like to 'tinker under the hood'. I was the same, having ran Windows since 95, up until Vista. Change over wasn't an issue in the slightest.
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It depends. If one was the sort of windows user that relied heavily on the OS to look after you & sometimes felt let down then OSX will make for an easy transition, but if you're someone who likes the OS to do what you want (and I don't mean working on the command line) then OSX can be a frustrating PITA. It isn't that one can't learn to adapt fairly quickly, so much as experiencing anger or feeling helpless when the OS decides to take over tasks you wanted to do yourself. Both have their strengths, but if someone likes using windows and is comfy doing so then moving will, in the short term, make for a less good user experience.

Having said that, I've had to use both Vista and W7 recently, and both made me glad I'd had a Mac during the time those versions were current. W8.1 is just enormously nicer to use than either of them.
 
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I was fed up with changing computers when they slowed up. I always bought high end models and usually they lasted a year before the speed started to slow. I didn't want change to Mac because every program I had was Microsoft based. I took a deep breath and purchased the Mac Pro Retina and I have never looked back. I use Lightroom 6 bought outright and I love it. The only draw back is you pay for hard drive and I bought the 250gig which is not enough. I don't use cloud and won't use it, so a lot more memory would be great. However, I keep only this years photos on my computer and store the rest on a 2 external drives and also back up this years images on there. I keep all RAW on the external drives and only keep JPegs on the main drive. I work quicker from the portable external hard drives then I ever did from a windows based hard drive.
With the Mac, I turn it on and it immediately starts, I turn it off and it goes off. It never slows down and I don't have to update windows constantly. I wish I had changed years ago. Good luck.
 
KAS said:
I was fed up with changing computers when they slowed up. I always bought high end models and usually they lasted a year before the speed started to slow. I didn't want change to Mac because every program I had was Microsoft based. I took a deep breath and purchased the Mac Pro Retina and I have never looked back. I use Lightroom 6 bought outright and I love it. The only draw back is you pay for hard drive and I bought the 250gig which is not enough. I don't use cloud and won't use it, so a lot more memory would be great. However, I keep only this years photos on my computer and store the rest on a 2 external drives and also back up this years images on there. I keep all RAW on the external drives and only keep JPegs on the main drive. I work quicker from the portable external hard drives then I ever did from a windows based hard drive.
With the Mac, I turn it on and it immediately starts, I turn it off and it goes off. It never slows down and I don't have to update windows constantly. I wish I had changed years ago. Good luck.
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Recent OSs all seem to have changed in that respect. When I was running OSX 10.5 I had to rebuild about every 12-18 months to maintain performance, and startup would randomly take between 45 sec and around 3min. Those issues seemed to go away with Mountain Lion, but thanks to firmware updates the Macbook still takes a long time to boot, even though I'm using SSD drives. Updates were not very frequent, but would usually be at least 250MB, and sometimes >1GB.

I've now been on this Dell XPS with W8.1 almost exactly a year, and it's shown no signs of slowing or having reduced performance. Anti-virus updates are normally daily (as they should be) and OS updates, which normally happen once a week, are usually around 5-20MB. To me, this seems no worse than saving all the updates into a single huge download, and consuming all the download bandwidth for what can be quite a long period of time.

They're just computers. Apple runs typical PC hardware just like everyone else now, and it's really down to whether you like the hardware packaging, which OS you're comfy with and whether you're willing to pay the price or not. There is no compelling reason to buy one or the other, but if someone says "I don't want a Mac" then saying "you should buy a Mac" isn't actually being helpful.
 
I've switched in Feb/March to a PC. Bought it directly from Microsoft and it works just like my Macs do. Very reliable.

For me it is just the lack of a good email programme where good I define as having a fully integrated application and single view of inbox across all,my,devices. I cant believe how far behind windows is on that level. All apps are a compromise to me for email, calendaring and contacts.
 
maybe this is worth a look, its a dell 2 in 1 laptop/ tablet ( flip screen ) i7 processor, 8gb ram , 256gb SSD drive but slightly bigger 13.3 " screen but the added bonus is the screen is IPS. its from dell UK outlet. they give full warranty but are discounted becasue they could have a slight issue ( in the case of this one its had a repalcement AC adapter so harldy a major thing ) but the bonus is the price is quite a bit cheaper. they update the outlet site daily becasue they sell out fast, but think it could be a good solution
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/....aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&puid=f6fe2ab7
 
I think the new macbook pro 13 are capable of running all the current adobe and video editing softwares. I saw on youtube these guys testing both photoshop and final cut pro x. But obviously if you want something with bit more performance you might want to look at 15" MBP with dedicated graphics card. They are fairly thin so little bit of weight does not make that much difference.
 
They're just computers. Apple runs typical PC hardware just like everyone else now, and it's really down to whether you like the hardware packaging, which OS you're comfy with and whether you're willing to pay the price or not. There is no compelling reason to buy one or the other, but if someone says "I don't want a Mac" then saying "you should buy a Mac" isn't actually being helpful.[/QUOTE]

I didn't see anywhere where he said 'I don't want a Mac". I merely passed on my experience. However, we can agree that its a personal opinion and a computer is a computer. My Mac takes seconds to start and seconds to close and I never notice when its updating.

Good luck with your search Bill.
 
OS X doesn't take long to become accustomed to. I made the switch a long time ago. Far less time spent 'tinkering' and more time available to do what you bought the computer for in the first place. Would strongly recommend the MacBook Pro 13" with retina display. It's small, fast and the battery lasts for ages. The only real disadvantage (asides from having t spend an evening getting used to the OS) is the lack of internal storage - but that's easily fixed with a USB 3.0 HDD.

I realise your heart's probably set on a Dell machine but there's an old adage that springs to mind... "Once you go Mac, you never go back."
 
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Ahem, I've switched from Mac since the 90s to windows 8.1...bar email I'm loving it.
 
I use a 2-3 year old Sony Vaio i5 with 8Gb of Ram.
Runs Windows 8 and the latest Photoshop CC.

Handles everything I put through it in terms of images.
 
KAS said:
They're just computers. Apple runs typical PC hardware just like everyone else now, and it's really down to whether you like the hardware packaging, which OS you're comfy with and whether you're willing to pay the price or not. There is no compelling reason to buy one or the other, but if someone says "I don't want a Mac" then saying "you should buy a Mac" isn't actually being helpful.
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I didn't see anywhere where he said 'I don't want a Mac". I merely passed on my experience. However, we can agree that its a personal opinion and a computer is a computer. My Mac takes seconds to start and seconds to close and I never notice when its updating.

Good luck with your search Bill.
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From the OP: "Now, everyone I've asked has recommended that I go for a Mac, however I've been Windows/Android since day one, so I'd prefer to stick with this for the time being. I don't really have the time or the energy for learning something new right now, and everything is pretty much set up how I want it so seems silly to change."
 
An interesting helpful thread as I upgraded from a laptop to a pc some years ago after struggling using adobe CS, I am now in the process of looking for a another laptop to do my processing while away from the pc but I do not want anything smaller than 15.6 ins.

On no account would I change to a Mac, too set in my ways to change now :)
 
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ancient_mariner said:
From the OP: "Now, everyone I've asked has recommended that I go for a Mac, however I've been Windows/Android since day one, so I'd prefer to stick with this for the time being. I don't really have the time or the energy for learning something new right now, and everything is pretty much set up how I want it so seems silly to change."
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Can't see 'I don't want a Mac'. You the post police.
 
KAS said:
Can't see 'I don't want a Mac'. You the post police.
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So... "...so I'd prefer to stick with this for the time being. ..." doesn't mean anything?

You lack of comprehension person ;) :P
 
dejongj said:
Ahem, I've switched from Mac since the 90s to windows 8.1...bar email I'm loving it.
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Have to say I'm loving windows 8.1 on my work laptop and that's a little i5 based Dell but I've a ssd drive in it. Seconds to boot, quick to use, I run with a desktop like I did with windows 7 and the search is quick.
 
i dont think it should be about brand loyalty, i mean i use mac but i own android phone and tablet. more like best value for money
 
I've been using high end Windows laptops for years (HP/Samsung) and my last one was the Dell XPS15 with the qHD display. It felt like a fantastic laptop and it was fast etc but after a year the power cable gave up the ghost 3 weeks out of warranty (£60) and then the trackpad stopped clicking. It still works but barely. It left me in the same position as you. I use an Android phone with no notion of buying an iPhone but was fed up having to upgrade my laptop every 18 months because they were knackered. I bit the bullet and bought the Macbook Pro Retina 2 weeks ago intending to run either Bootcamp or Parallels for my Windows programs but I honestly haven't needed to install either. I already have Office 365 so just installed that, took out the Photography package with Adobe (had LR6, PS6 and Illustrator CS6 on the Dell) and the only program I haven't got now is Illustrator. I haven't needed it yet but will probably just use the Dell when I need to. There really honestly was no learning curve (except that I still try to copy and paste with CTRL C an CTRL V!) which I was expecting.
I never dreamt of going Mac but I honestly absolutely love it. Comparing it to the top spec XPS15 it is so much faster.

Re the battery on the XPS15 - I still would get 4-5 hours of browsing or watching films on mine even after 18 months. Has had great battery life in fairness to it.

Maybe not the answer you were looking for!!

Stevie
 
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Stevies said:
I've been using high end Windows laptops for years (HP/Samsung) and my last one was the Dell XPS15 with the qHD display. It felt like a fantastic laptop and it was fast etc but after a year the power cable gave up the ghost 3 weeks out of warranty (£60) and then the trackpad stopped clicking. It still works but barely. It left me in the same position as you. I use an Android phone with no notion of buying an iPhone but was fed up having to upgrade my laptop every 18 months because they were knackered. I bit the bullet and bought the Macbook Pro Retina 2 weeks ago intending to run either Bootcamp or Parallels for my Windows programs but I honestly haven't needed to install either. I already have Office 365 so just installed that, took out the Photography package with Adobe (had LR6, PS6 and Illustrator CS6 on the Dell) and the only program I haven't got now is Illustrator. I haven't needed it yet but will probably just use the Dell when I need to. There really honestly was no learning curve (except that I still try to copy and paste with CTRL C an CTRL V!) which I was expecting.
I never dreamt of going Mac but I honestly absolutely love it. Comparing it to the top spec XPS15 it is so much faster.

Re the battery on the XPS15 - I still would get 4-5 hours of browsing or watching films on mine even after 18 months. Has had great battery life in fairness to it.

Maybe not the answer you were looking for!!

Stevie
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Be careful Stevie I had the post police chasing me for days. I, like you had the temerity to pass on my experience and in they piled. Beware you don't wake up the ancient_mariner he takes things like this very seriously and isn't a chap to upset. KIPAX is just a sentry, he isn't too bad he just laughs at you and pokes you if you sail off the party line. I'm in the trench across the road if you need to take shelter.
 
KAS said:
Be careful Stevie I had the post police chasing me for days. I, like you had the temerity to pass on my experience and in they piled. Beware you don't wake up the ancient_mariner he takes things like this very seriously and isn't a chap to upset. KIPAX is just a sentry, he isn't too bad he just laughs at you and pokes you if you sail off the party line. I'm in the trench across the road if you need to take shelter.
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Well, all I can say is..... ;)
 
KAS said:
Be careful Stevie I had the post police chasing me for days. I, like you had the temerity to pass on my experience and in they piled. Beware you don't wake up the ancient_mariner he takes things like this very seriously and isn't a chap to upset. KIPAX is just a sentry, he isn't too bad he just laughs at you and pokes you if you sail off the party line. I'm in the trench across the road if you need to take shelter.
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Ah poor you....actually no I'm not that caring and couldn't care less...Just read the bloody posts fella :P :)
 
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