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Post by pontiac1940 on Mar 4, 2019 0:41:43 GMT
Well after owning an ASUS Republic of Gaming laptop for almost 6 years, it is time to think about a new machine. The laptop has a 17-inch screen, 16 GB of RAM and an old-school spinning drive. It weighs as much as a mid-sized pony.  (Ugh!) I use one laptop for everything...don't have a desktop, nor do I want one. At home it is connected to a 24-inch screen, although when we are at the summer place I edit photos on the laptop's 17-inch screen. The laptop travels back and forth in summer so there is no need to update hard drives when I get home...keeps things simple. (I could buy a separate monitor for the summer place.) So now a hard question that rivals asking what type of car or camera to buy.  If you are using a laptop for your main computer, what make and model do you have? Or perhaps I should ask: what make and model would you like to have? Perhaps you just bought a new machine or have been looking.
What type of drives? How much RAM? Processor? Display quality: sharpness, colors, contrast, brightness. Graphics card. Pros and cons. Some specs for me: Minimum of 15-inch screen for when it is not attached to the second screen 16 GB of RAM (even though the new laptop will have an SSD.) SD card reader 3 or 4 USB ports HDMI port I don't care about the keyboard and touch pad as I never use them. I'd do not want to spend much more then $1,000 USD, but will consider higher-priced laptops. Comments welcome. Thanks, Clive |
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Post by blackmutt on Mar 4, 2019 0:49:57 GMT
Ugh, same questions I have!! I also have a 17 inch lap top. Love the bigger screen for sure. I will be watching this thread with great interest as I could have written this same post.
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Post by Bailey on Mar 4, 2019 3:21:45 GMT
Because I use PSE on my laptop and do a significant amount of photo stitching for panoramas, typically 7-10 portrait orientation photos for a panorama, I would not settle for less than 16GB Ram and an Intel Core i5 cpu. But I would really want a Core i7.
Stitching 7-10 photos takes up a lot of ram and number crunching power.
hth
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Post by blackmutt on Mar 4, 2019 10:51:32 GMT
Agree on the RAM for sure. I doubled mine last yrea from 8 to 16 and saw a difference. SSD is a better choice if you can swing the $$ for one with enough storage. All of the items i too am researching and pondering
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Post by pontiac1940 on Mar 4, 2019 17:17:52 GMT
Thanks blackmutt and Bailey. Yes, 16 GB RAM for sure as I have now. My current machine is Intel Core i7-4700HQ @ 2.4Ghz. The machine has slowed down the past couple of years and should be cleaned up, but it is still coming up on 6 years and owes me nothing ... it's probably been turned on ~30,000 hours and been actively used perhaps 6,000+ hours. This machine gets decent reviews, but I read somewhere that the display seems to be "dull." Will look into that. Costco has a 90-day return on electronics, so it can go back if I don't like it. I'd prefer to buy at (say) Best Buy because they have an in-house tech lab in case of problems. Just BTW, I won't by Apple or Dell. Thanks Clive |
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Post by Andy on Mar 5, 2019 13:02:30 GMT
I agree with the other posters on getting 16Gb of RAM and at least an i5 (like Bailey, I would go with an i7 if you can). Display size is really a function of how comfortable you are with a larger laptop. As for how the display looks to you, I think that is personal preference.
I would definitely get an SSD, and I would probably look at 500Gb minimum. It depends where your primary image storage is. If it is on the cloud (OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.) or external USB, then you get get away with maybe 256Gb.
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Post by kdcintx on Mar 5, 2019 15:50:05 GMT
Don't forget the graphics card! Be sure to check out the graphics card requirements for any post processing software you expect to use. A graphics card with sufficient memory and gpu may be somewhat expensive but worth it in the long run.
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Post by blackmutt on Mar 6, 2019 1:05:42 GMT
Don't forget the graphics card! Be sure to check out the graphics card requirements for any post processing software you expect to use. A graphics card with sufficient memory and gpu may be somewhat expensive but worth it in the long run. Excellent point. I had to upgrade my graphics card for Photoshop etc. It was free from the HP website, I was lucky. |
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Post by pontiac1940 on Mar 6, 2019 2:34:32 GMT
Thanks again. I purchased the ASUS 6 years ago because it is classed as a "gaming" computer with high-end graphics card...NVidia GeForce GTX 765M ... something about which I am not savvy. Was told a good gaming card is good for photos. BTW, the camera's raw files are 48 MB...so power is good.  I am not in a panic (hopefully) and will keep looking around. Thanks for your ideas, Clive |
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Post by michelb on Mar 6, 2019 13:45:17 GMT
A personal opinion which is based on my own use case: mainly editing at home on a desktop with PSE (no videos with PE). - I totally agree with the need to get a lot of RAM, especially with PSE2019. - The processor is very important, especially for a raw workflow and for advanced editing filters.
So, where is it possible to accept compromises? 1 - The graphic processor is practically never used with PSE.
2 - SSD: I think that 256 GB is really minimal. Good if you are able to manage your drive space between two internal drives. Otherwise, I would be happy with a 512 one plus another internal conventional drive. 3 - Display size: A very personal choice. The comfort if you have to do long edits asks for something like a 17 " display. I would never use any kind of HiDpi display for image editing, but there are other qualities to search for.
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Post by ritage on Mar 7, 2019 17:35:11 GMT
I have always wished Programs and Apps would not just state their minimum requirements, but also the best combination available and also explain why it is the "best". Then one could make an educated decision about one's own needs.
Rita
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(Ugh!) 
If you are using a laptop for your main computer, what make and model do you have? Or perhaps I should ask: what make and model would you like to have? Perhaps you just bought a new machine or have been looking. 
