A Laptop For Photoshop

[Shilts]

What a fantastic site ! I've browsed through it a few times but only just registered so be gentle with me ! I need help choosing a laptop. Mainly for working with Photoshop 7,also the usual MS office type stuff and for my kids to watch DVDs on in the car as well. At the minute my choice is a Centrino 1.5 with 512mb RAM (acer aspire 2000 series) but try as i may i cannot find anyone who uses a laptop for photo editing so i don't know whether this is a better option than a P4 or AMD 64. I' not bothered too much about battery life if i get a significant return on performance :? :scratch:

 

[voodoocat]

A laptop is not the best tool to edit photos in photoshop. The LCD screen simply does not have the resolution and color reproduction to be effective for editing photos.

If you want to edit photos at home I would at least recommend getting a CRT monitor to hook up to the laptop.

 

[Shilts]

I realise the limitation of the screen but it would be sufficient for what i want to do. I get a certain amount of 'downtime' whilst at work to play around with a something that i am relatively new to (I've only been taking photos for about 15 months) and would be doing finer detail work, as you suggest, at home on my PC.

 

[ZacKrohn]

I would also disrecomend a laptop because of the mouse. I know you can attach an external one but the mouse touchpad is hard enough to use normally, I cant imagine selecting things with it.

 

[photobug]

I don't seem to have any trouble using my iBook to edit photos. Beyond it being slower than slow that is.

 

[StvShoop]

i do everything on my laptop
i really don't think of the screen as a limitation... i don't know if it's just mine or what (ibm t30) but the same image almost always looks better on here than on any crt. don't know about desktop lcd screens though. dont call me crazy... but you know how if you tilt a laptop screen forwards or back, the image looks different? i usually find this useful for predicting how manipulating the levels of a photo will look. the image DOES usually look different on laptop screen as opposed to crt screens (i had a lot trouble with posting a photo, and having people see it a while back!), but the same can be said (albeit not as intensely) for crt screens. MAC is the way to go if you want color correctness, but if you're mostly doing stuff for yourself, not too much for web, then laptop is great.
the red dot thing works fine for ps too, imo. it's good to have two choices, mouse or red dot.
i don't know a lot about computers though man. ram is going to be a primary need, of course. is that a centrino 1.5 ghz? i'm on 1.8 ghz, and it runs sufficiently well.
my guess is that your main concerns will be lots of ram, and a fast (possibly large) hard drive. i'll ask my hardware friends and see what they think

 

[tr0gd0o0r]

If you're gonna go with the laptop, i'd suggest getting a little bit faster processor than a 1.5, i used to have one and they can be pretty slow when opening, and editing photos (on a desktop, i'm not sure how that translates to laptops). And i'd get as much ram as you can afford, and also pay attention to the video card you get with it.

 

[StvShoop]

does video card help with digital imaging? i've asked my lan friends a couple of times and they just don't know. it's of prime importance for gaming, i know that.
someone mentioned to me that the type of processor in that laptop you have linked is supposed to be on par with a 2.8ghz, but a guy who actually has one says it's nowhere near that fast... they need to standardize!

 

[voodoocat]

does video card help with digital imaging? i've asked my lan friends a couple of times and they just don't know. it's of prime importance for gaming, i know that.
someone mentioned to me that the type of processor in that laptop you have linked is supposed to be on par with a 2.8ghz, but a guy who actually has one says it's nowhere near that fast... they need to standardize!

When it comes to Photoshop it should all be dependent on the CPU. So I would say no, the video card does not matter. For 3D rendering and animation yes, but not photo editing.

 

[StvShoop]

thanks man, i didn't realize that split between 3d work and photoshop before, but it makes sense.

When it comes to Photoshop it should all be dependent on the CPU.

you mean cpu rather than video card right? i would think that as long as you have an "ok" cpu, the ram and hard drive would be the biggest determinants of imaging effectiveness
but i'm no hardware person. good to be speaking with someone who knows visual software and hardware too

 

[voodoocat]

thanks man, i didn't realize that split between 3d work and photoshop before, but it makes sense.

When it comes to Photoshop it should all be dependent on the CPU.

you mean cpu rather than video card right? i would think that as long as you have an "ok" cpu, the ram and hard drive would be the biggest determinants of imaging effectiveness
but i'm no hardware person. good to be speaking with someone who knows visual software and hardware too

Yeah, CPU.

I have an Athlon 2500+ (1.8Ghz) overclocked to 2.2Ghz (400mhz front side bus) with 512M of PC3200 RAM and photoshop 7 loads in 6 seconds the first load and less than 2 seconds if I close it and open it again. CS is slightly longer. Filters don't take long at all. Even 6 megapixel 16-bit files take only a few seconds.

 

[StvShoop]

nice specs. makes me wish this was a desktop so i could upgrade

 

[ZacKrohn]

I heard PShop uses 50% :shock: of your RAM :shock:....so I would suggest at least 256 or even 512 RAM. I would say stick to the platform you are used to, so if you a PC person go with PC if you are a Mac person go with Mac. If you do decide to go with Mac I would say defiantly get a powerbook G4. Those are some of the best/most powerful computers out there. If you can’t afford a Mac though PC is a fine choice as well. Is this computer going to be used for anything else? If so what? There are many advantages/disadvantages to computers and their hardware.

 

[Shilts]

Looks like I've opened a nice can of worms with my first post ! Now I'm getting somewhere. that grey cloud of confusion is slowly lifting. I would love to get a mac, a workmate has just gone over to mac and he's a total convert, but they are way too pricey for my meagre budget as yet . As for other apps, web browsing (this sight of course) in the comfort in my living room whilst watching TV. Pshop would be the most memory/ cpu intensive though. At the moment I have an Athlon 2100+ so what voodoocat (Vood for short ???) said about his gives me a good benchmark. Please Keep'm coming though I've heard 512is the min aswell so if i can i will upgrade

 

[voodoocat]

(Vood for short ???)

That or Voods