Computer buying -Photo Editing

[Mr.BigBoy17]

Hello everyone,

New here, was told about this site but never signed up! So I have a question/problem. I am looking for a new computer. The one I have now is a Asus 4gb 500gb @ 2.0 ghz. I am look at this new HP Laptop at Walmart. Link below. What do you think about this one? Is this a good one? What should I get? Thanks!!

Stats of New One: 8gb 1tb @ 2.40ghz max at 3.30 ghz with a AMD processor

*Wanting to stay around $400*

HP 15-ba043wm 15.6" Laptop, Touchscreen, Windows 10 Home, AMD A10-9600P APU Processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive - Walmart.com

 

[table1349]

What do you want it for, to look at photos or to do editing/printing. If it is the first then about anything you buy will do. If you want it for the latter then don't waste your money on a laptop. They are poor choices for editing. Generally the displays on cheaper laptops are TN displays instead of IPS displays, they are harder/impossible to calibrate the screen with hardware calibration, and you are never in the same light looking at the display at the same angle.

If you want to edit you want either a desktop that you can set up in a fixed location so the light is always the same and the viewing angle does not change or a laptop along with a good external IPS monitor.

 

[Mr.BigBoy17]

What do you want it for, to look at photos or to do editing/printing. If it is the first then about anything you buy will do. If you want it for the latter then don't waste your money on a laptop. They are poor choices for editing. Generally the displays on cheaper laptops are TN displays instead of IPS displays, they are harder/impossible to calibrate the screen with hardware calibration, and you are never in the same light looking at the display at the same angle.

If you want to edit you want either a desktop that you can set up in a fixed location so the light is always the same and the viewing angle does not change or a laptop along with a good external IPS monitor.

Hello, I am wanting to edit the photos. I have Adobe Elements 13 software. Could you point me at some desktops around $400. I'm not sure what to get. Thanks - Ed

 

[table1349]

Sorry, no. We are Apple users and they do not have stuff in that price range. I am sure that there will be others that pop in to suggest some windows units that might.

Also you might search for similar threads here. This type of thing is a common asked question.

 

[Ysarex]

Micro Center - Computers and Electronics

Joe

 

[Mr.BigBoy17]

Sorry, no. We are Apple users and they do not have stuff in that price range. I am sure that there will be others that pop in to suggest some windows units that might.

Also you might search for similar threads here. This type of thing is a common asked question.

Thank you!

 

[Mr.BigBoy17]

Micro Center - Computers and Electronics

Joe

Thank you!

 

[Big Red Dobie]

Check out the local computer stores - they sometimes have computers that have been turned in and are still in great shape. I bought a used Asus laptop that got me through college for under 200 - The only thing I ever did to it was upgrade the memory to its max. On the same note, from my own experience, there is no way in hell that I would trade an Asus in for an HP. I have been on the technical side of computers for over 20 years and the most problems I have ever had with desktop or laptops were with HP and DELL. If you want to save money and since you are on a limited budget, upgrade the memory on your laptop to whatever the max is. Then buy a good monitor, mouse and keyboard. Basically convert your laptop to a desktop.
Your current processor speed is not that bad, your bottleneck is going to be the amount of ram you have. Since you only have 4 gig, I would start there with the upgrade.

Just my .02 worth -

Jim

 

[Big Red Dobie]

oh yea, Just as a side note... An AMD processor runs slower than an Intel processor... Again, I would start with a memory upgrade - if you are worried about drive space, you can get an external hd for next to nothing

 

[Mr.BigBoy17]

oh yea, Just as a side note... An AMD processor runs slower than an Intel processor... Again, I would start with a memory upgrade - if you are worried about drive space, you can get an external hd for next to nothing

Hello, thanks for the info I will keep that in mind. I love the Asus I have but it was like a $200 one and it's about seen its days physical wise. Thanks again!

 

[PersistentNomad]

I just got a new HP Pavilion with a sweet Intel processor. It was $700 and absolutely worth the investment. It runs multiple adobe programs at once with barely a hiccup. It's an all in one, which is great.
My last HP pavilion was wonderful when I wasn't trying to push it so hard, but it didn't have as much hard drive or ram, and it was a lower end processor (amd). So, now that I'm working it more (like really a lot) it just couldn't keep up.
Basically if you are more than a casual photographer, you need the better Intel processor.

 

[chuasam]

I have an old iMac which works fine.
27" 3.5GHz i7 processor.
32GB RAM 500GB SSD
2 mirrored and daisychained Thunderbolt drives at 4TB (backed up nightly)
1TB armoured drive with hourly backups of my computer
3TB drive with movies and games and various entertainment. (USB)

I've found laptops to be too expensive for the money if you don't need portability.
I have a friend who edits on her iPad Pro.

 

[bboyzala]

I have an old iMac which works fine.
27" 3.5GHz i7 processor.
32GB RAM 500GB SSD
2 mirrored and daisychained Thunderbolt drives at 4TB (backed up nightly)
1TB armoured drive with hourly backups of my computer
3TB drive with movies and games and various entertainment. (USB)

I've found laptops to be too expensive for the money if you don't need portability.
I have a friend who edits on her iPad Pro.

yeah just to quote, I've used my ipad pro on the fly to edit just so that my client can see her pictures right away, but I ended up using the iPad Pro to present then used my desktop later on to do more post production that my ipad can't necessarily do at the time.