Laptop for Photoshop and Lightroom

sukunda87

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I didn't know where to post this topic, so please excuse me if I'm in the wrong part of the forum.

I need a laptop for image editing. I have a budget of 600 euros. Used laptops are welcomed too.

I'm not going to use external monitor, because I'm traveling alot.

Most of the laptops have terrible panels with low srgb coverage. So, can You guys suggest me something for that amount of money? For 600e I can buy used Macbook pro 15" 2011.

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The Macbook pro's are good if you want used.

Here are some new ones.

Excellent hardware, good specifications, ssd drive. will need external drive for storage. Very fast read and write times. Back lit HD display.
Lenovo E560 Intel Core i5-6200U 8GB 192GB SSD 15.6" Win 7 Pro (20EV000TUK) | BT Shop

Excellent hardware, good specifications, large storage, slower read and write times. Giving up a little file speed for storage space. Back lit HD display
Fujitsu Lifebook A556 Intel Core i5-6200U 8GB 1TB 15.6" W10P (VFY:A5560M85AOGB) | BT Shop

Excellent hardware, good specifications, ssd drive, will need external drive for storage. Very fast read and write times. Back lit HD display.
Fujitsu Lifebook A555G Pro Intel Core i5-5200U 8GB 256GB SSD 15.6" Windows 10 64-bit (VFY:A5550M75BOGB) | BT Shop
 
I must admit that I'm little confused about panel that laptop must have, so I can use it for photoshop and lightroom. All three laptops have srgb coverage around 50-60%. I understood that the srgb coverage must be above 90%, and the panel must be IPS type. Am I wrong? Can someone explain that to me?

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I must admit that I'm little confused about panel that laptop must have, so I can use it for photoshop and lightroom. All three laptops have srgb coverage around 50-60%. I understood that the srgb coverage must be above 90%, and the panel must be IPS type. Am I wrong? Can someone explain that to me?

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

Nothing is a must. I simply directed you to quality hardware within your budget. I figured you would come back with a response like this. Getting quality mobile workstation level hardware is not in the cards at your budget. You are looking for a mobile workstation laptop. This is what you should be looking for in the used area.

Google search used mobile workstation. Lenovo,Sager, Fugitisu are quality hardware. They usually will have full HD panel with separate quadro graphic chips.
 
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Yeah, I guess that I want too much for that amount of money... But I must ask You sir, how good are those panels? Let's forget srgb %. Are those panels are going to represent colors normaly, with little calibration? I have Lenovo laptop, and when I do some edit in LR or PS, picture looks fine for me. But on my monitor it's complitly diferent story. It's ussualy underexposed.

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As was already mentioned, Lenovo makes a really good laptop, I am using one now. I am not familiar with the mac side of things, so I will leave those comments to someone else. Both LR and Photoshop are memory hogs, so an upgrade to your memory would be helpful, I would not go below 16gig. You can also check the specs to see how much is being allocated to video, that may help some too. I have always used an NVidia video card and never been disappointed.

Hope that helps a little,

Jim
 
Yeah, I guess that I want too much for that amount of money... But I must ask You sir, how good are those panels? Let's forget srgb %. Are those panels are going to represent colors normaly, with little calibration? I have Lenovo laptop, and when I do some edit in LR or PS, picture looks fine for me. But on my monitor it's complitly diferent story. It's ussualy underexposed.

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

Yes, pretty typical. Not sure what model you have. The one I originally linked were for your budget not for IPS/quadro level display. Mobile workstations will have a dedicated graphics chip and are designed with matched display's. IPS will display color, clarity, and light correctly. Lenovo P50 is the cheapest, new mobile workstation I would consider. On the high end, Shenker are excellent.

For used, you might be able to locate a 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) (95% Gamut) (270 NITS), Lenovo W530. When searching, make sure it is a FHD model. That is about the best I could come up with in your budget. Lenovo W530 15.6 FHD
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will try to find some models, and I will post them here.

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Not to be a party pooper but...........a few truths about laptops and photo editing.

1. Laptops are poor machines to edit on. The screen is not always at the same angle and you are not in the same light all the time.
2. Laptop, desktop, it doesn't matter, all displays must be hardware calibrated to properly edit as well as being periodically re-calibrated. Especially if you change where you are editing or the lighting changes. Otherwise WYS is not WYG.
3. Laptops are only good for convenience when editing. See the above two for reasons why.
4. Most Laptops do not come with IPS (IN PLANE SWITCHING) displays. More IPS displays are being added to laptops, generally the higher end/more expensive models.

Some things you need to be aware of if you are not.
 
Not to be a party pooper but...........a few truths about laptops and photo editing.

1. Laptops are poor machines to edit on. The screen is not always at the same angle and you are not in the same light all the time.
2. Laptop, desktop, it doesn't matter, all displays must be hardware calibrated to properly edit as well as being periodically re-calibrated. Especially if you change where you are editing or the lighting changes. Otherwise WYS is not WYG.
3. Laptops are only good for convenience when editing. See the above two for reasons why.
4. Most Laptops do not come with IPS (IN PLANE SWITCHING) displays. More IPS displays are being added to laptops, generally the higher end/more expensive models.

Some things you need to be aware of if you are not.
Well, I'm trying to get the best solution for ~600e. I mean, I know that I can't get something special for that amount of money. I have PC with good monitor, but I can't use it because of often trips.

Few people told me that I should get older Macbook pro 15". I can buy used model from 2011 for 600e here where I live. They have told me that Macbook's have great panels, and that PS and LR are working just fine even on older models (2010, 2009...) Is that true?

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As far as working yes they work. I have a 2015 MBP that will run LR & PS easily. Thing is when it comes to editing, environment has a lot to do with the final output. If you are wanting something to view you photos on while traveling a laptop is fine. If you want to truly edit you photos, then no they are not good for my above stated reasons.
 
So, no field work for 600e? Like I expected... well, in that case I can keep my Lenovo laptop with horrible panel and invest money in good monitor, so I can edit when I'm home...

Just one thing that I don't understand. I see all the time srgb % in laptop previews. It's on notebookchecker.com. So, higher the srbg % is, the colors are going to be produced better, right? Or am I wrong? A lot expencive laptops have just 60-70% of srgb coverage. And I have saw few less expencive with higher srgb coverage. Am I missing something?

I got it like this, good intel i5 or i7, ram 8-16gb, good gpu, IPS Full HD panel (15" min) with >90% srgb? Or I'm wrong?

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The problem is with the viewing. If you want WYSIWYG, then you have to be systematic with your editing approach. My editing is done at a 27" IPS monitor that is hardware calibrated. Many people believe that calibrating you monitor deals just with the screen. It does not. It deals with the entire environment you are working in, i.e.. ambient light, it's source and direction. When you calibrate with a good hardware calibration device it takes into account the ambient light in the room and how that light falls on the device/screen.

When I edit the room is always dark with one small backlight behind the monitor. When I say dark that means door closed, lights off and no light coming through the window. I have it blocked by a black plastic film that allows no light through it. That way, day or night I have the exact same conditions every time I edit. The monitor is in the same fixed position and angle every time I sit down. The chair is at the same height. My calibration device of choice is the X-Rite ColorMunki Photo. I calibrate my monitor and profile my printer. What I see is what I get when printing.

With a laptop, you are always at different angles with the display, in different light environments. There in lies the problem unless you are willing to calibrate the display every time you go to edit a photo or two you will not be seeing a true representation on you display as it is not calibrated for the environment you are in at that point in time.
 
Not to be a party pooper but...........a few truths about laptops and photo editing.

1. Laptops are poor machines to edit on. The screen is not always at the same angle and you are not in the same light all the time.
2. Laptop, desktop, it doesn't matter, all displays must be hardware calibrated to properly edit as well as being periodically re-calibrated. Especially if you change where you are editing or the lighting changes. Otherwise WYS is not WYG.
3. Laptops are only good for convenience when editing. See the above two for reasons why.
4. Most Laptops do not come with IPS (IN PLANE SWITCHING) displays. More IPS displays are being added to laptops, generally the higher end/more expensive models.

Some things you need to be aware of if you are not.
Well, I'm trying to get the best solution for ~600e. I mean, I know that I can't get something special for that amount of money. I have PC with good monitor, but I can't use it because of often trips.

Few people told me that I should get older Macbook pro 15". I can buy used model from 2011 for 600e here where I live. They have told me that Macbook's have great panels, and that PS and LR are working just fine even on older models (2010, 2009...) Is that true?

That is not true. What is true is that Apple is very successful at lying to it's fan base.

Joe
 
Not to be a party pooper but...........a few truths about laptops and photo editing.

1. Laptops are poor machines to edit on. The screen is not always at the same angle and you are not in the same light all the time.
2. Laptop, desktop, it doesn't matter, all displays must be hardware calibrated to properly edit as well as being periodically re-calibrated. Especially if you change where you are editing or the lighting changes. Otherwise WYS is not WYG.
3. Laptops are only good for convenience when editing. See the above two for reasons why.
4. Most Laptops do not come with IPS (IN PLANE SWITCHING) displays. More IPS displays are being added to laptops, generally the higher end/more expensive models.

Some things you need to be aware of if you are not.
Well, I'm trying to get the best solution for ~600e. I mean, I know that I can't get something special for that amount of money. I have PC with good monitor, but I can't use it because of often trips.

Few people told me that I should get older Macbook pro 15". I can buy used model from 2011 for 600e here where I live. They have told me that Macbook's have great panels, and that PS and LR are working just fine even on older models (2010, 2009...) Is that true?

That is not true. What is true is that Apple is very successful at lying to it's fan base.

Joe
Not near as much as Windows users lie to Apple users.
 

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