Need a laptop for advanced photo editing

downhilltrucker · Oct 13, 2023

Looking for laptop recommendations for intense photo editing and light video editing. Not totally against Mac, but I've owned windows the past 10 years so I prefer windows.

Budget is $3,000 give or take. I need super snappy response with a ton of masks in Lightroom and something that will smash Denoise AI files quickly. My current laptop is lagging with both.

I prefer PC due to expandability and I can add RAM and SSD drives if those are options.

Currently looking at Asus Pro Studio 16 and Dell XPS 17 but open to all suggestions. I'm used to a 17 inch screen so I would prefer that as well.

Thanks for any help!

Dale H. Cook · Oct 13, 2023

downhilltrucker said:
Currently looking at Asus Pro Studio 16 and Dell XPS 17

For decades I have exclusively used IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads because I need a highly reliable laptop for work, but they may be out of your budget. I don't know if they have improved, but Asus made the first IBM Thinkpads, and because of reliability problems IBM switched Thinkpad production to Lenovo. When IBM got out of the hardware business they sold the Thinkpad line to Lenovo. Note that Thinkpads are a premium line and not to be confused with the less expensive machines sold simply as Lenovo.

smoke665 · Oct 13, 2023

Look at the HP Omen series. It's billed as a gaming build, but the components cross over to photo editing nicely.

Rickbb · Oct 13, 2023

I've used HP pro/business grade laptops for a couple of decades now. They have never disappointed me. Any "gaming" built laptop will have all the hardware you will need, just need to strip out all the bloatware they come loaded with. All that added on software will bog down the CPU and hog RAM.

I routinely run Lightroom and PS on my HP Z book, no issues. Core i7 12 way, 32GB RAM, on board Nvidia graphics, 1TB SSD drive.

Personally, I would never, ever buy Dell ever again.

Original katomi · Oct 13, 2023

Intel I 9 1 tv hdd, 17inch screen external hard drive

downhilltrucker · Oct 15, 2023

Rickbb said:
I've used HP pro/business grade laptops for a couple of decades now. They have never disappointed me. Any "gaming" built laptop will have all the hardware you will need, just need to strip out all the bloatware they come loaded with. All that added on software will bog down the CPU and hog RAM.

I routinely run Lightroom and PS on my HP Z book, no issues. Core i7 12 way, 32GB RAM, on board Nvidia graphics, 1TB SSD drive.

Personally, I would never, ever buy Dell ever again.

Is it easy to get rid of the bloatware?