[Bad Juju]

Driving myself mad trying to find myself a new laptop. I've so far neen considering the Dell XPS 15, Samsung series 9 or moving to an Apple Macbook pro retina. I do feel somewhat anxious about the price of the machines. My last laptop was a Sony Vaio which handled photoshop fine. Very sad when the graphics chip went, apparently a fault in their machines which meant any chip would continually burn out. The keyboard went within 2 years as well. I spent 200 quid repairing it last year and it buggered up again. I now have the awful task of trying to find a repllacement.

Given photoshop cs4 worked fine on my old 2 gb ish machine do I need really to go mad? More memory useful of course. Would like to start working more in RAW which I did a bit on my last.

I'm so confused. Do I switch to Apple and learn a whole new OS? Or stick with windoz? I just want to get on with it and get a bloody laptop so I can get working again. If I stuck with pc that could potentially save me £500 for photographic equipment. WTF??? In such a quandry.

[!!11oneone]

Generally speaking, but not always, you do get what you pay for.

Put it this way: they all use Intel processors and Nvidia graphics chips and Hitachi or WD hard drives and RAM from a handful of factories.

The differentiation between brands is build quality and how well the machines have been designed: heat dissipation, board layout, battery, well-matched components etc

However, there's also a premium on some brands, because they're premium brands. For example, is a Gap sweatshirt any different in quality to an M&S sweatshirt? Probably not, but one is branded while the other is simply better quality than a cheap Primark version.

When I bought my machines, I considered other laptops and decided it was worth £800 to buy a Mac (with education discount). I'm not sure I'd pay upwards of £1000 for one, even though I love it and would rather keep using OSX.

You have to balance features, build and brand.

[John259]

As well as the amount of memory, I think it would also be worth comparing processors with the one in your old computer, and perhaps also the graphics adaptor.

[barky99]

imo premium price just means laptop is stuffed with very latest chips etc & likely very over-specced in relation to what software is available .... just go for one with highest resolution screen you can find, at least 4 gig ddr3 (can add more cheaply later if it doesn't seem enough - unless you get a glued together laptop), intel corei5, ..... and spend more money on photographic stuff

[Bad Juju]

So processor speed is it? Is that the ghz? higher number = better ? Screen res. Important too I think but don't understand the numbers for that either. All the machines mentioned above have got great reviews but I'm wondering whether I should forgo the stylish aspect and just go for power speed and res. They all have good specs for that. Just scared of spending so much on what could turn out to be a lemon. And then there's the issue of swapping os. Been a windows user always, could I deal with the new system. I was using Vista before which I thought was crap.

[Bad Juju]

Originally Posted by John259

As well as the amount of memory, I think it would also be worth comparing processors with the one in your old computer, and perhaps also the graphics adaptor.

Hmmmm. Yep. This is what I've been thinking. The superslim glued 'sealed' laptops worry me. I think as long as it's one of the new NVIDIA cards and high res screen, fast processor etc. style and svelteness seems to be what bumps up the price. Maybe just get an ugly clever thing instead of a super model.

[John259]

Originally Posted by Bad Juju

So processor speed is it? Is that the ghz? higher number = better ?

Yes. The main processor chips for laptops which run Windows these days are the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7, in increasing order of processing power.

Screen res. Important too I think but don't understand the numbers for that either.

It's the number of pixels across and down. If you're happy with your current computer's screen resolution then there's no point in paying more for a higher resolution.

Screen size is important, and it also controls the case size and keyboard size, and whether the keyboard has a numeric keypad.

And then there's the issue of swapping os. Been a windows user always, could I deal with the new system. I was using Vista before which I thought was crap.

As well as the learning problem, your existing software won't work on an Apple computer.

Another complicating factor is the imminent release of Windows 8 which is radically different to Windows 7. It divides opinion sharply, as has been discussed at length on other threads.

[!!11oneone]

Ok, you need a more basic approach and I think the best way to do it is to set a budget. How much can you really afford?

Let's face it, you could spent £2000 on a laptop but if your needs are internet and word then you don't need to spend more than £300.

If you want to run Photoshop, I'd say your sweet spot is the £500-£1000 mark. Here's what the various things mean:

Processor: measured in GHz, the higher the better. You'll want a dual or quad core. This is like having two or four mini processors all at once. I'm a bit out of touch with the latest processors, I'm sure someone else will advise. The ones to look at are Core i5 and Core i7.

Memory: this is the working space of the computer, called RAM. Again, the more the better - basically, the more working space it has the more it can do at once. For photography, you need lots of this as you'll be handling big files and doing complex things with them. Don't get less than 4Gb but I'd say more if you can. No-one ever regrets getting more RAM!

HDD: disk space is obvious, measured in Gb or Tb. 500Gb is the minimum, 1Tb (which is twice as big) is better

Resolution: this is how many dots make up the screen. Again, more is better. A 1600 x 900 (which means 1600 dots across, 900 down) is very good.


Basically, you won't get a lemon for the amount you want to spend. Though I'd forget the Dell, build quality is usually not great.

[IvanIV]

High specced high end laptop will last longer, because of build quality and because of top of the shelf components that are balanced for optimal performance. Apple has a one year release cycle, so you may still end up with something that was hot one year ago even if it is a new model. With processors it's not that simple as more GHz = more power. The generation of a processor is important, too. The new ones work more efficiently. The latest generation (of Intel i processors) is 3rd I think.

Switching to Apple? If you just want to get on with your work, getting a new OS and new programmes to use may not be the best way to do it. OTOH, a very high res display may be good for editing big raw pictures. If it is a necessity or a luxury is your call.

[Bad Juju]

Thanks for that folks, that's really useful.

The quest continues.

[John259]

This Intel online utility might be worth a try. You select responses regarding what usage you'll be making of a computer and it suggests a suitable (Intel) processor:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...processor.html