Laptop?

[MRA]

Hey guys,

Thinking of branching out and buying a laptop to go with my home PC.

I want one to use mainly as my photography and on-the-go laptop so something really fast with space.

Any suggestions?

[SgtBourne]

Can't really go past a macbook pro, 13 inch.

Light, fast, looks great and can run MAC & windows.

[MRA]

Sounds good. Thanks for the tip.

[PicturePerfect]

l would suggest a fast i5 or i7 laptop with min 15'' screen for great display resolution, 1gb Graphics card, 500+ Gb HDD, Win 7 64 bit, 8gb Ram. you can pick them up for under a thousand dollars easily these days. Super fast, reliable, long battery life and runs ALL the high end games, Graphics programs Photoshop suite CS5 + , etc, etc. with no lag at all. + inbuilt memory card readers, etc as well. l dont think the apples have memory card readers (last years models and back dont), which is really perplexing as they advertise it as the best for Audio/visual!??

either one, these days the specs are up there to run everything you throw at it anyway... just personal preference.

[Doogle]

Matt,
Are you intending on using the laptop as your primary post-processing machine or will your current home PC continue these duties ?

If you are only looking for a laptop to use as a preview tool, storage tool and some occassional PP work I'd look at any of the sub $1K laptops around that have an i3 or i5 processor, 4GB RAM as a minimum and whatever size internal HDD you are happy with (320GB+).

As an "on-the-go" machine, I don't think you need the bees-knees in laptops. Most basic laptops currently out today will do the job with ease. You may want to consider size and weight being you will be lugging this around with the rest of your gear.

If you are looking to use the laptop as the primary PP machine, then I'd consider i5 or i7 laptop, 4GB RAM should still (could go 8GB but I don't think it will make a huge difference to you. You should also be fine with either 32bit or 64bit Win7....both will work for you just fine.

I agree Macs are nice and work well, but I cannot justify the expense when you can get an equally good computer at a cheaper price (though I know there will be many out there who argue differently). Horses for courses.

It all depends on what the duties will be for the laptop...

Dave

[LJG]

If it is any help Matt I asked our work IT guru (contractor) what brand to get when I went looking and he said there is only 1 brand to buy, Toshiba.

[Lost]

i ended getting a dell with i7/dual core/17"(??) screen blah blah blah; in other words it has some good grunt. It's not the take it everywhere lappy as it is fairly large and heavy. I often wish i did not get this big (in size). Long and very expensive story. 15" would have been just as good.

just remember a lappy is not the best for serious photo editing and you will most likely need an external screen also. I have a 22" but i find it harder to use than if hooked up to a desk top. I also find it near impossible to match up the screens

If this is your main photo puter and you don't have to take it with you I would suggest you get a more bang for your $$ desk top puter. I often wished I got a new desk top and small but powerful lappy.

[Doogle]

.....he said there is only 1 brand to buy, Toshiba.

Gotta love those broad generalisations that some people love to throw around....LOL.

Toshiba make nice laptops, but so do many of the major players (ASUS, Acer, HP, Dell, etc).

Apologies for singling this out, but silly broad comments that supposed IT guru's make irritate me. They should know better and take the time to try and actually give helpful advice.

I'd never advise anyone looking at getting into photography that they should only buy Nikon or Canon stuff. Everything has pros and cons and what works for one person may not suit another. If the time is taken to find out what is required, then succinct and helpful advice can be given which is much more beneficial than just telling someone to buy x product and end of story.

Dave

[MRA]

Thanks all for the helpful replies.

To answer some questions, I want a small yet not too small Laptop that I can take places, in the car, on trips etc for all of my work. I would be using to store all of my photos, edit, upload and PP them all as my home PC is my main one.

[Lost]

I would be using to store all of my photos, .

not sure if a lappy if good or safe for that idea

[SgtBourne]

I still say macbook pro.

It's as fast as the competition, runs both mac OS and windows (use mac 90% of the time and windows when you have to).

Silly things such as it looks bloody schmick, nice n light (in 13" form).