Laptop Suggestions for Photography Major?

[TeresaNJ]

My daughter is a senior photography major and is in dire need of a laptop. She tries to have multiple high resolution photos up at one time, along with Photoshop, and also trying to AIM friends while she is working on her photos, on her somewhat old desktop computer. My hubby and I want to buy her a laptop that will accomodate her needs, and my son was telling me I should get her an Apple Mac as opposed to the usual laptops. I really don't have a clue as to what I should look for. Do any of you pro/semi-pro photographers out there have any suggestions?

 

[USCGamecocks]

Macs are good for photo editing, as are the PC versions these days. I think that debate mostly comes down to which she prefers and is more comfortable with using. Also, the Mac version will almost certainly be more expensive. However, no matter what you get the most important thing will be RAM . . . and lots of it. I would recommend 3GB if you can because to have multiple high res photos to edit and do other stuff will eat up the RAM on a computer very quickly. Also a good dual core processor will certainly help speed things up. I use a DELL and have been happy with it (typing on it now). However, HP, Lenovo, and others make good machines too.

 

[Code]

A photography major would benefit greatly from a large (17") high resolution screen (definitely higher than the standard 1440x900). Unfortunately a 17" Mac will cost an arm and a leg (starting at $2800).

HP has a 1680x1050 upgrade available for their 17" laptops (typing on one now, love it), Dell has a 1920x1200 option, not sure about other manufacturers.

 

[The Grays]

Also get a large hard drive. In order for PhotoShop to run at its best you would need to portition off the hard drive so PS can have ample space for a scratch disk. Many people do not know this and wonder why PS runs slow even if they have a big HD and lots of ram.

Dan

 

[DVC Jen]

Large screen

Great graphics card

More ram than you ever think she will need.

The best processor you can afford.

The largest hard drive you can afford.

I have heard amazing things about macs - and have even considered getting one. Old habits and my comfort zone are really the only things holding me back. Just got a new dell desktop in December and I am LOVING it.

 

[SharonLowe]

Large screen

Great graphics card

More ram than you ever think she will need.

The best processor you can afford.

The largest hard drive you can afford.

I have heard amazing things about macs - and have even considered getting one. Old habits and my comfort zone are really the only things holding me back. Just got a new dell desktop in December and I am LOVING it.

Ditto what Jen said but to add to it, I am a photographer and after using PCs because the rest of the family/world used them, I finally made the switch to Macs several years ago. I will never go back!! Way fewer crash problems, very intuitive OS, and much better with Photoshop, etc. I know they are more expensive, but to me they are worth every penny. (I would not recommend the MacBook Air for a college student however.)

Why a laptop though? With a desktop, you have more flexibility to add on to it later (plus buy things like memory and hard drives somewhere else since it is cheaper to do it that way). If she really needs the laptop, go with the MacBook Pro.

Go to the Apple Education Store since she is a college student. They offer really good discounts.

 

[MHolleman]

I just got a new CPU unit off of Dell's Bus, & Ed. area for a great price (under$300). If you can ship to a place of business that has a carrier account (like UPS) then you can also get free shipping.

Here is the link if you are interested.

http://www.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb&~ck=bt

 

[Nikel]

I'd suggest a portable external hard drive to go with it. Esp. if she'll still be using the desktop some.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I was thinking the laptop rather than a desk model because she lives with her dad, but comes to my house to print since I have the Epson R1900 photo printer, and she commutes to school, the University of the Arts in Philly. We live about 40 minutes from the school. I thought she'd like a laptop so that she could bring it with her on her travels. She was suppose to graduate this May, but has a few more classes to take, so now informs me she will be a Super Senior, , LOL.

I'll collaborate with her, taking into consideration all the input you guys have given, and see what will be best for her while taking cost into consideration.

 

[Josh125]

For the money you won't find a better laptop out there.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8780198&type=product&id=1204332501169

 

[Anewman]

Also get a large hard drive. In order for PhotoShop to run at its best you would need to portition off the hard drive so PS can have ample space for a scratch disk.

IMO Photoshop would run at its best with TWO SEPARATE hard drives, partitioning a single drive will probably slow down Photoshop (varies depending on what background operations the OS is running). Remember VISTA is a resource hog and running it on the same drive as the scratch disk will defeat the purpose.

 

[Code]

I also wanted to add that most laptops will have a 5400 RPM hard drive standard. The 7200 RPM upgrade is very worth it for photo work.

 

[DueyDooDah]

If you buy by May 19th, Lenovo (formerly IBM lapops) has T61s for 25% off. I ran a quick configuation on thier site (3GB RAM, 160GB 7200RPM hard drive, DVD writer, Vista Home Premium, NVidia Quadro, upgraded display, fingerprint reader for added security, wireless) with enough power for any app, and it'll cost you $1349. Add a 3 year onsite, next business day warranty for only $219) Lenovo's/IBM's T Series has been rated the top laptop for many years. It's keyboard is comfortable and the graphics card in this one is NVidia.

The company I work for (I'm the IT guy) buys these by the droves and loves them. My wife has an older T42 and says her next one will be a T Series.

 

[Groucho]

IMO Photoshop would run at its best with TWO SEPARATE hard drives, partitioning a single drive will probably slow down Photoshop (varies depending on what background operations the OS is running). Remember VISTA is a resource hog and running it on the same drive as the scratch disk will defeat the purpose.

Exactly correct about the scratch disk thing. The advantage is from using two different physical drives, and partitioning a single disk to use one partition as a scratch disk will lower performance.

To the OP... I usually tell people to only buy a laptop if you need one. They are, without exception, more expensive, slower, less reliable, more expensive and more difficult to repair, and less expandable than a desktop unit. If you need one, great, but I wouldn't get one just for the heck of it, especially if you're serious about photography (or gaming or performance in general.)

Furthermore, most laptop screens have fairly small angles of view - in other words, you have to look straight at it, as soon as you're a little too high or low or to the side, the colors change dramatically, which is obviously not what you want for photography! See if you can find one that lists a decent angle of view. Or, look into getting a decent standalone LCD screen to use at home to plug into it.

Controversial opinion section, don't read if you're easily offended: Having supported hundreds of laptops in my day, I wouldn't buy a Dell laptop under any circumstance. I haven't used any but I've heard nightmares about Acers, also. I am ambivalent on Compaq/HPs, Toshibas, and Gateways. I love Lenovo (formerly IBM) Thinkpads. I also have zero interest in a Mac, I much prefer the flexibility that I get from a Windows-based system, and none of those ridiculous one-button mice. To say nothing of the frequent OS upgrades at $129 a pop. Don't get me wrong, I hate MS as much as the next (honest!) but Apple is easily as evil, closed, and anti-competitive at MS, probably more so.

You also can often get Thinkpads with Windows XP instead of Vista - but you'll have to move quickly as XP is going away forever in a month or so. However, it's not worth getting more than 3 gigs of memory with XP - but really, that's plenty for the vast majority of people IMHO. (Even with Vista, it's a good amount, but you will be more likely to see the benefits of more memory with Vista due to it being a larger OS, but you'll need the 64-bit version in order to address more than 4 gigs (which probably won't be an issue with a laptop.)

One other thing - a 17"-screen laptop sounds good, but such a laptop is going to be big and heavy - make sure that is something you're comfortable with before buying. Maybe check a few out in a Best Buy or similar store. As I mentioned before, you can always go with a smaller laptop and buy a larger monitor to use with it at home for photo editing.

 

[boBQuincy]

I go along with Groucho, I see no inherent superiority in a Mac and a lot of software for PCs does not work on a Mac or is released much later.

Laptops are great for portability but the price is in more $$$, lower reliability, and less performance. Solid state drives help but they are even more $$$.

Get XP if you can, Vista is so poorly thought of that Microsoft is rushing Windows 7 to market. My strategy is to get an ultra-mobile PC (Asus Eee 900) for travel and keep the desktop for most use.

 

[SueInBoston]

Thanks DueyDooDah and Groucho,

We need a new laptop too, althought not exclusively for photo stuff. Think I'll go with the IBM.

 

[cosine4]

One thing that was mentioned but not stressed is the graphics card. I would like to stress that point because so many laptops come with bottom of the barrel graphics cards that are not sufficient for anything above the basics. Also be careful when reading specs, some will say 512MB Video Card (or other value) but it is shared memory and not dedicated.

I agree with the above posters that the Macs are not worth the extra money, but they are good computers.

I disagree that Windows Vista is bad. It got a bad rap early because of a lot of bugs, but it has been updated a great deal since then. I have been running Vista for some time now (with many applications that are resource intensive) without any issues.

I would not buy a Dell from the "Home Use" line, they have fallen a long way in quality and customer service. However my work laptop is a Dell from the professional line, and it runs like a champ with very high end engineering software (but it is a $4000 laptop).

One thing to consider about screen size, get a laptop with a standard size screen and get a docking station with a large LCD display. That way you have the portability of a laptop with the ability to have a large monitor for intensive work.

What others have said about laptops being more expensive, less reliable, harder to upgrade, etc than desktops is 100% correct...but I will never buy a desktop again laptops are just way to convenient.

 

[MHolleman]

Just my 2 cents but I wouldn't give up on Dell. I have owned a couple of Gateway cpu's (hated them), a compaq (was just an ok cpu), and an IBM (liked it a lot), and a few Dell's now. The best advice is to just get a warranty in case there are problems. I would absolutely stay away from Acer, bought one and it would not work for some reason, and then got another and the mother board was bad. I happened to have the Best Buy warranty and they gave me a great deal on an IMB b/c of the 2 previous problems since this was part of their satisfaction guarantee. A few computer "nerds" that my DH knows recommend Dell, plus that is all that my DH plant uses, so if it is good enough for them then it is for me also.

Not trying to get a debate going, I just think that most of the issues that people have are based on MS problems, not necessarily manufacturer problems.

 

[TeresaNJ]

You guys are great! I really, really appreciate all the info you've given me. It gives me alot to think about, and discuss with my daughter, before making this purchase. Now I'm thinking maybe the laptop isn't the best idea, considering she is making a career of this, and needs the best equipment to be successful.

 

[cosine4]

Just my 2 cents but I wouldn't give up on Dell. I have owned a couple of Gateway cpu's (hated them), a compaq (was just an ok cpu), and an IBM (liked it a lot), and a few Dell's now. The best advice is to just get a warranty in case there are problems. I would absolutely stay away from Acer, bought one and it would not work for some reason, and then got another and the mother board was bad. I happened to have the Best Buy warranty and they gave me a great deal on an IMB b/c of the 2 previous problems since this was part of their satisfaction guarantee. A few computer "nerds" that my DH knows recommend Dell, plus that is all that my DH plant uses, so if it is good enough for them then it is for me also.

Not trying to get a debate going, I just think that most of the issues that people have are based on MS problems, not necessarily manufacturer problems.

Dell has went down considerably in the last couple of years. Also consider that if your husband works for a large company, the computers they buy are not the same Dell an individual will buy. They are more expensive and have better components in addition the OS and all drivers are installed by the companies IT department per their standards, not by Dell.

Also keep in mind that when I say they are not as good as others doesn't mean that buying one you are gauranteed to have problems. They are still decent machines and you would more than likely be happy with it.

You are correct about some of the problems people see being related to MS, but each company configures Windows and their drivers differently which can affect performance. But their are a great deal of problems that are related to the quality of components that are used.