OT - Laptops

[wen-tom]

Hi everyone, this thread is a little but I thought I would ask anyway.

I am looking to get a new laptop. I have previously used (a few years ago) an Imac and although i wasn't really into photography then i seem to remember it seemed a little easier to use for uploading pics etc..

I currently use a PC - Dell Laptop and the standard windows picture gallery.

I am not too worried at the moment about getting any fancy software for pictures so i need to think of what comes built into these things!

as you can tell, i know very little!

does anyone have any preferences/experiences of apple Macbook's for photography and general use?

 

[wdwwishes]

I absolutely love my Mac products. I never had any luck with Windows based stuff. iPhoto is so basic and so easy. I didn't have to install any camera software on either my Mac desktop or laptop. I also like the One to One sesssions that you can buy through the Apple Store (52 sessions for $100). Through iPhoto I've made slideshows, added music them and put them on dvds. I have my MobileMe account and have my web galleries there. I just love Mac stuff. I think you'll find just as many folk who like their Windows based pcs though. My DH deals with a lot of creative agencies for advertising and in that industries, Macs win hands down. Macs do cost more than regular pcs but to me it's worth it. You can also schedule a 1/2 hour presonal shopping session at an Apple store to get any questions you have about the computers and software before making your purchase. good luck with your decision.

 

[fitzperry]

I have the last generation 15" Macbook Pro and LOVE it. 250 gig hard drive, so I have lots of room for pics (also have a bunch of older ones on an external drive). The keyboard and trackpad are fantastic (I usually loathe trackpads, but the Macbooks' are wonderful). I have the matte display, which is nice for photo editing. The new ones are only available in glossy, but IIRC Apple will put anti-reflective coating on it for not too much $$. I'm running Aperture on it now for RAW conversion, and although I'm still getting used to it, so far I'm impressed. Before I got Aperture I was using Capture NX, and it ran much better on the Macbook than it did on my pc (actually, it even ran better on our Macbook Air, which has a much slower processor than my pc did).

One word of caution though--before I bought the Macbook Pro, I bought one of the new 13" Macbooks. I loved everything about it, except for the display, which was horrible--no contrast, no true blacks. I tried calibrating it with no success and tried several custom profiles I found on-line that weren't much better. There are loads of complaints about it in the Mac forums, so I wasn't alone in thinking this display was not worthy of a $1300 computer. I do much of my photo editing on an external display but not all of it, and I want my photos to look good on the notebook. Anyway, I returned it and got a good deal on the older Macbook Pro. The display on the new Macbook Pro is different from the one on the 13" Macbook and seems much, much better.

 

[YesDear]

I am typing on a 17" mac powerbook. I love it. I agree the new cheaper macbooks display are not as good as the macbook pros.

 

[Groucho]

The problem is that most any laptop is a poor choice for photography, the screens are substandard compared to full-size monitors which makes it difficult to get a good idea of the color (it changes as your head moves in relation to the screen) and many have extremely high resolution compared to the size of the screen, making it difficult to see details.

I would never, ever buy a Mac of any flavor, but that's just me. You just don't have the options, either software or hardware, of the PC world, and you spend much more money.

 

[annnewjerz]

The problem is that most any laptop is a poor choice for photography, the screens are substandard compared to full-size monitors which makes it difficult to get a good idea of the color (it changes as your head moves in relation to the screen) and many have extremely high resolution compared to the size of the screen, making it difficult to see details.

I completely agree with this. If you are using the laptop on your lap, the shifts in the angle of ths screen make my photos appear lighter or darker depending on the angle I am viewing it. The screen (we have a 15 inch laptop) is also much much smaller than I'd like for editing photos on.

At Chrismtmas, I ended up buying a 22 inch monitor to hook the laptop up to and haven't looked back since. It's been a great change.

 

[fitzperry]

The problem is that most any laptop is a poor choice for photography, the screens are substandard compared to full-size monitors which makes it difficult to get a good idea of the color (it changes as your head moves in relation to the screen) and many have extremely high resolution compared to the size of the screen, making it difficult to see details.

I would never, ever buy a Mac of any flavor, but that's just me. You just don't have the options, either software or hardware, of the PC world, and you spend much more money.

But a laptop with an external display connected to it is the best of both worlds. I'll never go back to being tied down to a desktop, as I love the flexibility that a laptop provides.

As for the Mac vs. PC debate, it's certainly true you will pay more for a Mac than for a comparably equipped PC, but IMHO it's worth it. Mac OS X is far superior to the current Windows offerings, and I'd wager there aren't many users who would find their software options unduly limited. The time I've not spent dealing with PC problems since switching to Mac is well worth the added expense to me.

 

[YesDear]

I believe anyone who downgrades the mac's has not really used one. I use a pc everyday at work and a mac every evening at home. I know may photo professionals that use mac laptops to work on.

I used to agree with the software issue, but not today. I have found that there are some apps that are available on windows only, but usually I can find a better on for a mac. Mac's of today are not the mac's of say 5-10 yrs ago.

 

[Mr._The_King]

I moved to an imac for my desktop about a year ago. I don't have a laptop but I can chime in o the mac vs. pc debate. Although I think the machine that works best for any individual is the one they are most comfortable with I can say that for myself the transition was very easy. After a year working on my imac I think I would have a hard time moving back to a pc. I find iphoto easy to use to organize my photos and imovie and idvd are very intuitive and simple compared to the programs I used on my pc. Also the new generation of imacs (and I believe the laptops as well) are running intell processors which means you can install a partition and a windows operating system and run any windows only app that you might want or need. you can even install mac based apps that will open a windows program in OS X so you do not need to reboot the computer in the windows OS. This is certainly something to consider if the only thing keeping you from getting a mac is the need to run windows only programs. It does of course cost more as you will need to purchase the windows operating system to install. I bring up this point not to argue whether a laptop or a desktop is the best tool for working on photography, it seems from your original post it is your intention to get a laptop and I think if the new mac laptops have the capability to run a windows os and money is not a deciding factor then you should look into the mac.

 

[wen-tom]

well thanks for the opinions guys

I spent a while deciding but i have gone with the new Mac book. I have a 22" monitor that i connect my laptop to when i'm working on photo's at home so the size of the screen and the glossy/matt screen on the new macbook doesn't really matter to me. Its more important that it is portable and the macbook feels very light and so will be easy to take around with me.

DH is a Microsoft Systems Certified systems engineer (MCSE) so aside from upsetting him a bit i think i have made the right decision for my needs.

I am going to use something called Parellel (spelling?) to be able to run windows on the Mac which on the demo's I have seen seems very clever indeed but then I am very easily impressed

Guess I better find a book on Aperture 2! Anyone currently using it?

 

[bostran1]

I use Aperture and love it. There are tutorials for how to use it on Apple's website. The link is below.

http://www.apple.com/aperture/tutorials/

 

[Groucho]

Irfanview alone is enough of a reason for me to stay away. That program is such an incredibly essential tool in my "photo toolbox" that that alone keeps me on the Windows platform. If I wanted something different that had limited software options, I'd run FreeBSD. Believe me, I'm no fan of Microsoft (their problems keep me employed!), but if you get right down to it, Apple is certainly a more "evil" company (in terms of being anti-consumer/press/other companies) and I've heard plenty of people who find as many or more crashes and headaches in the Mac world (and it's much harder to find support.)

I still don't think a laptop is a good choice for a primary photography PC, external monitor or not... hard drives being a big reason why; laptops are stuck with smaller, slower, and less reliable drives. You're also generally stuck with slower processors.

Wen-tom, you are brave. As someone who's had all the MCSE training, probably at least twice (just never got around to taking the actual course - long story)... if my wife came home with a Mac... she's be looking for a new husband.

 

[fitzperry]

Irfanview alone is enough of a reason for me to stay away. That program is such an incredibly essential tool in my "photo toolbox" that that alone keeps me on the Windows platform. If I wanted something different that had limited software options, I'd run FreeBSD. Believe me, I'm no fan of Microsoft (their problems keep me employed!), but if you get right down to it, Apple is certainly a more "evil" company (in terms of being anti-consumer/press/other companies) and I've heard plenty of people who find as many or more crashes and headaches in the Mac world (and it's much harder to find support.)

I don't know . . . . If Irfanview really cared about their customers (are people who use freeware customers?), they'd introduce a Mac-friendly version. Sounds pretty anti-consumer to me.

FWIW, I can't disagree that Apple has done a masterful job of locking people into its ecosystem, and as a consumer I don't always like that (but hey, you can make your iTunes library drm-free now!). However, I'm not going to base my buying decisions on a hair-splitting argument that Apple might be marginally more anti-consumer than Microsoft at the moment. Let's face it, neither of them is in it for us, but I need a computer, and Mac suits my needs better.

I still don't think a laptop is a good choice for a primary photography PC, external monitor or not... hard drives being a big reason why; laptops are stuck with smaller, slower, and less reliable drives. You're also generally stuck with slower processors.

I won't try to argue technical specifications with you, as I am out of my depth there. But I do think that is changing. The differences between laptops and desktops are much less significant than they were even a few years ago.

Wen-tom, you are brave. As someone who's had all the MCSE training, probably at least twice (just never got around to taking the actual course - long story)... if my wife came home with a Mac... she's be looking for a new husband.

Watch out Groucho, you just might get hooked. My husband is an IT guy too, although unlike you, he'd been thinking that a Mac would be a good option for me for quite awhile, but not for him, of course. We just never wanted to spend the extra $$ for one, as he builds our pc's, and that made the cost differential even greater. But last summer he won a Macbook Air at work which he gave to me, and I loved it. But I needed a bigger hard drive and faster processor, so I bit the bullet and bought a Macbook Pro. We were going to sell the Air on eBay, but the funny thing is, I can't seem to tear it away from dh long enough to list it.

 

[wen-tom]

My husband is an IT guy too, although unlike you, he'd been thinking that a Mac would be a good option for me for quite awhile, but not for him, of course. We just never wanted to spend the extra $$ for one, as he builds our pc's, and that made the cost differential even greater.

My DH actually suggested the Mac to me too. He is completely PC - and i can't/won't get into the debate as i am totally clueless - but he felt as i did that the Mac would suit me better and from my previous use of my old Imac, I personally preferred it to a PC.

anyway, its due around 13th so I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[fitzperry]

My DH actually suggested the Mac to me too. He is completely PC - and i can't/won't get into the debate as i am totally clueless - but he felt as i did that the Mac would suit me better and from my previous use of my old Imac, I personally preferred it to a PC.

anyway, its due around 13th so I'll let you know how I get on.

Hope you enjoy it--I suspect you will! Also, you asked about Aperture--I've been using it for a few weeks and like it very much so far. I'll second the recommendation for the tutorials on the Apple website. They're quite helpful. I'll probably get a book too, but haven't decided which one.

 

[wen-tom]

thanks Jen, I'll definately take a look at the tutorials. I'll need them

I was looking for a book too but there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice. I looked at amazon (uk) and it only lists 2 books so i guess it won't be a tough decision

 

[fitzperry]

thanks Jen, I'll definately take a look at the tutorials. I'll need them

I was looking for a book too but there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice. I looked at amazon (uk) and it only lists 2 books so i guess it won't be a tough decision

There are only 2 books available on Amazon US as well. I'm leaning toward this one (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Aperture-workflow-photographers-Workflow/dp/0240520394/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236028999&sr=1-2) because the customer reviews indicate that it is more detailed than the other one. The on-line tutorials are helpful, but I like having a book in front of me that I can consult while I'm working on something. And I really need some help deciding how to organize my Aperture library, particularly the thousands of older images I want to import.

 

[wen-tom]

I think thats the same one as i was leaning towards

I feel the same about the online tutorials. I'm sure I will use them a lot but I prefer having a book to reference while i am working to save switching screens all the time.

 

[GrumpyOne]

I still don't think a laptop is a good choice for a primary photography PC, external monitor or not... hard drives being a big reason why; laptops are stuck with smaller, slower, and less reliable drives. You're also generally stuck with slower processors.

Wen-tom, you are brave. As someone who's had all the MCSE training, probably at least twice (just never got around to taking the actual course - long story)... if my wife came home with a Mac... she's be looking for a new husband.

You certainly could end up with a slow hard drive but only if you either aren't paying attention or don't know what to look for. A quick check of Newegg shows laptop form factor drives available up to 15k RPM and 7200 RPM drives available up to 500MB.

Gotta agree with you on the Mac though. No Mac will be attached to my network. Prior to them switching to Linux on the back-end, it was "no Mac will ever be attached to my network" so I've softened a bit.

 

[bostran1]

If you have any other questions about how to use Macs, I would also suggest the video tutorials at: www.apple.com/findouthow