Laptops for photo editing and other use

[AmbientLight]

The recommendation for gaming laptops is quite valid. The only laptops I know of, which have been optimized for image processing are Sony's VAIO F-Series, but in comparison with something like an Alienware laptop the latter may still be more effective. Has anyone tried such a beast for image processing?

[gngan]

There are reasons to why so many photographers use Mac. Are they all fanboy? Probably not.
Most of OP's point of not wanting a Mac can be argue.

Can't change the battery? Why would you need to change the battery if the battery holds its charges more than any other brand out there? If your battery dies, it's not rocket science to change the battery.

Trackpad with proper buttons? MBP are known to have one of the best or the best trackpad laptop can offer in the market. I think you just need time to get use to it.

One point I agree is if you want a better screen then what Apple currently offer than it's not for you. If Apple releases a retina display then it meets your needs.

[Jettatore]

One major reason mac is used heavily in the design world is history and familiarity due to history.  Way back in the day, PC's could not offer a full color range, so editing software, something akin to Photoshop or Quark or Illustrator or some such, simply couldn't be used to it's fuller potential as you did not have access to as many colors, it was a real hardware limitation and was not usable professionally.  This gap in time lead every last design firm/retouching studio straight to Mac, and they didn't just simply switch when PC's got the full range of colors as a standard.  Now there is no such special difference between the two comparative systems, but that history has left it's mark.

[briansquibb]

One major reason mac is used heavily in the design world is history and familiarity due to history.  Way back in the day, PC's could not offer a full color range, so editing software, something akin to Photoshop or Quark or Illustrator or some such, simply couldn't be used to it's fuller potential as you did not have access to as many colors, it was a real hardware limitation and was not usable professionally.  This gap in time lead every last design firm/retouching studio straight to Mac, and they didn't just simply switch when PC's got the full range of colors as a standard.  Now there is no such special difference between the two comparative systems, but that history has left it's mark.

And the colleges/universities push the Macs at their students because the acedemics dont know how to use anything else. I went round a University a year ago and PCs were everywhere - except in the media dept where the professor proudly anounced that they only used Macs in his dept. So everyone that goes there will be indoctrinated and so continue the media industries obsession for Macs. I decided not to go back to uni based on the narrow mindedness and blinkered views of the acedemics which would blind them to different (and possibly progressive) points of view in a subject that is VERY subjective

A personal computer is a box on the desktop with input and output  devices. What is important is that it does the function that you want - what is not important is how it does the processing, just that it does.

[Marsu42]

One major reason mac is used heavily in the design world is history and familiarity due to history.

The other reason was that the Macs had another font system and print shops were set on that - if you wanted to print something from QuarkXPress on your PC, it was your own risk if they did it at all. Nowadays, as far as I see it there's no difference when using the usual Adobe stuff, they are compatible on Mac and PC, so I'd get the latter. Unless I wanted to impress someone (having a Mac is a good business decision if you're a designer) or get a large student discount: Apple is set on pushing their product to kids and in universities, there are unbelievable price cuts for first users from time to time.

[expatinasia]

The recommendation for gaming laptops is quite valid. The only laptops I know of, which have been optimized for image processing are Sony's VAIO F-Series, but in comparison with something like an Alienware laptop the latter may still be more effective. Has anyone tried such a beast for image processing?

The Alienware is good but it is a gaming laptop.

If you look at the Dell Precision M6600, you will find it a much more formidable "beast". It is probably the best laptop for image editing, HD video editing, and other serious applications on the market.

Of course that very much depends on how you configure it, but there is very little that can beat it.

Unfortunately it is not a "pretty" laptop, nor does it come with any fashion accessories, or in different colours. In fact it is quite large and I often get funny looks in press centres. Not my problem, I know with the config I have it is faster than pretty much anything in the building for what I want it to do.

[RLPhoto]

Macs are over-rated. I've seen terrible designers use macs and I've seen awesome designers who use PCs and vice versa.

It's a tool, if you have no vision that tool will never produce anything good either Mac or PC. Adobe products run on either OS and both OS's are stable as long as you know what your doing. Software has come along way too.

I prefer PC's because it gets me the same results as a Mac but at the fraction of the cost and snobbery. 

[Jamesy]

If you look at the Dell Precision M6600, you will find it a much more formidable "beast". It is probably the best laptop for image editing, HD video editing, and other serious applications on the market.

Wow - crazy specs on the M6600. I used to do the capital budget for a good sized company and the budget for a laptop 15 years ago was 6k and a desktop was 4k. A quick stroll through Dell's site and adding 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD with a second 750GB drive has it up around 6k too. If I had the ca$h I might be tempted but I am poor after buying my 5D3

[1nsanity]

The Mac vs PC is an endless debate.

That being said, the following is based on personal experience.

Last year I moved to New Zealand for graduate studies, and purchased a maxed out Lenovo T510. At the time there weren't any quad core, but that model was offered with a 1920x1080 screen. In addition, Lenovo has a 45% discount special (circa September 2010). At the time the equivalent Apple computer was more than double the price I paid(with discount factored in).

I also purchased an ultra bay HDD rack to replace the dvd-rom and install a secondary HDD. I've used this setup for the past 18 months, used it in New Zealand as well as in Europe where I currently am. The laptop is still solid. I've dropped it a few times, I've even spilled tea twice on the keyboard..... Its solid, its built like a tank and as far as using for photo editing it's been performing beautifully since day one. It's also great to easily swap drives from the HDD ultra bay.

There are better laptops out there spec wise and I don't know it lenovo runs deals like it did when I purchased mine, but for the money, I still think at the time it was the wises investment, especially that beautiful 1920x1080 95% gamut screen, simply stunning.

If I was to replace my laptop I would certainly get Lenovo's latest T5XX model.

[gabriele]

The Dell Precision M6600 is quite a nice beast, but money and spec wise for my portable workstation I've chosen a Lenovo Thinkpad W520.
It is completely customizable, you can replace everything and add a second SSD via mSATA port, you can also replace the DVD drive with a bluray drive, with another battery or with another HDD.
It has an awesome FHD wide gamut Adobe RGB 98% screen and about 8-9h of battery life.
Graphic card is Nvidia Quadro, and RAM memory up to 32GB.
It's my personal suggestion. I installed on it Windows, Linux and have Mac OS X running from and external HDD as hackintosh ;-)

I use a Lenovo W500 with the 1920x1200 screen upgrade and switchable graphics  It's a tough laptop too.

I've got the w520, great laptop, and you can even get it with a built-in colorimeter to calibrate the screen. Works like a charm, and I think it was only a $50 upgrade. Plus, you can go up to 16GB  of memory which is crazy in a laptop, and it has a slot for an mSATA SSD instead of a WWAN card. All in all, a great machine, and I love it.

Actually I can personally confirm you since I have upgraded mine to 16GB and a friend of mine with exactly the same Lenovo W520 expanded to 32GB I can tell you 32GB is perfectly working but you need to get 8GB sticks.

[expatinasia]

Wow - crazy specs on the M6600. I used to do the capital budget for a good sized company and the budget for a laptop 15 years ago was 6k and a desktop was 4k. A quick stroll through Dell's site and adding 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD with a second 750GB drive has it up around 6k too. If I had the ca$h I might be tempted but I am poor after buying my 5D3

Whenever you buy a M6600 or any other Dell I would recommend you to buy the minimum RAM and then buy the RAM you want elsewhere as they charge so much. 32GB (4x8GB) is very expensive no matter where you buy it, but 16GB is very affordable now. Plus, if you are on a budget there are Dell Outlets that sell refurbished models etc.

[Jettatore]

Wow - crazy specs on the M6600. I used to do the capital budget for a good sized company and the budget for a laptop 15 years ago was 6k and a desktop was 4k. A quick stroll through Dell's site and adding 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD with a second 750GB drive has it up around 6k too. If I had the ca$h I might be tempted but I am poor after buying my 5D3

Whenever you buy a M6600 or any other Dell I would recommend you to buy the minimum RAM and then buy the RAM you want elsewhere as they charge so much. 32GB (4x8GB) is very expensive no matter where you buy it, but 16GB is very affordable now. Plus, if you are on a budget there are Dell Outlets that sell refurbished models etc.

That is true for almost every vendor, from Dell to Apple, right on down the line.  The only one I know that gives reasonable RAM upgrade pricing is iBuyPower.com  and I would recommend checking them out.  That said, I'm very happy so far with the Lenovo w/built in Wacom I just got and described earlier, fingers crossed.  I got the RAM upgrade directly from them because I haggled with them on the phone and got it for a normal price, which would normally be unusual from a vendor.

[Drizzt321]

I use a Lenovo W500 with the 1920x1200 screen upgrade and switchable graphics  It's a tough laptop too.

I've got the w520, great laptop, and you can even get it with a built-in colorimeter to calibrate the screen. Works like a charm, and I think it was only a $50 upgrade. Plus, you can go up to 16GB  of memory which is crazy in a laptop, and it has a slot for an mSATA SSD instead of a WWAN card. All in all, a great machine, and I love it.

Actually I can personally confirm you since I have upgraded mine to 16GB and a friend of mine with exactly the same Lenovo W520 expanded to 32GB I can tell you 32GB is perfectly working but you need to get 8GB sticks.

Holy crap! I didn't realize it would support 8GB sticks!

[Michael_pfh]

I love my MacBook Pro. It's super fast and converting from Windows to Apple was one of the best decisions I ever made.

[steveclix]

Running the ASUS G74SX - 2Gb Video, 16Gb RAM, 2 HDD bays - Gaming Beast - never played a game in my life!

Photoshop (CS5 x64) Loads in 1.5 seconds. CorelDraw (x32) loads in less - For the first time in years, I can't keep up with it.

It has super sized fans, which rarely kick in, USB 3 and all the toys to load my RAW and Print ready TIFs really fast.

I usually edit with 2 external 2.5" 1.5Tb USB 3.0 drives attached as all my 'worked files' are kept externally. Loves it... just eats my previous Alienware toybox.

I use an external monitor- K/board sometimes, but the built in screen calibrates easily - what a steal at under $2000 !!!