Laptops for photo editing and other use

[xtaski]

Have you looked at the new Samsung's? The Series 7 and Series 9 laptops are pretty impressive.

[TCull]

I use a Dell XPS 15.

Intel i7, 8gb DDR3, 1 GB Video Card, 1080p screen. 899.99 from Dell.ca right now, pretty sweet laptop with LR4.

[Chewy734]

I have a 13" MBP with 512gb SSD, 16gb RAM. I use LR4, it works great, and I highly recommend it. Here's my review of it:
http://blog.ashuc.com/apple-macbook-pro-ssd-ram-ultimate-laptop/

[kballweg]

Know there is a lot of religion in the Mac v. PC wars, but at this particular juncture, unless you really, really need to replace your unit now, I'd wait until June to see what the next jump in screen technology yields. While still totally rumor, the MacBook Pros are probably going to be refreshed with the new intel processors, which is of some value, but from a photographer's point of view new screen technology is looking probable as well. Best guess is an announcement on or near the Apple developer's event in June.

Mac rumors are a dime per 12, but the screens on the new iPad and reports of supplier ramp ups of new tech, high-res displays in Asia are giving a lot of credence to a major jump in color gamut and resolution that could be significant. Once Macs have it, then PC manufacturers should come along shortly with similar offerings. Know waiting for tomorrow's technology is a bit of fool's errand, but this one is looking like a potential game changer for folks who edit on laptops.

[nesarajah]

+1 for the MBP . 8gb of RAM is the magic number.

[Jamesy]

+1 for the MBP . 8gb of RAM is the magic number.

Magic for LR or PS or both?

[RichATL]

I use an i7MBP (8gb ram and SSD)
and it works well as my every day workhorse.

I have seen some screaming windows machines that are entirely dedicated to running Imaging software...
some are way better performers than the top of the line MBP's...
But the downside (MAJOR downside) is you still have to deal with Windows...

[Marsu42]

+1 for the MBP . 8gb of RAM is the magic number.

Magic for LR or PS or both?

I'm using LR on a 4GB laptop and it's working fine unless I try to batch-update metatags on 50k+ pictures in one go. The limit doesn't seem to be the ram, but the cpu power because rendering 100% previews with denoising and esp. sharpening is very cpu intensive. PS is another matter, when using multiple layers you cannot have enough ram.

[RunAndGun]

I'm a pretty neutral, even keeled guy and the Apple/PC fanatics crack me up.  That being said, I have a 2009 17" MBP and I love it.  I had PC laptops for 11 years prior(a Gateway and two Dell's) and this is by far my best and favorite computer.  My last Dell was a smokin' machine on paper(heck, it had a Blu-ray burner/player built-in in 2007), it just took 12-18 months of Windows updates to make it really useable(it couldn't even automatically load drivers in the beginning, using a USB thumb drive took 10 minutes to "set-up". Lol)  I have my gripes with Apple and hate the way they do some things, but for the most part, as has probably been said 10,000 times, they just work.  And to the OP, the trackpad is just about the best thing about a MBP.  Just make sure you turn OFF the push-to-click in the menu so you just have to tap it(like my Synaptic touchpad (and most others) on my Gateway back in '98).  FWIW, most of the pro still guys I know seem to  either have Macs or Dells.

[briansquibb]

I use an i7MBP (8gb ram and SSD)
and it works well as my every day workhorse.

I have seen some screaming windows machines that are entirely dedicated to running Imaging software...
some are way better performers than the top of the line MBP's...
But the downside (MAJOR downside) is you still have to deal with Windows...

Thank goodness for Windows and its ability to be easily programmed

[nicku]

I currently use a HP workstation ( desktop) quad core processor,  8GB ram and Nvidia Quadro graphics attached to a pretty good monitor. Personally i don't like laptops for editing photos.

[briansquibb]

I currently use a HP workstation ( desktop) quad core processor,  8GB ram and Nvidia Quadro graphics attached to a pretty good monitor. Personally i don't like laptops for editing photos.

I agree - I only use mine for tethered shooting

[deliouslily]

I suggest you choose a desktop to process image because it is more satisfactied  than notebook.But if you really do need one,you can find A43EI243SJ-SL or AS4750G-2432G50Mnkk from surbatteries.com

[Jamesy]

Any thoughts on the new Ultra Books (Mac Book Air knockoff) verses heavier duty laptops talked about here? Most (possibly) all of the ones I have seen have integrated graphics via Intel 3000 or 4000 graphics chip. With the latest ones having i7-gen 3 CPU's they are starting to look mighty appealing.
Essentially it is the Mac Book Air verses Pro debate. I did not want to open this up to a Mac vs PC question

[briansquibb]

I did not want to open this up to a Mac vs PC question

Whilst I am a PC person, both platforms support our cameras very well - it really is a question of personal choice.