Laptop choice for photo editing

[IgotGASbadDude]

Hey folks!

Several times a year I travel and take photos. Up until now I wait until I get home, then edit a million photos. I'd like to purchase a laptop so I could edit them the same day they're taken. I currently use a Windows based desktop with Photoshop 6 but the new Macbook sounds intriguing.

What laptops to you guys use? What editing software?

Thanks for any input you care to give. 8)

 

[skoobey]

You need a Macbook Pro with 16gb RAM.

Not MacBook and not Mac Book Air.

 

[canonistic]

For travel, I use a MacBook air. The small size and light weight let it slip in my camera backpack easily.
And an external hard drive.
For software photo mechanic to ingest, Lightroom or photoshop for editing.
A MacBook pro is awesome, but more than I usually need to carry.

 

[Coldhands]

Check out the 2015 Dell XPS 13. Nearly 4k res 13.3 inch screen in a body the size of a MBA 11, with the latest Broadwell processors and SSD. I'm about to pull the trigger on one myself.

I think you'd come to regret choosing the new MacBook as soon as the need arose to charge it while trying to offload images from a card reader (or back up to an external HDD, or use a USB mouse, etc). A ridiculous compromise for the sake of added slimness, IMO.

 

[IgotGASbadDude]

Check out the 2015 Dell XPS 13. Nearly 4k res 13.3 inch screen in a body the size of a MBA 11, with the latest Broadwell processors and SSD. I'm about to pull the trigger on one myself.

Thank you (and skoobey and canonistic) for your input. Greatly appreciated. And I'll look further into each of the items you suggested. As a Windows guy I'd naturally favor the familiar, but I'm willing to change if necessary.

I think you'd come to regret choosing the new MacBook as soon as the need arose to charge it while trying to offload images from a card reader (or back up to an external HDD, or use a USB mouse, etc). A ridiculous compromise for the sake of added slimness, IMO.

This concerned me too. But I read about and saw a dongle that allows it to do multiple things simultaneously. Sucks to have to purchase an additional item, but as long as it works . . .

I've definitely got to have access to my portable hard drive and a mouse at the same time. I guess I'm old school because I HAVE to use a mouse for photo editing. 8)

 

[martti]

I have a Bluetooth mouse.You can get a portable WiFi hard drive.
The old 4GB MBook Air is not enough for picture editing. You get fed up with the Beach Ball.
Other than the lack of power, the MBook Air is the best gadget I've ever bought.
My friend is extremely happy about his Asus Zenbook.

I have had Macs since 1989 and all my attempts to go over to Windows have failed. Now I am too old to change already. The little 'Windows only' things –like flashing an Android phone with Odin– I can do with the Dell at the workplace.
If you are comfortable with Windows, why would you let the OS change come between your pictures and you?
Don't.

 

[Hector1970]

I'm using a Dell Alienware Gaming Laptop.
It's great it has a lot of power behind it.
All the applications are running very fast on it.
I have found the move to SSD and a hard drive interesting.
Windows don't seem to be well set up for this.
I'd have got a bigger SSD drive if I had it all over again to make sure it always had enough space as its a huge advantage.
I am hoping it will survive a number of years.
Programs like Lightroom and Photoshop seem to get more bloated with every new version.
I was running a laptop with 8GB Ram and it wasn't enough for Lightroom and Photoshop together.
16GB Ram seems to be more that enough

I am suppose I'm waiting for the day where there is a practical version of photoshop that can be used well on a touch screen for fine editing. They exist already but not at a reasonable price yet. I'd love something IPad size that I could doodle away on in my spare time. The Surface Pro isn't good enough yet I don't think.

 

[lilmsmaggie]

KISS -- considering your main photo editing platform is Windows based, do yourself a favor: Don't introduce complexity into the mix. More specifically different file systems. With respect to the later, Macs are more forgiving. Windows, not so much.

I have a ASUS 15" with 8 GB RAM and a 250GB SSD I've been running for a couple of years. If I were looking at another laptop, I'd be spec'ng out ASUS and ASUS ROG machines, following by Dell and HP. Not sure if a 13" monitor is going to be satisfying for photo editing but that's me. Look at 16GB of RAM and an Intel i7 CPU configurations with an SSD and maybe a 1TB external drive, something like a WD 1TB Passport Ultra for around $65.

Personally, I can go either way but like you, my main photo editing platform is also windows based. I love Apple's design but you're paying a premium to own one IMHO.

Good luck

Hey folks!

I currently use a Windows based desktop with Photoshop 6 but the new Macbook sounds intriguing.

What laptops to you guys use? What editing software?

Thanks for any input you care to give. 8)

 

[martti]

People get religious about their computers. My sister had had Windows computers for ages and now for some reason I cannot understand she switched over to a MBook Pro. My son (the Specialist) and I (the purse) spent four hours getting all the last updates of the SW she needed. WE even got her Parallels with Windows 7.x so that she could keep using her SW that she had always used for her pathology slides and family tree research.

For three months nearly she kept calling me, very upset, because the bl**** f*****g machine was not reading her thoughts. I walked her through the problems and she sort of calmed down and forgave me...
Now it's been a while and the MBook Pro is doing everything as it should. Mac...Windows...Photoshop....eMail, Internet...everything.

What worries me is the thing that she does not back up. Why the hell is it so difficult to get people to back up their machines when a portable USB hard disc costs like 70 dollars for a tera? I never format my CF card before I have made a backup. Like one copy on the computer HD and another on a separate hard disk.
Why don't shops have campaigns like "What If"...
It is crazy.

What backup systems do you recommend for Windows people?
(Mac has time Machine)

 

[StoneColdCoffee]

I'll go along with Lilmsmaggie.
If I had started out with all apple products then I would have also bought a Imac laptop. I think apple is great. But im a windows person so I stuck with a Win8.1 laptop. I have an old ASUS q550lf-bbi7t07 that I got at BB. BUT----I also run the Adobe CC because I needed to have LR, PrCC and AeCC. So I needed the i7 and a good NVIDIA 1080HD card on it. (since then you can get better grafffics) ..also I modded the HD. I took out the DVD drive and put in a Samsung 840 256gb SSD drive( it boots up in 7 seconds, no kidding) .Then erased and left in the slow 5400rpm 1Tb HD for storage and a nice card reader for CF or SDXC. you can get a mount for the drive and who needs a dvd anymore. I also carry along a WB 2Tb passport so I end up with two copies of files before I get home. The 15" is big and a little heavy but it has worked just fine,i have seen thicker laptops out there.. ditto on the Bluetooth mouse.
I will say this... At first I bought a 10" windows pro tablet (asus) knowing that the RT versions aren't real windows. But the processor in tablets wont run some of the CC products..it cant handle them and CC wont even let you download them if the processor cant run it. So I have an extra tablet .. Now, what I will look for in the future is how the MCSFT Surface Pro 4 will handle CC. They will be out this year. it Finally may be a true laptop replacement. But the i7 500gb will probably be USD $2000 and im not even sure if it will be ips full HD screen with a decent driver. I wont purchase it at that price. but that's just me. just like im waiting until the 11-24 goes to $2200
Good luck

 

[Omar H]

What type of files are you going to edit, RAW I would assume.

I used to have a 60D and my current MBP always was able to efficiently process without delays. I just changed to a 6D with larger files and I can see it struggle (as I may get the multicolor disk when downloading and such) at times.

My MBP has the following specs:
15.5" retina screen (2880 x 1800)
i7 Intel processor @ 2GHZ
8GB RAM
Graphics Iris Pro 1.5
250 GB SSD
SD card slot (nice, as my cameras use this type of card and it makes it much faster to download than using the USB connector from the camera)

What would I do different? as much RAM as I could afford, as much processor as I could afford (at this point, a faster i7) and at least twice the capacity in HD. Many people keep their raws in external HD which is fine, except that takes away your portability. Now, let's be honest, a 1TB external HD is a rather small item nowadays, so that shouldn't be a big issue either. They way I work is by keeping my raws in the laptop and then copy them to an external drive every quarter and deleting such files. Before that, I do backups in time machine anyways.

I have used prescription glasses since I was 9 (I'm currently 46) so I prefer the larger screens. Some people are comfortable with an 11" screen, but to me, that doesn't cut it. But that ends up being your own preference. Keep in mind it's a portable item. You could always get an external monitor for a more comfortable view at home.

You pay a higher premium for an Apple, but you get upgrades in all the software contained with your equipment for as long as the hardware can support the upgrades. If you mainly use it for photography and web surfing then a Mac is a wonderful choice. If you have other requirements, you have to consider those as well. Windows or IOS generates such controversy, that it could very well be added to the list of trouble-topics that we all know and avoid (sex, religion, politics).

Oh and as far as software goes, Lr for everything and sometimes Ps.

I hope this helps, this is what works for me, always keep in mind what you need and evaluate it from the perspective of what would work for you.

 

[jhpeterson]

Far too many of my friends have jibed me for not jumping on the Apple boat. They telling me my workflow will be much quicker and my life far less complicated.
But, I've always been a Windows person. I've never liked the way things are done on Macs. There's far too many items on their busy dashboard and I want to see what I'm doing at every step. Maybe it's because I was trained as an engineer, but I seldom seem to take the easy way out.
If you're comfortable with a Windows machine, you have far more choices, from laptop to software to peripherals. I'll grant you that Apple makes some great products and they usually work seamlessly with one another. But, you are paying a steep price for that. And, should anything go wrong, you're at the mercy of a sole source supplier. I'd much rather keep my options open.
Whatever you do, I have a few suggestions. First, memory is cheap. Get as much as you think you need, then go for at least as much more.
The same for storage. It's so inexpensive these days that's there's no excuse not to have a backup for everything, and maybe a backup for your backups, too. I use the 2.5" portable USB drives, usually 2TB in size. I generally carry half a dozen with me when I travel. That way I can keep most all my older work with me, as I never know when a client needs something at the last minute.
I'll recommend you buy one with the largest screen that's practical for you. I use both 15 and 17-inch models, the smaller one fits inside all my camera bags. I've used most all the major makes, I'll leave the brand choice up to you.
As for editing software, you can't go wrong with Lightroom. I've got the latest update of Version 5, and LR 6 has just come out.

 

[IgotGASbadDude]

I think I've got it.

It's in my price range. I has an i7 processor, 240 GB SSD, 16GB RAM, 3x 3.0 USB ports and it has a perfect screen size.

It's a bit heavy, but you can't have everything.

ASUS N550JX-DS74T 15.6"

Thanks for all your suggestions! ;D

 

[IglooEater]

I'm on a somewhat old MacBook Pro (core 2duo) and am quite happy with it. Running Lightroom and PSE- it's a bit slow, but that's because it's from 2009. I love the overall 'feel' of the system, the integration, the ecosystem, the looks, the responsiveness- it just works. For me. There are people who hate apple, or swear by windows, I'm sure. There are hardware and cost advantages on the PC (Windows) side of the equation, but I've yet to meet anyone who has tried Mac and wanted to go back to Windows despite the premium cost of the apple system.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've used both Macs and Windows PC's. I'm comfortable with either. Get the one you are familiar with unless you want to spend time learning the new OS.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 has a lot going for it as does the Mac Pro.

 

[expatinasia]

I highly recommend the Dell Precision line. They are not light, especially the top of the range M6XXX series, but they are one of the most powerful laptops you can buy. Handles high temperatures without even breaking a sweat, and with up to 4 SSDs and 4 RAM slots you have enough storage space and power to do whatever you need. Plus they are customisable.

There are smaller models of the Precision if you do not need so much power, and someone also mentioned the 2015 XPS 13 which has pretty good specs for the price.