A new laptop??

[Mark L]

Heading to my sisters place at Penrith tomorrow for a few days.
We will be buying a new laptop while there.
Of cause I'll be wanting something that can deal with PPing photos. I use CS6 ATM.
So I know nothing about computer specs.
Is this a starting place??
At least Core i5 processor.
At least 8GB memory.
SSD in the machine?
Haven't even got to the best screen for colour yet.

Can't afford top of the range I'd think, but happy to spend a little to get something good.
Toshiba are of interest if anyone has experience with them.

[ameerat42]

The track is right with the specs. Get an HD screen. Toshiba Satellite. Check that it has USB3 - at least one port thereof,
though Satellites usually have all USB3. I don't know about price, but I'd suspect $1200-ish and that'd probably sport an I7.

[paulheath]

dont rule out a gaming laptop..these beast are made to run applications with ease..... you can also look at the Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW 15.6 inch screen with 4k res specs below....very nice piece of kit

The Asus comes with a 4K display and touchscreen abilities. Touchscreen models are slowly getting some response.

Though, touchscreen abilities, at least in the case of a photo editing laptop or for that matter a gaming laptop is a debatable topic.
Sure you can do simple things like opening up an application and dragging screens around and those sort of stuff with consummate ease, but intensive editing work cannot be done with precision using touch control. That being said the touchscreen control options are very intuitive. The screen incorporates ten points of control that facilitate smart gestures.

• The Intel Core i7 Skylake processor with Quad-cores and a clock speed of 2.6 GHz is an extremely powerful tool. Add to that a Nvidia GTX960M GPU that has a 2 GB GDDR5 RAM, and you have yourself a powerful combination.
• 16 gigs of RAM ensure that you never run out of memory when working with resource hogging applications like Photoshop or Premiere Pro.

One of the things photographers always look out for is the ability to check an image in full resolution.
But small screens rarely make all that difference. The Asus has UHD resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels). That means for every inch of space on the screen you have 282 pixels.

Apart from these features the screen also has IPS display and 74% Adobe RGB color reproduction. Plus, the screen comes with color calibration right out of the factory. This means brighter display, better contrast, and truer colors.

• Additionally, the laptop comes with 512 GB of SSD storage.
• There is no standard HDD. But you do get Thunderbolt connectivity for up to 20 Gbps transfer speed.

https://www.asus.com/au/Notebooks/AS...k-Pro-UX501VW/

[ricktas]

So much choice out there and so many variances in specs. I would look for a HD screen, at least 8gb ram, preferably 16gb. An SSD is good, if sitting waiting for a computer to start up frustrates you.

I recently upgraded from my 7 year old laptop, and have not looked back, though I don't process photos on mine. Mine is used for AP management and study... which lets me write off some of the cost of the new laptop against my tax.

From my investigations, spending somewhere around $1200-$1700 will get you a great machine. Whereas those under $1000 often compromise on some part of the spec requirements.

[ricktas]

dont rule out a gaming laptop..these beast are made to run applications with ease..... you can also look at the Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW 15.6 inch screen with 4k res specs below....very nice piece of kit

https://www.asus.com/au/Notebooks/AS...k-Pro-UX501VW/

Except it is now a discontinued product, so finding someone with stock could be challenging.

[paulheath]

Except it is now a discontinued product, so finding someone with stock could be challenging.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...ails&pcur=ZAUD

[arthurking83]

MSY have some great prices.

Been looking myself too for some such stuff and an ASUS GL52VW device caught my eye on MSY

Sounds like you're looking to replace a desktop with a laptop but with mobile capability??

if so, I'd recommend going with a larger 17" model. a lowly 15" screen would do my head in if the majority of it's usage was at home as a desktop replacement.
if it was predominantly a mobile device, and you have a desktop too, then it makes more sense to go with a smaller model, for sure.

Note that for real SSD speed, whilst SSDs are fast in themselves, the newer M.2 connection types really highlight how much faster they are.
So you can get a lappy with an SSD, which is simply a faster SATA connected drive .. but the SATA connection then becomes the bottleneck.
Hook up a M.2 connected SSD tho(which are a faster device to start with!) and the connection type's speed is another magnitude higher again!

And the form factor of M.2 drives are miniscule compared to even a tiny 1.8" SSD, that leaves the SATA port free to connect a larger mechanical drive for storage space within as well!

[Cage]

Mark, you commented in this thread of mine ..... http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...45#post1348645

I'm not real flash with cash so went looking for an affordable laptop that I could up-spec.

I bought a basic 14" Toshiba Satellite for $349.00, added 8GB of RAM for $47.96 and a 120GB SSD for $63.20, total cost $460.16. I also installed a clean version of W10 as the shipped version is loaded with unnecessary crap.

SPECS:

CPU AMD A4-7210 Quad Core (1.8GHz - 2.2GHz, 1600MHz MC, 2MB L2 Cache)
Operating System - Windows 10 Home (Clean Install)
Screen Size 14" HD Widescreen with LED Backlit Display
Resolution 1366 x 768
Screen Aspect Ratio - 16:9
Memory 8GB DDR3 (1600MHz) (Total memory expandable to 16GB - authorised service required - Bullshit ! I did it myself))
Storage 120GB SSD ( The included 500GB (5400rpm) SATA HDD will be fitted in the DVD Drive Slot for additional storage)
Graphics - AMD Radeon™ R3 Graphics
Audio - 3.5mm Combined Microphone & Headphone port
Sound - Stereo speakers
Webcam - HD Webcam with Dual Array Microphones - Cortana Optimized
Buttons and Pointing device - Optical cordless Mouse (I hated the Touchpad)
TV-Out Port - HDMI
USB Ports - 3 USB Ports (1x USB 3.0 & 2x USB 2.0)
Bridge Media Adaptor - Bridge Media slot
HDMI 0 Yes
Communication - LAN 10/100Mbps LAN
Wireless LAN - 802.11(b/g/n)
Integrated Bluetooth™ - Toshiba Bluetooth™ V4.0
Wireless Display - Bluetooth Wireless
Bluetooth Link - Yes

All up cost, including the mouse, change out of $500.00, and it handles CS6 with ease.

The techy side involved removing and replacing 14 screws and the back of the case, unplugging the RAM and the HDD, and plugging in the new ones. Was definitely not rocket science or this old fart would not have been capable of doing it.

The downside? As soon as you take the back off you void your warranty, but my unit has been happily chugging along now for 12 months without a hiccup.

I though the Toshiba Satellite was a good starting point due to having witnessed my neighbours two kids belting the living daylights out of one for years.

Decide on your screen size, look at the basic models, and if you are prepared to get out your screwdriver out you can save yourself some serious $$$'s.

PS: And what Uncle Arthur said above.

[ameerat42]

dont rule out a gaming laptop..these beast are made to run applications with ease..... you can also look at the Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW 15.6 inch screen with 4k res specs below....very nice piece of kit......

Ahhh! The specs are to swoon at

I'd hope the price would not give you a hear attack

Know what it is?

And a caution: For photographic work I had to muck around a good bit to get
my Asus Zenbook screen right. In apps you have to set it to Asus color profile.

When SAVING from apps, you need to make sure it saves at sRGB.

Mine's a bit below that in specs. The 4K for photo work may not be a big deal. On the equivalent
Toshiba Satellites I had to put it back to just HD - 1920 x 1080, as nothing rendered right, only the
odd movie.

[paulheath]

Ahhh! The specs are to swoon at

I'd hope the price would not give you a hear attack

Know what it is?.

around $2350 from BH including shipping

[ameerat42]

PHHWRHHH!!!

Really!!!

Thanks

[Cage]

A budget would help with suggestions Mark.

[Mark L]

A budget would help with suggestions Mark.

Probably $1700.

[Mark L]

Kev, my better half won't let me do what you suggest.
Acer seem to be in a good place having SSD and up to 2TB HDD in the machine.
Some Zenbooks look good but need to get an external HDD for them I'd.

AK, thanks for the computer you linked. It looks good.
But I'm told we have to do the shopping, talking thing so people who are trained in selling stuff can pretend they know stuff they don't know.
I'll belief because I don't know.
Thanks again for that link AK.

[Cage]

Mark, dunno whether you have done a deal yet but there is a Gigabyte model with similar specs to AK's suggested Asus model. https://www.mwave.com.au/product/gig...Specifications

I used to use Asus gear in my home built units but due to a few problems I switched to Gigabyte a while back and couldn't be happier. They use mostly their own components so compatibility is not an issue, and for that reason I'd steer clear of HP.

Good luck with your decision.

[Mark L]

Thanks again Kev and others.
Researched some good machines nearly as good as Kev's linked one.
So for what my wife wants a laptop for we could get something under $500. Can we really justify another $1000 on top of that just more me to play with photos. E had different answers.

Compromise means this is what we got for $1000 ..... https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-...laptop/318638/

[Cage]

Well sourced mate.

It's several levels up from my unit so I can assure you that it will handle CS6 with ease.

Plus you now have $600 in the kitty to go toward some new glass.

[ameerat42]

Is your current one the same in this (re)spec(t): 15.6" HD 1366 x 768 Screen? - Ie, not
full HD?

[Tannin]

That looks like a prety good choice, Mark. One thing worth mentioning (doesn't seem to apply to you, but good for others to bear in mind) is that you generally get many different things with a higher-spec model, and probably only want one or two of them. It's like buying a car wheere you really oinly want the base model but with power steering - and you discover that to get it you also have to pay for the alloy wheels and the auto transmission 'coz that's the only model with the power steering.

But with laptops, you can very often go ahead with a base model (provided it has the screen and CPU you want) and add your own RAM and storage. It is often way, way cheaper that way. (Cage makes a similar point above.)

[Mark L]

Is your current one the same in this (re)spec(t): 15.6" HD 1366 x 768 Screen? - Ie, not
full HD?

So what's full HD then?