Best WINDOWS PC for Photo Editing

[Belly]

Hi all,

Just wondering from the Windows alliance members out there what is in your opinion and why the best laptop for photo editing. I'm due for an update as my 4 year old ASUS is beginning to self destruct
I've read and heard that a non glare screen is the best but again would be interested in what you have to say.

cheers
Belly

[Filter]

I believe it is not so much the lappy you get but the software you choose to edit your photos. Others more learner'd will guide you with this. As far as the matte verses gloss screens go, the gloss appears to give a sharper picture but at the expense of huge reflections......

[Fruengalli]

I've got a hp Envy i7,8mg,Radeon etc which is excellent BUT I still prefer my desktop of similar specs for editing.

[Bennymiata]

I use a 5 year old MacBook Pro, but only run it in Windows (7).
However, I have updated it with a good SSD, the latest software and as much RAM as it can handle, it flys!

To me, if I was buying a new laptop, the first thing I would look at is the screen resolution, as the better it is, the better and more detailed your pictures will look. It's no good getting a fast computer if it has lousy resolution.
For me, anything less than full HD is just buying yesterday's technology, and your photos will never look much good with a poor and grainy screen.
Problem is, good screens cost money, but will pay you back in enjoyment.

[vinhtee]

So many possible laptops on the market these days. My opinion is you need something with a lot of hdd space (A LOT. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN CARRY) and lots of ram.

[geoffsta]

So many possible laptops on the market these days. My opinion is you need something with a lot of hdd space (A LOT. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN CARRY) and lots of ram.

True in some ways. a/ With a laptop, get a portable hard drive. b/ Run you laptop with a larger monitor. Minimum 24" (Easier to post process) c/ 8Gb RAM is ok on an i7 with a 2gb video card.

[peterking]

I always wonder why people want to use a 17in laptop screen to process images. It's just so small.
When I looked at this post initially my response was 27in iMac. Now settle children
As a former PC user I'd suggest min I7 with 16gb RAM. SSD is the best drive as it's lightning fast. But most of all I agree with geoffsta, Get yourself a good external monitor. I'd recommend 23in min but mostly go for quality. I've got a nice 23in Samsung but the colour range is so bad I use it for text only.

[bes]

I think it's easier to work out what is best for you if you include a budget and other important things like .... do you need to lug it around much? do you need a long battery life? do you intend to play the latest games?

[Belly]

I believe it is not so much the lappy you get but the software you choose to edit your photos. Others more learner'd will guide you with this. As far as the matte verses gloss screens go, the gloss appears to give a sharper picture but at the expense of huge reflections......

Thanks for your reply Filter and the search goes on!

cheers
Belly

- - - Updated - - -

I've got a hp Envy i7,8mg,Radeon etc which is excellent BUT I still prefer my desktop of similar specs for editing.

Thanks for your comments Fruengalli

cheers
Belly

- - - Updated - - -

I use a 5 year old MacBook Pro, but only run it in Windows (7).
However, I have updated it with a good SSD, the latest software and as much RAM as it can handle, it flys!

To me, if I was buying a new laptop, the first thing I would look at is the screen resolution, as the better it is, the better and more detailed your pictures will look. It's no good getting a fast computer if it has lousy resolution.
For me, anything less than full HD is just buying yesterday's technology, and your photos will never look much good with a poor and grainy screen.
Problem is, good screens cost money, but will pay you back in enjoyment.

Thanks Bennymiata appreciate your thoughts mate

cheers
Belly

- - - Updated - - -

So many possible laptops on the market these days. My opinion is you need something with a lot of hdd space (A LOT. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN CARRY) and lots of ram.

Thanks for your comments, vinhtee

cheers
Belly

- - - Updated - - -

True in some ways. a/ With a laptop, get a portable hard drive. b/ Run you laptop with a larger monitor. Minimum 24" (Easier to post process) c/ 8Gb RAM is ok on an i7 with a 2gb video card.

Thanks Geoff, appreciate your comments mate

cheers
Belly

- - - Updated - - -

I always wonder why people want to use a 17in laptop screen to process images. It's just so small.
When I looked at this post initially my response was 27in iMac. Now settle children
As a former PC user I'd suggest min I7 with 16gb RAM. SSD is the best drive as it's lightning fast. But most of all I agree with geoffsta, Get yourself a good external monitor. I'd recommend 23in min but mostly go for quality. I've got a nice 23in Samsung but the colour range is so bad I use it for text only.

Hi Peter, thanks for your comments and suggestions, much appreciated

cheers
Belly

- - - Updated - - -

I think it's easier to work out what is best for you if you include a budget and other important things like .... do you need to lug it around much? do you need a long battery life? do you intend to play the latest games?

Hi bes and thanks for your comments

cheers
Belly

[Roosta]

I went through this not to long ago, ditched my Windows machine when I put CS5 on the wife's Mac Book Pro, eats Windows full stop.

I subsequently went out and brought a run out 27" iMac as Peter King mentioned, takes a little to get your head around "i" coming from PC, but so well worth it. You can get a great Mac Book and a very decent home monitor, run almost all PC programs on Mac nowadays, so for me personally, it was a no brain'r.

I understand the iMac could be a stretch, but considering what a decent Laptop is worth nowadays, the $1700 I paid for the 27" iMac was a steal. Still have my Asus I5 Blah Blah but it's so far behind in graphic performance, it's not funny. Kids use it for "Mine Craft" now and that's about it.

[I @ M]

Just wondering from the Windows alliance members out there what is in your opinion and why the best laptop for photo editing.

The best laptop for for photo editing is a desktop with a good monitor in my humble opinion.

There are of course caveats to that statement but I will stick to the main requirement of

for photo editing.

and suggest that you build a dedicated image processing machine based on a windows 7 OS machine with only the photo editing programs that you use installed.

That way you get a machine and monitor that should cost you under $1500.00, continue to run for at least 3 years and will be economical to upgrade in the future.
You will have of course wisely spent the saved money on better lenses which really do help you get better photos.

[Mary Anne]

Belly is your need for a Laptop so you can take it away to work with you, if so there is nothing wrong with buying a Laptop .
I have a MacBook Pro I love the quality of them though I could not get my head around their OS being a PC user for too long I guess.
Years ago I Boot Camped my MacBook Pro to Win 7 *Now days Mac sell software to do it* that way I got to use all my Windows editing software when away.
I dont do much mainly crop, sharpen , contrast, resize and remove dust bunnies as the screen is way too small for proper editing, then all my images go into a portable HDD
At home I use a PC with a Dell 27" Monitor and cannot fault it, so great advice above with getting a decent sized Monitor for your laptop.

[ktoopi]

I use a Sony Vaio model ......SVS 151A12W it has an IPS panel screen is full high definition, 8 g ram and I love it!
I must note that it is not my main photo editing computer however.....I use a desk top with a Dell 27" IPS monitor as my main editing setup

[chappo1]

I am in the big is beautiful camp for editing and have a 27" Asus IPS model. At the moment looking at a transformer or split for quick downloads but not editing....john

[arthurking83]

In direct response to the self destructing ASUS laptop issue the OP alluded too ...

What is exactly the issue?

The reason I ask is that my daughter has an old ASUS laptop that sounds a lot like a jackhammer.(well it did).

I opened it up(very easy on some of these ASUS models now .. and why I love them and recommend them!!) .. and once that was done it was immediately obvious where the sound was coming from.
The CPU fan(which is remotely located) was the culprit.
Three wee lil screws had the cover for it off, and the fan itself comes out of the motors inner workings .. so that you're only holding the plastic blades in your hand.
A smudging of grease around the inside cup of the fan, where the magnets are .. back onto the motor close it all up and noise is now at 'church mouse' levels again.

The jackhammer noise popped up again a few days later .. same trick dis the job.
Looked around for a new fan for it and found one locally for just over $10(at a proper store) .. alternatively for $10 all up incl postage I could get one from a vapourstore(a store that exists where you know a store shouldn't exist).

I'm tend to operate on the cautious side when it comes to shopping, so I have plans to one day get a replacement fan.
Problem is that after fix #2 .. the fan stopped making noises now for about 2-3 months or so.
(maybe I smudged so much grease in it that the fan doesn't turn!! )

Point! ... most Windows based lappies are more flexible in terms of self serviceability(well they used too!), which I think is due to the open architecture of the devices.
try and get and replace a battery on any/most/all Apple devices.

Why those fruity goons decided that internal, hard wired batteries are the future of all devices is beyond my comprehension!
Easily removed batteries are a foundation of portable battery powered devices .. no matter how long they last under battery power!

To me this is the technological equivalent of falling off the moon! ... one small step backwards ....
of course it's all financially motivated to keep people paying for more stuff then they really need too.

This isn't to say that devices break down regularly, nor that one brand or type is better than the other.
But when a simple, cheap and seemingly inconsequential part of the device can render the thousand dollar package close to useless(the fan noise was unbearable) makes a sad day for the environment too(not to mention your hip pocket).

many comments made about folks switching to Macs and finding that speed was an impressive feature ... old bloated Mac software installations bugger up and slow down too.
This is not a product of any specific OS .. it's an issue with the ability to refrain from bloating out your software environment.

A few months ago I've had access to a couple of Apple computer products to help with some stuff(my daughter in law's).
Her 30-ish inch Mac is not even close to my older AMD powered PC for office software .. or graphics rendering.
I believe that the graphics chip/card may not be upgradable either .. and she needs graphics power for her architecture and interior design stuff.
Her Mac laptop(again don't know exact model other than it's about 2-3 yo now) is again no match for my son's ASUS i7 laptop, and feel a lot more like my daughters AMD powered slug laptop.

Again, it's simply due to the software environment, where my daughter hardly installs any stuff(and hence new autoloading processes) and I've told warned my son about installing carp on his.
If he gets any virus .. ever! he's off the network for good.
Daughter in laws MacPro lappie was terrible to use .. and all that was required of it was to preview about 50 or so photos I'd just shot for her.

have to say tho the finish of the Apple gear feels nice. The metal feeling of the lappie felt nice compared to the all plastics of my kids ASUS'es .. but really who cares about feel.

To the OP, if you're still in the market and still looking for a Windows based lappy, I highly recommend most ASUS portables.
Good build quality easy to fix is ever required and relatively speaking cheap. Not the cheapest, but cheap for the quality of the components.

I've had good experience with Dell's warranty department, so can only advise that if you get a Dell, you could(or should) get good backup service with it.
One of my sisters ordered a Dell years ago and got stuffed about with the order. They made her wait all day to receive the PC(desktop), and then again a second time.
So it's not all peaches and cream at Dell.
My other sister purchased a Dell laptop about 3 years ago, and while it works well(a bit over priced for the specs tho) .. it feels more flimsy in it's build quality compared to the ASUSes.
The screen seems to twist when you open it compared to the ASUS lappies, which feel rigid.
Saying that tho, it was an ASUS(although older than the Dell) that had a CPU fan partially fail.

Even tho my son has his i7 ASUS laptop, purchased with the intention for use in high school, his high school computing needs have to revolve around high school approved computing products.
Hence he had to get a school bought portable device.
Turns out that it's a Dell touch enabled laptop .. a hybrid laptop/tablet.

I have to say that build quality of this little 13" device is extremely high too.
Surprised me, being a Dell. The only issue with it that I have(or I'd have if it were a personal purchase) is that the keyboard doesn't fold back fully as some others do. Nor removable(as others also do).
So as a tablet it's useless. But the quality is still very high. And the body is a strange material in that it feels metallic, but sounds plastic.

There ya have it. My convoluted recommendation .. ASUS yes, Dell, no. errr .. ASUS .. no! .. Dell .. errr .. yes!
(seriously tho, I try to stick with ASUS devices or parts)