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desperately need help buying new laptop.

DKphotographyDKphotography Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
edited May 1, 2016 in Digital Darkroom
For starters, I am not a big computer guy. I have an amazing desktop for editing, storage, browsing, work, and whatever else, because I requested that the builder overbuild it in all areas.

Now I am looking for a laptop 15" + for a trip beginning in late April continuing until October.
It will be used for editing, emailing, web surfing, and some storage. I will mainly be using portable drives for picture storage.

I am looking to spend up to $1000.00. size and weight are not a concern. I am not interested in any apple products. The trip is a driving vacation in a RV camping mostly staying in RV parks twice a week ish.

please help

Thanks in advance

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    RogerLundRogerLund Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited January 31, 2016
    4k or 1080p screen?
    Canon 5D, Canon XT, Canon 50mm EF 1.8, Canon 50mm EF 1.4, Canon 85mm EF 1.8, Canon 100mm EF 2.8 Marco, Canon 100-300mm EF 5.6 L, 17-40mm EF F4 L
    -
    Roger Lund
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    NikonsandVstromsNikonsandVstroms Registered Users Posts: 990 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2016
    How much editing do you plan to do on it? Will you be doing full jobs on it? Or just bits and pieces with the bulk of the work being done on your desktop? And how many MP are your current cameras and any that you plan to get in the near future?

    In case I miss this and don't respond quickly enough for you I'll lay out my system which is adequate for editing 24 MP images but I wouldn't want it as my primary.

    i7 Quad Core (i7-2670QM)
    8 GB RAM
    SSD
    A nice video card is a bonus but even modern integrated graphics will likely beat the GT525M I have.

    The weak link in my setup is a 720P monitor but any computer today will have at least 1080 so that's not too big of a deal.

    Also what are the specs on your current computer? I'll be able to use that as a benchmark since speed is subjective and I know many people who edit on slower machines than mine and don't have major complaints.
    http://www.jonathanbeckley.com/
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    DKphotographyDKphotography Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited February 1, 2016
    Thank you NikonsandVstroms, the specs you gave are a good starting point.

    1080p is fine for the screen.

    This laptop is going to be used mainly as a means to do some light editing, and to facilitate getting the photos onto portable drives.
    When back at the desktop I will check them all out on the larger better monitor and continue with editing and whatever.
    my current cameras are d4s, d810, and a 7100 I don't plan on changing anytime in the near future.
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    RogerLundRogerLund Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited February 2, 2016
    I enjoy my Dell XPS 15 model 9550.
    Canon 5D, Canon XT, Canon 50mm EF 1.8, Canon 50mm EF 1.4, Canon 85mm EF 1.8, Canon 100mm EF 2.8 Marco, Canon 100-300mm EF 5.6 L, 17-40mm EF F4 L
    -
    Roger Lund
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    NikonsandVstromsNikonsandVstroms Registered Users Posts: 990 Major grins
    edited February 2, 2016
    DKphotography wrote: »
    Thank you NikonsandVstroms, the specs you gave are a good starting point.

    1080p is fine for the screen.

    This laptop is going to be used mainly as a means to do some light editing, and to facilitate getting the photos onto portable drives.
    When back at the desktop I will check them all out on the larger better monitor and continue with editing and whatever.
    my current cameras are d4s, d810, and a 7100 I don't plan on changing anytime in the near future.

    No problem, also if you're looking to save a few bucks or to get a bit more performance for your dollar check out the outlet/refurb sections of the manufacturer sites. I picked up my current Dell laptop for 450 bucks in 2012 and to buy a faster computer it still would be over 750 today.
    http://www.jonathanbeckley.com/
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    DKphotographyDKphotography Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited February 2, 2016
    RogerLund wrote: »
    I enjoy my Dell XPS 15 model 9550.



    I can see why. I looked up the specs and it appears to be a nicely loaded computer.
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    amadeusamadeus Registered Users Posts: 2,125 Major grins
    edited February 15, 2016
    Been looking for months. the more I look the more I hate the whole mess...

    I kind of decided to buy a gaming laptop, logic being if it can run a game it can process pictures in lightroom. everytime I pick out a laptop to buy the reviews on the thing scare me away. on their own websites. latest being a Dell 15 inch Alienware. Jesus can't we build a laptop in 2016 that doesn't freeze/crash/have driver issues/ etc etc etc etc?? do these companies not know how to configure a product? glad they aren't building cars they wouldn't exactly be safe.

    IT guys at work asked, why you want a gaming laptop? for picture processing. then he says, graphics for games don't necessarily translate to picture processing..

    bottom line is pay through the nose and get a macbook pro which will have no problems for a very long time or pay half that for a windows machine and plan on problems.

    I REALLY don't want to spend $2500-$3000 but I'm getting tired of looking...


    getting back to the bad reviews on the Alienware. Every one that got posted, and there are a lot, Dells answer was "we are sorry to hear you are having problems, please contact out tech support so they can help you resolve it" every freaking one. thats a real confidence booster. Instead of addressing these issues that they are unleashing on the buying public, just a "call tech support so they can help you" over and over and over and over.

    yeah...I think I'll spend my money somewhere else.....
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited February 16, 2016
    Pass on the Alienware machines. I have a good friend who is a retired computer scientist and had both a desktop and laptop machines from Alienware. He had nothing but problems with them and got rid of them.

    Don't buy gaming machine, unless you know what you're doing. While gaming machines tend to have great graphics cards, they also typically have very small main RAM configurations. Instead, buy a high-end laptop with 16GB of RAM. Maybe you can upgrade the memory to a gaming laptop. Before buying, check the graphics card to make sure it's on Adobe's list of supported cards. Here: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/lightroom-gpu-faq.html#

    Note that almost all Windows cards are supported these days, while on MAC, the list of UNsupported graphics cards is pretty large.

    An SSD based system will be faster than hard-drive based system.

    Now you know as much as I do. :)
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
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    jtrai491jtrai491 Registered Users Posts: 3 Big grins
    edited February 16, 2016
    Alienware was great until they were bought by Dell. I have been in systems support for 25 years and the best laptops I have had were either Lenovo's or HP business laptops. 90% of our hosted and managed services clients go for either one. They are more expensive then the consumer one's but worth the extra money. Up until a few years ago I have only had either of these. Now I am a Mac person, I still have an Lenovo for work but at home I only use an iMac.
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    sarasphotossarasphotos Registered Users Posts: 3,831 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2016
    Have you considered a Surface Pro?
    Sara's Photos | Recent Additions

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    RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,919 moderator
    edited February 17, 2016
    I used to look forward to getting a new computer, but now I dread it. It has become a real pain, and since most of the engineering attention is focused on mobile phones and smart toasters, the recent improvements in new PCs have become mostly incremental.

    That said, kdog's advice is solid. Memory and SSDs are the key to speedy photo processing. You don't need a high end graphics card; a middle of the road one is more than adequate unless you are doing video editing. Gamer cards are overkill, for sure, unless you're into gaming. FWIW, I've been using Lenovo Thinkpads for about 10 years and have been happy with them. I wouldn't recommend their consumer grade machines though, or any consumer grade machine for that matter. The build quality of business machines is well worth the extra money in the long run.
    My Pics
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    amadeusamadeus Registered Users Posts: 2,125 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2016
    RogerLund wrote: »
    I enjoy my Dell XPS 15 model 9550.

    I'm sure its nice if you get a good one. Co-worker told me the same thing. SSD, 4K display. OK I'm flexible, I'd rather use a PC than a Mac anyway.

    Go to Dells website and read the reviews. From people who bought them. Nightmare after nightmare.

    No thanks. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to a MacBook Pro 15 inch...
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    ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 23,806 moderator
    edited February 17, 2016
    amadeus wrote: »
    I'm sure its nice if you get a good one. Co-worker told me the same thing. SSD, 4K display. OK I'm flexible, I'd rather use a PC than a Mac anyway.

    Go to Dells website and read the reviews. From people who bought them. Nightmare after nightmare.

    No thanks. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to a MacBook Pro 15 inch...

    Sure, nobody ever has problems with a MacBook Pro 15 inch! rolleyes1.gif

    http://bfy.tw/4Jic
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
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    amadeusamadeus Registered Users Posts: 2,125 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2016
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    Sure, nobody ever has problems with a MacBook Pro 15 inch! rolleyes1.gif

    http://bfy.tw/4Jic

    why you're right in 2011 and 2012 there were some issues! :D
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    Eldon SheaEldon Shea Registered Users Posts: 145 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2016
    I got an MSI Apache gaming laptop on Amazon for $1300. You can spec it any way you want to get it under $1,000 and it will still be great. Definitely get the solid state drive. It runs Lightroom much faster. I don't like the monitor however, but I always use an external monitor at home. This so-called laptop is huge and very heavy. I use it in my RV as well and put up with the screen while on the road. Verizon Jetpack for internet is highly recommended if you don't have a way to connect on the road. RV park wifi usually sucks.

    Bryan
    Bryan

    Gallery: https://eldonshea.smugmug.com/
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    amadeusamadeus Registered Users Posts: 2,125 Major grins
    edited May 1, 2016
    I pulled the trigger on a Dell XPS 15 with 4K display, 512 G SSHD,16 ram. The "small" HD doesn't bother me cos I don't plan on using it as a primary storage device, just running Lightroom, and nothing else. I'm using the Adobe Creative Cloud LR/photoshop and sofar so good no complaints.
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