Brian

I found a portion of an old article about laptops and photo editing that I wrote a few years ago. Here it is, and I will be updating it to version 3.0 in the very near future. Oh, this article is more of a rant that needs to be toned down. That will happen in version 3.0. You have been warned. The short answer is: "I DO NOT RECOMMEND LAPTOPS FOR PHOTO EDITING." Culling and showing a slideshow...fine. Editing, notsomuch. Here is why: 1. The Screen's Angle of View is the main thing. Each time you open the display, your colors and contrast will change because the angle of what you’re viewing has changed. So unless you make some sort of jig or use an alignment tool to guarantee the angle of the screen is the same, you aren't going to be very consistent from shot to shot or batch to batch. Have a Cat or Children? A simple bump or rub from them can screw up the laptop's Angle of View. Even if you "know" that you have never touched the screen. There are no guarantees. 2. Laptop screens are usually very glossy and bright. Laptop screens are meant to be viewed in a variety of environments and in all sorts of lighting, from an Airport to Coffee Shop to your Home and points beyond. They are great for web browsing, watching a movie, writing e-mail, balancing your checkbook, etc. basically everything else BUT NOT PHOTO EDITING. 3. Be sure to budget for a Calibration Tool if you don't already have one! Your colors are going to be a whacked until you get a baseline and get calibrated. THEN you will have to compare them to your prints. Expect lots of frustration and questions posted in "Ask Damien" on why your screen won't calibrate correctly. Since laptops change so quickly, they are "orphaned" a lot quicker than desktops. Meaning driver updates or compatibility issues with your calibration tool likely won't be fixed or addressed. (I can't tell you how many photos I have seen in Ask Damien on why Calibration Profiles just don't "stick" with laptops, due to their crappy drivers.) The only laptops that I've still seen get good reviews for being decent out of the box are the MacBook Pro's, but those laptops are very expensive. Now, I usually get the response, "But my last laptop was fine and it lasted 7-10 years…" or "My Prints matched my laptop's screen pretty well (on my old laptop)…" or something along those lines. My response: YOU GOT LUCKY!! Don't bank on it happening again. As display panels change, so do the way they reproduce colors. Manufactures are always looking to cut costs and keep power consumption low on laptops, so the displays could be better…or more than likely worse with each newer model. 4. Horsepower is another issue. They are designed with low power consumption in mind so they aren't always the fastest. Heat…Heat is the enemy. The faster or harder something runs, the hotter it gets, the longer things take to complete, and things to lock-up and hesitate on a normal basis. So if you are doing a lot of batching, that could've an issue. Now comes for the upgradeability issues and hardware limitations. RAM usually can't be upgraded more than 8GB and HD's are small and tend to be slow, again for lower power consumption. Laptops usually only have 500GB HD, and if you are lucky a 750GB HD. Unfortunately, one third of that is taken up by the Operating System, and pre-installed crapware. After you add your software, there is very little room left over for large .psd and RAW files. Video Memory is often shared with the RAM so the ability to power very large resolutions that drive 27" displays is non-existent. Meaning, you can't just simply go out and by whatever display that you wish, you'll need to pay attention to the maximum resolution that the laptop can produce for an external display. Laptops that have their own dedicated memory are a little better powering the larger displays, but most people don’t request them, so those models are a bit harder to find and usually cost a lot more. 5. Keyboards and Trackpads are usually terrible. It's an eye-opening experience when you physically go to a store and try some typing and use a track-pad. Keyboards are quite cheap these days and I can almost guarantee you, a mouse will be hooked up to a laptop for photo editing. So that kills some portability right there. Now, I have seen some folks like trackpads for editing, but it's pretty rare to see. 6. Reliability. Laptops often only last about 3 years before they become "Too Slow" or start locking up or just downright fail on you. 3 Years is the average these days. So where do you get them fixed? At least with Apple and Sony, they have Apple and Sony Stores. OEM Batteries aren't cheap either. They average about $150 or more to get a replacement. Time-frame, batteries seem to last 1.5 years on the average. Sometimes it’s less, sometimes it’s more.

First question... "What is your budget?" Second Question... Is the D90 and 18-105 the only gear that you have?

It's better to stick with Raw, uncompressed preferred...or lossless compressed. 12-Bit is fine if that's an option on your camera. 14-bit Raw is also fine, but you really won't see a real-world difference between 12-bit and 14-bit. Now, I'm sure there are plenty of Measurebators out there that will tell me otherwise, but I like to keep things simple. Oh, the difference between Raw and JPEG can be summed up as this statement: RAW = "The End." JPEG = thend Now, to take it one step further, lets add MRAW and SRAW to the mix: Raw = "The End." mRaw = "The End sRaw = ThEnd JPEG = thend As you can see, you are throwing bits of data away, in addition to resolution. So it's best to stick with plain old boring Raw and keep things simple. The only time you want to throw bits of data away is when you are converting to JPEG.

Oops. Sorry about that. I sit corrected. I just edited my post.

Yep. I've used them since the 1990's. They are a good source for RAM and prices are reasonable. You'll see their scanning tool on the main page, but I'm thinking it will cost you about $100 to take your Mac to 16GB. (I think the kits are around $48 each). Still on 4GB? OMG!! You have no idea on what you are missing out. It will be like having a whole new computer. There is a MAJOR difference between 4GB and 16GB. Enjoy your purchase. PS: The scanning tool is a .dmg file that will go to your downloads folder. Look for it there and double-click it. It's harmless.

CS6 will be needed at the very least to support the D5500. You are out of luck with CS4 or CS5. You have two options: Use Adobe's DNG Converter Program Sign up for Adobe's Photoshop CC option, which runs you $9.99 /month, plus any applicable sales taxes. If by some chance you stumble across a copy of CS6, that will support the D5500. Unfortunately, Adobe is slowly killing support for CS6. Soon it will go the way of CS5, CS4, CS3, etc. and be completely discontinued.

You are right, you will get mixed answers. Around that time, Apple was changing things and their 27" models could go up to 32GB, but didn't list it. The rule of thumb is, if your iMac has a DVD SuperDrive built in, it can go up to 16GB. The 27" models that don't have the DVD drive can support 32GB. Now, I'm sure someone out there tried installing 32GB and it worked, for whatever reason. That said, I can not in good conscious recommend trying it if you have a DVD drive in your unit. I would head to Crucial.com, run their scanning tool. After you run it, you should see a page with your options. Look at purchasing TWO 8GB kits. Of course, it depends on what your current setup is. If you only have 4GB, chances are you have two 2GB Sticks. Those sticks would need to be pulled and 4GB sticks would need to be installed in their place. To get 16GB, you'll need four 4GB sticks in all the slots. If you have upgraded RAM in the past, we will have to talk about what's installed.

Specifically, this WD drive caught my eye: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1148572-REG/wd_wdbdtb0120jsl_nesn_my_book_pro_12tb.html As soon as you want drive mirroring, where one drive auto-copies to another, the costs increase. A RAID setup usually isn't cheap. Of course, you could purchase a few G Drives and use SuperDuper to copy things over. That will run you about $600 or so total.

Give this thread a read.

I like APC's stuff. This is what I use: APC BE750G Back-UPS 750VA 10-outlet Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z80ICM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_XA3WwbYFC8G3X

It's a common problem with Yosemite and El Capitan. The drives will randomly unmount. There isn't a fix I know of. Now for part 2. WD must use the world's cheapest cases and ports. Often with their externals, the HD itself is fine, it's just the crappy USB port that they use...you can't just get to it. What I'd recommend doing is taking the WD EHD to a Mom & Pop computer shop and see if they can transplant the HD into a new case.

Now it's hard to see the knob on the top, as the photo is kinda blurry. But this camera was EXTREMELY POPULAR in the US in the 1950's. It's the "Canon Digital Rebel" of its day.

1950's Kodak Brownie Camera

Yeah, they know that all Mac users have Safari, so they target that browser. The only time I've ever gotten those type of pop-ups is when I'm using Safari. It's even more funny when I'm using Firefox and a "Windows Pop-Up Appears doing a "Scan" while using Firefox on my Mac. It's so bogus it's not even funny.

I don't need no stinking 100% Crop. It's a 1950's Kodak Brownie Camera.

Unless you WANT problems and pain, if you are into that sort of thing, STAY ON MAVERICKS!! I know, it keeps popping up telling you that you should upgrade. Don't. Because you'll be in here bitching within a week and no, Apple won't let you downgrade at this point. It's a one-way thing.

So these are affecting Macs now. LOL. It's bogus. But in all seriousness, STOP USING SAFARI! It is the browser that is exploited with this crap. It also takes Apple forever to update it. Please use something like Firefox. Since you are here, chances are you do something with Photography. Firefox is Color Managed. Chrome is not.

Here is the "I have more money than Donald Trump" Edition. This is a MAXED OUT MAC PRO. If you were editing full length movies, working for Pixar or doing other high-intensity graphic projects, this is the machine to do it with: After AppleCare, the final cost is: $10,026.00. Plus shipping and tax. Of course, if you wanted to, you could finance it for 18 Months, if you are approved. The monthly payments would be around $600 a month to have it paid off before the 18 Month Penalty fee. Now it doesn't seem so bad. Oh, don't forget all the extra External Thunderbolt HDs you'll need. Those suckers aren't cheap either. Plan on a extra $5000-$10,000 on top of this Mac Pro.

Now here is the "I JUST WON THE POWERBALL AND HAVE MONEY TO BLOW" Edition. I went for broke and picked all the high-end options. Personally, if you are spending this kind of cash on a iMac, I'd love for you to send some of that money my way. I take donations. Without further ado... That's right. $1 shy of $4100. That whole $1 makes it "Affordable." LMAO!! Add AppleCare for $169 and we are at $4268. Don't have to worry about upgrading anything with this configuration, you have the best and most expensive options installed, at least as far as the iMac line goes.

Here is "The Performance Model." This configuration is more aggressive and goes against what I would buy myself, but for those that are looking for a bit more "Umph" and don't care what my thoughts are; here is the "Performance" iMac: Purchase Apple Care for $169 and we are at $2968 plus shipping and tax. Combine that with a 16GB Upgrade kit from Crucial.com (About $80 as I type this) to take it from 16GB to 32GB, and you have a sweet editing machine for about $3050.

This is the "Best Bang for your Buck" iMac. If I was on a limited budget and wanted to purchase a iMac, this is what I would get. I WOULD AVOID THE 21.5" iMacs LIKE THE PLAGUE!! The reason is you can't upgrade a 21.5" iMac after the fact. Well at least not easily. By the time you purchase the $1499 iMac and upgrade the RAM to 16GB, you are at $1699. For just $100 more, you can get the stock 27" iMac and have the ability to upgrade it to 32GB yourself for about $200. This is the stock 27" iMac with Retina Screen for $1799: Purchase AppleCare for an extra $169 and we are at $1968, plus shipping & tax.

Part three: For a bit of fun, I decided to choose the high-end 27" Retina iMac and max out all the choices. The Cost? Plus AppleCare. Plus Shipping & Tax. So for around $4500-$4600 or more (Depending on where you live...) you can have a tricked out 27" iMac. That is insane to spend that much money on a iMac, in my personal opinion. For that money, I"m looking at the Mac Pro line. So the bottom line is this: Apple really wants you to "Go Big or Go Home." If you choose to purchase a Mac today, be prepared to spend more than $2000, even with the base 27" iMac for $1799. Now, in keeping with tradition, I will configure three iMacs for various budgets and post them in the next few comments.

Why not the $1999 version? Because there isn't a major difference between the two. You see, Apple is charging you an extra $200 to have full upgrade options and they throw in a few minor tweaks to help sell the higher price-point. With the $1799 iMac, you get what they give you...for the most part. Sure, you can get different hard drives and extra RAM, but to get all the choices, you need to pay an extra $200 more. For me, that's like paying a restaurant and extra $50 to order a steak "Medium Well" instead of what they decide for me. Or that I should pay more, just to have the choice between Iceberg Lettuce or Romain in my Salad. Of course, for that extra $200, you get a Fusion Drive instead of a Traditional HD, and a slightly upgraded video card. Most of the time, since Adobe can't seem to figure out how to play nicely with Apple's video Drivers, we are un-checking "Use Graphics Processor" in PS' Preferences in order to prevent weird problems. (i.e., black-box problems while zooming in, fix issues with the Liquidfy tool, etc. Plus all the other weird behavior that doesn't seem to get fixed...only after to we tell Photoshop to ignore the video card does it stabilize. In which case, the extra "features" of the upgraded video card are lost... In addition to the video card upgrade, you get a 1TB Fusion Drive. Now Fusion Drives are fast. I will give you that. The main problem that I have with them, is you do not get a choice on what side of the HD the files reside on. It's up to the HD and Operating System to decide what goes where. Only after a period of around 30 days or so, will the HD move files from the Flash Memory Side to the Traditional HD side. I'm too much of a control freak and like to decide what goes where. Especially if something bad happens to the HD, you have no idea WHERE the files are and for me, that's very uncomfortable. So for those who can live with these issues that I have, the $1999 iMac is a fine purchase. That said, if you are just taking the default choices and not upgrading the CPU or getting a larger HD, then stick with the $1799 iMac.

The only program that I know of that will automatically do it for you is "SuperDuper." SuperDuper You can give it a test drive by copying one HD to another for free, but if you want to schedule that feature, you'll need to pony up the $28 to have it turned on.

Unfortunately, Apple changed everything. So that document that I created ages ago doesn't apply today. Well, not exactly anyway. The theme of the document is the same. I would still purchase the stock 27" $1799 iMac Purchase AppleCare for and extra $169 When you get your iMac, head to Crucial.com and run their scanning tool. It will take you to a page with your options. You are looking for a 16GB kit to take it from 8GB to 24GB. Currently, the price for that kit is around $80.