Brian

That Asus on Amazon, while on the surface looks decent, it does not specifically mention anything about being an IPS based display panel. I'm wary of this. The DCI-P3 is the new kid on the block in terms of Color Gamut and it looks promising. It makes movies that you watch on your laptop look better. That said, the web and prints and anything that is .jpg based is going to be in the sRGB colorspace for awhile. So no matter how much something is 97.3737482% of this color gamut, it doesn't mean a damn thing in the real world, at least not yet. That's why Damien wants you to switch to the sRGB colorspace just as you come out of ACR and one of the reasons Lightroom isn't recommended by him. (LR only has one colorspace, and it isn't sRGB.) You want to be consistent from beginning to end in terms of color. This is a laptop for photo-editing, so you have to be picky. If it was for general use, then buy whatever.

Why is IPS so important? Because the colors and contrast are consistent from edge to edge across the panel. You will have enough problems with screen angle alignment each time you open the laptop, which changes how you view things like your "darks." Moving the display an inch or so in each direction changes how you view the image. This is the #1 reason that I hate laptops for photo editing. But people keep wanting them, so I have given up arguing. Speaking of display angle, be sure to buy one of these:

Acratech Viewing Angle Gauge (Red)

You attach that to the back of the laptop, and you look through the little hole. If you see the little tab, you need to adjust your laptop's display angle. The hole should be "filled."

BUY IT! 

Samsung Display Panels are nice. I own two Samsung TVs as do both of my Sons. 

Sweet. 
 

That’s like me getting a D4s for the cost of repair ($612) of my D3s because Nikon broke my camera and parts no longer existed on the planet for it. 

On 12/29/2019 at 8:34 PM, srnhramer said:

is this all I'll need .. the dp is the display port cable?

Yes. You will "Need" a power cable and a DisplayPort Cable, provided that the back of your new computer has a DisplayPort. (It probably does.) If not, a HDMI cable will also work. Again, it just depends on the ports that you will be dealing with.

The new standard going forward is really DisplayPort, or DP. It's royalty free, supports lots of different formats via adapter, i.e. DP to HDMI, DP to DVI-D, etc. There is even a DP to VGA adapter cable!! Most Dell Displays come with some sort of cable(s) in the box, so I wouldn't go out buying anything just yet. The thing with Dell Displays, is that they aren't Dell Displays.

"Huh?"

There are only like 5-7 display panel manufacturers in the world. Well, I could be exaggerating but I think you get what I mean. LG, Sony, Samsung are the three top ones that come to my mind. Dell Displays are rebranded screens. Sure, they have their logos and menu-structure all over them, but the display panel itself is made by someone else. Damien and I have recommended Dell Displays over the years with very good and consistent results. They are affordable, readily available world-wide and most importantly, tend to be easy to calibrate. I'm buying a Dell for my next PC Monitor. So there's your answer.

On 12/29/2019 at 8:34 PM, srnhramer said:

4k is not necessary for photo editing?

Not really. It's more of a gimmick than anything. Hell, 4K content isn't mainstream yet for Cable TV! It just gives people the illusion of FOMO, and something to buy. Just as we are now getting used to thinking that we NEED 4K...8K is already out, followed by 16K. Then 32, then 64. It's like having to buy the Beatles "White Album" for the 100th time due to a new format. As far as photo-editing goes, 1920 x 1080 with a 16:9 or even 16:10 Aspect Ratio is FINE. Now, if you were editing 4K video for YouTube or for feature films for clients, that's a different story. For Photographic stills, using PS...not-so-much. Damien uses a 1920x1080 (19"??) screen and Photoshop CS5, and I think he edits just fine.

On 12/29/2019 at 8:34 PM, srnhramer said:

I currently have a sypder 4 pro for calibration ... should be good enough if I go with the Dell monitor?

Good enough? Nope.

In fact, you will need to budget for an even more expensive calibration device, such as the X-Rite i1Studio Spectrophotometer. You need a calibration tool that calibrates not only your monitor, but your home printers (to your display) as well, since you want to print stuff at home. You will need to create multiple display monitor profiles, (ICC Profiles,) one for the the Canon Printer and on for the Epson Printer. Even by today's standards, a Spyder 4 Series is a bit long-in-the-tooth technology-wise. If you had a Sypder5 series, I'd suggest trying it, but Spyder4...that's pushing it. You can try it, but I think you will have mixed results. Since you are printing at home, you could head for the Adobe RGB route, but keep in mind JPEG and anything you export to the web will be sRGB. Believe it or not, sRGB is a lot bigger than people give it credit. It boils down to the Measurebators, the guys that say that X is better than Y because of ______________. These are the same people that get into flame-wars online trying to convice everyone they are right because ______________ is better than ____________ due to bigger/better/faster/more reasons. These same people will tell you that 60MP is where it's at and a 16MP Camera is worthless. Or this new fancy mirrorless camera is the future and your DSLR is dead. Or the ones that say you NEED to use Adobe RGB for home printing, Blah-Blah-Blah.

Now I would be lying and telling you to not use Adobe RGB since you are printing for yourself at home. Of course, a larger color-space in that type of scenario has its benefits and is the recommended colorspace for those who print at home. It's just the practicality of things. I'm a firm believer in the KISS Principle. That said, I'm going to page @Damien Symonds for his input on this topic. Thoughts Damien? Gamut and RGB Percentages and all that for someone who is going to print at home? Not to mention the type of paper being used by the printer causing issues?

If Dell is going to replace it, go for it. Also, sometimes things like RAM become loose during transport. It could be something simple as that. F-R-A-G-I-L-E is Swahili for "Please Drop Me."  

The 2419H seems to be the current model. Either is fine. Enjoy your purchase.

I'd contact Dell Support. If you do end up replacing your computer, the very first thing I want you to do is download and install Firefox. Why? Because Microsoft Edge sucks as just as much as Internet Explorer, and Chrome...while fast, is not color-managed.

Now Windows 10 Explorer is different than a browser. That's part of Windows.

Try pulling the power cord out of the unit and wait 30 seconds to a min. Then plug it back in again. I would also un-hook any external hard drives that you have connected. You'd be surprised on how often a EHD will prevent a computer from booting, because Windows gets confused.

Having a SSD Drive for booting does make a difference. The main issue is that the majority of the manufacturers try to sell you a 256GB Model. That is way too small in my humble opinion, for computers that are meant for photo-editing. Please, for the love that is all good-and-green, select this option:

512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM 3.5" SATA HDD (Storage)

As far as the i9 vs i7, it really doesn't matter when it comes to Photoshop. I'd actually get a fast i7, and select the AMD Radeon™ RX 570 with 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory for your video card option. Here is what I'd pick:
 

• 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 9700 (8-Core, 12MB Cache, up to 4.7GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
• Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English
• 32GB DDR4 at 2666MHz; up to 64GB (Additional memory sold separately)
• 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM 3.5" SATA HDD (Storage)
• AMD Radeon™ RX 570 with 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory

This configuration is still $1499. Oh, this doesn't include a BDRE Drive, for that you have to add it for $100 more. (Yes, get the Blu-Ray version.) Since most things are streaming / download based, it's not that much of an issue in today's world. But if you have a bunch of data DVDs laying around, it might be worth the $100 extra, otherwise you are buying an external DVD Drive.

Why the AMD instead of the NVIDIA? It goes beyond a 4GB / 6GB Video Memory Difference; AMD Video Drivers play well with current versions of PS CC. The choice of video card is just as important, perhaps even more important, than the CPU selection. NVIDIA's drivers and Photoshop seem to have more problems or at the very least, you have to un-install the preloaded drivers and install different ones to make things work better. That's too much of a hassle. I'd rather have you save money on the CPU and put those savings towards a better video card without the video driver hassle.

As far as the BENQ display, I'm not going to sugar-coat this...they are a pain in the ass to calibrate. So, I'd budget a few hundred more for a SpyderX Elite Calibration Tool in addition to your BENQ Display. Personally, I'd get this display, the Dell Ultrasharp 24 inch Infinity Edge Monitor - U2417H. It's just under $200 and the members here and in FB Ask Damien have had good luck with calibration. It's the one I would personally purchase.

Personally, I'd skip the Touchscreen / Flip around thing. They are a bitch to calibrate. If you did go that route, plan on buying a calibrator like the SpyderX Elite, so add a few hundred for the total cost. The problem is the US Tariffs for imports from China. All the computer stuff comes from China. So things are averaging $300-$500 MORE than they did last year, so your budget should be closer to $2000 these days. Since the manufacturers don't want to eat those costs, they are forwarding them down to the consumer.

I will say this laptop seems to tick all the boxes, so it's not off the table. I would just try to calibrate it and see how that goes before the 14-Day return period expires. Have a set of test prints ready to use. If you can't get it calibrated, then return it. Here is a link to the SpyderX Elite on Amazon.

Yeah, that is bizarre. Though I have seen plenty of DOA things over the years. Since this camera is new, check the Firmware Level. The current version is 1.6. Here is the link to it on Canon's Website:

Canon EOS R Firmware

What size is the card? What name brand is it? 

Since you haven't gotten back to me, here is a Nikon D3500 two lens kit that's on sale. It's a good beginner camera setup for $400:

Nikon D3500 Two Lens Kit.

Oh, the truth to this reasoning is that flash media doesn’t have an infinite amount of read/writes to the sectors that your data resides in. They wear out over time. Eventually things can corrupt while being written or areas will turn into read-only permanently without warning. 
 

That said, SSD Drives have come a long way but it’s still something to avoid using. 

The VPN update is most likely the culprit. I’d contact their support and see if there is something that you have to configure/forward. I don’t have a lot of experience with setting up VPNs. 

Yep. It’s probably a DNS / Name Resolution issue. While connected to your VPN, all of the Ethernet Traffic is going through the VPN and can’t find a local network folder. As soon as you disconnect, DNS resolves where the folder is. 
 

Is this shared folder on another computer or NAS? 

13 hours ago, Misha said:

I love the portability of a laptop but it seems I can get better bang for my buck in a desktop. Is that a correct assumption?

Yes! 
 

Between the two, the more expensive one is a better buy. Not just because the CPU is faster, but the 8GB Graphics Card plays really well with PS CC. Getting a Graphics Card that performs well with PS is almost as important as the CPU chip. 
 

Between the two, I’m not a fan of a Fusion Drive and prefer a SSD. But it sounds like your choices are limited for now. 
 

I would also purchase a 32GB RAM kit to increase the RAM from 8GB to 40GB. RAM is fairly cheap now and a 32GB kit from Crucial.com should be around $150. 

Yeah, you really don’t want to do that with a SSD Drive. Especially Defrag. Never-Ever-Ever run a defrag on a SSD Drive. In fact, Windows 10 won’t let you do it if it properly detects a SSD Drive. 
 

Doing it once won’t hurt things, but doing it over-and-over will be bad for the drive. Just let it delete your files to keep things tidy. It’s the secure-erase stuff is what really wears out the flash media cells. 

You are right. Now for even more bad news, the Colormunki has been orphaned by the manufacturer and there will be no updates to the Calibration Software. That said, they do have a work-around and that is to use the i1Studio's Calibration software, which is compatible with the ColorMunki & Catalina. Here is the webpage with the details:

ColorMunki - Don't Worry! Be Happy!

Long term, I'm looking at getting the SpyderX Pro as I own a ColorMunki (and a iMac) and am in the same boat.

The very first question I am going to ask is, "What is your budget?"

Photography, especially digital photography, has significantly lowered the costs, as each photo doesn't cost money, but it still isn't a poor-man's hobby. So I'm going to need a realistic budget that you are willing to spend and one that you might spend. For example, "I'm looking at $500 or so but can afford up to $1000." Something like that.

Portraits and animals is a good subject to start with, and more than likely you will need a zoom lens in the 70-300mm range. Before we get to that, let's talk numbers.

 

First,

THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!!! LOL!!

You have no idea on how difficult is is for people to leave Facebook. The addiction is real. 

Second, here in "Ask Brian" I have things pretty locked down. Only you or myself will be able to comment in this thread. This way I can keep things simple and not have to worry about a bunch of people trying to give you advice or post silly pictures. Now for your question...

Yeah, I've answered this many times in the Windows Section. Anyway, I own G-Drives. I have the now discontinued (12TB version) of this drive, and this is the latest incarnation @ 14TB:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1480233-REG/g_technology_0g10427_g_drive_pro_14tb_thunderbolt.html

I like the fact that it's 7200 RPM and a Enterprise Class HD. That is Server-Grade / Heavy Usage stuff. Thunderbolt 3 is pretty fast and since you are editing video, the throughput on that Drive is very nice. So much that I actually put all of my images on my EHD, and even edit off of it. Because it's so fast, I don't notice any real difference in terms of performance working off a EHD than my internal HD. Sure, the my Mac's internal SSD drive will be faster, but I haven't been crippled by it. I'm also working with huge D850 files.

Please note, that G-Drive comes Mac-Formatted. All you would need to do is delete the existing partition, setup a GPT Disk and use the Wizard to create a NTFS partition. Should take less than 5 min to convert, and you don't need any fancy software to do this, it's built into Windows. Oh, speaking of Windows, you will need a 64-bit version, but I have a feeling you know this.  

It sounds like the "Image" file that the factory used to install on your HD didn't transfer correctly. Chances are there is nothing wrong with your HD hardware-wise, it's just possibly screwed up software. 40GB of "Others" storage file seems large. I have zero on my iMac. Though I'm still on Mojave and you might be on Catalina.

Anyway, keep an eye on it. If it starts to grow, I'd back up your data and schedule an appointment with the Genius Bar and have them format your HD and re-install a fresh copy of the Operating System. Granted, this will be a PITA but long term, it should fix your problem.

Looks good!

Any updates @Caidasmama? Have you disabled Time Machine and waited a few min? Or is your HD still filling up?