New laptop (or desktop) and new monitor(s)

[Pat]

All my hardware is old - laptop is 8 years old, monitor older than that. I'm ready to start fresh. I want good hardware for photo editing, but I not overkill. Last time I bought, I went way above what I needed, I think. I'm willing to pay, but not for something I don't need. I run windows, and I'd like to stay with that. But I'm open to either a desktop or laptop - whatever gives me the biggest bang for my buck.  Suggestions in today's market?

[Brian]

3 hours ago, Pat said:

Last time I bought, I went way above what I needed, I think.

By doing that, you got 8 years out of your current setup! If you go cheaper, and less horsepower, you will end up replacing sooner rather than later. By going the cheaper route, you will end up spending more money in the same time period. For example, spend $800 now for a cheap setup instead of say a budget around $1200-ish. Then in four years, spend another $800. So within a 7-8 year time frame, you could spend $1200 or $1600. Something to think about. Plus figure in the hassle of transferring brushes, data, actions, e-mail, favorites, etc. from one computer to the other.

Desktops will still give you the best bang for the buck. I personally do not recommend laptops for photo-editing but I got tired of arguing. To get a decent setup for a laptop for photo editing, your price-point should be around $1500. Your could get a desktop / monitor combo for hundreds less. What is the tough part about laptops is finding one with a IPS screen and they are built for portability and to conserve power. So unless you buy a gaming laptop to get more horsepower, the components of a $500 laptop won't be of optimum performance. That said, it also depends on what type of photos you take, what kind they are (single-frame vs multi-photo panoramas) and how many you edit at one time. For a person that edits one or two photos at a time will have different needs than someone who batches photos 50 at a time.

So I guess the next step is telling me more about what your expectations are and you can poke around the what-to-buy threads here.
In a nutshell at a minimum:

• Intel i7 or i5 CPU
• 16GB RAM (32GB Preferred)
• 1TB Main Hard Drive (The bigger the better)
• A video card that has its own dedicated video memory - 2GB Video RAM at a Minimum (8GB Preferred)
• Video Card that has a digital connector / port ( DVI [Good] - HDMI [Better] - DisplayPort [Best] )
• Windows 10
• IPS Display Panel with a Matte Coating or Matte Panel. 24" is a good size to start with.

[Pat]

Thanks, Brian.  First I should have said that if I go with a laptop, I will hook to an external monitor. The only time I use my laptop monitor is when I travel, and I don't do photo editing then.

Let's pretend money is no object ($1200 to $1600 is certainly do-able).

I cull using Bridge, edit in Photoshop, one photo at a time, never multiframe panoramas (maybe I ought to experiment with this, but haven't so far). I do have plug-ins that I use sometimes - mainly Topaz and Nik.

I've always owned Dell's, but my I'm open.  I want something reliable.

[Brian]

I like the Asus Republic of Gamers line when it comes to laptops for photo editing. Here is one that meets all my specs and has a Matte IPS display panel:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1398212-REG/asus_fx504ge_bs73_i7_8750h_8gb_1tb.html

The only thing I don't like about that laptop is the 128GB SSD drive but it does have another traditional HD built in. At 128GB, you are really looking at Windows only, maybe install Photshop on the main drive, but configure the scratch drive to be on the D Drive / Second HD. 

Keep in mind, that finding a decent laptop these days is tough and it's getting tougher to find a good one. They are all crap, made from cheap plastic and are replaced so frequently. That link I posted in this thread is probably good for a week or so. Maybe a month before that laptop is "Discontinued." Anyway, I'd start with a Asus ROG laptop and work from there.

[Pat]

Brian, thanks for your help.  I bit the bullet today and ordered a Dell XPS desktop, configured as you suggested with the preferred configurations.  I can't wait to be blown away by the performance! For anyone ordering from Dell, call rather than order online. I configured my desktop, put it in my cart, then called. I ended up getting a better deal on the phone.

I still need to order the monitor, but I'll probably get that from B&H and avoid the sales tax.