Teresa Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Hi ..I'm looking to buy a new laptop so I my as well invest in the best. Could you give me a few choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 @Teresa, did you browse the site before posting, as I suggested? There are LOTS of threads with the same title as yours. https://ask.damiensymonds.net/forum/18-the-windows-pc-hardware-forum/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 I’m going to move this to the PC Hardware and Windows thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Before we begin, what is a realistic budget that you had in mind? As far as models, laptops are a moving target. The manufacturers used to have a Fall / Spring Line, similar to what Apple does now. Unfortunately, laptops seem to be refreshed every six weeks or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 Looking to spend around 1500-2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 (edited) I wish i could get a Computer but I don't have the space in my home. Also never home. Right now I have a. laptop..HP envy intel core i7-6500U CPU 2.50ghz 2.60ghz 16.0gb 64 bit. Bought it a few years ago and I just don't think it gives me what I need. Edited May 8, 2019 by Teresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 In what way do you feel that your HP is letting you down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 I feel that my calibrations and quality are not it's best. And I want the best. I've heard good things about Macs but I don't no anything about them. So I was hoping to find that information here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 4 hours ago, Teresa said: I feel that my calibrations and quality are not it's best. Were you following my calibration instructions here? https://www.damiensymonds.net/calibration.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 If you were following those instructions, and you're still not happy with the screen, have you considered just buying a new screen? It would be the MUCH cheaper option. You could get a very good screen for a fraction of the price of a new computer. https://www.damiensymonds.net/art_monitor.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Well, it's nice to meet someone with a healthy, realistic budget. (Around $1500 or so.) It's often that folks don't want to spend more than $500, and they usually end up with crap. Unfortunately, laptops are a moving target and it's really tough to recommend one with my standards. Often, laptops are meant for portability and ease of use with general computing, and when you throw photo or video editing into the mix, it gets tougher. Not only from hardware that is meant to conserve power, often laptop screens are not IPS based, which is what you want for photo editing. Even laptops that I have recommended in the past, such as the Asus Republic of Gamers line, are getting harder to find configurations with an IPS display. They are meant for games, especially FPS with rapid refresh rates, and not color accuracy. The reason that people often recommend Mac Laptops is that is stems from a couple of things. Back in the 1980's and 1990's, the Arts were really ignored by Microsoft, so Apple took it upon themselves to fill that void. While it was fine to write documents and create spreadsheets and do data/number-crunching, if you wanted to do anything creative, the software programs worked on Macs. Over time this isn't an issue and you can find multiple platforms using the same software. The only difference these days is when it comes to editing video, Apple is still the preferred brand as the limited hardware choices make it easier for programmers, so editing video on the Mac has a HUGE performance boost. The second thing is the entrenchment of the Art World when it comes to Macs. It is still present today...the snobbery of if you don't use an Apple Product, you aren't taken seriously. Trust me, walking into a high-end client with a Windows Laptop in your bag will almost guarantee you not getting the gig. Yes, this doesn't make sense; then again humans do A LOT of things that don't make sense. But we are talking about photos, not video. Mac Laptops are insanely over-priced if all you want to do is edit photos. I can't in good conscious to recommend a $3600+ MacBook Pro Laptop for editing photos. Sure you can edit them on a MacBook Air and such, you are just limited by a photo or two, not batches and batches of photos. So your workflow, if it's high volume, might suffer. Now if all you do is edit 2-3 photos at a time, this isn't an issue.If your main concern is how you screen looks, then I 100% agree with Damien, purchase an external display. Use HDMI, or better yet, DisplayPort if you have that option on your laptop for the best results. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE a 15-pin Blue VGA connector / cable! That technology from 1989 is Analog and was not designed for today's modern fancy flat-screen displays. Here is a laptop configuration that caught my eye. Yes...it's an HP laptop. Trust me, it is really tough for me to recommend laptops. It's like asking Damien to fall in love with Lightroom and recommend it over Bridge. It just isn't going to happen. I hate laptops for photo editing. LOL!!https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/omen-by-hp-17t-laptop-best-value-4fj26av-1 Here is some info on what I look for in a computer for photo editing, whether it's a Laptop or Desktop, copied from another thread: The funny thing with Photoshop, is that I believe that the latest version of PS CC is finally taking advantage of what makes a i7 CPU so fast. Up until this point, PS only had about a 5% - 7% performance boost when using a i7 CPU chip over a i5 chip. So CPU power is not as big as a deal as one might think. Heck, over on the Macintosh side, Photoshop runs better on a upgraded 27" iMac than on a iMac Pro that's $10,000 for the same reason. Photoshop doesn't utilize the CPU as one would think. It's all about RAM, Free HD Capacity and Video Memory. Now, if you were editing video, that is a whole other ballgame...but I'm digressing here. Honestly, it’s a laptop. It’s meant to conserve battery life so I guess get the best that you can afford. A i9...I’m not convinced that it will give you THAT much more of a difference in speed over a i7. What I’m more concerned with these days is the stupid small SSD drives that the manufacturers put in computers; you must really pay attention to the specs of the computer, now more than ever. I don’t know if the manufacturers had a really good deal or they have boatloads of small SSD drives that they are trying to get rid of. THE most important thing is to get a laptop or computer with at least a 500GB SSD Drive. Better yet, a 1TB...but good luck finding one in a laptop. Right now I keep seeing 128GB in these computers that link to and that’s microscopic by today’s standards. Not only do you lose capacity after partitioning and formatting then Windows being installed, you have to deal with the PS scratch Disk and Windows Swapfile. (PageFile.sys) Then you load images from a 24MP (or greater camera) and that drains resources. For all computers, to run PS CC (Current Version) well requires five things: i7 CPU A separate, non-integrated Video Card with its own dedicated video memory. 2-4GB is fine, 6-8GB Video RAM is better. I realize this is a laptop so it’s going to be part of the motherboard but you still should get one that has dedicated video memory and not one that takes a chunk of the main RAM. At least 16GB RAM with the ability to upgrade to 32GB. Hard Drive Capacity for the main drive should be 1TB. 500GB is doable; however, you don’t want to use that for long term storage of files for a drive that’s 500GB or less. 128GB SSD main drive is out of the question for either a laptop or desktop. I do not care how fast it is, it will not do you one bit of good if it becomes full and that is very easy to do with just Windows, Photoshop and a few photo sessions. A IPS based Display. This helps ensure that your colors and contrast is consistent from edge to edge. 4K on a 15” Display will make everything so TINY. So a screen that is normal HD (1920 x 1080) is fine. So there you have it. What most people are looking for turns out to be a Desktop Replacement and not your average "Laptop." Of course, it's your money and decision, just keep in mind that laptop life-spans are not that great. Your $500 laptop, you'll get 18 months out of, $1000 laptop about 2 years, and your $1500 to $2000...about 3-4 years out of. Then they will start having issues and being quirky, plus the original battery won't hold a charge, etc. and then you are looking for a new one because it's "Too Slow..." 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 Thanks guys this is very helpful Yes Damien I use your instruction on calibration. You are always very helpful and I trust all your suggestions . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Teresa said: Yes Damien I use your instruction on calibration. You are always very helpful and I trust all your suggestions . Then in what way was the calibration inaccurate? Did you follow the troubleshooting part of my directions to their exhaustion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 The problem I believe is in the laptop not the settings. I can visually see the colors fade out and in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Ok. Then yes, your best immediate solution is to buy a better screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 What did you decide to do, @Teresa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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