Will this still work

[Lenny]

I've got a Dell Inspiron 14 7400 which was one of the only laptops I could find in 2021 with an IPS screen.   It's been working fine using Elements, but I'm looking at starting to use Photoshop and think that might be a problem, after reading your 2023 buying guide and modern Photoshop posts.

Processor        11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz   1.69 GHz

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)

Video Card

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics with shared graphics memory (I checked with Dell, and they say the video card has 2GB dedicated memory) 

My question is.  Will Photoshop work on this laptop, just with some occasional lags? 

Sadly it's not possible to upgrade the RAM or video card in this laptop, so to upgrade will be a new one. 

Thanks

[Brian]

On 8/21/2024 at 12:56 AM, Lenny said:

My question is.  Will Photoshop work on this laptop, just with some occasional lags? 

Sad to say, it isn't. Here is why:

 

Quote

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics with shared graphics memory (I checked with Dell, and they say the video card has 2GB dedicated memory) 

Photoshop has become quite the BEAST. Meaning, it's just not the CPU, RAM, HD that make up the majority of why people choose Computer/Laptop A over Computer/Laptop B. The CPU, RAM and HD...that thinking was 20-30 years ago. I will buy the computer with the 486DX-66 over the 486sx-25 because it's a "Better" CPU and it has 8GB of RAM instead of 4!! Plus it comes with a 540MB HD instead of a 250MB!!! (This computer setup would have been your choices around 1993-1995 or so.)

Today's computers that are meant for Photoshop CC?

Nope.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO DECIDE ON IS THE CHOICE OF THE VIDEO CARD / GPU!!! I'd rather have a member here spend a little less on a slower CPU and take those savings and put them towards getting a better video card. Why? Because of all the fancy modules and tools, plus all of the AI Crap that Adobe is adding, all of those things...need a beefy video card in order to function well. Hell, the ACR Plug-in that is used to do the initial edits primarily uses the Video GPU in order to function.

With that current laptop, you are basically editing one photo at a time AND still dealing with lags. As for Photoshop, do not be tempted to get the latest-and-greatest version. If you have a Photoshop CC that works but is just a PITA from time-to-time with lags, STAY AT THAT VERSION. Then take the time to start saving for a new computer. I would first target a budget of $2500.

Why?

Because 30 years ago, say around 1995...you had a "Spring Line" and a "Fall Line" of Laptops. August used to have all the Sales of the Spring Line Models for the Kids going back to College, then the Fall Line would be in stores for the Holiday Season. Apple still does this to a certain degree, but tends to only release certain types of products during the Spring / Autumn/Fall Months. (At least in the Northern Hemisphere.) Anyway, back to that $2500...

Laptop Models are usually available for 90 Days at most in 2024. Gone are the days of looking at a laptop, comparing Laptop A to Laptop B, then deciding to go for Laptop C. Then you save-save-save and lust after your future purchase. You read all the reviews, and advertisements and find demonstrations on YouTube to make you feel good about your purchase. That thinking was 30 years ago. Now? You see it, it meets your needs, you like it....CLICK BUY!! Otherwise that model will be replaced by a whole other one in 45-90 Days. So even though you can find deals, and I encourage you to do so, you really need to have money in the bank so that you can jump on a deal when you can. Because in a few short weeks, that model will be GONE. 

This is why I don't really create a What to Buy List or "Brian's Favorite Things," models just get replaced so quickly in 2024/2025. Speaking of which, if I had to purchase a Laptop RIGHT NOW, this Lenovo 16" Legion Pro 7 with a NVIDIA RTX 4080 Video Card with 12GB of Dedicated VRAM is the one I'd buy. Right now it's on sale for $2199. Here is the specs you should be looking for in a Laptop meant for Photoshop CC in 2024 / 2025:

The only thing I would do as soon as you get that laptop, is to make sure all of the drivers and firmware files / BIOS Updates are installed. Photoshop CC is real picky about Drivers and it doesn't like the old Drivers that come pre-installed. Fortunately, Lenovo has a built in Utility that does a scan and installs things for you.

[Lenny]

Thanks for your response Brian,

the Lenovo you provided a link to seems to be unavailable here in Australia when I search.  This seems to be the suggested alternative - https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-7-series/lenovo-legion-pro-7i-gen-9-(16-inch-intel)/len101g0034#tech_specs 

Have you had experience with the MSI laptops, how they compare to Lenovo? 

Something like this seems ok looking at the specs you suggest, and it looks like the graphics and memory might be upgradable in future, with the memory slot taking up to 96GB and it says up to 16GB on the video memory?

https://www.umart.com.au/product/msi-vector-16-hx-a14vhg-16in-qhd-240hz-i9-14900hx-rtx-4080-2tb-ssd-32gb-ram-w11h-gaming-laptop-vector-16-hx-a14vhg-431au-76628 

 

[Brian]

A friend of mine has a MSI Laptop, similar to that one, but a few generations old. They make good laptops, but it seems that the WiFi Drivers go stupid each and every time Windows 11 does an update of some sort. He has to keep un-installing and re-installing the WiFi Drivers. Hardwired Ethernet is fine. It's more of a PITA than anything.

Any of those Lenovo Laptops will work. Just make sure you update EVERYTHING for any laptop. Intel just put out a patch that affects Gen 13 & Gen 14 Intel CPUs; it seems the software on the CPU chip has a bug and the cores like to get zapped with extra current, thereby killing CPU Cores over time.

So regardless which laptop you end up buying, make sure you upgrade ALL BIOS and other hardware updates, it's not just Windows and such you have to be worried about. I know with Lenovo, they have some sort of scanning utility. I think MSI has something similar, but am not 100% sure. I do like the Lenovo Laptops with the IPS Screens.