Does anybody use Laptop Computers?

[boomer1959]

I am thinking of buying a new computer. I was also thinking about going with a laptop. Dose anybody use them for photography, post posessing,
burning to CD's etc? If so dose it work good? What kind do you use. Or is sticking with a desktop a better way to go. I am also taking the plunge and upgrading to a 20D. :D :D

[sGu]

yes, powerbook 15", that's what i use for all my post processing and burning, most times when i'm on the move.

i'm on it as i type :)

[Belmondo]

I recently returned from a week-long trip where I actually got to take some photos. The Gateway notebook I had with me does a reasonable job (1.4ghz Centrino), but it only has a 13" display and a 40Gig drive. The main weakness it has, though, is no DVD burner. I can't fit the contents of a 1gig CF card onto a single CD, and if I start backing up my photoshop files, the need becomes glaring.


So I bought a Toshiba laptop (Model P25 Satellite). The main attributes are a 3.2Ghz P4 processer, a 17" display, and a DVD burner. Since I rarely (if ever) run my laptops on batteries, I didn't concern myself with that. Basically, I wanted a fast, versatile desktop replacement that I can travel with.

It is very big and heavy, but since I only travel by car (wife won't fly), it doesn't matter. BTW, it actually handles Photoshop duties faster than my desktop box.

[HJMinard]

I have a Toshiba Satellite also ... use it for most of my photo handling including editing. It outperforms my desktop in every way, but this old Dell workhorse is due for replacement relatively soon.

[iowahawkeye6]

Gotta go with the Apple powebook or the ibook. I've used PC's and Mac's over the last 10 years and it became painfully obvious the MAC had the goods to move photo files, .jpg, .eps, .tiff, etc. I wasted a lot of time and money on PC's in the early days.
Cheers

[kawter2]

Gotta go with the Apple powebook or the ibook. I've used PC's and Mac's over the last 10 years and it became painfully obvious the MAC had the goods to move photo files, .jpg, .eps, .tiff, etc. I wasted a lot of time and money on PC's in the early days.
Cheers

That was the case 6-10 years ago... Now you are paying for marketing-style and the "Cool Factor" when you buy a mac.

[Conk]

I bought a Toshiba M30 a few weeks ago. It is a very nice notebook, would love to have got the P25 like Belmondo (bugger!) but couldn't afford that. Anyway, I don't have a dvd burner, just the rom and cd burner. It has the 1.8 gig centrino and photoshopping is fast but, my pc is still better at viewing images. They do look awesome on the 15" display of the notebook. Crisp and clear but I still don't think it compares to the crt monitor of my desktop pc for processing.
I mainly use the notebook for tethering to my camera in the studio. I had to calibrate it as close as I could to my pc as that is where all my processing takes place.

Seeing how everyone who has replied to this thread prefer to use their notebook for editing photos, I would like to hear from you all how you have went about calibrating your notebooks. Tips please!

[Spargo]

I'm on a Compaq X1000. Normally I hate Compaq but the price was too good to resist. It had some big problems at first but it seems that (after a year) they have finally fixed all of theme thru BIOS updates. It's a 1.3Ghz but it's fast because it is a Centrino. Great battery life too, about 4 1/2 hours max. I watched a full DVD and had about 48% of the battery left. However if you are going for a laptop do NOT get a 4200RPM hard drive, I regret that because it really slows it down. Go with at least 5400, I recommend 7200 RPM.

[danphoto1]

I use both a desktop and a laptop. I find them about the same. I have a sony dektop and a copact laptop. Storage may be a problem because most notebook/laptops only have about an 89 gig hard drive. You may want to consider and addition usb or firewire external hard drive depending upon the number of programs and photos that you would like to store. :D

[Wilfred]

I use a HP NX9010 which I use for work and all my photo storage and editing. It is one of the cheapest business notebooks from HP and is a litle bit heavy, but the price/performance is good. It's only got a 40 Gb harddrive, but it is enough for now. If you go for a notebook remember that backups are even more important than on a desktop. An accident can happen very quickly.

[Tin-Cup]

firstly its Mac not MAC ;) (pet hate sorry)

ive got a powerbook g4 1.5ghz and it screams through photography and dv editing work... you need to get at least a gb of ram and it will fly...

trust me, but its if your willing for the initial outlay.. (cheeper in the long run and for what you get)

photoshop cs screams, its as powerful as most pc desktops... but in a 1inch thin enclosure and a super crisp screen... great for playing dvds on the road, no viruses or security issues... which is great

[Mark Kemp]

I have an ibook 12" (Mac) for travel. It gets used mainly as a CD burner, a hard drive recorder and a viewer. I don't do much editing with it and empty the hard drive between trips once my pics are safley copied elsewhere.

The main advantages of the 12" ibook are small size, low weight and long battery life. there isn't really an equivalent PC in all these areas and even the closest small PC portables are more expensive.

If I want to a bit of editing on the move it runs Elements very nicely, but I don't use it much.

For editing I use a desktop PC - mainly because I prefer Paint Shop Pro and that is PC only. The major difference is that the laptop has an LCD screen and the desktop a CRT and the same picture will look quite different on the two screens.

If you buy a laptop you may or may not like working with an LCD, but I guess if you only have an LCD you will get it well adjusted and get used to it.

[Tin-Cup]

Gotta go with the Apple powebook or the ibook. I've used PC's and Mac's over the last 10 years and it became painfully obvious the MAC had the goods to move photo files, .jpg, .eps, .tiff, etc. I wasted a lot of time and money on PC's in the early days.
Cheers

That was the case 6-10 years ago... Now you are paying for marketing-style and the "Cool Factor" when you buy a mac.

Rubbish, your paying for the innovation of fitting as much power as an intel 3.0ghz in a 1 inch enclosure wireless internet, firewire 400, firewire 800, usb2 x2, gigabit ethernet, bluetooth built in, mac os x (much better than windows when you get used to it) the satisfaction of not having 1 virus to worry about unlike windows thats got about 1million... its not just about the cool factor.. although they are extremely innovative. amazing video card 128mbvram ati 9700 mobility... backlit keyboard (ok maybe thats a cool factor thing ;) )
not to mention all the software you get.. iphoto, itunes, idvd, imovie
www.macrumors.com will helps you with all your Mac needs ;)

some of the hp laptops are nice.. if your worried about the switch but its still windows

[IanD]

I've been using a TTX laptop for the past 2 years and just picked up a new one. If you live in Canuck land, check em out. Beautiful screens and to me, the screen makes or breaks a laptop. 15", 1400 x 1050, 60GB HD, 1gig ram,
ATI 9700 Mobile 128 video card. Wireless b/g, burner etc. Beautiful screen but it does not and will not replace the Sony CRT for post processing. Strictly a Road Warrior setup.

[mikesd]

Using a Dell 8600, 1.4 Centrino, 512 memory, 40gig HD, 15.4 widescreen.

[Laziferous]

I have an old IBM Thinkpad 600 that I'm using right now. My desktop crashed, and I haven't gotten around to reinstalling Windows... so this little 300Mhz PII with a 6GB HDD is my primary machine right now :?

Needless to say, there isn't any photo editing going on here (I would probably need to take a picture before I could edit anyway :oops: :lol: ). WAY too slow. Besides that, the display is rather poor. I use it for everyday things though. CD burning/web/work (interfacing PLC's)/etc. For being old and slow, it certainly is doing a good job of distracting me from fixing my desktop.

I'm not really complaining though. I got it for $200 a year or so ago. It's worth far more than that to me, despite it's handicaps.... I'd rather capitalize on it's handiness.

[Blues67]

I've got a HP Ze4560. DON"T BUY HP!!!!!!!!!!! I use it on trips or to check a shot on site, but it cant touch my Sony Vaio desktop. Speeds are slower on the laptop, and very very few LCDs can come close to the good old CRT. I've got a Sony 19" monitor with a .24mm dot pitch. Very acurate colors-great for editing. but you cant take it with you.

[Phil Hall]

I have been using a Toshiba satellite Pro for over a year. It is not as good as a desktop but it is portable and can load images onto a hard drive or CD. I use 512k cf cards so that one disk can fit onto one CD. I also have an external hard drive and an external DVD burner. Resolution on the screen is so so . I used a portable storage device for a while with a CF card slot built in. It is nice to be able to actually look at the photos, hence I use the laptop most of the time.

Phil Hall
Santa Ynez, CA

[Claire]

I have a Compaq Presario 1700 series. I bought it when I was starting my MA. It's been a bit whacky lately, but it works. Use it for all my photo stuff. Wish it was faster though....

[johnleveritt]

That was the case 6-10 years ago... Now you are paying for marketing-style and the "Cool Factor" when you buy a mac.

I believe that exactly the opposite holds true today. 10 years ago the Mac was more expensive, and slower, today they are priced the same as a similarly outfitted PC.

[Mills]

I can't say enough great things about my 17" Powerbook. Get over the PC/Mac War. Laptops are great for photographers. Choose the operating system that you are used to.

[rick barclay]

Toshiba Satellite P 10/15 Series. It has a 60 gig HDD and wireless
networking. I like it.

[boomer1959]

Wow What a response :D :D :D Thank you.
In reading this is it safe to say that most of you use your laptops for storage more than anything, and not so much for post prosessing?
Would I be better off buying a desktop and then buying more cf cards?

[johnleveritt]

Wow What a response :D :D :D Thank you.
In reading this is it safe to say that most of you use your laptops for storage more than anything, and not so much for post prosessing?
Would I be better off buying a desktop and then buying more cf cards?

I don't use my laptop on the road for storage. What I do is use several 512 CF cards. If I run out of space on these (4), I download the pictures to my FlashTrax 40gig viewer (a little bigger than a pack of cigarettes) by SmartDisk for storage until I get home. With 512 CF cards I get around 160 RAW files per meg of CF disk space, so with a 40gig storage devise, I have plenty of storage. Then I transfer from the FlashTrax to my desktop for processing.

Of course, I'm new here, so my solution may not be the best. I retired a few years ago, so I got out of the habit of always lugging around a laptop.

[Ballen Photo]

I've got a HP Ze4560. DON"T BUY HP!!!!!!!!!!! I use it on trips or to check a shot on site, but it cant touch my Sony Vaio desktop. Speeds are slower on the laptop, and very very few LCDs can come close to the good old CRT. I've got a Sony 19" monitor with a .24mm dot pitch. Very acurate colors-great for editing. but you cant take it with you.

Really??? I've got a one year old now HP 4325 with an AMD Athlon processor. My friend has a custom built Centrino laptop that he bought after picking my brain about mine, then challenged me with a benchmarking program, because He was absolutely sure His laptop was faster than mine. It was fun watching the "Smug" look on his face dissappear when mine finished over two times faster. :shock: I wonder if the 256 mg FSB had anything to do with it? BTW, My ram;512. His ram; over a gig. :lol:
Like I said, it's a little over a year old now, and still going strong. :wink:
That .24 dot pitch on your Sony does sound Sweet though.
-Bruce

[MT]

Convertable (tablet PC). Sweet machine, but I only use it for storage when I'm traveling - Acer builds in an "adaptive" screen so calibration is a no go.

[Dchemist]

When I travel I use the Laptop primarily to archive off the CF card. I can make CD from that if I want. I normally do not process with the laptop.

[Mark Kemp]

It depends how you want to work

If you are only out for the day taking pictures use CF cards, only carry your camera and lenses and download to a hard disk and CDs at home, before emptying the cards.

If you are away for a few days and have a hotel room then still use the cards all day and download to a laptop and CDs in the hotel then empty the cards for the next day. This also allows some viewing and editing if you wish.

If you are travelling light use a portable hard disk or a portable CD and empty the cards straight away.

Similalry if the pictures are particularly important you might want to carry a portable hard disk and use it from time to time to keep a second copy straight away as a backup. Or you could leave a laptop in the car and return to it regulalry to make backups.

Its a case of risk management against practicality. Practically you don't want to carry any extra gear at all, but having only 1 copy of your pictures is a small risk. CF cards are pretty reliable so its not a major risk, but two or three copies is always safer than one.

So you need to figure out a reasonable balance of risk against what equipment you have to carry for your particular circumstances. Taking into account how long you will be away from home, whether you can get to your car sometimes without missing any good shots, how much weight you want to carry etc. etc. Then you can figure out how many CF cards you are likely to need between backup opportunities and what sort of gear suits your needs.

[Harry Settle]

I just bought my daughter a Sony Vaio, PCG-25, pentium 4 3.0ghz, 512mb ddr ram, dvd-r-rw/cd-r-rw, 3 usb 2.0 ports, 1 firewire, network port, wireless ready, 15" screen, touchpad.

We played with it this past weekend by downloading some of my video into it and doing some editing. Video work is very hard on a computer, and this one handled it very well.

Under $2,000 at best buy.

[jimtfoto]

We have two desktop PCs for post-processing ... we use the laptop when we head for extended shoots ... download and burn to DVD ... all post-processing done on desktops ... larger and better monitors in our case, although that doesn't exclude using a much better monitor hooked into the monitor if you want ... gives you the portability of a laptop when needed ... so if you're buying one system, one consideration would be the laptop plus a good home-based monitor ...
cheers,
jim

[DocFrankenstein]

Under $2,000 at best buy.
www.bestbuysux.org :?

[davkenrem]

If you want a great deal on a laptop, don't buy a brand name like HP or Sony, or Apple etc.
There are not any companies that make their own laptops, they are all made by ODA's in Taiwan or something. Most brand name companies have too much money involved in marketing that they have to lower the specs to offer a comparable product to the non-big names. Do some research and check out
Powernotebooks.com or PCTorque.com
and read some of the forums at notebookforums.com. For the price you pay for something at Best Buy or Circuit City you can buy one of their notebooks built by and ODA named Clevo. Clevo sells theyre note books to companies like Sager. Prostar. Hypersonic. Voodoo and many others.

The difference is they don't have to make a special model that the can only sell to say, Sony or IBM, with the styleing or badging.

It's the same concept as we are all used to in desktops. And these laptops are upgradeable. Some you can change the video card and the proccessor. And since many are aimed at the gaming market, thye have the horsepower and video capability to handle Photo Editing. Check out those 2 sites and you'll be glad you did. You'll never go back to Best Buy or Dell for a notebook again.

I bought a Sager 5660 2.8ghz, 40gig HD 1gig ram, DVD burenr and second CDrom drive and ATI Radeon 9000 back in march of 2003. It has been the best notebook I've ever owned and I've have plenty. I plan to upgrade the memory HD and Processor soon and get anothe few years out of it.

[Andy_T]

Wow What a response :D :D :D Thank you.
In reading this is it safe to say that most of you use your laptops for storage more than anything, and not so much for post prosessing?
Would I be better off buying a desktop and then buying more cf cards?

The advantage of the laptop, of course, is the portability.

Downside is that if you do post processing on an LCD screen, the colors may or may not be way off.

I'm not really an expert at this and haven't bothered so far to get my CRT calibrated, but when I change the opening angle of the LCD on my laptop, the colours sure change :cry:

You might keep that in mind and try it out before buying one.

Best regards,
Andy

[mtndew]

I have a 12" powerbook mainly for travel price wasn't an issue at that time but weight was and being under 5lbs i just love it. I do some of my post processing on it but mainly burning pix to disc as backups and do most of post processing on my desktop I'm using PS CS on both.(thank god for students working for me :twisted: ) Along with Canon software.

[psk4363]

I use a laptop all of the time. I take Andy' point re the angle of viewing the screen but I make a point of looking at it at the correct angle.

It's a 15.7" screen with a 64 Mb graphics card, 1Gb memory, running via a P4 2.53 processor - and I love it! (It's a damn site cheaper to maintain as it can't be continually upgraded like I used to with my big desktop)

Cheers,
Barry

[SuperFly]

Im currently using an IBM Thinkpad T30, its company provided so it's free. :) however for all image dumps, i purchased an 80Gb laptop HDD and a separate USB2.0 Laptop HDD Case and made my own little 80Gb external HDD which at USB2.0 screams along...

All my editing though is done on my Desktop, with a 17" CRT Mitsubishi screen (soon to be 22" Lacie CRT - because that's all we have available in this country !!)

Later...

[Belmondo]

All my editing though is done on my Desktop, with a 17" CRT Mitsubishi screen (soon to be 22" Lacie CRT - because that's all we have available in this country !!)

You'll love the LaCie 22" monitor. I have it, and it's gorgeous.

[chadaw]

I am thinking of buying a new computer. I was also thinking about going with a laptop. Dose anybody use them for photography, post posessing,
burning to CD's etc? If so dose it work good? What kind do you use. Or is sticking with a desktop a better way to go. I am also taking the plunge and upgrading to a 20D. :D :D

Yeah I totally use my New Thinkpad A31P laptop (Purchased about a year ago) that I got off ebay at about 3/4 the price of it new, with 3 years international warranty (which was good considering it was a Japanese computer or from there). I have 512 memory (would like to upgrade to 1 gig) use Adobe Premium Suite on there (no major problems or too long lag). Its a P4-Mobile processor 1.8 gig. It outruns my work computer (Dell Dimension 512 mg memory, 3.0 Gig, P4).

Just remember the colors may be a bit different when viewing on laptop screen.

With my wireless setup at home, its nice to work on my pictures in the living room, ahhhhhhh.

[boomer1959]

We have two desktop PCs for post-processing ... we use the laptop when we head for extended shoots ... download and burn to DVD ... all post-processing done on desktops ... larger and better monitors in our case, although that doesn't exclude using a much better monitor hooked into the monitor if you want ... gives you the portability of a laptop when needed ... so if you're buying one system, one consideration would be the laptop plus a good home-based monitor ...
cheers,
jim



Wow I like this idea :D I think i am going to look into this one. I am kind off looking at a Toshiba Satellite a70, not to bad a price but I am still going to shop around. So thanks everyone for your input :D :D

[Jon]

Toshiba Portege M205 (Centrino Tablet). 1400 x 1050 screen res., stylus right on the screen, support for an external monitor at the same time (dual display - most laptops will do this), USB 2. The 1.5 GHz Pentium M benchmarks as well as my desktop P4 2.8 GHz, but benchmarks will only tell you how the two computers compare at running that particular benchmark.

I use it for data backup, image processing, work-related, CD burning, . . . trucking it to and from the office daily (IT professional).

I agree - don't bother with HPaq - they used to be good, but their design, engineering, and QA have gone down hill (I have over 10 years with HP laptops and 30-some with HP handhelds). When they took mobile computing away from their Corvallis shop, things started to go down hill, and they are not getting any better under Carly.

[Conk]

Wow I like this idea :D I think i am going to look into this one. I am kind off looking at a Toshiba Satellite a70, not to bad a price but I am still going to shop around. So thanks everyone for your input :D :D

This is a great idea. Bottom line is, the crt is your best bet for editing.
I had bought the Toshiba A70 about a month ago. I kept it for about 3 days and returned it. Nice notebook and all but there were a couple things that picked at me.
1. The fans were on the underside.
2. Heavy at 8 lbs.
3. Sounds like crap. (If you want to listen to music)
I'd have to say the #1 issue was cooling and the fans being underneath kind of sucked.
I spent another $200.00 and got the M30. Fan ducts are on the side. Centrino M processor, 1 hour longer battery life than the A70, 1.3" thick and 3 lbs lighter. Sound? Great! I can't remember but I think it was 20 more gig in HD space at 60. I could be wrong about the A70's 40 gig.

[boomer1959]

Thanks Conk, I never thought about the fan. Good point :D

[dtrayers]

Yeah I totally use my New Thinkpad A31P laptop

I use an A31 also and it works well for me. The only thing I would add is that the LCD does take a profile well and the colors are pretty accurate.

[uvadtmfub]

I use a Thinkpad T40. It handles everything I need, and it appears to be more durable than most of the other brands. *I have a tendency to slam the LCD down to close the thinkpad.* :lol:

[ajax]

I bought a Dell Inspiron 5100 last winter and love it. It took me quite some time to take the plunge, and I have never regretted it for a moment.

I take it when I travel and download photo files off the flash card nightly [and leave them on the card]....insurance! I can burn a CD on it, as well. It has a DVD player [handy in airports and long flights]. It is not one of those slinky, super thin models, but, it's certainly luggable.

As luck would have it, my desktop PC croaked a few months ago, so I'm using my laptop exclusively now. It has a wireless connection to my cable modem, so I can roam around at will

[Myke]

Just a question, do you guys experience some problems with the glare in a LCD screen? I mean, brightness, contrast etc. I've been using my IBM TP R51 for my post precessing and I've been kinda having some problems with it.

Would like to know if it's just me. :(

Thanks so much!

:D

[Jon]

Outdoors on an LCD screen can be a real pain. Look for some way you can shade you and the screen, if possible. Don't try to do the post-processing until you're in a good work environment, which is pretty similar for both LCD and CRT displays (avoid direct lighting, keep the immediate area somewhat dim, and no light sources directly behind you). LCD screens don't generally have the contrast range of CRTs, so it's better to work on a CRT if possible. If you're using an LCD exclusively, see if your video adapter has a calibration tool widget, or better yet, get a hardware calibration package.

[Myke]

Hi Jon, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I think it's not only the light that affects it, but the angle. Anyway, would the PS calibration tool work with the LCD screens? I tried it, but doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me. ???

Thanks again.

[elbirth]

I'm primarily a computer person (been messing around with computers quite a while longer than photography), so I generally stay working with an up-to-date computer. Although my desktop is now almost 3 years old, it still does my primary photography stuff. It's an AMD Athlon XP 2500+, 1gb of ram, cdrw and dvdrw, and 460gb of harddrive space. I have dual monitors on it (19" primary monitor for editing in Photoshop, and 17" secondary where I keep all the Photoshop palettes out of the way while I'm working).

I also have an IBM Thinkpad T42 (15" screen, Pentium M 1.8ghz, 512mb ram, dvd burner, 80gb harddrive) and it does a fantastic job for Photoshop work as well. I'm still in college, so it's my primary computer while I'm living in the dorms, and I'm very happy with it. The battery life is excellent, too (I can get close to 7 hours with wireless disabled, while doing light work on it).

[Jon]

Hi Jon, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I think it's not only the light that affects it, but the angle. Anyway, would the PS calibration tool work with the LCD screens? I tried it, but doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me. ???

Thanks again.
Right - you really need to be looking squarely at an LCD display. I can't answer about the PhotoShop tool since I use Paint Shop Pro. There are general calibration tools around as well.

[DeeplyDigital]

17" Powerbook for everything.

It never crashes, PS is constantly in use with huge
files open... cool.
I only switch off or restart every couple of weeks.

Though - I would recommend 15" for travel...

[Jethro790]

My oh my, I've heard a lot of HP bashing going on!

I have a Compaq (HP) x1000 laptop. It's got a 1.4gh Centrino Processor, 512 fsb, 60 gb hard drive, 512mb ram, 17" WSXGA screen, DVD burner- the works. It's on 24/7 and runs fast and flawless. Best machine I've ever owned, hands down.

Regarding this comment:
If you want a great deal on a laptop, don't buy a brand name like HP or Sony, or Apple etc.
There are not any companies that make their own laptops, they are all made by ODA's in Taiwan or something. Most brand name companies have too much money involved in marketing that they have to lower the specs to offer a comparable product to the non-big names.

...correct, no compaines make thier own components. They are all configured with purchased components and thrown into a case they designed and had built by another 3rd party. In the case of HP, Apple, Sony, etc. they have huge buying power and can therefore configure better components for less money. I recently bought one of my employees a custom configured HyperSonic in excess of $3000.00 and it was total junk. They are said to be one of the highest quality custom notebook companies, but it was a nightmare getting them to fix the problem. I'd rather buy 2 Hp's than one of these custom manufacturers (or resellers).

Essentially, they are all junk. Buy a cheap one and think of it like a car payment- because sooner than later, you'll have to buy another one. Desktops are only marginally similar in this fashion- and are always a better deal, if that's an option.

[elbirth]

My oh my, I've heard a lot of HP bashing going on!

I have a Compaq (HP) x1000 laptop. It's got a 1.4gh Centrino Processor, 512 fsb, 60 gb hard drive, 512mb ram, 17" WSXGA screen, DVD burner- the works. It's on 24/7 and runs fast and flawless. Best machine I've ever owned, hands down.

Sorry, being primarily a computer person, these specs really threw me off... I'm assuming by "1.4gh Centrino Processor" you mean a 1.4ghz Pentium M? Centrino is actually a technology of a combination of components, it's not actually a chip. Pentium M computers are really nice (mine is a 1.8ghz Pentium M) mainly because they pack a really large punch in performance and can help you get excellent battery life (with wireless disabled I can get about 7 hours on my laptop with light usage).

As far as the "512 fsb"... I'd really like this explained, and honestly it makes no sense to me whatsoever... please don't take this personally or anything, but but the Front Side Bus is measured in Mhz and would most likely be 533mhz, maybe... the 512mb of ram sounds good for a laptop, though.

Please don't take any of that personally, I just want to point out for those looking to buy a laptop that Centrino is a technology, NOT the processor itself... and would like if you clarified what you meant by "512 fsb"....

[Jon]

My oh my, I've heard a lot of HP bashing going on!

I have a Compaq (HP) x1000 laptop. It's got a 1.4gh Centrino Processor, 512 fsb, 60 gb hard drive, 512mb ram, 17" WSXGA screen, DVD burner- the works. It's on 24/7 and runs fast and flawless. Best machine I've ever owned, hands down.



Consider yourself fortunate. I've watched the HPaq product line go dowwn the tubes as, in product line after product line, they've moved to cheaper components, dropped innovative features in favour of "me-too-ism" or kept the "popular", but less-capable line rather than the feature-rich one. They even split off the product lines that made the company great. I've owned 6 HP laptops, starting with the Omnibook 300; the older 4, from the classic (and, in typically HP fashion, undermarketed) line are still going strong. The newer, commoditized, ones, have suffered assorted failures which seriously restrict what I'd do with them. The old HP couldn't market their way out of a paper bag; their goods sold to people who knew quality and looked for it. The new HP's all about flash, glitter, and lack of substance. Quality isn't a profit center.

[paulhillion]

My 15" Powerbook was dispatched off to me a week a go now & it's still not arrived, reading all these Mac favourable messages I can't wait, maybe tomorrow!

[sGu]

congrats on your powerbook!

I ordered mine couple of months back from apple, it took more than a week to arrive, and all apple laptops are assembled in Shanghai, China, then ship worldwide!

You'll love it! :D

[paulhillion]

congrats on your powerbook!

I ordered mine couple of months back from apple, it took more than a week to arrive, and all apple laptops are assembled in Shanghai, China, then ship worldwide!

You'll love it! :D

I phoned them today to ask where it was & they told me it was still sitting in their warehouse in Holland! They assure me it will be dispatched tomorrow & arrive within a couple of days! I hate waiting! :roll:

[sGu]

I feel your pain mate, but trust me, it's all worth it! :D

I'm not helping here, am I?? :p

[BikerFox]

I'm an IT guy so I can chime in here.

I don't want to spend a year debating brands of computers, but i'll just say, laptop over desktop. Typically, laptops are slower for the same money, but if you have the money, the portability is well worth it if you're into photography/videography. I can't wait until WiFi is endmic in photography.

Currently, I also do videography. I have a Sony VX2000 and I can stream video directly to my laptop via firewire and never have to hit a tape. This is nice for several reasons. The most wear on camcorders is in the tape/head mechanism. Also it saves me time skipping the step of transferring from tape to computer. VERY nice.

[AEOTWG]

"There are not any companies that make their own laptops"

This is not true of Toshiba. Dell and most others, yes.

Gerald

[garbidz]

I have an Apple Powerbook 15inch with 1.3 G RAM and I do not consider any winmachines any longer as viable alternatives. I keep hearing about motherboards popping, systems crashing, viruses and worms feasting and people tresspassing as the security issues are nowhere near the current Mac usability. I like to listen to iTunes while photoshopping. You have firewire, bluetooth, airport (wifi) and two USB's. With an ethernet cable you can connect to any mac or XP machine no time. I exchange data with my colleagues with Btooth. I fax directly from applications.

At home, I have my old Mac as a server with a wifi router so I can roam around with my Powerbook as I wish. Of course, there is Skype that I can use to make voip calls to faraway people. Didn't get around to buy a BT headset for it yet as here on this island they cost too much.

All this can certainly be done with an XP machine, no doubt about it.
As I've heard, they do not crash or stall as long as you keep your firewall set up and update your antivirus program weekly. If not...you have about two hours on broadband and your machine has all the digital flora and fauna inside of it so it doesn't move...

The coolness factor is an issue also.
I need all the help I can get..and I find it difficult to play cool when my machines so not obey or obey an unknown master. So for me is Mac, I can afford it whereas I could not afford the downtime my windows-based colleagues are plagued with.

I love it when things "just work"...

[Bosman]

I have an Apple Powerbook 15inch with 1.3 G RAM and I do not consider any winmachines any longer as viable alternatives. I keep hearing about motherboards popping, systems crashing, viruses and worms feasting and people tresspassing as the security issues are nowhere near the current Mac usability. I like to listen to iTunes while photoshopping. You have firewire, bluetooth, airport (wifi) and two USB's. With an ethernet cable you can connect to any mac or XP machine no time. I exchange data with my colleagues with Btooth. I fax directly from applications.

At home, I have my old Mac as a server with a wifi router so I can roam around with my Powerbook as I wish. Of course, there is Skype that I can use to make voip calls to faraway people. Didn't get around to buy a BT headset for it yet as here on this island they cost too much.

All this can certainly be done with an XP machine, no doubt about it.
As I've heard, they do not crash or stall as long as you keep your firewall set up and update your antivirus program weekly. If not...you have about two hours on broadband and your machine has all the digital flora and fauna inside of it so it doesn't move...

The coolness factor is an issue also.
I need all the help I can get..and I find it difficult to play cool when my machines so not obey or obey an unknown master. So for me is Mac, I can afford it whereas I could not afford the downtime my windows-based colleagues are plagued with.

I love it when things "just work"...


Excellent Post!!!!

Mac Rocks!!!!