Computers vs Laptops for PP

[Motofreak429]

hey guys im comming close to getting a new computer do to all my PP. but im so torn between getting a laptop or a desktop. and have tons of reasons why i want one or the other. what are your feelings

Also what should i be looking for in a good desktop and laptop. exp. alot of ram? big hard drive? good GFX card (PLEASE EXPLAIN AND GO INTO DETAIL!!!:oops:)

what is like some of the best and basics i couldnt live without if i wanted a new good comp?

THANKS!@

[iTimmeh]

Well what are the reasons you want one over another?

I myself use a Macbook Pro, it has great hardware, long battery life, beautiful display, and many features.

If we talk about hardware itself, I´d get a big hard drive if you take tons of pictures, and especially take pictures in RAW.

Alot of RAM doesn´t hurt either. 1-2 GB Ram computers are starting to get out dated it seems. I have 4 GB of RAM, which definitely helps with smooth editing and not having to wait for a slider to move right or left, while its processing the photo.

A fast CPU is good too, so you can edit fast, save fast, open fast, etc.

A good graphics card isn`t really necessary I don`t think, but the better the card, the better off you`ll be, especially since good video cards use their own dedicated RAM.

Now onto the computer itself...

Laptops are great because if you are traveling, and you take many pictures you want to share, you can do it right there. Laptops can`t hold as much hardware, but the mobility is awesome. If you need more hard drive space, just use an external drive.

Desktops are good because you can get a really big screen, and put lots of hardware into it (More RAM, up to probably 2 TB of a hard drive, and a huge top line graphics card). Not to mention desktops are usually cheaper.

Hope this helped.

[Tom Reichner]

I believe that monitor is everything. At least it is when it comes to editing. I don't think it matters too much whether you get a desktop or a laptop, because even if you get a laptop you can still buy a top-of-the-line 24" or larger monitor to plug into the laptop for editing purposes.

[basroil]

hey guys im comming close to getting a new computer do to all my PP. but im so torn between getting a laptop or a desktop. and have tons of reasons why i want one or the other. what are your feelings

Also what should i be looking for in a good desktop and laptop. exp. alot of ram? big hard drive? good GFX card (PLEASE EXPLAIN AND GO INTO DETAIL!!!:oops:)

what is like some of the best and basics i couldnt live without if i wanted a new good comp?

THANKS!@
Desktop:
6+gb ram with a 64bit OS (Windows 7 64bit or OSX)
Quad core or better CPU (i7, Xeon 5500, or new i5/i7 are best, Q6600 or amd will be cheaper)
250gb+ primary drive, 1tb+ storage drive (primary for only programs, cache, etc)
graphics card of the 3450 or higher line from ATI, geforce 9400GT or better (best to go with a 200 level card rather than 100 or 9000, 4000 series from ati)

Laptop: Don't get one right now, they are due for a major refresh quite soon, and will be 20-100% faster than current mainstream models.


I needed something better than my laptop since LR2 was running out of memory with very large catalogs and only 2gb ram. Bought a i7 based desktop for 1550 with a secondary monitor, and LR2 pumps out 5dmkii files like they were facebook jpgs.

Do post in the computer section next time though...

[Motofreak429]

went to best buy just to check it out. although i would love to have the best of the best in computer (MAC) i think its out of my price rance. i was looking at an HP which looked nice. now i just have to make the decision on what to do! im just still in conflict on a PC VS laptop. but right now laptop is looking in my favor.

AHH!!

[crazyboy]

I prefer a desktop, or laptop in a docking station, with dual screens so that I can spread and to do the work. The laptop is good for on scene incidents where I need to send the picture off right away.

[basroil]

went to best buy just to check it out. although i would love to have the best of the best in computer (MAC) i think its out of my price rance. i was looking at an HP which looked nice. now i just have to make the decision on what to do! im just still in conflict on a PC VS laptop. but right now laptop is looking in my favor.

AHH!!

macs are actually not the best of the best. They can be very good, but not better than any other company. Dell XPS16 is a good compromise between price and performance, last I spec'ed it out to the same as a macbook pro 17", it cam in about $1500 (including better screen, RGB LED type rather than white only)

But in any case, wait another two months if you can, the i5 and i7 laptops should be out relatively soon

[Mastamarek]

I use 2009 macbook pro and I love it. being on location and having that amount of power is just awesome! CS4 just flies, but the upgrade to 8Gb of ram would be appropriated for ultra high end PP.

[4130]

Can anyone speak as to speed and performance differences between the iMac and mac pro for aperture? I feel like the mac pro has lots of more robust equipment that isn't necessarily covered on the specs, but will lead to faster performance. Things like internal drives, larger caches and buffers, RAM speed etc. would likely help out photo processing.

[basroil]

Can anyone speak as to speed and performance differences between the iMac and mac pro for aperture? I feel like the mac pro has lots of more robust equipment that isn't necessarily covered on the specs, but will lead to faster performance. Things like internal drives, larger caches and buffers, RAM speed etc. would likely help out photo processing.

Actually, 2.93gh iMac and 2.93gh MBP 17" both score around the same performance specs, which isn't suprising considering an iMac is just a laptop without a battery (or built in keyboard and track pad)

[butterfly2937]

Check out Alienware now owned by dell they have a quad-core laptop out now. You can get it with 8 gig of RAM too! Another alternative is a Dell mobile workstation. I am looking seriously at these but won't purchase until next year.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/laptop-alienware-m17x/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-alienware-m17x&s=dhs&cs=19&~ck=mn

http://www.dell.com/us/en/business/notebooks/precnnb/ct.aspx?refid=precnnb&s=bsd&cs=04&~ck=mn

[run-kmc]

Something to consider:

If you calibrate your monitor, things like ambient light and viewing angle do come into play. If you have a laptop, those will change, and it won't be as effective.

[MaxxuM]

Can anyone speak as to speed and performance differences between the iMac and mac pro for aperture? I feel like the mac pro has lots of more robust equipment that isn't necessarily covered on the specs, but will lead to faster performance. Things like internal drives, larger caches and buffers, RAM speed etc. would likely help out photo processing.

I have the 08 MBP 2.5GHz and 08 Mac Pro and I do use Aperture - there is no comparison. My Mac Pro pretty much stomps over every other computer I've used and I've used many (baring servers). The power of a Mac Pro is not in startup of applications, but in how many processes you can run at the same time. I've cued up twelve movies (4+GB each) in Compressor, was rendering in Motion, exporting and converting images in Aperture, while Picasa was doing it's import thing all while watching a movie in iTunes and surfing the web. And I saw absolutely, and I mean absolutely, no stuttering or lag in the movie, mouse pointer or flash animations (Firefox).

I'm now hunting the refurbished store at Apple for a good deal on a 09 dual quad Mac Pro :) Oh the power of parallel processing. I haven't upgraded my current MP to SL yet as it is a production machine with too many things not fully supported for 64-bit or Intel (darn those companies still using old code).

[hollis_f]

Check out Alienware now owned by dell they have a quad-core laptop out now.

And it's excellent for photo work, especially now that I've stuck a 160GB SSD in as the boot drive. A 20,000 image lightroom catalog opens in 6 seconds - including the integrity check and backup stages!

[butterfly2937]

And it's excellent for photo work, especially now that I've stuck a 160GB SSD in as the boot drive. A 20,000 image lightroom catalog opens in 6 seconds - including the integrity check and backup stages!
Do you have the dual video cards and the quad-core? How much ram did you put in yours?

[basroil]

And it's excellent for photo work, especially now that I've stuck a 160GB SSD in as the boot drive. A 20,000 image lightroom catalog opens in 6 seconds - including the integrity check and backup stages!

Do you have the dual video cards and the quad-core? How much ram did you put in yours?


Ain't all that a bit of overkill for a laptop? and unless you carry a car battery with you, doubt you get much battery life for on the road things

[butterfly2937]

Ain't all that a bit of overkill for a laptop? and unless you carry a car battery with you, doubt you get much battery life for on the road things
Actually you can buy a spare battery. The purpose for me is to not have to buy both a laptop and a desktop and to have all that power in a portable package. My camera bag also fits a 17" laptop so I can be completely mobile when I need to be. Really I prefer the mobility if I do not have to give up the speed and processing power of a desktop. The alienware laptops and the dell mobile workstations are the only 2 options I have found so far. I don't want to constantly be buying both a laptop and a desktop.

[Lonnie]

I would build a reasonably powerful desktop and buy a cheap laptop for when I travel. Buy a couple of portable hard disk drives and you'll be set. I currently use a 2 year old $500 dual core - it's not real fast at PS, but it runs it fairly well and gives me cheap portability.

[hollis_f]

Do you have the dual video cards and the quad-core? How much ram did you put in yours?

Didn't see much point in getting the dual cards as Lightroom, etc., wouldn't really need them. And I'm not much of a gamer.

It's got 4GB - 8GB was just stupid amounts of cash.

Ain't all that a bit of overkill for a laptop? and unless you carry a car battery with you, doubt you get much battery life for on the road things

I needed a PC that could easily be moved from place to place but never gets used on the road (I have a netbook for that). Yes, a desktop would have been cheaper for the same power, but current circumstances (living in more than one place) made a laptop necessary.

[basroil]

Didn't see much point in getting the dual cards as Lightroom, etc., wouldn't really need them. And I'm not much of a gamer.

It's got 4GB - 8GB was just stupid amounts of cash.



I needed a PC that could easily be moved from place to place but never gets used on the road (I have a netbook for that). Yes, a desktop would have been cheaper for the same power, but current circumstances (living in more than one place) made a laptop necessary.

Some of those slim pcs or lanparty style ones would have worked fine too. Hell, there's even a micro-atx x58 board so you have have i7 920 power on the go. Lanparty style ones (not company, rather case form factor(apart from usually being micro atx)) can fit in your backpack, and throw in a dell 22" monitor and should fit into a slightly oversized backpack (or use a 18-20" screen and it'll be fine for a normal one)

[Angry Dad]

If you have a cheap laptop, I would recommend a Desktop. Price the Quad Cores out, you will pay through the nose for a Quad Core laptop. Video card should be considered after CPU and RAM.