laptop for overseas trip help

[taccca]

hi guys, im going to japan at the end of the year for a snowboarding trip with some mates.
im looking to get a new laptop to take over with me to do simple processing with photoshop and post onto the web etc and need some help

what im looking for most is
-cheap - primary concern, i dont need any bells and whistles, all its going to have on it is photoshop and lightroom THATS ALL; to keep it as fast as possible
-small in size
-decent battery life (ie wont die in 15 minutes like my old run down toshiba satelite trying to run photoshop)
-ability to run photoshop cs3 and lightroom 2 and not a complete snails pace

thats about it, i dont care about the OS, im used to windows but ive used my cousins mac laptops and i liked how quick they were (with basic things like starting up) and how light/slim they were

so any help would be appreciated guys (and i dont need any windows v mac war:rolleyes:, either os will do, what ever is cheaper will work)

cheers

[basroil]

dell XPS13. meets all your requirements, and at the same specs as a MBP 13", it's about $200 cheaper, so you can put that money into a nice laptop bag and extra battery.

[MaxxuM]

hi guys, im going to japan at the end of the year for a snowboarding trip with some mates.
im looking to get a new laptop to take over with me to do simple processing with photoshop and post onto the web etc and need some help

what im looking for most is
-cheap - primary concern, i dont need any bells and whistles, all its going to have on it is photoshop and lightroom THATS ALL; to keep it as fast as possible
-small in size
-decent battery life (ie wont die in 15 minutes like my old run down toshiba satelite trying to run photoshop)
-ability to run photoshop cs3 and lightroom 2 and not a complete snails pace

thats about it, i dont care about the OS, im used to windows but ive used my cousins mac laptops and i liked how quick they were (with basic things like starting up) and how light/slim they were

so any help would be appreciated guys (and i dont need any windows v mac war:rolleyes:, either os will do, what ever is cheaper will work)

cheers

vs [versus] = as compared to or as one of two choices; in contrast with: traveling by plane versus traveling by train.

If I could compare between them I would say for the $200 more that basroil states, you'd get, better experience*, better support*, better hardware*, small & light yet extremely well built, loved by artists, mature OS with the strength and stability of UNIX, stylish...

* - Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, Popular Mechanic's Magazine and others.

That said, a PC will do the job and if you want cheap there's no better way to go. PC's really are pretty cheap these days ;)

[basroil]

vs [versus] = as compared to or as one of two choices; in contrast with: traveling by plane versus traveling by train.

If I could compare between them I would say for the $200 more that basroil states, you'd get, better experience*, better support*, better hardware*, small & light yet extremely well built, loved by artists, mature OS with the strength and stability of UNIX, stylish...

* - Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, Popular Mechanic's Magazine and others.

That said, a PC will do the job and if you want cheap there's no better way to go. PC's really are pretty cheap these days ;)

Rebuttal for "mac superiority argument" that is always brought up.
1) Experience depends on what you like. Some like OSX layout, others like Windows layout. But layout is about it, both are stable, both are fairly fully featured. Windows supports blu-ray, apple does not. That's about it.
2)Support depends on what you make of it as well. XPS computers like the suggested XPS13 have very good support, on par with apple technical support, and better yet, they can ship you the component to replace if it is user replaceable, and many things other than the mobo and fans are (but they will provide a technician if you don't ask to do it yourself). Apple requires a technician for all repairs outside of ram replacement, even if you could theoretically do it yourself (like an HDD). And Dell and many other companies (but not Apple), have comprehensive accidental coverage for a very small extra charge (which I included in the $200 difference), that covers spills and falls.
3) Better hardware argument is BS for laptops, they are made with the same specs and mostly the same OEM parts as well. Only thing that may be different is the power supply, but I and many others prefer not to drain the battery when plugged in if you need to use 100% cpu.
4) Small and well built covers many other laptops as well. In fact, a MBP 13" screen feels more loose than an xps m1330 screen. And the volume is actually the same. (within 10%)
5) Unix is overrated, and you can run unix on a great deal of machines, not just laptops. OS may be an issue to some, but unless you already have an OSX program library, it's usually not worth it to replace every program, and sometimes not even possible. And 0 use for a Mac running Windows, so none of this bootcamp garbage.

Windows based laptops aren't "cheap", they are inexpensive. The only thing "cheap" here is the shots taken at non-Apple products.

[taccca]

hi guys thanks for the input so far, i think i should have been more specific for my budget, my primary concern in price and im looking for something more in the range of this http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Macbook-A1181-Laptop-Mac-OS-X-Snow-Leopard-Wifi_W0QQitemZ350252702154QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple _Laptops?hash=item518cb019ca&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3363wt_1165 price budget

from my knowledge of computers it seems like a good deal (its aussie dollars) am i wrong ??

another thing i found was
http://www.gainsaver.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx?ciCode=68511&cattree=yes&cid=102&sid=MA255LL/A&medium=ce&term=102&version=102

where i can up the ram and hardrive etc without having to get any of the other

is this a good option, im just not quite sure how much stuff costs these days since i havent looked at anything for the last three years

cheers for the help so far

[MaxxuM]

hi guys thanks for the input so far, i think i should have been more specific for my budget, my primary concern in price and im looking for something more in the range of this http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Macbook-A1181-Laptop-Mac-OS-X-Snow-Leopard-Wifi_W0QQitemZ350252702154QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple _Laptops?hash=item518cb019ca&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3363wt_1165 price budget

from my knowledge of computers it seems like a good deal (its aussie dollars) am i wrong ??

another thing i found was
http://www.gainsaver.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx?ciCode=68511&cattree=yes&cid=102&sid=MA255LL/A&medium=ce&term=102&version=102

where i can up the ram and hardrive etc without having to get any of the other

is this a good option, im just not quite sure how much stuff costs these days since i havent looked at anything for the last three years

cheers for the help so far

Here's a better deal - LINK (http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB467LL/A?mco=Nzk2MzY0MA)

Direct from Apple, still has warranty, much better computer than the one's you mention and it's a very good deal all the way around. I would jump on this one quick, it won't last long. The only thing is you would probably want to upgrade it's memory from 2 to 4GB which will cost from $50-$90 depending if you can find a deal.

[basroil]

Why not a brand new (unused, non-refurb) non-mac (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dydwgn2&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=laptop-studio-xps-13) that has better specs for $50 more? 2 yr support (rather than one), 4gb ram, 2.4gh processor, 320gb hdd, better screen, and wireless N capable card. Not a bad deal at all.

[taccca]

cheers for the info guys, the problem i have is (even though the advice is great) is you suggest a slightly higher price for a few extras while im looking for cutting the price for what i can sacrifice performance wise so im going to have to look around a bit more

as a side question, dont macbooks have wireless networking ???

[MaxxuM]

cheers for the info guys, the problem i have is (even though the advice is great) is you suggest a slightly higher price for a few extras while im looking for cutting the price for what i can sacrifice performance wise so im going to have to look around a bit more

as a side question, dont macbooks have wireless networking ???

Wireless networking? Um, yes, they all do. Where did you get the idea they don't?

Like I said before, if you want cheap then just go get a PC. If you don't have a 5DMKII then anything in the 2GHz+ range will do. You probably would do find with just about anything in the $600-$800 market. They won't be speed demons, but they'll work just fine for small jobs and saving photos. The problem with the Mac's you posted is the e-bay one is selling for the same price as one from Apple - so no real savings. The second is only a Core Duo, not a Core2Duo - that's old tech.

The computer's we have recommended are a step up from the bargain basement computers you're likely looking for. It is highly unlikely you'll find a computer with the specs we provided for less than has been stated here. My advice would be to just go to the Dell Outlet and find a nice used Dell.

And as far as Mac's go, even if you like them, they're probably out of your price range. And the main reason for the price is high build quality, more expensive manufacturing process, 3% higher price margin and the biggy, in-house development. We'd all like to have our Audi's and BMW's too, but that's life ;)

[taccca]

cheers for that guys, i sort of re-assessed my situation and i am going to buy a nice desktop, completely wipe my hard drive on my laptop and put in 4 gb of ram and that should to the job fine, now i wll have a pretty decent desktop (for graphics work and gaming!!) and also a old but decent performance laptop that will just purely be for graphics work while moving around so it should stay fast

cheers for all the help guys though:D

[basroil]

cheers for that guys, i sort of re-assessed my situation and i am going to buy a nice desktop, completely wipe my hard drive on my laptop and put in 4 gb of ram and that should to the job fine, now i wll have a pretty decent desktop (for graphics work and gaming!!) and also a old but decent performance laptop that will just purely be for graphics work while moving around so it should stay fast

cheers for all the help guys though:D

More or less the same setup I have, and it's amazing. If you can go with an i7 860 as the processor, and 8gb ram, that thing will be a beast (and likely under 1k)