Helping a new photographer- poll

Hi, a friend of mine who is wanting to bring their photography up to the next level is considering options for photo editing. Presently they use a tablet and want to move up to a computer and asked me about a laptop. Personally I use a desktop and was interested in finding out exactly what others use. Maybe I can be of more help to them.
Thankd

I would say a desktop with a matte monitor screen.

Currently I use a Windows 7 based desktop workstation with dual monitors (Will hopefully go to a triple head setup in another year or two) as my primary work area, and now own a basic 13" macbook pro for mobile work. (And I really wouldn't want to do much on this thing, at least without upping from 4gigs of ram and swapping the optical drive for a solid state, which I plan to do eventually.)

Bang for buck is very hard to beat a solid desktop system that one assembles themselves. Think long and hard before "investing" in a laptop. Large and powerful ones that are really useful to do a lot of work on also tend to have this habit of being left on desks at home because they are too heavy to carry conveniently, and tend to need plugged in sooner than you would like anyway due to less than stellar battery life. So when you compare all the extra you've paid to have your computer in a nice portable package, it does seem rather foolish if you find yourself leaving it behind on the desk anyway.

If your friend has the budget, I'd make sure they also look into a pen tablet as well...

What's the difference between PC and desktop? Isn't desktop, laptop, etc, under personal computer?

JuvarAbrera wrote in post #15822127
What's the difference between PC and desktop? Isn't desktop, laptop, etc, under personal computer?

Thank the marketing department at Apple for that one.

Thanks no one talked of tablets.

Combine the PC/Desktop values and you'll get the point that most people use a desktop (PC)

Scatterbrained wrote in post #15822107
If your friend has the budget, I'd make sure they also look into a pen tablet as well...

Thanks Scatter. Yeah, I told them that I use a small pen and tablet also

samsen wrote in post #15822312
Thanks no one talked of tablets.

Thanks. see above

coyoteboy wrote in post #15822944
Combine the PC/Desktop values and you'll get the point that most people use a desktop (PC)

Thanks, that's what I use- more internal memory than my laptop and I have a 24" monitor. My old eyes appreciate it.

coyoteboy wrote in post #15822944
Combine the PC/Desktop values and you'll get the point that most people use a desktop (PC)

Correct

I guess I read the poll as two questions:

1. Desktop vs Laptop
and
2. Mac vs PC (where "PC" traditionally refers an Intel + windows-based system).

Effectively resulting in 4 possible permutations:

1. Mac desktop
2. Mac laptop
3. Intel/windows desktop
4. Intel/windows laptop

Yes I'm aware that other vendors make PC chips (other than Intel) and PC OSs (other than Microsoft), but I think "Intel/Windows" is the traditional generalization for everything that isn't Apple. And I'm also aware that Intel now makes Mac chips. So the traditional nomenclature is very much old and busted on all levels, pretty well out dated. So some confusion on the terminology is certainly understandable. I think maybe this is where the OP was coming from?

jrandall wrote in post #15832830
And I'm also aware that Intel now makes Mac chips.

Intel does not make Mac chips.
Apple use Intel CPU's in their Mac brand computers, along with Foxcon mother boards and samsung SSD's and LG monitor panels etc, etc.

The traditional nomenclature has not changed, new products and form factors have simply been added to it, e.g. tablets and ultra portables.

What if we use all of the above? I use a custom desktop tower running windows 7 as my main / storage machine and a Macbook Pro for on the go stuff? Or you could always tell your friend to build a hackintosh if you want to try both worlds without spending alot of money on Apple products, but still get the apple software experience. Although it might take some time to get setup and running smoothly...

Moppie wrote in post #15832952
Intel does not make Mac chips.
Apple use Intel CPU's in their Mac brand computers.

"CPU" and "chip" are equivalent terms for the same thing.

Go laptop only if you need mobility. A desktop is a better value if you don't need mobility.