Laptop recommendation for Amatuer with little knowledge of computer jargon

Please, can someone give me some suggestions for a new laptop for doing post processing/editing of my photos but explain what I need to look for in very simple terms.

I am not well versed in all this computer jargon and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I am just an amatuer photographer doing my photos for fun and a serious hobby.

I have no real intention of making my photography a full time job or make a business out of it at this point. I've been shooting for a few years now and recently upgraded to a Canon 50D. I'll be taking my laptop on my 3 week trip to Arizona and Colorado this summer to photograph the Grand Canyon and the mountains in Colorado.

I have Lightroom 3 as my editing program and I am currently using a Gateway laptop that is about 4 years old now and only has 100GB hardrive.

Basically I can turn on my computer and do the basics, I am so ignorant on all the jargon and I have been very confused reading many of the other posts about laptop suggestions as it appears those individuals are way more advanced with their computer experience with me because many of you are all talking about display resolution and SSD's and all these abbreviations that I know nothing about.

I just want a decent laptop that I can edit my photos and have the colors come out good and the computer is fast and has a decent amount of hardrive space. Right now I have to keep exporting my processed photos to an external harddrive because my laptop keeps running out of room and my harddrive space goes into the red zone with only a few GB's left.

I am thinking that the Lenovo computers are good and I have been reading here about people talking about the Lenovo X220 Thinkpad and saying how good it is, but while looking at the specs for it, I notice that the display resolution on this computer is only like (1366x768) and someone else in another thread said that was a poor quality display resolution on some Toshiba computer that someone else asked advice about, so seeing conflicting info with one person saying (1366x768) is poor quality and then someone else saying the Lenovo X220 Thinkpad which also has the (1366x768) is really good is getting me confused.

I'm sure that any of these new computers are far better than the old Gateway that I have now and so far I think I have been doing a pretty good job with processing them and having the colors come out pretty decent, but if I am now going to spend about $1,000 on a new laptop I would really love to be able to find one that does have a very good display resolution and speed and harddrive space so my money is not wasted.

So, if someone can really "dumb" down some terminology for me, and based on my price of under $1,000 USD give me some suggestions of what kind of harddrive space I need, computer speed, and display screen quality I would be so grateful. I have been trying to read and understand many of the posts here for several days but all of it is just way over my head.

Or if you want to also just suggestion some specific laptops that would help me even more. I was really wanting a laptop with a 750GB hard drive.

I only want a Laptop as I dont' have the desire at all to sit for hours at a time at a desktop at home, I am at work for 9 1/2 hours a day sitting in front of a desktop and when I get home from work and on the weekends I want to be able to just sit in my recliner and work off of a laptop when doing my photography editing, it is really just a serious hobby for me at this point, but I still want a decent laptop.

And Thank you so so much in advance for anyone that can help me out. Remember, I am pretty ignorant on all computer stuff, I plug it in, turn it on and if I works I am happy, I am learning Lightroom 3 and can manuever around in it pretty good, but I'm not a computer person at all so all the abbreviations and jargon is like a foreign language to me so I am looking for explanations in really really simple terms.

Lets address the Lenovo issue.

From a quick search on the web the Lenovo X220 Thinkpad is an "ultraportable" with a 12.5 screen - at this size the 1366x768 resolution is understandable. The same resolution on a 15.5 inch laptop would not be as good.

You must remember that laptops inherently bring compromise - if you want portable you get a smaller screen - machines with larger screens are heavier and give worse battery life because of the power drain caused by the larger screen etc.

If you want a big screen (better for photo editing) look for a 17in or greater machine.

The Dell Inspiron R (model on the far right of the screen) gives you 17.3inch screen with 1600x900 resolution, a Core i7 processor and a 1TB HDD for $899 http://www.dell.com/us​/p/inspiron-17r-n7110/pd

Pretty much any of the sub $1000 system in this Best Buy search have similar specs and would also suffice : http://www.bestbuy.com …ssingtime%3A%3E​1900-01-01

To me the Dell looks good but some people don't like them.

Hi

I recently went through the same thing... I didn't know much about current computer technology, but have since bought a laptop and built a desktop.

My advice would be to look for the following:
Intel i5 or i7 processor (i7 is better - but make sure whatever one you get has 4 numbers after it and not 3, example: i5 1234A, not 123A. The ones with 4 numbers are 2nd generation and are better)
8GB RAM
750GB or more hard drive
USB 3.0 (it's way faster than regular USB)

A SSD (solid state drive) is a type of storage device, just like a hard drive. SSDs are much faster than a traditional hard drive, which is why a lot of people recommend them for processing photos. Some laptops come with them already installed, some don't. I bought a laptop and installed my own SSD in it (it was really easy). My personal setup for my laptop is a 128GB SSD and I use the 750GB hard drive that came in the laptop to store my photos on. To do this, I took the hard drive out of the laptop and put it in an external hard drive enclosure, which I connect to the USB 3.0 port on the laptop. It's up to you whether you want to use a SSD or not... if you want super fast editing, I'd advise getting one. I can link you exactly what I bought and how I did it if you like.

The last thing is display. This really depends on how big you want your laptop to be. I looked at the Lenovo X220 as well, specifically because it has the IPS display which means the colours don't look distorted when you view the screen from a different angle. On your current laptop, if you tilt the screen more or less, or move your head, the colours will appear to change. An IPS display will help you by making everything consistent. Not very many laptops come with one of these, and it usually adds quite a bit to the price tag, but can be useful if you think you need it. The Lenovo X220 has a pretty small screen, which is why I passed on it and went with a 14" instead. 1366x768 is a common laptop resolution - some can be good, some can be bad, it depends on the manufacturer. With that Lenovo, they fit that resolution into a 12" screen which is pretty nice. My 14" screen has the same resolution, but is a bit bigger. Personally, for image editing, I didn't want to go with anything smaller than 14". If you don't mind carrying it, a 17" laptop would be great for editing, but they are heavy!

Last thing... most major manufacturers make laptops that will work fine for you. I suggest going to Best Buy (or any other large retailer) and playing around with what they have to help you decide what you want. You can then see if you can find a good deal for it online. If you buy from HP, Dell or Gateway, be prepared to spend some time disabling all the bloatware (extra rubbish you don't want) from it when you get it. Trial offers of Norton etc. will bog down your system, so it's best to get rid of them right away!

I hope this helps a bit

Thank you very much!! This info does help me