New computer for photo editing

[mugge]

Should I look at a MacBook 15 with 256gb of memory with os i7 (I do have an external hard drive) or continue with a better pc than I currently have (a very bad one).

Mobility is not a deciding factor, quality and ease of use is.

Any suggestions ?
Cheers Ole

[pschlute]

I know nothing of Macbooks, but I suggest the biggest change you can make is to go for a product with SSD. Intensive programs like Photoshop runs much faster. You will still need a separate traditional hard drive to store your photos on.

[Manfred M]

Unless you are already an Apple computer user, chances are you will find that you will face a significant learning curve is you are planning to switch from PC to a MacBook, so it will fail your "ease of use" criterion. Most people agree that for someone just starting off there is no real difference in "ease of use" between a PC and a Mac. That was not necessarily true 10 years ago. I use both Apple and PC hardware, so have no issue at all writing this, regardless of what you hear from the Apple "fanboys".

In terms of quality - there is no real difference between a Mac product and the better known PC computers. You can check the rankings on best build on a number of websites to look at which models have the least number of repairs. Recent MacBooks have had serious keyboard issues.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings

If mobility is not an issue, stay away from any portable device. They all share a common flaw; small, low quality screens. Laptops (including MacBooks and PCs) are built to minimize weight and battery life. If these are not important, why spend your money on one? The other problem is that they come with relatively little RAM. Most people suggest a minimum of 16 GB of RAM. The "memory" you are looking at on the MacBook (256 GB) is the size of the SSD, not RAM. Here I would suggest a minimum of 512 GB, based on my own experience.

When it comes to cost, Apple has the highest profit margins in the industry. That means less computer for the money if you are comparing features.

I agree with Peter and I would highly recommend a SSD on any computer; one needs swap space on a hard drive for photo editing and these devices are much better (faster) for editing work than mechanical hard drives (which are fine for mass storage).

[DanK]

Unless you want to use specific software that doesn't run under one or the other of the operating systems, it won't make any substantial difference which operating system you use for photo editing.

I agree about the low quality of many laptop monitors. However, my laptop (a Lenovo carbon) has a video system that allows me to calibrate the monitor, so it is a passable substitute--although not for serious editing--when I can't get to my main computer. I don't know whether all laptops can be calibrated, but I wouldn't buy one that can't be. Also, if that was going to be my only computer, I would probably connect it to an external monitor for serious editing.

[billtils]

All other things being equal (and they probably are) I'd stick with something that has the same OS as your current computer(s) and save yourself a lot of familiarisation bothers.

My only other comment would be that the biggest step forward I made re photo-editing and computing was to move from my MacBook to an iMac - the larger screen made a big difference (no pun intended). It was also nice to separate general computing stuff (left on the MacBook) from photo stuff (pretty well the sole occupant of the iMac).

[mugge]

Thank you for your input. I have shortlisted HP Spectre 15 and HP Envy 15 and I am quite happy with 512gb as I will use external hard drive extensively.
Cheers Ole

[rpcrowe]

I special ordered a Dell XP5 desktop computer with extra RAM and two hard drives: One SSD for my programs and one standard hard drive for my storage. I also have a Ben-Q monitor. This is a very nice setup.

After using a computer with minimal RAM and a combination computer and video monitor, this is luxury.

I also save to external hard drives and have Carbonite for cloud storage. But no, I don't wear both suspenders (braces) and a belt to hold up my trousers

[mugge]

I may have been a bit premature regarding my shortlist - Asus laptops have an excellent rating. Back to the drawing board.

According to the financial controller I have two months to make up my mind. She is very mean
Cheers Ole

[Round Tuit]

I may have been a bit premature regarding my shortlist - Asus laptops have an excellent rating. Back to the drawing board.

According to the financial controller I have two months to make up my mind. She is very mean
Cheers Ole

if you get a laptop, make sure that you get one with an "IPS" screen otherwise you will not be able to use it for editing photos. The colours displayed will vary greatly with the angle of the screen. I would also suggest that you get one that covers the full sRGB gamut (approximately 72% of the NTSC gamut).

[lunaticitizen]

No need for a laptop. You better buy a desktop with your requirements.

[mugge]

No need for a laptop. You better buy a desktop with your requirements.

We have now retired fully and will be travelling a lot so a laptop is the only way I'm afraid.

[pschlute]

We have now retired fully and will be travelling a lot so a laptop is the only way I'm afraid.

Then you have to make compromises. Reality I am afraid.

[lunaticitizen]

We have now retired fully and will be travelling a lot so a laptop is the only way I'm afraid.

Oh I see. You wrote on your first post that "mobility is not a deciding factor" so I thought buying a laptop doesn't quite make any sense.

If you're going to travel a lot, then weight is a big factor. Would you consider an iPad Pro as an option? I bet it's much much lighter than the laptops you're considering right now. Adobe is developing a full-fledged Photoshop for iPad. I'm not sure when it's going to be released, though.

[DanK]

Another option, albeit more expensive, is a laptop with a dock, connected to an external monitor monitor. My office computer is a docked laptop connected to two monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse. You can also plug in an external hard drive. The monitor is the most important, imho, because it will give you more real estate for editing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mugge]

I have just purchased a Dell XPS 13 to replace my aging HP Envy which was terrible (I did not know how terrible).

The colours are so much better on the new machine.

Happy now.

[Manfred M]

I did not know how terrible.

That is so true! I make similar remarks when I make an upgrade to my gear and wonder why I had not done so sooner...

[lesuna]

Here is my own list of best PCs for photoediting offer enough capacity to alter high goals photographs, which implies they'll for the most part accompany a committed illustrations card.

Apple Mac smaller than expected 2018. ...

Lenovo ThinkCentre M900.

Microsoft Surface Studio 2.

Apple iMac Pro.

Lenovo Yoga A940.

iMac (27-inch, 2019)

HP Pavilion Wave.
since I worked as a photographer, I was often asked such questions. Then I began to take photos of residential complexes and architecture. I collaborated with https://hu.flatfy.com/, this is a directory of real estate in Hungary with a lot of descriptions of apartments, houses and developers. You can see a lot of my work on this site

[Manfred M]

Here is my own list of best PCs for photoediting offer enough capacity to alter high goals photographs, which implies they'll for the most part accompany a committed illustrations card.

Apple Mac smaller than expected 2018. ...

Lenovo ThinkCentre M900.

Microsoft Surface Studio 2.

Apple iMac Pro.

Lenovo Yoga A940.

iMac (27-inch, 2019)

HP Pavilion Wave.
since I worked as a photographer, I was often asked such questions. Then I began to take photos of residential complexes and architecture. I collaborated with https://hu.flatfy.com/, this is a directory of real estate in Hungary with a lot of descriptions of apartments, houses and developers. You can see a lot of my work on this site

Sorry, listing specific computer makes and models does not make any sense unless one can look at the actual components; amount and speed of RAM, hard disk (preferably a SSD), video card / ram etc. and see how they line up with the minimum / recommended requirements of the software that one plans to run on the machine.

[rpcrowe]

I "think" that my wife has decided on the Microsoft Surface 3 with 15-inch screen

AMD Ryzen 5 processor
16GB RAM
256GB SSD
$1,399 USD
or
AMD Ryzen 7 processor
16GB Ram
512GD SSD
$1,799

From research, we "think" that the AMD Ryzen 5 processor is plenty sufficient for her Photoshop and Photoshop Elements activities... Since, she will store her imagery on an external SSD - we "think" that a 256GB internal SSD will also be sufficient.

However - we are very open to any comments or opinions. We don't want to go "cheap" at the expense of capabilities but, savings of $400 USD is a considerable amount.

She really likes the display on the Microsoft Surface 3...

[Manfred M]

I feel that the 256GB SSD is quite small and that might cause you issues. I don't use my main (SSD) drive for data storage, but do use for all my software as well as as a swap drive / scratch disk for Photoshop / Premiere Pro. I have used almost 400 GB out of 500 GB of available space.

I use a separate M.2 drive (256 GB) for my working files just because it saves so much faster than an external drive and suspect your wife will likely do the same with the main SSD drive.