Processing Laptop

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DaveKing

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I need a bit of assistance selecting a processing laptop, sadly I can't have a desktop due to space. My current laptop (Core2 Duo, 4GB ram) was OK when I was using Lightroom 3 and processing files from my Canon 450D. But this year I have upgraded to Lightroom 5 and bought a 6D and this double upgrade has caused my laptop to slow to a crawl. I keep looking at Macbook Air's but I am concerned that the screen would be too small, a Macbook Pro would be too expensive. Can anyone recommend a laptop with a high resolution & high contrast screen, strong processing power, and good battery life?

Cheers.
 
You'll need to give us an idea of budget.
 
Have a look at scrumpymacs.co.uk I have bought two machines from them, excellent value. If you can't see what you want on their site then give them a call as they have vast stocks and will build to order. If you do get a Macbook pro a worthwhile upgrade is to replace the Superdrive (CD Rom) with an SSD in a caddy then run OS from that drive. All available from Amazon and takes about 20mins.
My Macbook pro is now nearly three years old (I bought this one new) have upgraded ram and fitted SSD, it eats Photoshop/Lightroom for breakfast! I've given up with Windows machines now as they just slow up from day one!
 
Scrumpymacs give a 12 month warranty! Plus everything they sell has been refurbed and tested. Remember the Mac build quality is somewhat different to most Windows based stuff.
 
If you want a Mac Book pro trying having alook here : http://www.macking.co.uk There great for refurb macs and used them myself in the past to get my Lappy.

If you want something new, this mite be a good option but windows
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...i-rs-840-15-6-gaming-laptop-10004798-pdt.html


or slightly over budget with a SSD and slightly better specs.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...vo-y510p-15-6-gaming-laptop-21426637-pdt.html


If says there gaming Laptops but I always found there the best to look at as there made for pure speed.
 
Punkawallah said:
Scrumpymacs give a 12 month warranty! Plus everything they sell has been refurbed and tested. Remember the Mac build quality is somewhat different to some Windows based stuff.
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There.. fixed that for you.

Agree with above. Anything built for gaming will have grunt behind it.
 
Dell outlet store seems to have best bang-for-buck. Look for a quad core i7, 8 or 16G of memory. SSD if possible.
 
My original statement stands! If you can find a Windows machine that is carved out of one piece of aluminium I'll retract it?
 
Punkawallah said:
My original statement stands! If you can find a Windows machine that is carved out of one piece of aluminium I'll retract it?
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When the one piece of aluminium makes the computer go faster, I'll buy it :)
 
arad85 said:
When the one piece of aluminium makes the computer go faster, I'll buy it :)
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It helps stop the case flexing and worse :) Certainly made me realise just how poorly some stuff is assembled. I'm quite happy to cart mine about in rucksack etc whereas I wouldn't want to do that with ANY Windows laptop I've owned.
 
Punkawallah said:
It helps stop the case flexing and worse :) Certainly made me realise just how poorly some stuff is assembled. I'm quite happy to cart mine about in rucksack etc whereas I wouldn't want to do that with ANY Windows laptop I've owned.
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That's nice... :)
 
Punkawallah said:
I've given up with Windows machines now as they just slow up from day one!
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I have been in an IT consultant for many years and this is just not true. MacBook’s are just overpriced pcs How much did you spend on your Mac??? I can assure you if you spent the same amount of money on a decent Windows laptop it would outperform the Mac no problem. The only reason a pc would slow down is due to user error. Most Macs are Intel based pcs In a nice case with different software on it. It is possible to buy a pc reformat it and install a Mac operating system. The only thing stopping company’s doing this is Apple have put it in their licence for the software that you can’t or they will take you to court.
 
Elmer_fudd25 said:
I have been in an IT consultant for many years and this is just not true. MacBook’s are just overpriced pcs How much did you spend on your Mac??? I can assure you if you spent the same amount of money on a decent Windows laptop it would outperform the Mac no problem. The only reason a pc would slow down is due to user error. Most Macs are Intel based pcs In a nice case with different software on it. It is possible to buy a pc reformat it and install a Mac operating system. The only thing stopping company’s doing this is Apple have put it in their licence for the software that you can’t or they will take you to court.
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It's my experience. The amount I paid for a Macbook is equivalent to about 2 Windows machines. However I don't need to run anti-virus, I don't need to de-frag it, it never needs re-booting and, best of all, it does EXACTLY what it says on the tin ;)

Ultimately it is down to personal preference/budget. Some people still think it's snobbery, well anyone who knows me will tell you I'm definitely not a snob! I haven't got the spare time to devote to keeping a Windows machine running at it's optimum so therefore I now only use Macs!
 
DaveKing said:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...6-touchscreen-laptop-silver-10018826-pdt.html
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Doesn't look bad.... To get better you'd be looking at a full SSD rather than hybrid, and also at a QHD+ screen. Going to cost >£1000 for that though, even from Dell outlet. Also, it's not going to last that long on that battery, but you can't have everything for£750.

PS. My Windows machines are exactly the same as Punkawallah's Mac. Never needing reboots, no need to defrag, never crash and don't slow down, but cost way less than a Mac - these oft-quoted arguments are so outdated and mid-naughties (i.e. about 10 years old).

BTW: I would always recommend people run anti-virus on ANY machine that runs connected to the Internet as it is phishing that is by far the most common way of being duped these days and that is OS agnostic.
 
Punkawallah said:
It's my experience. The amount I paid for a Macbook is equivalent to about 2 Windows machines. However I don't need to run anti-virus, I don't need to de-frag it, it never needs re-booting and, best of all, it does EXACTLY what it says on the tin
C:\Users\PAUL~1.CWU\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.png



Ultimately it is down to personal preference/budget. Some people still think it's snobbery, well anyone who knows me will tell you I'm definitely not a snob! I haven't got the spare time to devote to keeping a Windows machine running at it's optimum so therefore I now only use Macs!
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Macs do need to have a de-frag just like a windows pc. That’s down to the HDD technology. If you get a SSD these do not in either a Mac or PC in fact running a de-frag will damage them.


Macs do need antivirus software. Years ago virus righter didn’t bother making them for Mac as hardly any of them where about. Now they are making them and having field day as people with them think I don’t need anti-virus and are open to attack. If you do want to protect yourself Est do a very good anti-virus for Mac.


http://www.eset.co.uk/Home/Cyber-Security-Pro
 
Cheers for the feedback - it looks like HP don't have the best reliability!
 
Punkawallah said:
It's my experience. The amount I paid for a Macbook is equivalent to about 2 Windows machines. However I don't need to run anti-virus, I don't need to de-frag it, it never needs re-booting and, best of all, it does EXACTLY what it says on the tin ;)

Ultimately it is down to personal preference/budget. Some people still think it's snobbery, well anyone who knows me will tell you I'm definitely not a snob! I haven't got the spare time to devote to keeping a Windows machine running at it's optimum so therefore I now only use Macs!
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That is some serious amount of bias and you have been well and truely brain washed by the well oiled Mac marketing and propaganda.

As some have pointed out, the likes of thinkpad, HP elitebook and Toshiba's work stations are all highly robust laptops and are used in wide ranging industries for their 1) versatility 2) robustness 3) security 4) power 5) longevity 6) adaptability due to being windows unix compatible

No Mac can't integrate with any other systems seamlessly and it certain does what it says on the tin which is effectively what people at Apple wants you to do not what you want to do or could do...

And it is certainly overprice novalty item. Give me plastic and more power/ram/functionality/connectivity every time over some cheap LED lights behind a keyboard and a piece aluminium that had been cast from ores mined in Australia then processed and machine in China then shipped to US for assembly. I would feel a bit shameful when I hold that thing up next to me and it has covered more air miles than I have.

To OP, watch out for the dell xps 15 9560 on the outlet. A few of them with i7-4770k and 16GB ram with 120Gb SSD are available with your budget and it has a pretty decent wide gamut screen for those light photo editing. If you have a decent monitor to connect to then that would be the pick.
 
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I have a Dell XPS 15 that I bought to replace a Macbook, and for the kind of work you're planning to do it would be my recommendation over a retina Mac. Both machines have their strengths and weaknesses, but the Dell screen is very good (better IMO than a retina) and the battery life is shorter. Presently Dell outlet are out of stock of the current (model 9530) XPS15.

It's possible to buy the slowest Macbook for £900 new, but you should factor in £200+ apple care warranty because the hardware isn't marvelous.Many Macbooks cannot be upgraded either, so if you buy a minimum spec to begin with, that's what you're stuck with until it's replaced.
 
ricky1980 said:
That is some serious amount of bias and you have been well and truely brain washed by the well oiled Mac marketing and propaganda.
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There is no case of brainwashing here. Unfortunately I still have to use Windows machines in my main business, so I am able to do direct comparisons. As both the OP and I have already commented it was not intended for this to develop into a Mac vs Windows thread.
In my post that you quote I do state that it is usually a matter of preference, I am in the lucky position to have used both systems. Mac IS MY PREFERENCE! :)
 
Punkawallah said:
There is no case of brainwashing here. Unfortunately I still have to use Windows machines in my main business, so I am able to do direct comparisons. As both the OP and I have already commented it was not intended for this to develop into a Mac vs Windows thread.
In my post that you quote I do state that it is usually a matter of preference, I am in the lucky position to have used both systems. Mac IS MY PREFERENCE! :)
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Fair dos :)
 
Punkawallah said:
There is no case of brainwashing here. Unfortunately I still have to use Windows machines in my main business,
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If you are still seeing the issues you have complained that Windows machines suffer from, your machines have been badly set up or are so old that they need replacing and brought into the 21st Century.

If you are at the vagaries of your IT department - well, let's just say there are good and bad IT departments....

Personal preference is a different issue though.
 
Punkawallah said:
My original statement stands! If you can find a Windows machine that is carved out of one piece of aluminium I'll retract it?
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And that makes it durable how exactly? One piece of alloy means there's little or no shock resistance. Little point in the case surviving an impact if the machine doesn't work afterwards. Drop a Macbook and it's still shagged, no matter how pretty it looks afterwards.

You want durable? Panasonic ToughBook. /thread.

However.... the OP made no mention of it needing it to be durable. That's just something you've decided to discuss as a means of bigging up Apple products, and is probably not even relevant. The OP talks of little desk space, so whatever laptop is used, it will obviously be used at home.
 
Pookeyhead said:
And that makes it durable how exactly? One piece of alloy means there's little or no shock resistance. Little point in the case surviving an impact if the machine doesn't work afterwards. Drop a Macbook and it's still shagged, no matter how pretty it looks afterwards.

You want durable? Panasonic ToughBook. /thread.

However.... the OP made no mention of it needing it to be durable. That's just something you've decided to discuss as a means of bigging up Apple products, and is probably not even relevant. The OP talks of little desk space, so whatever laptop is used, it will obviously be used at home.
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I'm sorry for trying to add some input to this thread. I am new to this forum, will probably just leave now as it seems people are unable to maintain any decorum and sanity when a discussion does not follow their intended route.
 
Punkawallah said:
I'm sorry for trying to add some input to this thread. I am new to this forum, will probably just leave now as it seems people are unable to maintain any decorum and sanity when a discussion does not follow their intended route.
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Gordon - don't take it personally. David/Pookeyhead seems to make his points without any of the social lubrication most people use. Normally his comments are well founded, but phrased in a way that makes it difficult to *want* to agree, even when he's clearly correct. After a bit you get used to it.

He is also correct about the ali case. The Unibody doesn't bounce well, and falling just a couple of feet onto a hard surface - for instance from a bed onto a tiled floor, in my case - will bend the frame around the screen, put sharp edges on the body and destroy the hard drive, even though the machine was off. By comparison an old HP 17" plastic bodied laptop I use in a particular place has been on the floor many times, and with sufficient force to break a corner of the case and cause the HDD heads to hit the disc while it was in use, but aside from swapping out the drive (which still works OK after formatting) it continues to work fine. The unibody case looks great, but is very much form-over-function (the ethics of energy wastage when machining a billet of ali into a case might also make one ask questions).
 
Punkawallah said:
I'm sorry for trying to add some input to this thread. I am new to this forum, will probably just leave now as it seems people are unable to maintain any decorum and sanity when a discussion does not follow their intended route.
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No, it's just we've had the "Apple are the best - why would you want anything else - trust me" posts so many times before they get short shrift from the regulars.
 
Getty Images send their photographers into significantly harsher environments than nearly everyone here will experience. Their laptop of choice?

Lenovo ThinkPad

Apple make some great kit but please don't think because they are made from one block of aluminium they are somehow the toughest laptop around.
 
arad85 said:
No, it's just we've had the "Apple are the best - why would you want anything else - trust me" posts so many times before they get short shrift from the regulars.
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As I said in a later post, it suits me best!:)

inkiboo said:
Getty Images send their photographers into significantly harsher environments than nearly everyone here will experience. Their laptop of choice?

Lenovo ThinkPad

Apple make some great kit but please don't think because they are made from one block of aluminium they are somehow the toughest laptop around.
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I've had Toughbooks in the past so I know the Macbooks are not the strongest, just like the quality.... personally :) Oh, and I like the OS as well, having used Unix based systems for many years! I think many here are in danger of losing sight of the fact the OS's are different and not everyone can get on with a particular system.
 
The whole "macs can't get viruses" is complete rubbish and has been for years. Just a few years ago 600k+ macs were infected with a trojan which scanned your internet traffic for usernames and passwords of all types and it took apple forever to release a patch for java where the vulnrability was.

Fact of the matter is, if you have a device which can connect to the internet, you can get viruses.
 
It's great that you like the quality but you have been posting that no "Windows" laptop is as good as Mac and that simply isn't true.

Up until the introduction of Retina Displays, all previous Mac laptops had absolutely awful screens. In fact, the MacBook Air still has a terrible screen. It's great you like the OS but Apple are far away from being the best laptops out there.
 
Haven't read the whole thread as started to get a bit of a mac vs widows debate but I can add I use a Mac Air (13inch latest spec) and it's great with Lightroom! Very fast with stock ram at 4GB. Absolutely great little machine. Not the cheapest for sure but it's the price I always pay for stability and level of customer service I've always received with Mac (a user for some 9 years now). It compliments my office Mac Mini (Quad i7, SSD and 16GB of ram).

One important note is you have to calibrate the screen, out of the box its very blue and not good at all. Once calibrated it's a great screen (Spyder 4 Pro).
 
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AndyHayball said:
One important note is you have to calibrate the screen, out of the box its very blue and not good at all. Once calibrated it's a great screen (Spyder 4 Pro).
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Sorry to break it to you but it's not. It's the same as nearly every other laptop screen out there.

Unless you have a laptop with an IPS screen then all laptop screens are very, very average.
 
Ignoring a lot of the Apple vs the rest stuff here, can anyone actually recommend a 15-17" laptop available to buy with a solid processor and IPS screen?
 
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