Laptop Question

deano12

deano12

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Dean
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Hi guys,

I'm looking at getting a laptop in the new year, although I'm coming from a desktop.

I'm looking to see if anyone can suggest a good spec for the following. Also if they have any links to good ones being sold... UK sites only please.

Photoshop CS5
Adobe Premier Pro
DPP

Also certain games - (Most steam powered games)
World Of Warcraft
Eve Online
and some Total War games.

If people could let me know that would be great.
 
Ive got an HP G62-105SA, Photoshop CS5 runs great on it (got an i3 330M processor and 2GB DDR3 RAM) and i can play things like football manager 2011 on it, havent tried any other games but as long as they are not too demanding it should be ok (only got intel HD graphics card and its shared not dedicated). The 107SA is a little better with 3GB RAM but it would be cheaper to buy the 105 and upgrade the RAM yourself. The newer G72's have dedicated graphics from ATI but the processors arent as good so i cant comment on CS5 running on those but i would imagine they would be OK. IIRC i think CS5 needs RAM more than processor power but they are still just as important as each other, go for anything DDR3 and you should be ok.

No idea on your budget so ill post links at either ends of the market although i cant comment on either laptop as i havent used them but the specs represent what should be comfortable to use CS5 and some games.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/222269 Lenovo G560 @ £605
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-g56-105sa-07671772-pdt.html HP G56 @£330

There are plenty inbetween the prices of those but the minimum specs of CS5 state only a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 processor so those should be fine. Let me know if you need more help :) BTW i too came from a £1500 desktop to buy a laptop and sold my PC to buy a DSLR, havent looked back, youll never get a laptop that will play games as well as a desktop but they are still good enough.

Si
 
I recently bought an HP G72-102SA from Comet ~ £399 less 10% managers discount on the day. It has an i3 330M processor and came with 2GB DDR3 memory installed (which I've just upgraded to 8GB today). Comes with 64 bit W7 Home Premium installed on 320GB HDD and dedicated Intel graphics.

It easily runs CS5 (even before the memory upgrade), Capture NX2, et al with no problems. Highly recommended :)
 
Hi Deano,
I would reccomend a Macbook or a Macbook Pro, as far as I know they also have DDP. Howeve they are fantastic for photoshop. As for the games though, I think that you might have to buy them as I do not think that they come with the computer.
 
Take a look at the Dell laptops offered by this guy on eBay - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ecomputersltd. His feedback is substantial and excellent.

He buys in bulk from Dell and sells at a discount. I bought an XPS M1710 from him four years ago, saving £400 on the price to buy direct from Dell. Some of the machines are customer returns and some are new. Usually the customer returns come with a three year onsite warranty within the price.

I really fancy his top of the range XPS 17, with an i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 3GB of video RAM and 2x500GB 7200rpm drives, but as there's nothing wrong with my existing machine I think I'll hang on for a bit.
 
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Just got a MacBook Air this week. 13" screen, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD and a 2.13GHz processor - it feels twice as fast as an equivalently spec'd Windows laptop. Guessing mainly due to the SSD. The screen is fantastic, and looks great for photo editing on Lightroom. Currently waiting on Photoshop arriving for the final touch.
 
braddersmd said:
Just got a MacBook Air this week. 13" screen, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD and a 2.13GHz processor - it feels twice as fast as an equivalently spec'd Windows laptop. Guessing mainly due to the SSD. The screen is fantastic, and looks great for photo editing on Lightroom. Currently waiting on Photoshop arriving for the final touch.
Click to expand...

How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?
 
deano12 said:
How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?
Click to expand...

We have a supplier with offices in HK, so I ordered it from the Apple HK online store, and got it delivered to their offices. One of our lads was over there last week, and he picked it up on his way back home. Saved a few hundred against buying it over here. No duty on laptops, only VAT.

Apple gear is one of the things that seem OK to import, as their warranty is bomb proof worldwide - you simply take faulty gear to an Apple shop here, and they take care of the rest.

To answer your question directly, I'm not sure - best bet is to spec it up online (HK$ approx. 12.3 to the £ at the mo). I got a few connectors and the USB drive to go with it also.
 
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daugirdas said:
It looks a bit underpowered to me. My 3 year old MBP has 2.4GHz Core 2 Due and 4GB RAM. Add antivirus to M$ OS and things may become sluggish at best working with CS5.

Mac is the way to go.
Click to expand...
I don't remember seeing a Macbook for £400... Really, Macs are just powerful PCs that you pay top dollar for... Your choice, but they aren't anything extraordinary...
 
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