My laptop

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Adamcski

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Hi folks, looking for some opinions from those more clued up on these things.

I purchased this laptop just over a year or so ago.


I didn't buy it specifically for photography stuff, it was for a course I was completing. I've been using it for photography with the Affinity software but I find it doesn't perform too well. It will often lag or freeze and a few weeks ago just appeared to stop working (crashed) when I was trying to stack a few images.

I thought it would be okay given the 16gb ram and processor but I've been a little unimpressed with it as of late.

So, I've been looking at the 24inch iMac as a potential option, but I know nothing about MACs.

I'd go for something like this:

Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 8-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine
16GB unified memory
512GB SSD storage
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Two USB 3 ports
Gigabit Ethernet
Magic Mouse
Magic Keyboard

£1849.

My laptop screen does however have 100%srgb which is a plus :)

Would there be much difference? I don't need a laptop hence looking at this all in one type of system. I could just move it around the house to wherever was quiet.

Or would one of the Mac laptops be better?
 
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As a Mac user, I can only say go for it, you won't be disappointed. I can't comment on the new screens, but I used a 2013 27" iMac for 9 years and thought the screen was great, but then I switched to a Mac Mini with a View Sonic monitor and that monitor knocks the old iMac screen out of the ballpark, so it might be worth looking into the screens on the new iMac first, but the spec won't have any issue doing what you need it to do.
 
Thanks @Steelo

We popped into the apple shop earlier and it certainly looked like a nice bit of kit. I have zero experience with apple Mac's and just don't want to spend money on it if it's not going to be much better than my laptop. I don't really understand all the tech side of things, but I thought my laptop would have been okay as it's an i7 processor and has this Evo thingy.

It does struggle though. I've completed basic tests editing images whilst loading the task manager and viewing the various stats regarding RAM and processor usage and they are RED 85-95% usage.
 
Looking at the specs of that HP it should be fine.
I use a lower spec old HP (Ryzen 5 16GB RAM) and it works well with Affinity. It works much better and faster than a Dell I7 laptop I have.

Make me wonder if something is not quite right with your laptop.
 
Sangoma said:
Looking at the specs of that HP it should be fine.
I use a lower spec old HP (Ryzen 5 16GB RAM) and it works well with Affinity. It works much better and faster than a Dell I7 laptop I have.

Make me wonder if something is not quite right with your laptop.
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I've run some of the windows tests and all seems fine. It's not far off factory spec as all I added to it was the Microsoft family package I have. I haven't even upgraded to Windows 11 yet. I haven't added anything to it or downloaded anything, no games nothing. I used it for a Post Grad Uni course I've finished, so basic email, teams and word stuff.

I tried to photo stack about 5 images on it a week or so ago on Affinity 2 and it just had a meltdown.

Any other tests you guys / girls think I should try? I'd rather not spend more money if I don't have to but if I do, then I want to get something I know will work for a few years. I can't keep splashing out £2k every year or so on laptops etc
 
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Maybe try JV16 Power Tools - https://jv16powertools.com/download/ - I think there's a free trial period. It can analyse your computer and highlight registry entries and other items that might be slowing it down.

I use this at the end of each month on our computers at home and they run like they're new.
 
Kieran_89 said:
Could be full of HP bloatware, format with windows 11 and see if that improves things.
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I would try this first....

or you could also delete any 3rd party antivirus software (apart from the Windows own defender) as they are resource hungry in the background.
as said your machine should be able to run photoshop affinity or whatever
 
andrewc said:
The mac way of doing things is different to Windows. Some people adapt and like it. Others hate it and regret the move.
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True.

After nearly 30-years of using MS-DOS and then Windows machines I bought a Late 2012 iMac 27 in 2013 to see what Apple was like. It’s still going, though I am running the OS from a USB-3 SSD and it can’t support MacOS beyond Catalina (10.15).

I much prefer using Mac to a Windows machine (my wife’s laptop is Windows 10). I just find Windows to be ‘clunky’ somehow and the constant updates drive me (and her) nuts. That said, there are some (old) software apps that I used on my old Windows machine that are not available for Mac.

As for the issue at hand, I too would be a bit miffed if my £1k+ Windows laptop was struggling after a year or so.
 
Also worth looking at what programmes are being started at startup, and disabling any you don't need.
There are quite a few that keep checking or doing things in the background that slow a machine down.

Download Malwarebytes (free version) and run it every so often. I have the paid version which offers some real benefits, and it doesn't make any difference that is noticeable. McAfee is not very good any way :)

Another thing to check is your DirectX version and that your graphics drivers are up to date.

I often merge (stack) 7 photos, and although my machine is not the fastest, it has never locked up or hesitated.
If you were talking about layers, I have not had any problem with multiple images open in multiple layers, and often have several images open for editing at the same time.
Your laptop should be able to manage.

Also, if you want to rebuild, (Make sure and double sure you have backed up everything including downloads, favourites and exported your password list) download the Windows Media Creation tool, and use it to make a startup SD card, then boot from the SD card and do a clean install of W10.
If your windows key is not on the bottom of the laptop, look here to find it, and make a note of it https://www.techrepublic.com/article/3-simple-ways-to-find-your-windows-10-product-key/ You should not need it, as it is stored in the laptop BIOS and will automatically check when you run the installation (usually :) )

If you do not have a MS account, and it won't let you continue without the option to enter it later (you need to get to the sign in screen ) then turn off your router, and it will detect there is not internet connection and continue. If you choose to continue without an account before getting to the sign in screen, it will not install network components, and it does not seem possible to install them later, as the Device Manager does not even show any network devices. They keep changing the ways to get through this stage of the installation, trying to force you to have an account and log on.

I would suggest getting it working again on Windows 10 before thinking about W11.
 
Kieran_89 said:
Could be full of HP bloatware, format with windows 11 and see if that improves things.
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This
There's nothing in the spec of that hardware that should cause an issue. But almost all retail Windows laptops arrive running a load of crap that you don't need.

It's frustrating - but you only need to clear them out once if you're careful in the use.

It's also the reason I can't understand people getting android phones from a network provider. They arrive running Samsung's* version of the std Android app's, Google's version and then the network providers too. Whenever an elderly relative tells me they find it all a bit confusing and hope I can sort it out, my only response is 'course you find it confusing - it's crap'

*or other mfr
 
The iMac would be a great machine for editing, the screen quality is great.

However, your laptop should also be up to the job. I expect that it is a software issue - formatting it with W11, and losing all the HP bloatware should sort it. (But the iMac is nicer)
 
I was windows until around 2008, then switched to 13" black Macbook Pro (I hated Windows Vista). I was still using Windows XP at work but my personal computer was running OSX Leopard. I bought a newer 13" Mac in 2013 which I didn't keep very long as I got a good deal on a 15" Mac which kept me going until late 2020 when I switched back to Windows with an Asus ROG G14 Zephyrus. There is much about the Windows PC I dislike - but its a pretty powerful laptop and there are several software packages I now use (3D Scanning / 3D CAD) which are not available in Mac OS or are compatible with Apple chipset.

I got used to the Mac environment quite quickly although my wife never got on with it, nor my parents who got a Mac Mini and hated it and we ended up installing windows on it.
 
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I'm actually a Google man, I typically use Chromebooks and the associated apps. I have the laptop as it was for that course and my two work laptops are windows based. I did have an iPhone when they first came out and the iPhone 3G but nothing apple since
 
Morning folks, I took the liberty of taking some photos of the things that load on start up (see below) and then the actual things installed on the system. Can you see anything there that could also be deleted?
 

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Installed:
 

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There’s nothing specifically wrong with windows machines my old Dell desktop is still running fine it’s at least 10 years old probably more, I do now use a MacBook Pro now though as the old PC is slow with large files
is there a local computer shop that could look at your laptop , if you have the install disc they could check it over and do a fresh install for you
 
There is a lot of HP and MS stuff there I would remove, but you may want or need.

I assume you can download all the HP stuff from HP should you want it later, and I would assume you have all the discs or downloads you need to re-instal all the applications you need.

I would still do a clean install of w10, then uninstall everything MS I know I don't need (phone, xbox, games one drive etc etc. (don't uninstall things that you don't know what they are :) )

It is often a waste of time to try and make windows run properly again, unless you have come across the exact same set of problems before, turns out much quicker to re-install.
 
I deleted a few things already since posting (once I found out what they were).

Good news is I have just done a 3 image stack using the GX9 images and then a 6 image stack using the S1 images (so testing larger file sizes) and boom its worked with no trouble at all. GPU was circa 24% on the S1 stack and the memory was reading around 44%. But it worked (took a second or two) and no crash. Hopefully whatever I have done has sorted it out for now. One thing I did notice yesterday was that McAfee had somehow reinstalled itself as it was probably the first thing I uninstalled when I actually got the machine. I will just keep my eye on these things moving forwards.

Thanks for everyone's help and input. Hopefully that is me sorted for a good while as I don't want to spend money needlessly :)
 
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Adamcski said:
I deleted a few things already since posting (once I found out what they were).

Good news is I have just done a 3 image stack using the GX9 images and then a 6 image stack using the S1 images (so testing larger file sizes) and boom its worked with no trouble at all. GPU was circa 24% on the S1 stack and the memory was reading around 44%. But it worked (took a second or two) and no crash. Hopefully whatever I have done has sorted it out for now. One thing I did notice yesterday was that McAfee had somehow reinstalled itself as it was probably the first thing I uninstalled when I actually got the machine. I will just keep my eye on these things moving forwards.

Thanks for everyone's help and input. Hopefully that is me sorted for a good while as I don't want to spend money needlessly :)
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Good to hear :)
 
Well you cant help but window shop lol.

Just been looking online to pass the time and stumbled upon these all in one set ups:


It states the screen is 98% DCI-P3 and when I googled what this meant I got:

DCI-P3 vs sRGB
As mentioned in the article above, DCI-P3 has 26% more colour space than sRGB. This means DCI-P3 offers a greater range of colours at a more saturated and vibrant level. It can use up to 10-bit colour as compared to sRGB's 8-bit, allowing users to enjoy HDR content in even more colours (source: https://www.viewsonic.com/library/e...d in the article,content in even more colours).

So would a screen with this rating be suitable for photo editing? Asking really as more of a knowledge thing, I doubt very much I will run out and buy one, just thought I would ask you folks.
 
It should be good for photo-editing. My personal view is that text on a 27" 4k screen will be a bit small - I have a 32" 4k and it's small enough at 125% scaling. I'm also not a great fan of AIO PCs as, like laptops (which is essentially what AIOs are), if one component goes, you've lost the lot. I can sort out a desktop PC myself but not a laptop.
 
I’ve always found my windows machines bog down to a snail pace. I’ve been told it’s software and things downloaded from the web but my last one was used purely for viewing x-rays, I never went online and got rid of any surplus software yet it still slowed to a snail pace taking several minutes to boot up :thinking:

I use Mac now and have always been happy with them. The screens are excellent and whilst not having a full colour gamut they have a much wider colour gamut than sRGB. The more modern ones need little to no calibration either.

If buying new I’d recommend at least 32gb ram. 16gb is the bare minimum these days and if you want to future proof I’m not sure it’ll be enough. Unfortunately you can’t upgrade bits on Macs at a later date.
 
snerkler said:
I’ve always found my windows machines bog down to a snail pace. I’ve been told it’s software and things downloaded from the web but my last one was used purely for viewing x-rays, I never went online and got rid of any surplus software yet it still slowed to a snail pace taking several minutes to boot up :thinking:

I use Mac now and have always been happy with them. The screens are excellent and whilst not having a full colour gamut they have a much wider colour gamut than sRGB. The more modern ones need little to no calibration either.

If buying new I’d recommend at least 32gb ram. 16gb is the bare minimum these days and if you want to future proof I’m not sure it’ll be enough. Unfortunately you can’t upgrade bits on Macs at a later date.
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32GB Macs are pretty steep (IMHO of course) and not all models can have that much RAM.
 
GeeJay57 said:
32GB Macs are pretty steep (IMHO of course) and not all models can have that much RAM.
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I've just seen that, I wonder why they're limiting the 24" to 16GB :thinking:
 
Adamcski said:
Well you cant help but window shop lol.

Just been looking online to pass the time and stumbled upon these all in one set ups:


It states the screen is 98% DCI-P3 and when I googled what this meant I got:

DCI-P3 vs sRGB
As mentioned in the article above, DCI-P3 has 26% more colour space than sRGB. This means DCI-P3 offers a greater range of colours at a more saturated and vibrant level. It can use up to 10-bit colour as compared to sRGB's 8-bit, allowing users to enjoy HDR content in even more colours (source: https://www.viewsonic.com/library/en-gb/creative-work/using-dci-p3-colour-gamut-for-video-editing/#:~:text=DCI-P3 vs sRGB,-Also known as&text=As mentioned in the article,content in even more colours).

So would a screen with this rating be suitable for photo editing? Asking really as more of a knowledge thing, I doubt very much I will run out and buy one, just thought I would ask you folks.
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P3 is more of a video editing colour space as I understand it, but yes it does cover more colour than sRGB. However, your camera is almost certainly set to record images in sRGB format, so the P3 coverage is a moot point as your files won't have those extra colours in them anyway. I use an iPad Pro for my image editing, which is a P3 screen with the sRGB colour space mapped correctly.

Don't discount calibration either. Just because your screen can display 100% sRGB doesn't mean it's calibrated and showing those colours correctly. This matters more if you're printing but if you're going to be completely serious about photo editing you should calibrate your screen. It's not something I've ever done but many people on here will have.
 
snerkler said:
I've just seen that, I wonder why they're limiting the 24" to 16GB :thinking:
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Maybe a limitation of what they can (or are currently prepared to) squeeze onto an M1?
Browsing the Apple website, it looks like the M1 Pro and M1 Max are offered with up to 64GB, M1 Ultra up to 128 and (so far) M2 up to
24GB

About £2k needed for a iMac 24 with enough ports, 16GB and 1TB.

I’ll be sticking with my old iMac 27 for the time being.
 
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Thanks folks, like I said it was out of curiosity more than anything. I read online that the DCI-P3 is relatively new and may replace srgb moving forwards. Anyway, doubt I shall ever really need super high level stuff as I will never make a living from photography. Just interesting to learn what is what. I will admit that some of the kit does look really nice though :)
 
GeeJay57 said:
Maybe a limitation of what they can (or are currently prepared to) squeeze onto an M1?
Browsing the Apple website, it looks like the M1 Pro and M1 Max are offered with up to 64GB, M1 Ultra up to 128 and (so far) M2 up to
24GB

About £2k needed for a iMac 24 with enough ports, 16GB and 1TB.

I’ll be sticking with my old iMac 27 for the time being.
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It's a shame they dropped the 27", was a great computer that. I fully loaded my MBP this time, hoping that it will last me at least 10 years (y)
 
If you are going to splash out on an AIO computer an iMac is the best bet because of the screen quality, an external monitor with those specs would be pretty expensive on its own.
 
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