The ultimate photographers laptop?

If you don't want to carry it around because it's too big and heavy it kind of defeats the point of having a laptop surely!
 
laptop monitors are not the greatest to post process on neither as the brightness changes with viewing height.
 
michaelho said:
laptop monitors are not the greatest to post process on neither as the brightness changes with viewing height.
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Very true, but for some of us, we need the laptops because the images need to be processed and published A.S.A.P.
Personally that means my Ice Hockey - I get the pics and edit them during the intermissions. And can send them to the web and papers before the match is over.

And having a MacBook myself, it is light enough to be carried around and you don't notice the weight too bad.
Plus it runs PhotoShop CS3 and Aperture faster than the Windows PC at home.. so can't grumble.

So, for my view. If you want a laptop and need to do some PP work on it. I would go for a MacBook (doesn't even have to be the Pro version..)
 
watch the video.... it shows its about as portable as a pregnant hippo on roller skates.
Nice idea but ...
 
Give me a 12" screen any day... wouldn't cart that great thing about...
 
I've never really understood the point of the Dell XPS M2010 its bigger and heavier than their 17" laptops, a lower screen resolution than their top 17" screen and costs 2 - 3 times as much.
 
I just wonder if they've looked at the i-mac and thought of a way they could produce a similar machine. OK it's not exactly like the i-mac but it may have been the closest they could get. It may never have been designed to be portable, just sit on a desk, without the need for a Tower or all those leads.

Me I'd go for the i-mac , and that's from a PC user. ( How do Apple justify £450 for a 2Gb memory upgrade ?)
 
what a beast, nice for the home or workplace, but not to carry around with you.
 
So, what is the ultimate then? Small and light? Good battery too I would have thought?
 
20" laptop DOH !!!

I have a gorgeous 12" iBook 1.33Ghz that has a quality screen; plenty of RAM for normal post process stuff; a big enough hard drive to store plenty of pictures to show others and a battery that actually does last 3-4 hours. It weights very little and runs Mac OS10.5 leopard. It cost £350+£25 p&p from singapore plus £35 import duty and £40 for the memory upgrade so £450 in total. Bought second hand because Apple do not currently make a 12" laptop.

It may have a 1.3GHz processor but being an Apple I am not having to run anti spyware, anti virus, anti phishing and great aunty Maud software on it. Mac OS is very efficient and this runs as quickly as a 2.6GHz Windoze machine in real use. I have a Quad Xeon Mac Pro with 6Ghz Ram and more than a Terabyte of storage and unless I am doing some serious Photoshop work this is just as usable.

It might not win a "Who can wee highest up a wall" competition with that 20" jobby but I know which one I would have!

THIS is the ultimate laptop as far as i'm concerned (maybe a 12" titanium Macpro with a 1.5GHz but they cost 700-800)
 
A laptop for photography must of course be a trade-off between portability, screen quality, and graphical processing prowess.

Imo, the 17" MacBook Pro stacked with RAM and a 2.4Ghz Core2 Duo is ideal for the job. The Bimmer Coupe of laptops.
And BTW: it runs all your Windows software too!
 
W.Smith said:
A laptop for photography must of course be a trade-off between portability, screen quality, and graphical processing prowess.

Imo, the 17" MacBook Pro stacked with RAM and a 2.4Ghz Core2 Duo is ideal for the job. The Bimmer Coupe of laptops.
And BTW: it runs all your Windows software too!
Click to expand...

Very nice.........but it costs £1,800! :eek: You could get a really nice Dell with the same spec (which is what I entend to do in the New Year) for half that.
 
Chappers said:
I just wonder if they've looked at the i-mac and thought of a way they could produce a similar machine. OK it's not exactly like the i-mac but it may have been the closest they could get. It may never have been designed to be portable, just sit on a desk, without the need for a Tower or all those leads.

Me I'd go for the i-mac , and that's from a PC user. ( How do Apple justify £450 for a 2Gb memory upgrade ?)
Click to expand...

I would say it's more like the Sony Vaio job that came out a couple of years ago, looks really good, but way to big to use whilst travelling. It's probably designed mainly for the LAN gamers, so they can take a big screen and powerful computer to 'parties' without having to lug seperate pieces with them.

The problem with Apple is they are way over priced, I looked into getting a Mac but even with a student discount they are way over priced for what they are. I'm contemplating getting an XPS M1330 now, small 13.3" screen with a good processor and 2GB of ram for around £700. An equivilent mac would be around £1000:shrug: Hopefully it'll be very portable for times when I can't get near my main computer at home for a while, such as trips and holidays.

cowasaki said:
It may have a 1.3GHz processor but being an Apple I am not having to run anti spyware, anti virus, anti phishing and great aunty Maud software on it. Mac OS is very efficient and this runs as quickly as a 2.6GHz Windoze machine in real use. I have a Quad Xeon Mac Pro with 6Ghz Ram and more than a Terabyte of storage and unless I am doing some serious Photoshop work this is just as usable.
Click to expand...

Without trying to sound nasty that's just stupid, the notion that macs are immune to viruses and other problems Windows has is a myth. There are plenty of viruses out there for macs, and phishing and fraud scams are not windows specific either. I would suggest getting some, good antivirus software won't slow your computer down at all (thats the difference between Norton/Macafee which kill your machine and Nod/Kaspy(sp?) which actually work) before something destroys your mac.
 
Amp34 said:
Without trying to sound nasty that's just stupid, the notion that macs are immune to viruses and other problems Windows has is a myth. There are plenty of viruses out there for macs,
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Oh yeah?
Name me just one!

and phishing and fraud scams are not windows specific either.
Click to expand...

Huh?
Neither are the color red or ice cream!
What do phishing and fraud have to do with operating systems?

Amp34 said:
Without trying to sound nasty that's just stupid, the notion that macs are immune to viruses and other problems Windows has is a myth. There are plenty of viruses out there for macs,
Click to expand...

Oh yeah?
Name me just one!

I would suggest getting some, good antivirus software won't slow your computer down at all (thats the difference between Norton/Macafee which kill your machine and Nod/Kaspy(sp?) which actually work) before something destroys your mac.
Click to expand...

OTOH, if you get a Mac you get a) no virus attacks to begin with, so you get b) to spend your money on more useful software than antivirus software...
And, oh yeah, c) you save tons of time to boot!
 
Amp34 said:
Without trying to sound nasty that's just stupid, the notion that macs are immune to viruses and other problems Windows has is a myth. There are plenty of viruses out there for macs,
Click to expand...

Oh yeah? Plenty?
Name me just one!

and phishing and fraud scams are not windows specific either.
Click to expand...

Huh?
Neither are the color red or ice cream!
What do phishing and fraud have to do with operating systems?

I would suggest getting some, good antivirus software won't slow your computer down at all (thats the difference between Norton/Macafee which kill your machine and Nod/Kaspy(sp?) which actually work) before something destroys your mac.
Click to expand...

OTOH, if you get a Mac you get a) no virus attacks to begin with, so you get b) to spend your money on more useful software than antivirus software...
And, oh yeah, c) you save tons of time, and d) heaps of aggravation to boot!
 
W.Smith said:
Name me just one!
Click to expand...

Macro.Word97.Mdma...Virus.MSExcel.Extras.a...

OSX/Inqtana.A....Melissa

Ooops you only wanted one didn't you:LOL:
 
Oh good, another mac vs pc argument.
icon_rolleyes.gif


That is a mad machine indeed and as has been said, surely it's been designed to sit on a desk and look clean and tidy. Also it could go from room to room without a load of wires to take along.

No-one is really going to be using it on the bus or train are they. We all know that for working on location a small and compact machine is just the ticket.

So come on folks, in the sprit of christmas lets get windows and osx out over the top of the trench for a quick game of footie. ;);)
 
Eric Mc said:
Macro.Word97.Mdma...Virus.MSExcel.Extras.a...
Click to expand...


Oh two that have something to do with microsoft products! Good job we have no use for microsoft products isnt it! You would still be typing in decades to come if you started listing PC viruses, there are more than 200000 the last time I bothered checking!

Viruses are theoretically possible on pretty much any platform but I am sure that it any virus actually did anything to a Mac the Windoze fan boys would shout about it from the roof tops.

I have both platforms so I have no reason to be biased but Windows is miles behind MacOS.. I have used Windoze from 3.11 onwards and have written several applications which are in use by the police. Any anti virus and anti attack software will use up system resources and slow the machine down. Mac OS is better protected that Windoze so even if there was a virus or trojan it is FAR less likely to do any damage!


As for phishing etc well thats down to user error, follow a few basic security measures and you are safe however I do not see what this has to do with the platform you are using!
 
Amp34 said:
The problem with Apple is they are way over priced, I looked into getting a Mac but even with a student discount they are way over priced for what they are. I'm contemplating getting an XPS M1330 now, small 13.3" screen with a good processor and 2GB of ram for around £700. An equivilent mac would be around £1000:shrug: Hopefully it'll be very portable for times when I can't get near my main computer at home for a while, such as trips and holidays.
Click to expand...


Macbook 1Gb with 13" screen and student discount = £616 plus £35 for 1Gb upgrade then £58 for iWorks licence.

XPS jobby £700 plus office ??

Without the software there is virtually no difference in price. The Mac comes with so much really usable software and lots of top notch design pluses like the magnetic power input (I have had to repair dozens of laptops dragged off desks by people!)

The Macbook will be a similar spec but will feel much faster. Yes Macbook Pros cost more there is no need to go to that level unless you need the higher spec for some other reason.
 
cowasaki said:
Oh two that have something to do with microsoft products!
Click to expand...

That really is too funny, and the Melissa worm was also propagated by MS Word and MS Outlook, so it would appear that 75% of Mac infections are caused by using Microsoft products :D

A quick dig into OSX.Inqtana.A reveals that it's a "proof of concept" virus, with no real threat, and an estimated total number of worldwide infections between ... wait for it ... 0 and 49!

http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2006-021715-3051-99

(Disclaimer: Before I get labeled as a fanboy, I haven't used a Mac for about 17 or 18 years)
 
bod said:
That really is too funny, and the Melissa worm was also propagated by MS Word and MS Outlook, so it would appear that 75% of Mac infections are caused by using Microsoft products :D

A quick dig into OSX.Inqtana.A reveals that it's a "proof of concept" virus, with no real threat, and an estimated total number of worldwide infections between ... wait for it ... 0 and 49!

http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2006-021715-3051-99

(Disclaimer: Before I get labeled as a fanboy, I haven't used a Mac for about 17 or 18 years)
Click to expand...

I know, I just had a look too. So four 'viruses' and three are carried by Microsoft and the other is a proof on concept :LOL:

The only reason that anti virus software is sold for the mac is to protect Windows users from picking something up that might be forwarded from one windows user to another via a Mac user!

We have 4 Windows machines and 6 Macs, the windows machines cause me no end of problems in comparison to the Macs. I just prefer using my time doing something constructive rather than re-installing windows. I'm clearly not a 'fanboy' I use both and have made a nice tiny sum writing PC software but the Mac is just the better tool!
 
W.Smith said:
Oh yeah?
Name me just one!



Huh?
Neither are the color red or ice cream!
What do phishing and fraud have to do with operating systems?
Click to expand...

Ask cowasaki, he was the one that brought them up. You agreed with me though, they aren't OS specific.




W.Smith said:
OTOH, if you get a Mac you get a) no virus attacks to begin with, so you get b) to spend your money on more useful software than antivirus software...
And, oh yeah, c) you save tons of time to boot!
Click to expand...

a)I have never been infected by a virus in the 3-4 years I have had my own PC, and a lot of other people haven't either. b) There are plenty of FREE good anti-virus programs out there, you don't need to pay for one. In fact the two most well known anti-virus programs (which you have to pay for) are actually two of the worst programs out there, they are slow and slow your PC down noticeably whilst not providing the best protecton. They (norton and Macafee) are the reason people believe anti-virus programs cause PC's to go so much slower when AV software is installed.:)

dazzajl said:
Oh good, another mac vs pc argument.
Click to expand...

Sorry:(

It seems people have jumped on the one part of my post that could just be consieved as being anti mac??:thinking:

I just have a problem with ignorance, especially when it comes to people who believe one thing is far superior to another when the only information they have is third hand passed on information.

EDIT: it seems thats not quite true with cowasaki, but a large proportion of mac users seem to think that.
 
cowasaki said:
Macbook 1Gb with 13" screen and student discount = £616 plus £35 for 1Gb upgrade then £58 for iWorks licence.

XPS jobby £700 plus office ??

Without the software there is virtually no difference in price. The Mac comes with so much really usable software and lots of top notch design pluses like the magnetic power input (I have had to repair dozens of laptops dragged off desks by people!)

The Macbook will be a similar spec but will feel much faster. Yes Macbook Pros cost more there is no need to go to that level unless you need the higher spec for some other reason.
Click to expand...

What processor is in that and the HDD size?

If they are pretty good, at that price I'll seriously consider a macbook again, it's just the last time I checked they did seem to have a very poor spec for the price (oh and the white, I must be the only person that doesn't like mac white!:LOL:).:)
 
Amp34 said:
What processor is in that and the HDD size?

If they are pretty good, at that price I'll seriously consider a macbook again, it's just the last time I checked they did seem to have a very poor spec for the price (oh and the white, I must be the only person that doesn't like mac white!:LOL:).:)
Click to expand...

80Gb HD but you can get an upgrade to 120Gb for £50 or just swap it yourself

The upgrade is a matter of undoing 4 captive screws which hold a metal plate in place. Then for the memory pulling a couple of levers or for the hard drive pulling a plastic tab!

But basically you can get a 1Gb Macbook with 120Gb HD and 2GHz dual core processor for about £650 ish with higher education discount or about £670 with normal student discount. You then add an Apple specific memory upgrade from kingston or crucial costing £35 to give you 2Gb {2x1gb} (or about £70 for a total of 4Gb {2x2gb})

My daughter and my wife all have these laptops, they are a very reasonable spec machine for the money and they compare very well with a decent quality PC laptop from the likes of Sony or Compaq. Yes you can get cheaper PC laptops but the design of them is often not very good with desktop processors etc.

Oh and the white grows on you - there is a black Macbook but it is only available in the higher spec one so you would be looking at about £850 ish with higher ed discount or about £880 with normal student discount (£949 with no disc) - this is 160Gb HD and 2.2GHz dual processor...
 
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