I'd like to hear your recommendations for the best laptops on the market for post-processing. Criteria:

1) Display has to have accurate color and able to be calibrated.

2) Speed with processing large, raw files.

3) Cost: I'm glad to consider the high dollar ones, but I'm most likely to get one that gives me the best bang for my bucks.

4) Quality, reliability, durability. Low maintenance.

5) Any other criteria you find important.

Thanks for helping me in my quest for a new laptop. All the best in the new year.

MBP

MBP. I'm a PC guy, but love my MBP. Much lower specs than my PC, but it seems faster, makes me want a MacPro now.

Brian Lingle wrote:
I'd like to hear your recommendations for the best laptops on the market for post-processing. Criteria:

1) Display has to have accurate color and able to be calibrated.

2) Speed with processing large, raw files.

3) Cost: I'm glad to consider the high dollar ones, but I'm most likely to get one that gives me the best bang for my bucks.

4) Quality, reliability, durability. Low maintenance.

5) Any other criteria you find important.

Thanks for helping me in my quest for a new laptop. All the best in the new year.

check this one out
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08081204thinkpad.asp

Macbook Pro

Tony Hoffer wrote:
Macbook Pro

That. Don't look any further. Been there, done that.

We use a custom built HP 9000 series laptop for all of our work. You can custom build them on the HP site to whatever specs you want. Ours has:

2.5 gig Intel core two duo
4 gig of DDR Ram
Mirroring 120 gig hard drives at 7,500 rpm (they now have mirroring 340 gig drives)
800 mghz front end bus (that is important and determines the speed factor)
17 inch monitor with 1080P hi def screen (we calibrate it once a month and it is always dead on perfect!) This is also great for proofing images in Lightroom on a hi-def flat screen T.V. because you do not have to use some other way to get the images into hi def since the computer already does that.
Runs on Window Vista 64 bit

The only thing I don't like about this PC is the start up time and all the junk (which we deleted) that comes pre-loaded on it.

The computer is super fast and editing is seamless even when going from Lightroom into PS (which we do not do hardly at all). We also use an external E-Sata hard drive for all editing which has super fast (3 gig a sec) transfer speed.

Sticker price 5 months ago was $1,699. Same thing on a Mac Book Pro at the time we bought this was $3,100.

Hope that helps!

-Zach

Buy an old Gen MBP (just before new series)

Then buy this :

Ram upgrade to 4GB: $100

Hard Drive upgrade to 500GB (install yourself or have local shop do it for $50): $130

$1,500 total

~Sam

Sam Hassas wrote:
Buy an old Gen MBP (just before new series)

Then buy this :

Ram upgrade to 4GB: $100

Hard Drive upgrade to 500GB (install yourself or have local shop do it for $50): $130

$1,500 total

~Sam

My man.

Sam Hassas wrote:
Buy an old Gen MBP (just before new series)

Then buy this :

Ram upgrade to 4GB: $100

Hard Drive upgrade to 500GB (install yourself or have local shop do it for $50): $130

$1,500 total

~Sam

I'll have to agree with this...

MacBook pro - or MacBook is you want a pound lighter.

No contest really.

I am going out on a limb here;

MacBook Pro. Am thrilled with mine, the second to latest gen with matte screen and 4GB ram. Runs LR2 really well. And you can drop em and they usually don't break

<-- PC Guy, I just snagged two Dell Studio 17 inch, Intel Core 2 Duo, 3 gig of ram, 320gig HD today...So far it seems fast enough for my processing. Got each for $650.00 which I was pretty happy with and didn't want to pass on.

MAC wrote:
Brian Lingle wrote:
I'd like to hear your recommendations for the best laptops on the market for post-processing. Criteria:

1) Display has to have accurate color and able to be calibrated.

2) Speed with processing large, raw files.

3) Cost: I'm glad to consider the high dollar ones, but I'm most likely to get one that gives me the best bang for my bucks.

4) Quality, reliability, durability. Low maintenance.

5) Any other criteria you find important.

Thanks for helping me in my quest for a new laptop. All the best in the new year.

check this one out
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08081204thinkpad.asp




The new lenovo gives more RGB viewing capability...

Brian,

I know you have a great eye for detail and color. Others have mentioned the new MBP. Go in and look at the screen. It may work for you but the glossy screens just don't cut it serious color work. If you get one get the old style with the non glossy screen like Sam said.

Just my opinion

archangel wrote:
Brian,

I know you have a great eye for detail and color. Others have mentioned the new MBP. Go in and look at the screen. It may work for you but the glossy screens just don't cut it serious color work. If you get one get the old style with the non glossy screen like Sam said.

Just my opinion



glossy screens stink, the lenovo is matte

To be honest I don't think I'd ever use a laptop for serious editing. Saying that I have a MacBook which I use for all my on the road stuff and love it. It's nowhere near as quick as a desktop but it does what I need, when I need it.

Sam's right about the RAM and Hard drive update. Apple charges a fortune for RAM. Much better to buy the smallest you can get away with then take a quick visit to crucial.

Alex

I'm in the same boat as you researching a high power laptop for post work. 6 months ago I would have said MBP like the rest here, but I can't stand the glare on glossy screens and I'm always on the move so it's an issue for me. I'm thinking Lenovo lineup now.

no need to buy a NEW macbook pro these days... the regular mac books are just as powerful as the old gens last version. if you don't mind the 13 inch screen, but who wouldn't hook that up to a cinema display or somethin? i'm a big fan of the new macbooks - i have one.

i am in the same boat.
not sure if i should get a last gen refurb, current MB or MBP.
would the new MBP's video card be that much help for processing?

Lenovo T-series is phenomenal and they have a W-series that seems geared for photographers.

Did you guys check out the link Mac posted for the Lenovo? It sounds amazing. The display shows 72% of the RGB colors compared to 30% on most displays. Anyone know the specs on the MBP matte displays for comparison?

Thanks for the link, Mac. Sounds awesome, but starting at $2,500, it's a little more than I want to invest in a laptop, right now. But, wow!

gzasi, sboerup, Tony, Italo, Richard, Red, Shane, Andy, ai3x, Matt, Thanks for your recommendations for the MBP and the advice regarding the glossy screens vs the new models. My girlfriend's sons are web professionals who used PC's for years and recently switched to MBP and they love them. They said for the cost difference, I might be well served with a PC for now, though, until I'm more profitable with my photography business. But that's a lot of people recommending MBP and I'm going to have to take another look-think about that.

Sam, That's a really great idea. Once again, the creative, out of the box solution. Brilliant! If I go with the MBP, I'll definitely do that. Puts it in a much better price range.

JLinkowitz, Thanks for the info on the Dell. That sounds like a lot of bang for the buck.

Zach, Thanks for the detailed info and the tip about the front end bus. I know there are a lot of things that effect processing speed and with all the technical variables, it gets pretty confusing to me. Sounds like 2.5 ghz processor, 4 gb ram, and 800 mghz front end bus are about as fast as it gets unless you make the jump to something like the Lenovo Thinkpad. I've heard that the graphics card makes a big difference in the speed, too. If the processor is 2.5 ghz, does it matter whether it's duo or quad core or whatever? Regarding the high def screen - are all 1080p screens high def? Do you need a DVI out to show the images in high def on an LCD or plasma screen tv? Is Vista still problematic? I tried editing a bunch of Raw files on my external HD and the cache on my main drive filled up so much I couldn't do anything until a friend who knows more than me deleted the cache. Had the same problem recently and I couldn't figure out how to find and delete the extra cache, so I had to run the system clean up program and wait forever until it removed the extra cache.

Questions:
Can you make a direct comparison between MBP's and PC's regarding processor ghz, ram, front end bus and all that?

That info on the Lenovo Thinkpad has me wondering about the % of the RGB gamut the various screens display. Do most laptops give that info in their specs? I haven't noticed it before. Not that I've spent much time studying specs. I guess I'd have to go to a computer store and look at them to see how much the difference really shows.

If I switch from PC to MBP, can I upgrade from PS-CS2 PC software to PS-CS4 for Mac or will I have to start over and buy the full priced version for the Mac?

Regarding PC's - in the past, I heard that some brands, like Dell, are better quality than others. Who are the best manufacturers these days? Also, the whole Intel Centrino vs AMD vs all the other kinds of processors - does the type matter much, or just the ghz?

Also, would images from the MBP show well on my Dell monitor or would I need to get an Apple monitor for editing at home on a larger display?

BTW, am I the only one here who's frustrated that the only kind of displays you can get now days are widescreen? Seems like a ridiculous waste of screen space for photo editing. The reduced size on images in portrait orientation and not having a choice on display formats really bugs me.

Graphics card is going to help little to none on any photo editing work. Better graphics cards are for running large 30" screens, playing games or video work, not for photo. Having a great or fast graphics card wont really help you out.

Faster processor, more ram, fast HD and a better front side bus will help leaps and bounds more than a graphics card.

The thing that I have found when working on my MBP, Lightroom and Photoshop run so much faster, and the specs aren't near where my PC is. Running windows on my MBP isn't very fast, but when using LR on a Mac, it's way faster. Like, incredibly faster.

sboerup, Thanks for the info on graphics cards. It's really a big help to know that. Someone told me it made a big difference in speed.

Do I understand correctly? Your MBP runs in either Mac or PC Windows and even though the Windows isn't very fast the LR in Windows PC mode on your MBP is a lot faster than it is on a PC with similar processor, ram and bus?

Well of course a better graphics card will help, but the slowdown in Photoshop or LR isn't displaying the image . . . its processing or writing to the HD (LR is intensive on writes as every time you change a setting, its writing to the sidecar file on the HD).

I run windows on my MBP for quickbooks and other things . . . but I run LR inside the Mac OS, which is much faster than my desktop PC. Sorry for the confusion.