Mundj Loc: Richmond TX

You might consider looking at a 13" Mac PowerBook with a Retina display. We have one that I use when we travel, at home it is my wife's PC. We have been very pleased. Our photos are stored on home network hard drives. I moved to Macs 7 years ago after using Windows machines for over 20+ years and have not looked back since.

NoSocks Loc: quonochontaug, rhode island

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If it's a PC, see if you can load it with 32GB Ram. I would probably splurge for a 480-500GB SSD drive. Otherwise, get a 1TB conventional hard drive, spinning at 7200 RPM. The 7200 RPM drives are 1/3 faster than 5400 RPM drives, and not that much more expensive.

You haven't lived until you've used a computer with an SSD drive. It accelerates everything. I'll take a mid-level processor and an SSD over a top-end processor and conventional 5400 RPM hard drive any day. I/O speed is very important for photo rendering, video, and audio. Remember, iPhones and iPads and Android devices have pokey ARM-based processors in them. But they use solid state drives, which help to give them their responsiveness.

When I was at Lifetouch, 2012, I went to their Winter Sales Meeting. Adobe Master Trainer, Julieanne Kost, spoke there, giving a demo of Photoshop and Lightroom. She was using a 2011 MacBook Pro equipped with a 500GB SSD. FULL RESOLUTION 24MP raw images were popping into view in Photoshop in about two seconds. That was the moment I got interested in SSDs.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

www.macsales.com isn't just for Mac users... They sell SSDs, RAM, and drives that work on both platforms. If you have a Mac notebook, their installation videos guide you through installing what they sell.

iFixIt.com is another great do-it-yourself site that has installation guides (Dozuki style, with very clear still photos and instructions). They cover a much broader range of gear, outside of computers and phones, even tackling some camera gear.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

I would check Newegg.com for what's available, been looking myself, had a problem on my travel computer that I seem to have fixed, laptops not necessarily more expensive, one thought though, for editing I like 17" screen, for travel it's too much, did it a couple of times and I bought a travel computer, made a mistake and under bought as I thought it would not be used day to day, Bob.

gmw12 Loc: Indianapolis & Windsor/UK & Montreux/Switzerl

If it's your primary machine for photo processing, other features I'd look for : i7, backlit keyboard, ISP non-glare display, HDMI port, and a graphic card. I did the same search and ended up with a Lenovo ideapad 700 (out of 3 options, the others being Dell inspiron XDS and Asus Zenbook).

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Personally, I'm greedy and I use both desktop and Laptop. I prefer my laptop to be small and light and thus have a 13" MacBook Pro. I prefer my Desktop to be big and powerful and I have a 27" 5k Retina iMac. I hate editing photos on anything but my iMac and, when home, have an impressive array of storage devices. For me, laptops make great sense for certain things and not so much for other things. Yes, SSDs are worth their weight in gold as are 7200 rpm hard drives! YMMV!

rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA

I would consider having a computer built to spec by a company like Cyberpower. You get exactly what you want/need at a decent price.

Shaker Loc: New England

There is a little known company that assembles top notch laptops and desktops. Both from other well-known models and from their own resources. You configure what you want with them and they do it.

I just purchased a laptop from them. 512 SSD prime drive, 1TB SSD second drive, 32RAM, 8G decicated graphics. Everything is up gradable and plenty more room for more internal drives. USB 3 minimum and thunderbolt also. Lots of ports. It is an amazingly well-built sleek 17" machine. You can get whatever system you want (I love system 10), and it comes clean with absolutely no 'bloatware' or come-on ware.

The customer service is like back in the fifties ... meaning that, when you call, you get a person picking up the phone. And the person you speak with knows what they are talking about! The are a company in Delaware. They wont try to sell you something. They will try to find what serves you best and discuss it with you. They set out to make the best and they did.

Great in every way. Take a look.

http://www.eluktronics.com/laptops/

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

If you want a laptop that is small and very portable and also built specifically for the photo/artist market, take a look at the Vaio Canvas. I have one and really like but I don't think I would want it as my only computer. I also have a desktop with 2 24" screens that I do the bulk of my post production and printing from but when I'm away from the big system the Vaio is extremely capable of doing everything the desktop can do.

Newsbob Loc: SF Bay Area

This is an interesting topic for me because I'm looking to replace my trusty 15" Toshiba Satellite laptop with something lighter for travel. All the laptops mentioned so far weigh about 6 pounds or more. I am heavily invested in PC software and don't want to repurchase Photoshop and Lightroom in Mac versions. Otherwise I would buy one of the Macbook Air models. I'm looking for lots of horsepower and so far I've come up empty.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

The Vaio I'm using is the fastest system I have ever used. Plenty of Ram and up to 1Tb of SSD space. It's handled everything I've thrown at it including some 3D rendering and it handles it much better than my Desktop. I use Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Software and a number of Topaz products. I also use SketchUp on it and it handles all of them without a problem.

Newsbob Loc: SF Bay Area

I'm looking at their website and it looks like they only have 13" units. Is that what you have?

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Yes, but the screen is very hi-res and it works with a stylus that makes it a lot more functional.