Photo editing programs and laptops: I need help in deciding on a new laptop or getting a photo editing program for my current laptop. I just use the windows 10 editing now. But it...

GmaPam

I need help in deciding on a new laptop or getting a photo editing program for my current laptop. I just use the windows 10 editing now. But it keeps kicking me out after 2-3 photos edited. My computer guy told me I should probably have a Mac Air just for doing photos on. But I'm not sure if he was just trying to get me to buy on or not. Any ideas??

Joexx

Both platforms will work fine. It's not clear if your computer guy was just trying to sell you something, or he doesn't understand computers . You could get a PC or Mac platform that would work just fine . The important factor is to make sure you have a fast enough processor and enough memory. At least 8Gb. You need to be more specific about what the current problem is.. Your hardware ? RAM? What software are you using? The included software with windows 10 isn't the best for photo editing, but it should work. What do you mean by " kicking you out"? Crash? Or out of resources?

PaulR01 Loc: West Texas

Check out ASUS Gaming Computers the K501UX series. I found a re-manufactured one recently for 600$ and a years warranty.
250 gig SSD Hard drive for the operating system
1 TB Standard Hard drive for the data
8G Memory
Gaming Graphics card
Intel 7 Chip
Lithium batteries 6 hours of battery doing Photoshop and batching
And the screen is the best that I have seen on a lap top matching prints

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

If your laptop isn't really old and has enough memory to handle PP and store your photos, maybe you just need a better PP than Windows allows. I'd suggest PSE, and try it first with their 30 day trial program. I used to use Windows Live and switched to PSE 10 and now run 14; the learning curve isn't too steep when you have some pp experience.

I found that a bigger monitor than that available on most laptops was a big help: I'm using a Samsung 27" that is a couple of years old and wouldn't go back to the laptop screen, being larger it is much easier to see problems that need fixing.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

GmaPam wrote:

I need help in deciding on a new laptop or getting a photo editing program for my current laptop. I just use the windows 10 editing now. But it keeps kicking me out after 2-3 photos edited. My computer guy told me I should probably have a Mac Air just for doing photos on. But I'm not sure if he was just trying to get me to buy on or not. Any ideas??

In my opinion, the Mac is a great laptop for editing photos, but I prefer windows based computers. It is all a personal choice. Check HP and Dell websites for gaming computers. They have a faster processor than regular computers, although if price is a major consideration, a standard computer will work fine. Do not let them sell you less than a 500gb hard drive or you will run out of space quickly. On a laptop, store all of your photos on an external drive to save space on your laptop. HP and Dell will allow you to customize your system, Mac not so much. I prefer HP, but that will be your choice, not mine.

GmaPam

Thank you for your advice. I am very new to all this.

GmaPam

Thank you for the advice. I am very new to this.

GmaPam

Thank you for the advice. I am very new to this.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

GmaPam wrote:

Thank you for your advice. I am very new to all this.

Your "IT Guy" is falling onto traditional responses. Macs were always better at "the creative stuff." Look, if you can afford a Mac Book, go for it, but load it up with as much RAM and storage as you can realistically afford.

Personally, I'd look at a Dell XPS15 with 16 Gm ram and a multi terrabyte HD. Then, start with the 30 day eval of the Adobe Creative Suite to see if $9/month is worth it.

GmaPam

Thank you for the advice.

digitalexplr Loc: Central Missouri

You are going to want at least a 15" monitor, a 17" will make photo editing even better. As I say that, I do a lot of my editing on my iPad Pro 9.7! But trying to do things on my 14" laptop is very difficult. On the 17" it is a piece of cake.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

digitalexplr wrote:

You are going to want at least a 15" monitor, a 17" will make photo editing even better. As I say that, I do a lot of my editing on my iPad Pro 9.7! But trying to do things on my 14" laptop is very difficult. On the 17" it is a piece of cake.

I agree that the 15" monitor is better than the more or less "standard" 14" on most laptops and the 15" is better yet. I was using a nice 19" monitor and I wouldn't have words to describe how much better you can see the photo on a 27"! If I were in GmaPam's situation, I'd get a laptop with the memory and RAM that has been described, or something approaching those specs (remember the respondent isn't spending his money), and with the money saved on the computer, I'd purchase an even larger monitor. Most HDTV's will do the job extremely well and in the +/- 27" range are considerable less expensive than "monitors" especially in the Big Box stores. Does it really matter that it may be last year's model for Post Processing? I'd suggest a "dumb" vs. "Smart" HDTV is all she needs. She is looking at a still photo, not playing video games or watching movies.

GmaPam

Thank you

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

As a computer professional, I can tell you with absolute certainty that you need to think software first. You need to decide which software you will use to edit photographs and then select a computer that will comfortably accommodate that software

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

GmaPam wrote:

I need help in deciding on a new laptop or getting a photo editing program for my current laptop. I just use the windows 10 editing now. But it keeps kicking me out after 2-3 photos edited. My computer guy told me I should probably have a Mac Air just for doing photos on. But I'm not sure if he was just trying to get me to buy on or not. Any ideas??

Can you tell us the specifications or maybe a model number of your current computer?

If you are considering a new computer what might your budget be?

Several folks have mentioned screen size - To me a more important factor is getting an IPS display which will render more accurate colors. I have a larger external IPS display for the times I want more screen space.

Someone mentioned a minimum 500 gig hard drive - I mostly agree with this but I work with a 250 gig drive and generally don't run low on space. More important to me is that the system drive is a Solid State Drive (SSD) to maximize speed.

My daily use editing computer is a Mac Book Pro 15" and though I like the stability it provides there are great Windows based computers that are great. Check out the Sager models at Xoticpc.com (http://www.xoticpc.com) - excellent price for the performance you get and for around $1,300 you can get a nice machine with 15" IPS display, a 500 gig SSD, a 1 terabyte mechanical drive and 16 gigs of RAM.