nikonlad Loc: Venice, FL

I would like to lower the cost of a new laptop that will be used mainly for Photoshop CC. I was looking at Gaming laptops configured:
Intel i7 quad processor, 16GB DDR4, Nvidia 960M 4GB, 15.6 or 17" screen, 1 TB HD + 256 SSD. cost about $1350 and up.
I was reading about WD's My Cloud for storage using WiFi. No USB wires to connect. Would it be practical to drop the internal Hard Drive from the laptop purchase, and to use the My Cloud for photo storage, music, and documents instead? SSD only for start up and programs? I could perhaps save some $$.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

For what it's worth ...... I just bought a new HP Pavilion laptop with an i5 Intel processor, running windows 10, 12 GB Ram and 1TB of storage for <$500 at Costco and it is plenty quick enough for me (it loads Photoshop in under 3 seconds). This laptop has 2 things that I really need: 1. A disc drive to load programs, music CD's, etc. 2. A card reader slot to read SD cards. I was surprised that this was the only laptop Costco sells with both of these features. Laptop screens are not good for photo editing because the screen angle can change and alter what you see. For proper screen calibration, a separate monitor is a must.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

My personal favorite for laptops is Dell's XPS-15 with Windows 10 non touch screen and 16 Gb of RAM. Runs Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC perfectly.
I have never had good luck with Western Digital's My Books as they were constantly going into power saving sleep mode and were difficult to wake up. I went with Netgear NAS hard wired to my network and access it via WiFi. Whatever you do, make sure the My Book is the dual drive type so there is a constantly updated mirrored drive for backup.

If you save all your files, etc on the network storage you will find yourself away from the WiFi and be unable to access. WD has backup software included with the My Books, and there are a lot of other solutions out there.

hcmcdole

I doubt you would save much money by dropping the internal drive. Disk drives are getting so cheap these days - I just got a WD 4TB My Passport drive for $150 a week ago at Target (USB 3). Put my older 1 TB drive (USB 2) in the drawer for this new larger drive but I have a NAS 3 TB drive and a 2 TB USB 3 drive I still use for backup of all photos.

Also wireless is a bit slower than USB 3 but then "look MA - no wires" might be worth clearing the clutter. I like the USB drive for quicker searching but the wireless does the job too (just slower).

And a 1 TB drive is not large anymore with all the bigger camera resolutions (the reason I went with 4 TB this time).

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You could, but depending on the nature of your WiFi connection, you will likely find the performance is slower than a directly connected internal HD, and what will you do when your network is not available (unless you can set up the My Cloud as an ad hoc network device)?

nikonlad Loc: Venice, FL

All suggestions are helpful. Might as well stick with an internal HD + SSD. I already have (2) 2TB passports for backup, but I don't want to keep them hooked up all the time.

Thanks

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

You might do that and save a few dollars, but not a very significant amount. I have almost that identical configuration on my 1 yr. old laptop I use for travel. I configured it the same as my desktop, other than the desktop having three internal and four external drives. The only potential issue I see is your photos will not be too secure if residing on ONLY the WD Cloud drive. It would be better if they were backed up to a separate destination - cloud - external or both. The 1 TB internal drive on the laptop is not very expensive. If affordable, have both. The WD Cloud can be your backup drive. I realize your post asked if you could save some dollars by eliminating the 1 TB internal and I have circumvented that a bit. A 1 TB internal sata drive is about $50.
Mark

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

You want SOME internal hard drive in your laptop (whether it is a solid state drive or a regular spinning platter) but I have a 500GB drive in my travel laptop running Windows 10 and 4gb of memory and have a 2tb portable usb drive and a 1tb usb drive that I save all of my pictures to. Yes I use 2 usb drives for redundancy. That way if one dies I have the images on the other. This way I can easily upload them into my "really good" computer for processing when I get home. The laptop is a little slow and frustrating for serious processing of pictures but I can upload them and look at them on the larger monitor (rather than the back of the camera) to see what I got. I can also process 5 or 10 that really interest me and wait to do the rest when I get home or work on them when the weather is bad on a trip. I can also use the laptop to upload pictures to my Western Digital Cloud if the hotel / motel I am staying at has wifi in the room. Worst case, I save all the images to the usb external drive and look at what I got then clean off the SD card for more shooting. (Note: I carry 2 64 GB Lexar SD Cards, 6 (4 Sandisk 2 Lexar 32GB SD cards and 4 Sandisk 8GB SD cards and the wife carries 8 compact flash cards 7 4GB and one 2GB on trips) But I try to make sure that I change cards after each shooting trip so that nothing gets lost. I don't

Shaker Loc: New England

I'm in the same place as you are ... about to purchase a laptop for photo and video editing. I've been researching for months ... often only getting more confused. Back in the 90s I had one one the first digital recording studios in my area, and I purchased a near state of art computer for the project ... and within four years my hardware was out-of-date and sluggish. So this time I intend on getting more oomph than is needed. And I am editing video as well as photos. So I am being sure that I have a dedicated graphics card included in the configuration I get.

This is a link to the page that gave me the most information in the clearest and most unbiased form about laptop configuration
http://improvephotography.com/35216/windows-photo-editing-super-guide/

I myself have decided upon an MSI workstation.
Workstations are built more reliably than either consumer or gaming laptops.
The MSI workstations have multiple USB 3 ports (usually about 6) and also 'superports' including Thunderbolt ... a necessity as the files of photos become larger and larger.
Most laptops do not address overheating. And it is easy to destroy your laptop by overheating in intense processing sessions. The MSI brand is noted for its cooling system.

Here is a link to the MSI I'm probably going to get within a few weeks
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1254281-REG/msi_wt72_6qj_200us_i7_6700hq_16gb_128gb_1tb_windows_10_17_3.html

SSD drives are much faster, much lighter and much cooler than spinning disc drives. An SSD is needed these days. At least one. And I feel (though am unsure) that at least a 512G SSD is needed ... especially for 'future-proofing'.

A quad-core of at least intel 5 is needed. I am going to go with 7i.

A minimum of 16GB memory is needed. I would prefer 32G memory. (minimums are often outgrown quickly)

The MSI workstation is a beast. Heavy, durable, not so 'portable' even though it is a laptop.

The drawback is that it starts at about $2000.

The only other laptop that I felt came close to the MSI is the Lenovo ThinkPad workstation. You can pick one up on Amazon for about 2000 that has 32GB DDR4 2133MHz and Hard Drive: 500GB M.2 Solid State Drive + 2TB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive with a generation 7 Intel processor.

I hope this all helps. Of course, I am also editing videos ... so I am needed a little more oomph than photos currently need.

Shaker Loc: New England

PS ... Though I feel I need a laptop ... if you can use a desktop instead, you can get the same level computer for much less money. And there are little mom n pop computer stores in almost every community that will help you configure one just for your needs and then build it for you.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

I purchased a Vaio Z canvas, https://www.amazon.com/VAIO-Canvas-12-3-Laptop-Windows/dp/B015QDEXVW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1470487409&sr=1-3&keywords=vaio+z+canvas about 6 months ago and it is one of the fastest computers I have ever used and it's designed for the artist/photographer specifically. I have the 512 GB model but carry a 2TB WD hard drive with me for backup and ultimately push everything up to other backups at home and in the cloud. I never keep much on the laptop unless I'm working on the photo. Great computer to do PP on with the pen. Like working on a Wacom Cintiq.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I have a ssd internal for system and programs and a 1TB internal for documents etc. and External HHD for Photos

nikonlad Loc: Venice, FL

This looks good but the screen size is 12.3". For me, this is too small when viewing Lightroom full screen.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Is there a laptop that has two internal drives? a regular hard drive and a ssd drive? I'm not aware of one. If there is, I'd buy it.

Shaker Loc: New England

there are many laptops with both ssd and regular hard drive (be sure the HD is 7200 speed)
Take a look at B&H photo ... very reliable company ... and see this link.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/laptops/ci/18818/N/4110474292
.if you scroll down the page you will see options to click on for what you are wishing for in a laptop