BIGRO Loc: NYC

Hello all, it's probably been asked a million times but I would like your help in selecting a laptop to process my pictures. Learning how to use photoshop then lightroom. Currently looking at Hp Omen with GeForce 1050 and Lenovo 720, both similar specs. Also is 8 GB memory good or 16 to run this program. Much obliged

TJBNovember Loc: Long Island, New York

The recommendation I got was to look at MSI Gaming Laptops. 8GB good 16Gb better. 1TB hard drive seems to be the latest conscientious. Just going with what I've seen of late.

BIGRO Loc: NYC

Thanks Thomas

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

I use a Mac, but have Lenovo at work. I recently bought a new computer specifically to have more RAM (16GB). The terabyte SSD (NOT HDD) drive was an added bonus.

That said, I previously used a 2012 Macbook Air that had 8GB RAM and a 500GB SSD and had no problems editing photos using Lightroom, Photoshop, and many other programs.

My belief is that you cannot be too rich, too thin, or have too much RAM.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Go for broke and do what I do... A laptop that runs circles around the regular PC, weight a tons and is replaced every 8 years.

32GB RAM, 2 video card, 8M.2 drives, one SSD drive and a HD/DVD internal drive and 18"screen with loads of ports including two HDMI for external monitors. PS CC flies on it.

Just make sure you have someone to lift it if you are old. That sucker is just about ten pounds. Aluminum case too.

Now if you are more reasonable I purchased a decent laptop for my wife in December for less than 1K.

BIGRO Loc: NYC

Apple is too rich for me right now, hear too many issues with Dell, never really had issues with Hp, know the Lenovo is solid build, budget is 1k

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Best specs for Photoshop are:

Quad core CPU with hyperthreading
32 gb ram,with room for another 32gb (more memory means less paging to disk, and way faster performance)
NVMe m.2 System drive, 512 or larger
SATA III SSD, 2 TB for primary data storage
USB-C
NVidia Quadro Graphics card (with enough memory to display your images on your monitor(s) - if using just one display, or the laptop display, 2 gb is more than adequate)

For Lightroom:
6 or 8 core CPU
16 gb ram
Same system drive, storage drive, USB and even a more modest graphics card since you are only editing xmp or preview files.

Mild overclocking with an unlocked cpu will move things along a little faster.

Most of the MSI workstation/gaming laptops in this link will meet or exceed your "best" spec

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118-96-98.html#!/graphicscard=81-186&no_cache=true&p=clear

Trying to get by with only 8 gb ram is only fruitful if you a) have a very limited budget, and b) have lots of time on your hands. Lr will just mosey along with 8 gb, but Photoshop will not perform certain tasks that are memory intensive, like content aware scale/fill/move, and will crash when you try to use too many layers.

The Quadro graphics cards will allow you to display 30 bit color if you have a monitor that is capable. I use a pair of Dell 2413 displays which are 30 bit capable because of their 12 bit LUT. A true 30 bit display would cost 2x as much or more.

BebuLamar

How long would the battery last? Because if you have to tie up to an outlet. Have someone to carry it then why a laptop instead of a desktop workstation?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Unless you're processing thousands of images on a deadline, you don't have to take out a mortgage for a new laptop. Core i5 and 16GB of memory will be fine. An SSD will be faster but more expensive. An internal drive of 1TB is a good size.

The HP Omen looks good for the price. From what I've seen online, it looks like it will handle 16GB, so you can buy and add to the stock memory - or you may have to buy 16GB and replace the 8.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

There is a thought that more RAM makes processing quicker, however you may get to the point of not actually seeing any delay. Mine has 4gb and works without any stuttering....perhaps because I'm a bit slow at typing.The size of the hard drive may allow you to keep millions of files,However most people back up their data onto a USB drive....so why have a 'big' one? Games have always been the driving force behind computer speed and Graphics cards. You can use PSE and LR with on board graphics unless you are hooked up to a massive tv.
Computers are 'boys toys'. They have to be bigger and better ....bit like camera's really.

If you look on the adobe website it will tell you the MINIMUM specification for their programmes. As will others. It really is quite low spec.

For those that use lots of images stacked together or huge numbers of images in panoramas you may get a bit of a wait,but for your everyday edit and print it will work as fast as you want.

have fun

Techrod

My recommended spec: 16GB RAM, SSD (possibly the most important for speed of loading previews) rather than HDD, good video card with 2GB VRAM and decent-sized monitor (14-15") with good resolution (so you can see your photos whilst editing). This means a higher-end laptop from whatever your favourite brand. Save money by not getting the highest speced CPU.

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

My next laptop will have 4K resolution. I can't think of anything that is more important, when dealing with your photos?

BebuLamar

High resolution is nice but color accuracy is much more important when dealing with photos.

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

You bet. That's why my monitor is calibrated.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

The move to SSD from HDD on my desktop has made a vastly superior difference in speed vs going from 8Gb to 16Gb RAM. Of course the more RAM one can afford, the better (especially if one is interested in video editing at all.). Your mileage may vary.