Looking for a laptop: Trying to decide on a laptop with enough memory to process RAW images in the field. I have seen a few with up to 8Gb DDR memory and 512Gb SSD but wondering if it...

Paladin48 Loc: Orlando

Trying to decide on a laptop with enough memory to process RAW images in the field. I have seen a few with up to 8Gb DDR memory and 512Gb SSD but wondering if it will be enough storage until I get back to my desktop. Any thoughts?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I do video too. So, I bought a "gamer" from ASUS. It is heavy for a laptop, but I don't use a "desktop" anymore.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Paladin48 wrote:

Trying to decide on a laptop with enough memory to process RAW images in the field. I have seen a few with up to 8Gb DDR memory and 512Gb SSD but wondering if it will be enough storage until I get back to my desktop. Any thoughts?

Assuming the processor is a decent speed I5 or I7, it’s certainly adequate if you intend to do minimal processing and offloading the images and deleting them from SSD when you return. If you intend to do real PP, then 16GB DRAM would be a big help in terms of speed, and you’ll need to make sure you don’t run out of SSD space by moving photos off when you get home. I have a Lenovo laptop with similar specs that I use just for remote photo use, and it’s quite adequate.

krashdragon

I also have an Asus gaming 17" laptop. Great machine.
However... the laptop by itself weighs 10 lbs. because its got a dvd player. Then..power supply, hard drives, mice, cables etc.
Since I basically live in a 6' x 10' box (semi truck with a sleeper,) I got a nice thin HP folding write on the screen folds flat 13" laptop. 4000k screen .
The laptop, power, mouse, 2 external hard drives, dvd players, cables, etc, dont weigh nearly as much as the Asus, but also take up less room. 1 backpack for puter, 1 bag for camera, 1 backpack for knitting and crochet stuff.( Not counting the several large bags of yarn.)
Thumb drives and external hard drives take way less space than several hundred dvd's.
The HP has 1 ssd, I can plug in a hard drive and play in PS with no problem.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Not big enough for my preferences. 16gb min.

spraguead Loc: Boston, MA

get all the RAM you can afford.
For the hard drive, 512gb is fine if you don't keep a lot of photos on your system. I have the 1tb ssd, and I still have to dump off images/graphic files off to external drives yearly.

GGerard

As others have said, storage should not be a problem with numerous options like thumb drives which are very compact (maybe too small!). My concern would be what do you mean by "field"? Power might be more of a concern if you mean away from a car with a power converter to keep everything humming.

Deecee

I have a laptop with 256 gb SSD that is for running the programs only. I use an 1 TB external hard drive to back up all my pictures in the field. I just plugin both the hard drive and the camera into the laptop at the same time. Makes it easy to transfer them to the desktop (twin 3 TB external set up in a mirror RAID configuration) once I get back home.

Works for me...

Paladin48 Loc: Orlando

GGerard wrote:

As others have said, storage should not be a problem with numerous options like thumb drives which are very compact (maybe too small!). My concern would be what do you mean by "field"? Power might be more of a concern if you mean away from a car with a power converter to keep everything humming.

By "Field" I mean not at home on my desktop. Usually a motel, hotel or cabin. Hell even in the car while my wife is driving (Takes my mind off the fact that I'M NOT DRIVING-LOL) For a power source I made a portable battery box that will operate my telescope (for several hours) and POSSIBLY a laptop (considerably LESS time).

Paladin48 Loc: Orlando

Thank you all for all this advice and now I have a "Shopping List" with specifics to look for. ..... sighs ......