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Looking to buy PC laptop for photo editing
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Mar 22, 2019 12:59:31   #
Lfyoung59 Loc: Holden,Maine
 
Hi all. I have recently renewed my interest in photography, after a few years away from it. With that being said, I find there have been huge technical advances in the field.
My skill level is basically still a beginner, as I am just scratching at the surface of manual use of my camera.
I recently purchased a Canon t7i and have been getting familiar with it.
So anyway, thinking it's time to purchase a laptop for photo editing.
Don't want to sell the farm, but would like something that I won't outgrow anytime soon.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 😊

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 13:13:16   #
PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago
 
Budget? I am an Apple guy. Switched 3 years ago and never had second thoughts. Consider a Apple MacBook Pro.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801931326-USE/apple_z0ub2ll_a_15_4_macbook_pro_with.html

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 13:26:22   #
Haydon
 
What's your budget?

Reply
 
 
Mar 22, 2019 13:26:54   #
Lfyoung59 Loc: Holden,Maine
 
My budget is $800 ish. Less if possible. Unfortunately I don't use Mac.

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Mar 22, 2019 13:27:16   #
Lfyoung59 Loc: Holden,Maine
 
Thanks for your reply.

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 13:30:49   #
Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room
 
I too, am a Mac guy, but what you can get for $800 will likely be an older model or a refurb (the best deal going!). For photography/editing, there are for me two considerations: memory and screen resolution. You will want the ability to calibrate your display to the proper RGB color space, and you will want enough memory to process photos without having to wait for every operation. I've used 8GB, but I strongly recommend 16GB (or more).

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Mar 22, 2019 13:32:44   #
Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas
 
Lfyoung59 wrote:
My budget is $800 ish. Less if possible. Unfortunately I don't use Mac.


Just ordered two of these - one for me and one for dear wife - HP Pavilion Laptop - 15z. You can customize for FHD display and SSD plus a couple more options -

Currently use HP laptops and have been very pleased with them... An external monitor 24" or 27" is an enjoyable addition also...

Good luck in your search...

Reply
 
 
Mar 22, 2019 13:41:30   #
Lfyoung59 Loc: Holden,Maine
 
Thanks Refurbished might get me more bang for the $.

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Mar 22, 2019 13:51:55   #
Lfyoung59 Loc: Holden,Maine
 
The price for that HP is attractive.
Not real tech savvy, but assuming the processor is more than sufficient for my needs. Just shooting for personal enjoyment and to share. I reside in Maine, so most it is outdoor and wildlife.
Thanks Shellback

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 13:59:50   #
SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA
 
Shellback wrote:
Just ordered two of these - one for me and one for dear wife - HP Pavilion Laptop - 15z. You can customize for FHD display and SSD plus a couple more options -

Currently use HP laptops and have been very pleased with them... An external monitor 24" or 27" is an enjoyable addition also...

Good luck in your search...


I’ve also had great luck with HP laptops and when I’m at home I hook it up to a 27” monitor.

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 14:19:56   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
Lfyoung59 wrote:
Hi all. I have recently renewed my interest in photography, after a few years away from it. With that being said, I find there have been huge technical advances in the field.
My skill level is basically still a beginner, as I am just scratching at the surface of manual use of my camera.
I recently purchased a Canon t7i and have been getting familiar with it.
So anyway, thinking it's time to purchase a laptop for photo editing.
Don't want to sell the farm, but would like something that I won't outgrow anytime soon.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 😊
Hi all. I have recently renewed my interest in pho... (show quote)


This question comes up on a regular basis. And it brings out the Mac fanboys and PC fanboys, each with their individual biases.

So, from a person who supports both platforms -

You can edit images successfully on both.
You can get a Windows laptop with easily and cheaply updated storage and ram. Win laptops offer at a minimum 2 drive options, and some as many as 4 - two NVMe PCIe m.2 slots and 2 SATA drive bays.
Mac generally only offers a single drive, and it's up to you to use external drives to augment the single internal drive.
Windows machines cost less for similar performance, or for the same price point you get more bang for the buck with PCs.
Macs run longer on a battery charge.
Macs are lighter. Unless you add the external drive you'll need for the majority of your images.
Macs have a "Genius Bar" at local Apple stores where you can go when you get yourself into trouble. Not really an option with most laptop vendors, with a couple of exceptions.
Apple's 'high end" graphics solution is better suited for video production, as does their wide gamut DCI-P3 color space on their display systems. This is also available on Windows machines, plus you have the option of using NVidia display cards, some of which support 10 bit displays and Adobe RGB color space, for a better, more industry-standard photo editing experience.

In summary, there are few functional differences, unless you are looking at a "power user" type of laptop. This is where the Windows machine seems to be much stronger than anything from Apple. If you are ok with spending more money for ok performance, and you don't mind paying for their marketing hype, Macs are quite serviceable. If you want more options, custom configurations tailored for your specific use, then look at having a custom Windows laptop configured for you. It will cost you less..

Here is a comparison for a middle of the road MacBook Pro and a similar performing Windows machines with some differences noted. Windows all storage inside, faster cpu with more cores, faster gpu with more vram. It's hard to compare run time, because Apple uses watching movies and websurfing as metrics, not gaming or heavy duty cpu/gpu/disk access processing which you are more likely to see using photo editing programs. Faster cpus and gpus are available, plus you can add two more internal drives for the Win machine. I wish I could say more about the Mac, but Apple keeps things simple by limiting options and selecting those options based on pretty sophisticated marketing studies of how people use/intend to use their machines. With Windows, there are a myriad of configuration options, which makes it hard to decide, but there is no way to ignore, in this case, the $1100 price difference for two more-or-less equivalent machines. Yes, the Mac has more resolution, but along with higher resolution you need to consider that text prompts are smaller and harder to see, and honestly, I have used up to 5K machines and find that editing is not really any better than a good, solid HD display (1920x1200 or 1920x1080). If you want, in either case, you can get an external display - which I would recommend in either case anyway. I find editing on a small laptop display a bit challenging. Also, the Windows machines are available in 17" sizes.

15" MacBook Pro
2880x1800 res LED Backlit IPS display
2.6 gHz 6 core i7 cpu
1 TB SSD main internal storage (you can order it with up to a 4 TB SSD, but you can't change it yourself
32 gb ram
Radeon Pro 560X 4gb GDDR5 standard, you can order it with up to a Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4 gb HBM2 vram.
4 USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Seagate Fast SSD 2 TB external USB-C
Up to 10 hours run time (web surfing, movie playback)
Mac OS

Total price as configured - $3950.00

Comparably configure Windows Laptop

15.3" Sager NP9156
1920x1080 display, wide angle of view
Nvidia RTX2060 with 6 gb GDDR6 vram
9th Gen i7-9700K cpu 3.60-4.90 gHz - 8 core
32 gb DDR4 ram (2x16) user expandable to 64 gb
1 tb m.2 NVMe, PCIe drive
2 tb SATA III SSD
3 hr battery life.
Windows 10
Lifetime phone/email support, 1 yr parts included, other support options available.

Price as configured - $2841.00

https://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9176-clevo-p775tm1-g-12415.html?startcustomization=1

I've been using and recommending Sager notebooks for the past 6 yrs and so far no hiccups. This vendor also offers, HP, Alienware, MSI, ASUS and possibly other high end laptops.

If you are on a budget, you may want to spend some time looking at the options at Xoticpc.com, or Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club - if you want a current machine. With your $800 budget I would advise against buying a 7 or 8 yr old certified Mac laptop - they have small, slow hard drives, generally not really enough memory or vram for photo editing, and very little storage that you will run out of pretty quickly.

Reply
 
 
Mar 22, 2019 15:49:56   #
Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas
 
Gene51 wrote:
This question comes up on a regular basis. And it brings out the Mac fanboys and PC fanboys, each with their individual biases.

So, from a person who supports both platforms -

... spend some time looking at the options at Xoticpc.com, or Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club - ...


Just a note on Costco - Best refund policy I have seen - if you're dissatisfied for any reason - bring it back...
We picked up a couple of systems from them when my daughter took us shopping there - on computers, they have a 2yr service package vs 1 year from mfg - Their refund policy is pretty much a "no questions asked" return - good for 90 days on computers. Turns out one of the systems was bad - stuff happens... anyway, took it back - they verified the serial numbers and offered a full refund or immediate swap - I was very impressed with their policy and service.

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 15:52:18   #
Haydon
 
Gene51 wrote:
This question comes up on a regular basis. And it brings out the Mac fanboys and PC fanboys, each with their individual biases.

So, from a person who supports both platforms -

You can edit images successfully on both.
You can get a Windows laptop with easily and cheaply updated storage and ram. Win laptops offer at a minimum 2 drive options, and some as many as 4 - two NVMe PCIe m.2 slots and 2 SATA drive bays.
Mac generally only offers a single drive, and it's up to you to use external drives to augment the single internal drive.
Windows machines cost less for similar performance, or for the same price point you get more bang for the buck with PCs.
Macs run longer on a battery charge.
Macs are lighter. Unless you add the external drive you'll need for the majority of your images.
Macs have a "Genius Bar" at local Apple stores where you can go when you get yourself into trouble. Not really an option with most laptop vendors, with a couple of exceptions.
Apple's 'high end" graphics solution is better suited for video production, as does their wide gamut DCI-P3 color space on their display systems. This is also available on Windows machines, plus you have the option of using NVidia display cards, some of which support 10 bit displays and Adobe RGB color space, for a better, more industry-standard photo editing experience.

In summary, there are few functional differences, unless you are looking at a "power user" type of laptop. This is where the Windows machine seems to be much stronger than anything from Apple. If you are ok with spending more money for ok performance, and you don't mind paying for their marketing hype, Macs are quite serviceable. If you want more options, custom configurations tailored for your specific use, then look at having a custom Windows laptop configured for you. It will cost you less..

Here is a comparison for a middle of the road MacBook Pro and a similar performing Windows machines with some differences noted. Windows all storage inside, faster cpu with more cores, faster gpu with more vram. It's hard to compare run time, because Apple uses watching movies and websurfing as metrics, not gaming or heavy duty cpu/gpu/disk access processing which you are more likely to see using photo editing programs. Faster cpus and gpus are available, plus you can add two more internal drives for the Win machine. I wish I could say more about the Mac, but Apple keeps things simple by limiting options and selecting those options based on pretty sophisticated marketing studies of how people use/intend to use their machines. With Windows, there are a myriad of configuration options, which makes it hard to decide, but there is no way to ignore, in this case, the $1100 price difference for two more-or-less equivalent machines. Yes, the Mac has more resolution, but along with higher resolution you need to consider that text prompts are smaller and harder to see, and honestly, I have used up to 5K machines and find that editing is not really any better than a good, solid HD display (1920x1200 or 1920x1080). If you want, in either case, you can get an external display - which I would recommend in either case anyway. I find editing on a small laptop display a bit challenging. Also, the Windows machines are available in 17" sizes.

15" MacBook Pro
2880x1800 res LED Backlit IPS display
2.6 gHz 6 core i7 cpu
1 TB SSD main internal storage (you can order it with up to a 4 TB SSD, but you can't change it yourself
32 gb ram
Radeon Pro 560X 4gb GDDR5 standard, you can order it with up to a Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4 gb HBM2 vram.
4 USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Seagate Fast SSD 2 TB external USB-C
Up to 10 hours run time (web surfing, movie playback)
Mac OS

Total price as configured - $3950.00

Comparably configure Windows Laptop

15.3" Sager NP9156
1920x1080 display, wide angle of view
Nvidia RTX2060 with 6 gb GDDR6 vram
9th Gen i7-9700K cpu 3.60-4.90 gHz - 8 core
32 gb DDR4 ram (2x16) user expandable to 64 gb
1 tb m.2 NVMe, PCIe drive
2 tb SATA III SSD
3 hr battery life.
Windows 10
Lifetime phone/email support, 1 yr parts included, other support options available.

Price as configured - $2841.00

https://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9176-clevo-p775tm1-g-12415.html?startcustomization=1

I've been using and recommending Sager notebooks for the past 6 yrs and so far no hiccups. This vendor also offers, HP, Alienware, MSI, ASUS and possibly other high end laptops.

If you are on a budget, you may want to spend some time looking at the options at Xoticpc.com, or Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club - if you want a current machine. With your $800 budget I would advise against buying a 7 or 8 yr old certified Mac laptop - they have small, slow hard drives, generally not really enough memory or vram for photo editing, and very little storage that you will run out of pretty quickly.
This question comes up on a regular basis. And it ... (show quote)


Great explanation Gene. Your impartial and objective points make this unarguable.

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 16:03:38   #
photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA
 
Whenever I need a new laptop for photo editing, I go to the LOCAL (not big box) computer store in my area. I tell them what I need; they ask some pertinent questions; they will then suggest a number of laptops that will fit my need and will be within my budget. The store I frequent (Kaplan Computers, Manchester CT) has a knowledgeable staff that puts the customer first.

Reply
Mar 22, 2019 16:25:48   #
Lfyoung59 Loc: Holden,Maine
 
Gene51 wrote:
This question comes up on a regular basis. And it brings out the Mac fanboys and PC fanboys, each with their individual biases.

So, from a person who supports both platforms -

You can edit images successfully on both.
You can get a Windows laptop with easily and cheaply updated storage and ram. Win laptops offer at a minimum 2 drive options, and some as many as 4 - two NVMe PCIe m.2 slots and 2 SATA drive bays.
Mac generally only offers a single drive, and it's up to you to use external drives to augment the single internal drive.
Windows machines cost less for similar performance, or for the same price point you get more bang for the buck with PCs.
Macs run longer on a battery charge.
Macs are lighter. Unless you add the external drive you'll need for the majority of your images.
Macs have a "Genius Bar" at local Apple stores where you can go when you get yourself into trouble. Not really an option with most laptop vendors, with a couple of exceptions.
Apple's 'high end" graphics solution is better suited for video production, as does their wide gamut DCI-P3 color space on their display systems. This is also available on Windows machines, plus you have the option of using NVidia display cards, some of which support 10 bit displays and Adobe RGB color space, for a better, more industry-standard photo editing experience.

In summary, there are few functional differences, unless you are looking at a "power user" type of laptop. This is where the Windows machine seems to be much stronger than anything from Apple. If you are ok with spending more money for ok performance, and you don't mind paying for their marketing hype, Macs are quite serviceable. If you want more options, custom configurations tailored for your specific use, then look at having a custom Windows laptop configured for you. It will cost you less..

Here is a comparison for a middle of the road MacBook Pro and a similar performing Windows machines with some differences noted. Windows all storage inside, faster cpu with more cores, faster gpu with more vram. It's hard to compare run time, because Apple uses watching movies and websurfing as metrics, not gaming or heavy duty cpu/gpu/disk access processing which you are more likely to see using photo editing programs. Faster cpus and gpus are available, plus you can add two more internal drives for the Win machine. I wish I could say more about the Mac, but Apple keeps things simple by limiting options and selecting those options based on pretty sophisticated marketing studies of how people use/intend to use their machines. With Windows, there are a myriad of configuration options, which makes it hard to decide, but there is no way to ignore, in this case, the $1100 price difference for two more-or-less equivalent machines. Yes, the Mac has more resolution, but along with higher resolution you need to consider that text prompts are smaller and harder to see, and honestly, I have used up to 5K machines and find that editing is not really any better than a good, solid HD display (1920x1200 or 1920x1080). If you want, in either case, you can get an external display - which I would recommend in either case anyway. I find editing on a small laptop display a bit challenging. Also, the Windows machines are available in 17" sizes.

15" MacBook Pro
2880x1800 res LED Backlit IPS display
2.6 gHz 6 core i7 cpu
1 TB SSD main internal storage (you can order it with up to a 4 TB SSD, but you can't change it yourself
32 gb ram
Radeon Pro 560X 4gb GDDR5 standard, you can order it with up to a Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4 gb HBM2 vram.
4 USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Seagate Fast SSD 2 TB external USB-C
Up to 10 hours run time (web surfing, movie playback)
Mac OS

Total price as configured - $3950.00

Comparably configure Windows Laptop

15.3" Sager NP9156
1920x1080 display, wide angle of view
Nvidia RTX2060 with 6 gb GDDR6 vram
9th Gen i7-9700K cpu 3.60-4.90 gHz - 8 core
32 gb DDR4 ram (2x16) user expandable to 64 gb
1 tb m.2 NVMe, PCIe drive
2 tb SATA III SSD
3 hr battery life.
Windows 10
Lifetime phone/email support, 1 yr parts included, other support options available.

Price as configured - $2841.00

https://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9176-clevo-p775tm1-g-12415.html?startcustomization=1

I've been using and recommending Sager notebooks for the past 6 yrs and so far no hiccups. This vendor also offers, HP, Alienware, MSI, ASUS and possibly other high end laptops.

If you are on a budget, you may want to spend some time looking at the options at Xoticpc.com, or Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club - if you want a current machine. With your $800 budget I would advise against buying a 7 or 8 yr old certified Mac laptop - they have small, slow hard drives, generally not really enough memory or vram for photo editing, and very little storage that you will run out of pretty quickly.
This question comes up on a regular basis. And it ... (show quote)


Great info Gene. Thanks

Reply
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