Silverrails

I need a " Photo Editing Computer" that will accurately Edit my Future RAW Images I am NOT a technical person at my Senior citizen age of 68, and hopefully be assisted by my Grandson. Presently I am using a " Chromebook Laptop, which I have been advised is not a good choice to do Photo Editing of RAW images Thanks in Advance for your experienced recommendation.

Chromodynamics6 Loc: Beverly Hills Ca.

Budget?

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Get a Mac. They cost a little more, but they are worth it.

ELNikkor

Don't get HP, mine (got it last year) crashes 5 times a day...

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

Laptops for photo editing have a problem. The tilt of the screen affects the contrast, hue and saturation of the photo. It is almost impossible to duplicate the same angle every time so the results, looking at the same file, vary. The solution is to use a stand alone monitor for photo editing with a laptop.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I’m 71, not tech savvy, and I love my MacBook Pro. Very straight forward. I switched from a desktop to lap top because of neck issues. When I was doing my research, this was the computer that was mentioned most frequently by my photo friends. Everyone will have their own opinion on this one!

Silverrails

Undetermined at this time, but my main. Concern is getting a correct workable Photo editing Laptop for RAW images.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

One factor to consider is the file size of the RAW images. As an example, RAW files from my camera are much smaller than from, say, a Nikon D850. So, they are easier for the software to manipulate. The larger the RAW file, the more "horsepower" you need to manipulate it. That comes in the form of processor speed, memory capacity, buss speed, graphics card capability, etc.. The more of that that you can afford, the better.

A good starting point is to see what the system requirements are for your photo editing software. Those are usually stated as minimum requirements. So, use that as a starting point. Hope this helps.

chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

You might consider doing some of your own research. Here is a link to help get you started. https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/best-laptops-for-photographers Keep in mind that you may have to spend $1000 plus to get anything worth having for editing photos. Study the specifications of the different recommended laptops for photo editing and you may be able to find a decent refurbished laptop. I’m currently using a mid 2015 fifteen inch retina MacBook Pro 2.5 ghz quad core 16 gigs ram and a dedicated GPU. I purchased refurbished, $1600 it works beautifully and when I print to My Canon Pixma Pro 100 the prints always match the screen. I use Lightroom 6 or DPP4 to print from.

JDG3

I have used both Macs and Windows machines at home and work, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Other than cost, which can be significant, I am not sure there is a clear winner. Macs used to the leader in the creative realm and Windows in the business and technical worlds. But today, there is really not much difference between them in performance.

What is important is to get a system with the fastest processor that you can afford along with lots of RAM, 8GB minimum, 16GB or more is better.

If you are getting a laptop then I would go with a reasonable size solid state hard drive (SSHD) for my internal hard drive. Personally, I would not worry about getting a super large internal hard drive since laptop SSHD's can get a little expensive. External hard drives are very cheap and that is where I store most of my images anyway. I only pull in the images I am working on or viewing.

Other than those factors, fast processor, RAM and internal hard drive, the rest is mostly personal taste such as screen size, keyboard layout, etc. The good news is that either will work and perform well if you get it set up properly, keep everything updated and maintained.

Good luck.

Silverrails

Thanks, Black Friday 👍

berchman Loc: South Central PA

This is what I have and it is perfect for processing large RAW files. I'm not technical and I'm 81 and I don't need a grandson to help me use it.
Dell XPS 15 Laptop
$2,099.99 $1,849.99 (Black Friday reduced)
9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
Windows 10 Home
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5
32GB DDR4-2666MHz, 2x16G
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

I will respectfully disagree with this assertion. I have done all of my editing on a laptop (MacBook Pro) and have had none of the issues mentioned.

dan59019 Loc: Washington Mi

I agree with the screen issues on a laptop but would also add processing power vs $$$. I can see the suggestion of using a laptop with a good editing monitor-to which I'd ask why not a desktop and use the $ saved for an even better monitor. From many UHH users and my own experience desktops retain their photo editing life much longer than laptops.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

You may want to have a decent monitor too. I don’t think lap top screens are all that great. Others may have a better opinion of them.