gouldopfl

It really depends on everything you want to do and the age. I gave my Dell to my wife since hers died and I got a great deal because it was right after AMD started shipping their new 5000 series chips.

I bought a AMD Ryzen 9 4900H 8 core, 16 thread (top of the line, 64 gigs ram, 1 TB Nv.me2 SSD, 17" screen and a RTX 2060 with 6 gb.

The laptop screen isn't quite as bright as my Dell, but since it is attached to my LG 34 wide monitor it wasn't a show stopper. This for 1650.00.
AMD owns the laptop market and that won't change in the next 3-5 years.

I looked at a Mac, however Apple continues to use commodity parts and charge way to much for their computers.

I do a lot of multi-tasking and AMD is superior in multiprocessor use.

I was running the top of the line 2017 Intel with 32 gb ram and a Samsung 870 pro drive. I am a programmer also and to do a complete compile of our software took 46 minutes using my Dell and now takes 32 minutes. A huge win.

Gallimaufry Loc: Denver, CO

boca, in addition to the other advice above, I suggest you go on YouTube and do a search for "Just Josh" (without the quotes). He does good and objective reviews of laptops. In my opinion.

Also, because B & H sells both cameras and computers, you might call and ask for their advice.

Dan S Loc: Adair Village, Oregon

That's how I have mine set up. Then if I want/need I can unhook a few cords throw it in my case and take my main computer with me.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes, but I want a portable setup. Our son has an M1 MacBook Air. It is amazing.

The M1 Mini can drive two monitors. The M1 MacBooks support one external, unless you use DisplayPort adapters.

Of the three M1 Macs, the Mini is the fastest for sustained loads, due to its large fan. The Air throttles down a little when it gets hot. The Pro and Mini don’t.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The M1 is not a commodity part. Check out the hundreds of tech reviews for a consensus on what it does for developers.

morkie1891

Thanks. I have a MacBook Pro that has always stayed on my desk. I already have the monitor and keyboard and the mini is very attractive. Thanks again.

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

If the only thing wrong with your current laptop is screen size, it would be cheaper to get a decent photo-editing screen - for under $500, typically.

repleo Loc: Boston

B&H have a group of photo savvy computer experts who can advise you on the best laptops for your needs and within your budget from basic up to high performance. Talk to them by phone, email or live chat.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/experts-profiles.jsp/Computers/-/ci/9581

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Get a 21 inch external monitor for $100. Two screens awesome for photo work.

And if you really want to supercharge things get an SSD to replace hard drive. You’ll be amazed.

gouldopfl

They are the first major player to move to ARM processors, however AMD is spend 30 billion to purchase a company that already builds ARM based processors for other parts with the future being to move to ARM processors as within 5 years they will have maxed out the capability of x86 silicone.

Apple uses off the self memory and ssd, Nv.me2 drives. The price vs performance isn't even close and with video cards and GPS being where they are, Apple has no advantage. Apple uses premium monitors and screens but those are also available in the PC world at premium prices.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Please read or watch some M1 Mac reviews. The Apple Silicon for Mac (the first of which is the M1 system on a chip) is a totally new (to the PC world) and different architecture that will be very difficult to duplicate, because Apple controls the "full stack" of hardware and operating system (and in some cases, software) now.

The M1 is the first Mac SOC, but the tenth generation of Apple SOCs. It portends very good things to come. If Microsoft, AMD, and Intel can decide on a standard and work in lock step together, maybe they can duplicate what Apple has done — in a few years.

One huge benefit of the M1 is the reduction in power usage (about one third the usage of comparable Intel chips for similar or better performance), combined with the use of many proprietary hardware encoders and decoders for video and graphics. When they add more performance cores and more graphics cores and more RAM to the SOC, speed will scale accordingly.

JBRIII

Some gaming laptops do have Nivida Gforce graphics cards. Check amazon.