Best Laptop for editing...? (Page 2): I've used nothing but laptops since 2003 when I moved into a motorhome for a couple of years. Because they are laptops, they get a little more...

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I've used nothing but laptops since 2003 when I moved into a motorhome for a couple of years. Because they are laptops, they get a little more accidental abuse than desktops. Consequently I have to replace them every few years. When it is time, I use Costco and look at the laptops in the $1000 to $1200 range. My current laptop is a Lenevo with an i7, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an Nvidia GPU. It works well for everything Adobe offers, including 4K video editing.

Why Costco? They have a 90 day, no questions satisfaction guarantee. There is no risk!

Screens on laptops may be hard to calibrate, but I've never had trouble getting prints I like. That said, most of my shared images now get viewed on screens of some sort anyway. In other words, the "tough to calibrate" issue has faded.

The current Costco offering in my category is a 16" LG. https://www.costco.com/lg-gram-pro-16%22-intel-evo-platform-laptop---13th-gen-intel-core-i7-1360p---geforce-rtx-3050---2560-x-1600---windows-11.product.4000153243.html

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

No best answer for the "best laptop" question. Buy what your budget allows, and focus on getting the most RAM and CPU for the dollar.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Bolthead wrote:

Hey all, long time, no see.
I wanna pick your brains here. I'm currently using a desktop pc and want to switch to a laptop. What is the best LT to buy for specifically Photoshop and Lightroom editing? Thanks all in advance.

Best or most expensive. For the past 5 years I have used a Lenovo ideapad 330S that cost me $400.00. It works great with Photoshop and Topaz photo AI.
You don't need expensive, most laptop's under a grand will work just great.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

billnikon wrote:

Best or most expensive. For the past 5 years I have used a Lenovo ideapad 330S that cost me $400.00. It works great with Photoshop and Topaz photo AI.
You don't need expensive, most laptop's under a grand will work just great.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

That's why my OTS HP laptop works great for me.
As well as my OTS HP desktop.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Bolthead wrote:

Hey all, long time, no see.
I wanna pick your brains here. I'm currently using a desktop pc and want to switch to a laptop. What is the best LT to buy for specifically Photoshop and Lightroom editing? Thanks all in advance.

Budget has a lot to do with recommendations.

Choice of operating system affects price somewhat, but not as much as some think.

If Mac, configuration should be at least 16GB memory and 1TB storage. On the Mac, all main memory is shared with all processor cores, as there is no separate graphics processor. You can get a decent Mac laptop for $1400 if you buy refurbished. I'm running Photoshop and Lightroom Classic on an M1 MacBook Air from 2020 and have NO complaints. It's fine for my use.

If I were running a business, I'd at least double and maybe triple that cost, and go for a MacBook Pro 16" with as much horsepower as I could afford. The new MacBook Pro 16" with an M3 Max chip is awesome because it can breathe (the 16" doesn't slow down to avoid overheating, but the 14" does).

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

burkphoto wrote:

Budget has a lot to do with recommendations.
...
...

And people have no idea of other's budget.....
They just recommend the most super "best" things that THEY would get.......
They have no problem spending other people's money.

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia

Bolthead wrote:

Hey all, long time, no see.
I wanna pick your brains here. I'm currently using a desktop pc and want to switch to a laptop. What is the best LT to buy for specifically Photoshop and Lightroom editing? Thanks all in advance.

Agree with comments on upgraded graphics (not the motherboard/CPU provided graphics). My experience, w/Dell XPS17, was that, I had ad on graphics… but… it did not arrive with that graphics being used. It takes some tweaking of Windows settings to do so.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Here is another one with 32 GB RAM, 1TB of SSD and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. And it is a Dell.

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000159954.html?EMID=B2C_2023_1206_Holiday_Deals&correlationId=2ce9bedf-c530-4e9a-bf56-b15f77477b7c-0

williejoha

Well, my Dell XPS 17 performs like a charm. You just need to pick the right graphics card when you put the option together before you buy.
WJH

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

williejoha wrote:

Well, my Dell XPS 17 performs like a charm. You just need to pick the right graphics card when you put the option together before you buy.
WJH

"You" do,
I don't...

neillaubenthal

If you want windows…can’t help. Of you’re a Mac guy…bet a MacBook Pro and a monitor…

MJPerini

Good advice from photoman43
I would only add, that you mention nothing about what kind of Photo work you use it for. Because for just basic still photo work, nearly any modern well spec'd laptop will be up to the task.
But one of the other questions today is "My computer stalls out when I try to stitch 15 images together."
What you want to do determines what machine you need.
Another thing to look at is that not all software works the same way some are more reliant on clock speed and cores, while others are more reliant on Graphics capability, (doubly true for external display capability) They all need RAM. 16 is the bare minimum and 32 is safer.
If you want to look at Macs the newest M3 MBP is a screamer with a very good display.

Saycheeze Loc: Ct

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1761584-REG/hp_804m4ua_aba_zbook_studio_g9_mobile.html

Possibly a good deal

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Also, check out the Dell refurbs…. there’s some pretty enticing laptop deals going on right now. Expire on the 11th, I think.

Bruce T Loc: Michigan

Hi. I had the problem of my old laptop being…old. The laptop was not able to handle PS or Luminar NEO.
I purchased a HP Victus from Costco.
It is amazing…lots better graphic card,32GB of ram and 1TB SSD.