sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The Mac would be a good choice. Unfortunately, there are many Apple laptops, so you still have choices to make. Depending on how much you're willing to spend, get a large SSD, lots of memory, and a fast processor. Some new Macs don't let you add memory, so load up on it now.

Apple offers something called One-on-One, or something like that. It costs $100 and gives you extra benefits, but you must buy it when you buy the computer. You cannot turn around when you reach the door and go back and buy it.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

You have to check about one to one. It's being changed. You can't renew one to one after this weekend.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

There is a new Microsoft Surface being introduced on October 6th. Will be within your budget and the addition of the stylus might be a positive when working with Photoshop. I'm waiting to see the specs on the new model especially if they go to the newer Intel processor which will allow the machine to run a lot cooler. They are also talking about going to a 14+ inch display which brings it into a usable range screen size and I can still stuff it into my photo bag or backpack.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Is your laptop going to be your main computer or are you using it for travel. My answer will depend on the answer

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

You might want to check this site out. I am an x tech and purchased a lot of laptops for my clients over the years and found that the Toshibas held up the best overall and some of my clients really used them hard on the road and on job sites. Although I'm waiting to see what Microsoft is doing with the Surface here is my first choice without the Surface in play. http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/Radius15/P50W-CBT2N22
These are customizable to your needs and will still stay well within your budget including a 4K screen capability. It would be nice to have a 1Tb SSD drive on the thing but I feel that it is overkill as I have all the space I need on the cloud and can push all my shots during the day up to the cloud in the evening and retrieve them later to upload to my backup drives. Haven't lost a picture yet.
I've worked on both apples and PC for years but I just feel that Apple tends to back you into a corner with to much built in obsolesce, more so than you will find on a PC of similar quality. Apples are great computers don't get me wrong, over the years I have just found that my Toshibas have held up a lot better and stay in service longer.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

A Windows choice.....

Reliable dealer, in budget at $2100, i7 CPU, great screen, SSD, fast HDD, fast ports, 24GB RAM, etc.

ASUS Republic of Gamers G751JY-DB72 17.3"

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1141175-REG/asus_republic_of_gamers_g751jy_db72.html

blackest Loc: Ireland

"I've worked on both apples and PC for years but I just feel that Apple tends to back you into a corner with to much built in obsolesce, more so than you will find on a PC of similar quality."

really can you explain how this is so? Pretty much with laptops once you have bought them you have what you have with usually the only things you can change internally being Ram hard drive, and sometimes optical drive *(possibly a second hard drive). That's pretty much true of any laptop. With Apple thier laptops are compatible with the latest software and version of OSX from 2009 onwards, prior to that the limitations of 32 bit hardware has held them back.

Truth is modern laptops are very similar PC or Mac hardware wise.

The biggest difference I find between PC & Macs are a difference in attitude to the user. Open the mac lid and its ready to do what you want, they sleep properly all the time.

With PC's you seem to be repairing , and upgrading and being nagged to register or upgrade your trialware which was preinstalled on your new laptop when you bought it...

MAcs don't nag period, they don't need to scan your hard drive update its av definitions ect. This helps to ensure a better user experience because you are using the mac to do what you want.

If that doesn't bother you then a Windows laptop maybe good enough. Other than that most programs are available for both platforms, Macs can also run Windows as a second operating system and apple provide drivers to ensure the windows experience is as good as it can be on a laptop of that specification.

Maybe I am a little jaded as my work tends to be fixing problems with windows machines, I guess its like being on the police force, you tend to see criminals all over because thats the section of society you deal with all the time.

I have a few different computers here at home, both windows , linux and mac and well ... I'm typing this on my old macbook 8 year old and still working as new.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I'd go with a Desk Top, Windows 7 or Mac. I find LapTops overheat too much on me -- might be fine in Antarctica, Iceland or Finland, but not California. Also LapTop screens are less "accurate" and harder if even possible to calibrate. And you get more bang for your buck with a Tower. And do research the monitor. Get as much RAM as you can afford, 16GB minimum, and 1 to 2 TB minimum HDD. Good video card obviously.

A "gaming" type system minus the sound considerations could work well but at a price!

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

It's not that I don't like apples I really think they are a joy to operate but apple tends to throw out OS updates a little to often for me and my customers and I have found that there are a number of older pieces of software that either have to have major costly up dates a little to often. I guess that the bottom line that I'm speaking of is cost of operation that both in the short run and the long run I have found that the Apples are more costly and it was my job to keep costs down in the IT department. In many cases we were split in some of my jobs with high end apples in the art department and pc in all the business modes, however we had PC in the art side as well and it was a matter of preference among the users.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Good answer.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

On over heating in laptops; one of the major culprits is the hard drive and that's one of the reasons why so many people here have recommended getting SSD drives even at the extra cost. Also if your willing to wait the newer Intel chipset coming this year will also reduce heat.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Mac.
--Bob

Paul Buckhiester Loc: Columbus, GA USA

I switched from a Windows laptop to a mac about a year ago and I've been really really happy with that. I use lightroom and Photoshop. Because the MacBook Pro hard drive is only half a gig, I have several Extertal hard drive that I use.

For me the learning curve for the Mac required some time spent studying, but I enjoyed it and I much prefer the entire system that Apple provides. This includes integration with my iPhone, iPad, and all the mobile adobe apps that go with light room and Photoshop.

Larwbuck Loc: Seattle, Washington

Personally I'd stay away from a Windows machine and go with a MAC. I use both and the MAC performs much better. I've processed in both LR and PS on both and always redoing the work on the MAC that I previously did on Windows due to the resolution of the screen. You'll spend a bit more for the MAC however, your overall quality will be greatly improved. Depending if you use a separate hard drive unit for your photos I would think a MacBook Pro 15 inch 16 GB Ram with the 524 GB storage should work fine, you'd need to double the Ram with a Windows product. The MAC would set you back about $2,600 from PowerMax out of Oregon with no sales tax. Just some thoughts to help your decision.