Laptop recommendations

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Laptop recommendations

Postby SQ » Tue May 04, 2010 10:37 am

I have my own desktop, but I can't use it right now... It ran Windows XP. I miss it. ._.

Anyway, I have a mac now, but I'll be fucked if I actually want to edit on it. So I was wondering if you guys may be able to recommend a good laptop that I could use for photoshop and/or Video editing. I figured it'd be easier to ask you guys than an actual computer community, being as you have personal experience and all with what exactly our hobby needs.

I'm decently computer literate, though I am all sorts of ignorant about Windows 7, but I have absolutely NO experience with laptops whatsoever. In theory they shouldn't be too different from a desktop, but I don't know, somehow they are.

So I guess what I'm looking for is, what is a good set up for a psuedo editing rig for a laptop, and what price range can I be expecting, and what are some good brands for it?
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby Zarxrax » Tue May 04, 2010 11:43 am

Well, there's the thing about laptops. If you want one that's portable, it's not good for photoshop or editing. If you want one for photoshop/editing, its not very portable. You simply need a large screen to work with those apps, and a large laptop like that is typically called a desktop replacement. You can carry it somewhere with you if you really need to, it's just not very convenient.
You want windows 7. You also want lots of ram, lots of HD space, and a powerful CPU. And this is why laptops aren't the best choice for editing :p
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby SQ » Tue May 04, 2010 11:57 am

I don't really care about portability, and I was kind of just looking at smaller laptops- 15 - 17 inch screens. My setup at home is a dual monitor and I really like that, even though I've had experience with much larger screens. I guess I'm weird. I prefer to have two totally seperate small screens rather than one big one. Maybe I'll learn to cope in time.

Regardless, I set down some baselines in a newegg search. Dedicated video card, at least 2GB of RAM (more like 3+ ), 350GB+ HDD.
http://xrl.us/bhj4sd
Are any of these good?

I guess my main gripe is the size of a desktop. If I could actually use my desktop right now, I would. I could potentially carry around an extra monitor, but there's just no way I could take all my desktop shit with me right now. So I suppose I am looking for a desktop replacement. Battery life isn't really an issue.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby guy07 » Tue May 04, 2010 12:12 pm

HP laptops are the best, imo. and always get a 2 year warranty, because laptops are always having problems. Be sure to get something without integrated graphics. Check the HP website? I hear good things about Dell to.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby LittleAtari » Tue May 04, 2010 1:54 pm

SQ wrote:Anyway, I have a mac now, but I'll be fucked if I actually want to edit on it.

:-|

Install bootcamp, dual boot Windows and save $900?
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby surfsama » Tue May 04, 2010 2:45 pm

LittleAtari wrote:Install bootcamp, dual boot Windows and save $900?

This is a very good suggestion.

My question is how intensive is the Photoshoping and Video editing you plan to do? If you're deadline driven and/or heavily into HD content or process many layers then maybe a laptop wouldn't be your weapon of choice. However, if you're working at a pace where rendering speed isn't super critical or you’re just masking/editing pictures in Photoshop then any of the choices listed on Newegg will probably be fine. I’m a bit bias towards the Intel processors but that’s just me.

Migrating from XP to Windows 7 shouldn’t be too difficult since it looks and acts similar – just allot nicer.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby SQ » Tue May 04, 2010 2:59 pm

LittleAtari wrote:
SQ wrote:Anyway, I have a mac now, but I'll be fucked if I actually want to edit on it.

:-|

Install bootcamp, dual boot Windows and save $900?

Personal preferences dictate that running a windows on a mac would be a huge waste.

Also, my mac's specs are too low and I'm not buying another mac.

@Surfsama
Thanks...
I'm sort of biased toward Intel as well, but I just didn't know about laptop brands in general. And I kind of wanted to spend less than 1k. So I'm not sure.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby Knowname » Tue May 04, 2010 3:24 pm

you sure you want a laptop than?? why not just get a pc, you can get a bigger, better one for less.

For laptop recomendations I'd add to Zarx' suggestion, you'd be a LOT happier if you got an SSD (Solid State Drive) they load large files like in a FLASH. I'm sure Dell would have a great one for you.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby SQ » Tue May 04, 2010 3:28 pm

I don't really want a laptop, but I have a huge issue with (physical) space, and I move around a lot. I can't feasibly carry around so much equipment (tower and all that).

So unless I want to keep putting off editing indefinitely (which I don't want to do, I love this hobby and I miss it) I need a laptop.
Thank you for the mention of the SSD, though. I'll look into this.

EDIT:
SSD addition adds WAAAY too much to the price point. Sadface.
Guess I'll live without.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby surfsama » Tue May 04, 2010 3:43 pm

Just curious, have you looked into the Military personnel discounts offered by Dell?
http://www.military4life.com/discounts/computers.html

Might be an option.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby Knowname » Tue May 04, 2010 4:07 pm

ok no SSD then lol it seems there aren't many available yet anyway. (UNLESS you look at a desktop... still their expensive and I suggest you back everything up on a mechanical HD as well, but both an SSD and a cheap HD won't raise your price too much- maybe a hundred bucks or so) but regardless try to get something with a quick (7200rpm) hard drive.

this one looks good, blue ray, big screen, lots of ram :)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834127047
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby SQ » Tue May 04, 2010 4:10 pm

DID NOT KNOW about Dell's military discounts.
Will definitely look into it! Thank you.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby Knowname » Tue May 04, 2010 4:31 pm

here I made you a dell that's comparable to the sony I linked to
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/ ... dtime=True
the dell has 8 gigs ram and the sony has only 6 gigs ram HOWEVER the sony has faster ram (1333 used with an i7 processor vs. 1066 used with an i5 processor)
I think the sony has a slightly faster HDD... look like it's negligable though.
Both have Blueray drives and "Full HD" screens
The Dell with discount is 1600 bucks, sony is 1800.
Only upgrade I included is a trade in program... those are always really good :) (but MAKE SURE and read all the fine print)
I'd expect the Sony to be a LITTLE faster due to it's i7 processor.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby SQ » Tue May 04, 2010 4:43 pm

Thanks knowname, I appreciate it. But I think you're overestimating my needs? XD
I'll play with the specs a bit, but I don't need HD or bluray. I was trying to aim for under $1000, also. Right now I have my eyes on this.

CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2.0G
Screen 17" WXGA+
Memory Size 4GB
Hard Disk 320GB
Optical Drive DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M
Video Memory 512MB DDR3
Card slot 1 x Express Card

HDD is a sata although it doesn't list how fast it is, nor what type the ram is. But I'd assume ddr2. Which is fine by me, personally.
I don't need top of the line or anything.

But then surfsama mentioned the military discounts, so I'm kind of slowly working my way through those brands to see what might have the better offer around this set of specs.

EDIT:
Disregard this, I suck cocks.
I should've actually looked at your link before I posted.
Last edited by SQ on Tue May 04, 2010 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Laptop recommendations

Postby Knowname » Tue May 04, 2010 4:56 pm

I don't think that link works...

well here is what I did and why you'd want it

color
I'd assume you wouldn't care :/ so I just did the free one
processor
upgrade as FAR as you can! the bottom one is TERRIBLE for video editing, the second is not much better you want cache
operating system
it don't matter, don't get pulled into getting ultimate unless you KNOW you need it. The premium has everything most ppl need
warranty and service
a longer warranty might be good
hard drive
I considered their choices, but, to me, they just don't make sense. stick with the default
memory
very important, upgrade as much as possible
wireless
doesn't matter
battery
doesn't matter as long as there's a plugin
keyboard
get a backlit if you value your eyes
webcam
doesn't matter
HD Display
some say this matters and I sort of agree so get the best you can afford
optical drive
you'll want blueray
vidcard
get the best one, you don't want integrated :x
the rest
doesn't matter (though I do suggest the buy back plan if it is indeed a buyback plan... now that I look at it it might just be a stupid 'tune up' thing :x)

edit:
Yeah I might be going overboard a little :| lol but I do highly suggest a core i5 w/ cache at minimum, you may be able to do without blueray for the life of this thing, but I highly suggest a core i5 processor if your going to be doing a lot of encoding on this monster.
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