The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Sutible laptop for photoshop work?
RoundBoy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My brother says he needs a laptop to work on various things while he is off campus... the trick is, its photoshop & related work.
I told him not to expect a large screen, or the performance of the desktop i *just* built for him... but what is the best price / performance ratio for this ?
I am figuring a Dell dual core with 1 gb memory...... graphics cards don't factor in for Pshop will they?
Can I get away with a cheaper dell or look into some other brand ?
I told him not to expect a large screen, or the performance of the desktop i *just* built for him... but what is the best price / performance ratio for this ?
I am figuring a Dell dual core with 1 gb memory...... graphics cards don't factor in for Pshop will they?
Can I get away with a cheaper dell or look into some other brand ?
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
RoundBoy on
0
Posts
Two gigs of ram.
And dells are generally fairly cheap compared to other brands. Just buy extra stuff like new hard drives or extra ram from newegg or something. Not dell.
My current laptop was the same way.. 'aftermarket' ram & hd.. I just don't want to spend too much for extra parts that I can get away with for cheap in an original config
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
faster proccessors will speed up filters. but running low on ram means that its going to start swapping on the hard drive. and most laptops use 5400rpm drives. so guess what happens? you are now waiting for the hard drive to finsh caching and swapping before your fast processor can do a damned thing.
*edit
oh, and make sure the laptop has an 8bit screen, or you are just wasting your time. if you can't see the colors, you can't color correct.
quoting that because you really really really should listen to all the posters saying that you need to have lots of RAM.
And does your brother really need the mobility of the laptop (as in does he go away often?)?
First of all, there's no way that you're gonna get the optimal ram (2 gigs is the minimum), hard drives (2 drives so I have enough scratch disk space) and processor/ cooling system with a laptop.
edit: Something else to consider, I have no idea whether your brother is a professional, but correcting/maintaining the same color profile on two computers is a huge pain in the ass. It sucks to have your work look ok on one machine and then look completely different/crappy on another.
A fast chip will mean running filters goes quickly but skimped ram means that your bro gets to wait as the rest of the picture fills in, from switching on/off layers and going between different images. So yes, 2gb ram or more. Unless he's just using photoshop for basic photo editing, not actual hardcore photography editing work.
Seconded... I used to be a supervisor at a "pop copy office max depot stapes" and I was always getting into it with the graphic design students because they'd use these three thousand dollar macs to design their shit and then get pissed when they came to us for printing and we're pulling it up on a four year old dell and it changes all of their color patterns... If you're thinking of switching between home and mobile on the fly you're looking at double the investment to have two comps that can display how you want them to.
As for *why* a laptop... he approached me asking for one, saying he has too much free time away from his main machine, and could use it to complete single assignments in his free time. Why he doesn't use on campus machines is a mystery.
Yes Yes Yes.. ram is key, and I am pricing accordingly with newegg, etc. My question on processor was will any core duo / x2 processor do, or should I spend $50 more to bump. (i don't see too much in 1.6 vs 2.0 ghz)
I understand fully that a 15.1 inch screen, touchpad, etc is not ideal for him, especially since he uses a wacom tablet at home. My intention is to price out a machine (so far, it seems to be a $600 dell with $200 in extra ram). If he wants to pay that, then I can't really stop him.. only give advice.
A better plan IMHO would be to take his portable drive & usb keys, and his tablet to campus locations, or plan his time better. But then, sometimes people need to make an $800 'mistake' to learn in life.
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
if you're saying you can get a 25% bump in your dual core processor for $50, i think that's an easy "yes" as that initial investment will pay off over the lifetime of the machine (if not in photoshop, then in everything else besides photoshop)
I've heard a lot of chat (but no great explanations) for why more than 3GB in XP 32bit systems is a waste (except in specific server applications like exchange and MSsql which have arguments than enable them to use more memory). Something about how 32bit OS's can only address a certain amount of RAM, and that max number includes video RAM. I'm kinda curious if this rings true with photoshop users running 3+ GB ram on xp 32bit systems.
if you really think this is the case, then maybe you want him to decide for himself. if he gets what you suggest and it's kinda pokey and he's unhappy about it he might blame you, and you may have just delayed that expensive lesson for another day.
64bit system 2^64 = 1.84467440737e+19
32bit system 2^32 = 4,294,967,296
16bit system 2^16 = 65,536 (hence the famous "who needs more than 64k?" quote from bill gates)
waaaaaaaaaay more info here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555223
including why anything over 2gb is
It seems that just under $800 for a amd x2 /w 512mb ram (to be upgraded 3rd party, newegg is cheaper then dell) and dvd writer with 1 year accidental protection warranty is the best deal so far. I'll try and hold him off to get him on 'big dell coupon day' ...
Thanks for the advice all...
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.