Laptops and Photoshop

[TheRaven546]

my $400 laptop runs photoshop just pretty much pick something unless you want something in particular.

[alach]

cool.... bc I was looking at one for like $600 and my boyfriend was trying to convince me that something that cheap could no way run Photoshop (and then we got into a fight..nice)

[TheRaven546]

really? lol i had a old laptop that ran PS 7 333mhz 200mb ram almsot anything can run photoshop in the newer version there are some new fancy things. But unless you know what those are and will be using them dont worry about it. Hell i use the CS4 master suite on my shitty laptop

1.9ghz Dual core
4gb ram

it try to get at lease 3gb of ram. if a photoshop pro can comment that would be nice :p but if your just going to be using it for drawing and such you wont have a problem. plus expensive doesnt mean better considering my $1000 system is better then a $3850 mac system

[Szos]

What kind of Photoshop files are you going to be doing?

I mean are we talking about <5MP files with a few layers, or are we talking about 20+MP monster files with tons and tons of layers and super heavy duty filters and all that jazz?

Almost any laptop (NOT A NETBOOK) for ~$500 will be plenty fast enough for the first kind. But you might need to step up to a ~$1000 machine if you more deal with heavier duty files.

I would look for a machine with Win7, 4 GBs of RAM, a Core2Duo processor and a Nvidia video chip (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, but it would be better than some integrated chip).

If you are definitely going to go with a Dell, I would suggest you look at their refurbished line of business machines - they tend to be very good machines for a pretty good price.

[olson]

Most notebooks in that price range will come with 2GB of memory which will slow things down quite a bit. Look for one with the ability to upgrade to 4GB of memory or more. Then buy memory from Newegg or whatever to upgrade the memory. Other than that pretty much any notebook will do. Cheers!

[alach]

What kind of Photoshop files are you going to be doing?

I mean are we talking about <5MP files with a few layers, or are we talking about 20+MP monster files with tons and tons of layers and super heavy duty filters and all that jazz?

Almost any laptop (NOT A NETBOOK) for ~$500 will be plenty fast enough for the first kind. But you might need to step up to a ~$1000 machine if you more deal with heavier duty files.

I would look for a machine with Win7, 4 GBs of RAM, a Core2Duo processor and a Nvidia video chip (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, but it would be better than some integrated chip).

If you are definitely going to go with a Dell, I would suggest you look at their refurbished line of business machines - they tend to be very good machines for a pretty good price.

The one we looked at had 4GB ram and the processor was a Pentium *something* T6600 and when I'm working on something the files never get that big and my layers arent that many so .... yeah....thanks for your replies guys, appreciated!

[Szos]

The T6600 is a Core2Duo so you are fine there.
Do NOT get a POS Pentium-based machine.

There is no reason you couldn't find one that is perfectly capable of doing what you want it to do for ~$500, especially if you go refurbished and especially this time of year (with all the deals that companies have).

[imashination]

Dont confuse intel with pentium, one is a company, the other is an old brand.

[alach]

ok im pretty sure this is the one i'm getting....here's the link http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dycwgn1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19 (the specs are to the right of the page) the only thing im worried about is the 3GB memory bc everyone i talk to says that i'll need 4 GB....so does this matter? looking at the link, does this look like i'll have problems running Photoshop or should i get another GB of memory?

[Bullit]

That has a tiny screen , are you sure to be confortable with it? A bigger laptop also could be less expensive.

If you need 3Gb or 4Gb depends on size of your images. Just check if the computer can be upgraded to 8Gb if you need more just replace.

[Szos]

well my opinion is that there are much cheaper laptops out there - even from Dell - that will match this one's performance.

But to answer your question, 3GBs is fine - it's not that big of a deal in my opinion, but it does look like that machine takes DDR3 instead of DDR2 which might partially explain why it costs so much.

I just noticed the screen size (after reading Bullit's post) and 13.3" is TINY. Might be nice and portable, but not what I would pick for graphics work.

[alach]

well i picked the screen size bc i dont want to lug around such a behemoth because i'll probably be bringing it to school everyday...personally i dont mind looking at the small screen, it's performance that's my main concern....btw, what does DDR3/DDR2 mean?

[meleseDESIGN]

[...] when I'm working on something the files never get that big and my layers arent that many [...]

I guess you wont work with higher resolution as 2K?
It is absolutelly no problem to have just 2 or 3gigs of physical RAM, even if you would go higher in resolution, what your physical RAM can´t handle, set up some paging file(s) will help if Photoshop is running out of physical memory.

You don´t need to worry this much about RAM. :thumbsup:

[meleseDESIGN]

...personally i dont mind looking at the small screen, it's performance that's my main concern....btw, what does DDR3/DDR2 mean?

With an max screen resolution of 1.280x800 Pixel you might change your mind while working with PS or Painter.

DDR2 means slower and higher voltage.
DDR3 means faster and lower voltage.
:thumbsup:

[meleseDESIGN]

[...] my $1000 system:

Amd phenomII 965 x4 3.4ghz
4gb g.skill 1600mhz ram
Ati 4890 1gb vapor-x (factory over clock)
Ati 4890 1gb vapor-x (factory over clock)
1tb 7200RPM HDD

is better then a $3850 mac pro system


You must be joking! :twisted:

[alach]

DDR2 means slower and higher voltage.
DDR3 means faster and lower voltage.
:thumbsup:

ah ok!! learned something new today!

[Bullit]

DDR3 is faster then DDR2 but it is one of those marginal things that usually doesn't matter.

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