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Buying a new laptop
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I will soon have to buy a new laptop. My present one is an Acer 5672 WLMI, and I think its condition is terminal.
I would like a fast machine with a good bright screen.
I wonder what other features to put on the wish list.
Any thoughts?I would recommend a macbook Pro or if it doesnt have to be a laptop then an Imac maybe
Make sure it has at least a Core 2 Duo processor and 4Gb of RAM. The new Photoshop will use the graphic card as well, so your laptop should have a fast one.
Are you sure you don’t want a desktop pc with a good monitor instead? Laptop monitors are not great for photo editing.
Thanks for your replies.
Ben, It kinda has to be PC as it has to be compatible with the network at work.Randomway, I was thinking of using a separate monitor [when I can clear enough space for one, that is]. I have a desktop which has really been gathering dust since I got my first laptop. Re graphic card, how fast is fast?
stcstc, I bought the Acer online so didn’t have an opportunity to check out the screen beforehand. This will be bought locally!
I think you should just go to Dell and get the highest spec laptop you can get,
They are very affordable and they tend to last.And if you are going to buy a seperate screen then there should be no trouble whatsoever.
Dell are really affordable right now. I’m using a Latitude D530 with Vista Business and 4GB RAM. Upgraded the screen resolution, disk size and speed and threw in a bag for less than €800 I think. I’m quite happy with it. I do lots of lab/virtualisation work so grunt is important to me. This was grunt at an affordable price. It’s pretty light compared to my personal machine (HP DV9000 series running Vista Ultimate on 2Gb RAM).
Work uses XP Professional. What’s the story with vista? is it compatible with XP? Or would I have to buy Vista, then replace it with XP?
Why is nothing simple any more!!I would suggest scrapping vista altogether, XP Professonal is way better in my opinion, but you can still buy a vista laptop and install your old copy of xp on it no problem.
ben4130 wrote:
I would suggest scrapping vista altogether, XP Professonal is way better in my opinion, but you can still buy a vista laptop and install your old copy of xp on it no problem.
To be strictly legal, that would have to be an off-the-shelf copy of XP and not the one with a product key sticker on the case of the computer (aka OEM). You get OEM licenses pretty cheap because they are legally tied to the hardware. Scrap the hardware = scrap the license.
Vista is quite different. The underlying security model was re-architected to tie things down. This has caused lots of headaches for software or drivers that aren’t compatible or where the OEM’s just aren’t bothering, e.g. Netgear wifi NIC’s. The GUI is very different too. It was made “beautiful” to use the MS internal marketing lingo. Aero (it’s name) is nice and all but not exactly the “be all and end all”. Most things got moved about and renamed which still hassles me after 1.5 years.
Sticking with XP: Vista is here and it’ll be stay here. Some are saying “wait for Windows 7”. Sorry, it’s not going to be a rewrite; just another evolution. That was confirmed recently by MS. Their research department does have a new OS, allegedly, but it’s not seeing the light of day. Actually, as of Monday, the likes of Dell can’t sell you XP unless you’re buying really low spec hardware.
Everything I do photography-wise works fine with Vista. I used CS2 on it and only upgraded so I could get RAW updates for my 40D. Vista also runs faster than XP on good hardware (recent CPU and 2GB RAM). It’s stable. And things like SuperFetch and ReadyBoost (http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6039379.html) to really make things fly if you have a spare USB 2.0 memory stick lying around.
If you don’t like the way Windows is now, then check out MacOS X or Some Linux variant. They’re not perfect either.
So are there problems with using a computer with Vista on a network with XP pro?
update: Turned on my sick laptop for the first time in a week. Usual message re recovering from error, and everything is working. I don’t trust it of course. :(
I had backed up photos, documents etc, but it does give me a chance to be sure to be sure.
:) :)Computer guy cast his eye over my poor laptop and says that converting it from FAT something to NTFS will help to sort out its problems.
Is this feasible? Likely?
Am keeping fingers crossed. [ thinks: macro lens mmmmm ]
converting it from FAT something to NTFS will help to sort out its problems
You’d have to post some info on the original..
* How old?
* What brand?
* How much RAM installed?
* What type of CPU installed?
* How much hard disk space Total vs. Free?
* What OS (XP?)With this info it might be possible to determine if it’s old and crappy or possibly salvageable.
The first question is: What the old FAT was doing there? hehe
None of the laptops have a screen good enough to work with the photographs.
The closest are MacBook Pro, and some Sony Vaio.
Buying an extend screen will be good advance.How old?
Two and a bit* What brand?
Acer
* How much RAM installed?
2 gig
* What type of CPU installed?
Intel Centrino Duo
* How much hard disk space Total vs. Free?
C drive 53.6vs 6
D drive 54 vs 7
* What OS (XP?)
XP home
Crystalbrite screen [supposed to be ]My computer guru was surprised to find fat 32, seems it is a bit of an anachronism.
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