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Notebook spec for digital workflow
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I’m just wondering if any forum members who have recently (or in fairly recent past)
purchased notebooks on which they do digital workflow, eg: PS/CS, PS/CS2, PS Elements,
Nikon Capture, PS with layers/curve/level adjustments/etc.What are folks experience with particular notebook specs and running reasonably intense
Photoshop. I know that 2GB fast RAM certainly helps when dealing with large images
(eg, 10MB RAW from D200). How about the various mobile Intel/AMD CPU specs ?
What I’m looking for is an example spec from any members who feel their notebook
is up to the job so I can at least use that spec as a baseline when looking at the
various options out there.My desktop is a 3.0GHz Compaq/HP Presario with only 512MB RAM. I’ve been meaning
to check with Compaq support to see what the max RAM this machine can accomodate.
I think it’s just 1GB.–IL
As for the notebook, you’ll need a reply from someone else because I always advise people to save their pounds and get a desktop machine unless they REALLY need a notebook. Presumably you do really need it, so we won’t go there.
For the RAM, go to http://www.crucial.com and you will find the RAM limits for your box. Using HP RAM will be more expensive and all they do is badge up other RAM anyway, as far as I know.
Thanks for the useful info, Pete !
In terms of the notebook – I’m going to be away from base a bit over the next while so I feel
I need a mobile solution for work stuff as well as photography.
I’m mulling over a few options at the moment. The MacBook Pros look interesting (but very expensive)
The fact they can run Windows XP and OSX is attractive for sure. I’d say I’d save nearly 1k if
I went for an Intel/AMD notebook. If I was purchasing Apple I’d get the Apple warranty which
is costly for notebooks but essential because of the highly Apple specific hardware incorporated
into those machines.Anyone else got a notebook model & spec they are happy with for Photoshop use ?
-Ian
irishlens wrote:
Anyone else got a notebook model & spec they are happy with for Photoshop use ?
I use the Dell XPS M170 as my main machine for work and for photography. I have 2 Gig of RAM and so far I am yet to see Photoshop run faster on anything. Someone with a MAC one day bragged about how good theirs was (can’t remember the model) but my laptop in terms of startup and general running, tore strips off it.
I have a Dell Latitude D610 laptop, which I use more often than I’d like for retouching photos. I also have a Dell Workstation with a dual monitor and graphics tablet setup. There really is no comparison.
However, as stated above, I assume that you must have a laptop. The one point I’d emphasise is that you check out the screen configuration controls – brightness, contrast, etc. Many laptops, including my D610, only permit basic brightness adjustments. That handicaps proper monitor calibration.
photoshop supports the use of dual core so thats a defo to include. Centrino processors are out of the question, a fast P4 with as much ram as your lappy can take and and excellent screen is all ya really need, 80 gig hd would be enough as i doubt you’ll be storing files on it for long periods. graphics cards don’t really come into it so they’d be and extra unneeded expense.
edit. a 7200 hd too
Melekalikimaka
Thanks for the advice. The 7200RPM (min) drives do seem to be something which are overlooked by many.
How about your advice on the Centrino processors. I’m a bit confused. Maybe I’m wrong but aren’t most if
not all Intel CPUs designed for notebooks nowadays branded as Centrino. Are you perhaps confusing with
the term “Celeron” which was the performance lame version of the P4 which is in some of the lower end
notebooks ?Correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not as up on the lineage of CPUs that are around these days. Once upon
a time I used to eat “Byte magazine” for breakfast in the days of 486 and early Pentiums and I knew
the whole CPU roadmap of Intel, Motorola and AMD way back then….–Ian
you got me thinking there, i know centrino vs p4, p4 comes out tops for media, tho runs hotter/sucks the battery more. i haven’t seen any dual core centrino reviews yet so i must check that out. centrinos are very fast for the ghz compared to p4’s but are build for media, more basic web/office type stuff…i believe(i’m no expert, merely saying what i’m thinking) :)
I just bought a new laptop
Its a HP DV2175
Spec is
2Gig ram
Dual Core 1.66
120 Gig SATA drive
128Mb Graphics
14.1 WXGA screen
DVD Lightscribe burnerI am running Lightroom and Photoshop CS on it, and it rocks
It quite light, and Not too expensive 1349 euro from PC World
For the increase in performance you get from the more expensive machines the major cost increase does not really make it worth it to get the performance
a quick comment on CPU specs for notebooks … Centrino’s are actually better than P4’s all ’round unless you are talking about the P4 aimed at the gamers market.
But as of now, the top of the range is the Intel Core 2 Duo systems.
Apple are now using Intel processors in their desktops & notebooks, so Apple v’s PC for h/w is not an argument any longer, apologies if that has now widened the choice range !Avoid anything that says 2 core.. you need dual core, or core duo. 2 core is just 2 chips in one package without any optimisations.
Best of luck !
Many thanks Steve & LahinchLass !
I think the original confusion was that the original advice may well have been to avoid Celeron (rather than Centrino processors)
I think a lot of the duo core notebook CPUs out there at the moment are also branded as Centrino and I think they are v fast machines.I’m with you LahinchLass regarding the new MacBook pro line… very expensive but tempting nonetheless given that you can
now dual boot them (using BootCamp) and get best of both worlds (but at a fairly significant financial price). I’m a big fan
of OSX and I didn’t take out AppleCare on my G4 12″ powerbook (which is a fair bit underspecced for what I need now).
In any case the battery compartment broke irreparably and I hadn’t taken out the (expensive) AppleCare insurance.
I think if I were to purchase a MacBook Pro nowadays I’d definitely need to buy AppleCare along with it (another 400-500Euro
ontop of the hefty base price)Thanks for all the suggestions, info !
–Ian
Just a note, folks, Centrino isn’t a processor type. Centrino is Intel’s marketing term for a specific combination of wireless chip, processor, and motherboard chipset in laptops.
As for laptop specs… yes, definitely avoid Celeron (or Celeron M)… The intel M (mobile, non-celeron) processors are zippy fast, at much lower clock speeds than your average desktop (see the Megahertz myth). The dual cores, even more so. Really, you can’t go wrong with most 1.5 ghz or higher laptops… even my Dell Inspiron 600m performs quite nicely in Photoshop… though I do have 1.5 gigs of RAM in it as well.
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