Which Notebook to work on Photoshop

[Ian Tomlinson]

I want to buy a notebook. I use Photoshop Elements 4 and would be grateful if anyone can recommend which considerations are important eg. Screen glossy / matt? Apparently a 17 inch screen is no good, because of the wide format? Is a 15 inch screen large enough to edit photos? Which graphic card?

I am waiting to hear your tips Ian

[Nicole]

I use a 15" screen to edit photos and have no problem, but I also don't see why it would be difficult to work with the 17" screen. When you're working with a photo editing program it doesn't matter what format your screen is in (wide or normal aspect).

I've heard mixed opinions on the glossy screens. Some people say that they're difficult to work with because of the reflection. Personally I think I'd agree (but I don't have a glossy screen on my laptop so I can't really compare).

I'd say the most important things that you'll want to consider when finding a laptop are:

• Hard drive space: You're editing pictures, you need lots of space, it's a given
• Memory (RAM: Photoshop can be a memory hog. If you do any intense processing, you'll need a decent amount of memory (then again, I think most laptops come with at least 1GB now)
• Possibly a video card that does not have shared memory. Nvidia is always good.

Those would be my main considerations, but you may also want to consider what else you would use it for when you're deciding on your final criteria

[NaturesPixel]

hmm i think i have a glossy ??(Nic do i ??) EDIT: yep just looked at the macbooks specs i do have glossy i don't notice any difference...lol
my screen is 13.3 in and i don't find it limiting .. tho i do have a 19in wide LCD that i need to hook up to but im in need of a mini DVI to DVI adaptor...lol

As far as hard drives are concerned, ya will need to get an external or a internal enclosure.. anyways ya not wanna keep ya photos on the hard drive with in laptop they get hot and can possibly melt down at some point
or other means of backing up regularly

i would get anything bigger than a 15in as portability becomes a problem,
i figured my 13.3 in would be soo tiny i would hate it but now personally i wouldn't go any bigger in a laptop

[Ian Tomlinson]

Thanks for your tips. They sound good. I was considering using an external hard disc so as to be able to work on the notebook as well as on the main computer at home. I think that this should create no problems. Would it slow matters down working from a hard disc?
Bye Ian

[NaturesPixel]

i dont think it matters tho i can say this if ya get a firewire400/800 hook up that will be faster than USB2.0

[Nicole]

External hard drives are great No problems with mine, it works fast enough and it uses USB2.0

[prrs4me]

I also use an external hard drive with a usb2.0 and have no problems with speed. It's a great way to gain extra space and have a back up for your photos.

[ELAY]

If you go PC and will run Windows, make sure you get tons of RAM -- I'd recommend 2GB -- and get the newish Intel Duo core chipset. It makes a huge difference in speed and in being able to, for example, keep multiple photos open in your editing program.

Most newer notebooks will have the Duo cores these days.

As for the LCD, I have the glossy treatment on a 15.4 in. monitor, and I find that when it is well lit I don't get much glare. But when I run off battery and the screen dims, I get glare to the point that it is almost unusable in some locations (ie. window spots at my local Starbucks). Depending on your budget, you could also look at a tablet type setup, so you could edit with a stylus (very cool and fun, apparently).

And go with a USB external -- they are fast, convenient, cheap and seem to be getter cheaper by the minute.

EL

[Nicole]

Wow, is it really that bad with Windows needing that much RAM? Can I ask if that's partially because of Vista (heard it's a bit of a resource hog).

I don't use a Windows machine for my photo editing because the state of my monitor is beyond dire. But I regularly push my Mac (1.67GHz PPC, 512 RAM) and open say a handful of pictures at once I love my Mac

[NaturesPixel]

my xp box runs purrrfect on 1GB my vista machine craps out at even the thought of opening an image on 1GB

my mac purrs on 1 GB with light room and Photoshop open working in raw and tiff at same time