Laptop configuration questions

I'm buying a new laptop and want to get the best configuration I can. I have a tower computer, so this is just so i can be mobile and process some photos on vacation, etc.

 

This is what I've come up with so far:

 

Processor

8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-8300H Processor (4 Core, 8MB Cache, 2.3GHz, 45W)

 

OS - Windows 10 Pro 64bit English

 

Base Options Is this good? It doesn't give a choice on this laptop.

Intel® Core™ i5 8300H with Intel UHD 630 Graphics with DisplayPort over USB Type-C

 

Memory - 16GB, 1x16GB, DDR4 2666MHz Non-ECC

 

Hard Drive - M.2 512GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive (largest one available)

 

Display I do have some other choices here. There are a couple Touch w/Truelife options.

15.6" FHD 1920 x 1080 Anti-Glare Non-Touch ,WVA Camera & Microphone, WLAN/WWAN Capable

 

Wireless

Qualcomm® QCA61x4A 802.11ac Dual Band (2x2) Wireless Adapter+ Bluetooth 4.1

Or: Qualcomm® QCA6174A Extended Range 802.11ac MU-MIMO Dual Band (2x2) Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.1

 

Primary Battery

4 Cell 68Whr ExpressCharge™ Capable Battery

Or: 4 Cell 68Whr Long Life Battery (includes 3 year limited hardware warranty)

 

Removable CD/DVD Drives - Dell USB Slim DVD +/- RW Drive - DW316

 

Any advise would be appreciated.

16GB RAM sound sane (or "nice"). In case you are shopping weight consciously: Why go for the DVD drive at all? Wouldn't an additional internal SATA SSD make more sense? Or are you going for an external one that you can carry in a pocket, while the laptop gets stolen?

Battery looks average / on the weak side. - I wouldn't expect it to last for a long while far from power outlets.

Elephant in the room: Can you trust the display & get it calibrated?

No clue about wireless. - What I had worked. - Will you benefit from the extended range variant in any way? - Miracles seem impossible at those frequencies.

16GB RAM sound sane (or "nice"). In case you are shopping weight consciously: Why go for the DVD drive at all? Wouldn't an additional internal SATA SSD make more sense? Or are you going for an external one that you can carry in a pocket, while the laptop gets stolen?

Battery looks average / on the weak side. - I wouldn't expect it to last for a long while far from power outlets.

Elephant in the room: Can you trust the display & get it calibrated?

No clue about wireless. - What I had worked. - Will you benefit from the extended range variant in any way? - Miracles seem impossible at those frequencies.

Hi Melanie,

 

I can't comment much on the specs - they look more than sufficient. My only advice - if you haven't done so - is to prioritize your 'requirements for use' in terms of things like

- portability (size, weight, exchangeable/spare battery); would a tablet/notebook combi be useful?

- screen size, resolution and (color) quality; touch screen?

- keyboard quality?

 

Yes, there are differences between brands/models and some are more configurable (RAM, HDD, processor speed, etc.) than others. The 'best configuration' is often the one that has the best 'fit' with your requirements. If you expect to on the move a lot and just want to view, cull and quickly adjust photos, back them up and maybe share them, a lightweight 'tablet/laptop could be a better fit than a larger, heavier laptop. If you'll be using the laptop from a hotel room then this is less important.

 

Mike

Thank you both for your responses. I'll have to rethink what I really want to accomplish with the laptop.

Melanie

A note on Netbooks: Netbooks are becoming more popular with their low prices. If considering buying a netbook, it is advised to stay with Intel Atom processors and Windows 7. Also consider maximizing the amount of RAM and hard drive space. Netbooks are truly only suitable for basic internet browsing and word processing and are not recommended for students whose needs are above these basic functions. Please consult the special requirements for majors by the links provided above to see if netbooks are acceptable. Netbooks are NOT viable solutions for audio/video/web production & design, database work, and math/engineering applications.

A note on Netbooks: Netbooks are becoming more popular with their low prices. If considering buying a netbook, it is advised to stay with Intel Atom processors and Windows 7. Also consider maximizing the amount of RAM and hard drive space. Netbooks are truly only suitable for basic internet browsing and word processing and are not recommended for students whose needs are above these basic functions. Please consult the special requirements for majors by the links provided above to see if netbooks are acceptable. Netbooks are NOT viable solutions for audio/video/web production & design, database work, and math/engineering applications.

 

 

 

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I know Apple says DVDs are dead, but CDs and DVDs are awfully convenient ways to backup image files (cheap too). And if you're on a trip you can watch DVDs in case the hotel doesn't offer anything good (or cheap).

The specs are fine except that to do photo editing you need some way to calibrate the screen.

DVDs are dead,

 

The problem is that with the huge MP images these days, even a DVD can be small. There are card-deck sized HDs that can be plugged in for additional back-up space.

 

Moreover, a usb DVD drive is also very small and can easily be packed in your luggage. Cost is typically around US$30-40, so you don't need to bulk up your laptop with an installed drive.

There isn't a 4.7GB camera yet, and there are double sized DVDs too. But yes, it could be that fitting all the pictures from even one session with a very large MP camera might be challenging, but they're cheap so I think they're still useful. Plus I still have a lot of software disks that I might need to reinstall at some point, including games. AND I have 4-5 USB hard drives as well. But they're mostly for backup of the computer, not the photos directly.

 

They're both potentially handy.

 

Now the hard part is using them on Macs since Apple has decided they're dead. And I didn't say DVDs were dead, I said Apple said DVDs were dead! :mad: Just like they decided SCSI was dead and earphone jacks and home buttons on phones. I like to make my own decisions, at least once in a while.;)

There isn't a 4.7GB camera yet

 

It has little to do with the camera, but concerns the size of the image on disk - with RAW+large jpg images you can fill things up pretty quickly, if that's how you shoot.

 

If you shoot at higher bit-depth it can go very high, very quickly.

 

As I shoot on a trip. I keep the memory cards until I've filled them all up. I save them on the laptop drive, I backup those to the external HD. I usually also burn a DVD which I keep separate from the others.

I really have no pony in this race, just saying how I do it. YMMV

 

In any case external HDs and DVD burners are not much over the fancy pizza cost, and can be added to Macs as well as other machines.