A Notebook and external monitor for scanning?

I like notebooks for the little space they occupy. I'm thinking of getting a

notebook for editing my pictures and an external CRT or high quality TFT

Monitor (Lacie or Apple; recommended for photo editing). Does anyone else in

this forum use such a setup and what are your experiences?

What kind of notebook would I need to edit photos quickly? I need to connect a

Coolscan V filmscanner also.

Thanks

If you go with the Apple solution, the newest Intel-processor MacBook Pro computers are

as powerful as all but the most expensive Mac desktop computers - and plenty powerful

for photo software. (Though be aware that the full speed increase will only become

available for Photoshop users when Adobe releases an Intel-processor native Mac OS

version.)

Bob's point about getting a desktop if you don't need mobility is a good one - for

equivalent cost you will get a larger hard drive and more memory in the desktop machine.

However, for those of us who like the mobility of a laptop, adding a larger external

monitor for non-mobile use is a great thing. I'd also add a separate keyboard and mouse

connected to the monitor and perhaps include a small powered USB interface.

As to what laptop to get, it is dangerous to tread into that argument. I'm a Mac guy

myself, currently using one of the G4 Powermacs with the 15" display, so my bias is in that

direction. As a long-time member of a hardware/software standards team at my college

I'm also somewhat aware of the Dell alternatives. (We have a dual platform standard.)

If you are not already firmly wedded to the Windows platform, I think you should at least

give the Apple alternative a good look. If you are firmly attached to Windows, than I

probably couldn't convince you to switch by writing a longer response here...

;-)

Dan

The advantage of a desktop is not only do you get more for your money, but it's typically easier to upgrade and you can get faster multiple disk access via internal drives (200GB+) than hanging USB or Firewire drives off a laptop. Memory upgrades are usually easier and cheaper too.

I got a $500 laptop with 80GB, firewire and a DVD burner that's fine to take on the road when I need portability.

You could certainly use a fast laptop and hang real monitor, keyboard, mouse and external drives on it I guess, but for most people a desktop probably makes more sense, plus an inexpensive laptop if you really need portability at times

Leon, I've done lots of slide scanning and image editing with both a fast notebook and desktops. I still scan to the notebook, but I transfer the files across the network to my desktop, to do edits.

1.)Hard drives in notebooks are generally slower than desktop hard drives.

2.)The amount of space you save with a notebook will be porportional to the speed you loose.

3.)When I hooked a CRT to my laptop, screen refresh was not up to snuff. Too much flicker. The video cards in SOME notebooks are not good for output to CRT. Try before you buy.

My advice, don't buy a notebook to simply to save space.

The speed lost is not worth the space gained.

A desktop tower case would take up no more of your desk area than a notebook and or docking station.

Any relatively fast laptop with good screen will be fine. Huge HDs are available in laptops, but you want an external HD or two anyway, even with desktops. Unless you're doing intense photoshopping and high production, the perhaps-slower HD in a laptop won't be noticable.

Go for it, you need a laptop anyway, if only for the wireless.