How much power do I need?

<p>I am researching laptop computers. The one I have now is too slow in post processing and internet downloading. I use PSE 11, NIK, Photomatix,etc to edit TIFF files that are 100-500+MB. I have a 2 year old Dell that I paid about $350 for, Windows 8. It's a pain. What do you all recommend? Thanks.</p>

<p>Um, 'more than what you got' ?</p>

<p>It'd be useful to know the spec's of the Dell you're currently using.</p>

<p>I suspect your speed issues are more of a memory issue than anything else. Your current laptop will have a cap of how much can be added (if any). You should look at that first.</p>

<p>Windows 8 is pretty efficient at handling resources, much better than 7 and it's predecessors. Windows 10 rings in slightly better.</p>

<p>$350 a couple years ago probably got you an Atom or something like that. Right now, to get a quad core (i7 or i5 with model ending in HQ), you'd pretty much have to buy a Gaming laptop. Otherwise the market at this time is pretty much dominated by relatively thin and light machines running dual-core Intel 'U' processors like the 5200u or 5500u. These are both power efficient and pretty fast, so being dual cores may not be a deal breaker. You'd probably still want to buy a machine that's not in a thin-and-light or Ultrabook chassis because often those do things like solder RAM to the motherboard so you can't upgrade. The 8GB you could find easily is probably enough most of the time but I suspect most people here would recommend 16GB just to ease your mind if nothing else. You also probably want an SSD for fast boots and program loads.<br>

Unfortunately companies that build PC put a large margin on upgrades, so that they aren't just useless costs to them, even if they are relatively easy to install. A machine with a decently sized SSD and 16GB or RAM standard will probably also have many other things upgraded that you don't need to be. And on a full-size-body laptop those two things are usually pretty easy to upgrade. For example I just upgraded my new laptop from 8GB to 16GB and replaced the slow 1TB HDD with a good model of 500GB SSD, for about $250 in parts and I only needed to pull off one bottom panel from the laptop to install them. From a manufacturer they would probably cost an extra $500 or something.</p>

<p>I would never blame a computer for slow Internet downloading speed. - I believe the win8 task manager shows you how busy your HDD and connection are. -If your hardware was to blame your HDD has to be 100% busy during a download while the network thing dwiddles it's thumbs. - On my system I see a flatline in network representing my limited connection speed and occasionaly flickering HDD activity. <br>

Renting lightning fast Internet via glas fibre to your home most likely gets you nowhere too since the other side doesn't provide enough data fast enough.</p>

<p>Steve--do you have budget in mind? Are you set on a Windows machine? Do you hook up to an external monitor or just use the laptop screen?</p>

Steve, unless you are against "the dark side" as is often mentioned on this forum, visit a Mac Superstore and check on Apple laptops. First, take a look at www.apple.com.

 

It is probably still true that Macs are more expensive, but they come well configured. My experience with buying a Dell is six years old, so this may have changed: first you select a computer and it IS CHEAPER. That is because it is poorly configured and you need to add RAM and other upgrades to make it comparable to a Mac. Like I said, this may have changed. I don't mean to damn Widows computers, there are just as capable as a Mac, although I would never go back. Just suggesting to keep an open mind and take a look at Apple products.

<p>I'm the one who keeps mentioning "The Dark Side," because I think it's hilarious, and I'm also planning to switch from PC to Mac sometime this fall or early next year. One thing I've noticed as I've done my comparison shopping is that most Mac users don't understand and don't care about computer specs and performance. They just assume the performance will be there for them and don't worry about it. That's a refreshing contrast to the PC universe where there are a lot of really crummy machines you can buy if you're not careful. So, I would agree with Kerry. Check out a Mac and see if it fits your budget with the understanding that there will be additional costs to buy the Mac version of software you use and also that there is no decent financial software for the Mac for managing your household finances. Good luck.</p>

<p>You need the most powerful computer you can afford so you don't end up having to buy a new computer in two years.</p>

<p>If you are using it with Photoshop or Aperture you need to look at the specs on the graphics cards. That will likely be the choke point in any system for image processing.</p>

<p>My understanding is that for still photography (Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture), CPU power and memory matter much more than the video card. Photographic applications use 2D rendering, which just about any video card can adequately provide. <br /><br />What you get as you spend more money for powerful graphics card is 3D performance for gaming. Gaming demands GPU processing power and well-tuned drivers to render textures rapidly for maximum frame rate. So unless you're also using the computer for gaming, or for 3D CAD/CAM applications, money spent on a powerful video card will be wasted. <br /><br />But as someone mentioned previously, to get a brand-name system with sufficient processing power and memory you'll probably need to buy a machine specifically built for gaming. Games are also the only common applications that need a fast multi-core processor and lots of RAM (in addition to 3D video performance), and gamers are a larger market then photographers. Even the cheapest Intel Atom processor is good enough for normal Web surfing and e-mail. You'd thus end up buying more video processing power than you need, but that's the way brand-name systems are configured.</p>

<p>Lightroom, some Lightroom add ons, and some other photo applications can now use the really fast processor and memory in the graphics card to improve performance. Make sure the card you get is supported -- not all cards will work.</p>

<p>Macbook Pro Retina 15" with 16GB of ram. but it will be around 2500 at the base, plus tax and apple care warranty (recommended) But its an excellent spec computer that will run everything with a great screen, if you can handle the price tag. The least thing you could do, was see if your current computer will take more ram and if it will take 8 or better 16, that may be sufficient to keep you going for a while. </p>

<p>Questions and comments:</p>

<p>Barry, are you using that MacBook Pro and are you happy with the performance for Lightroom and Photoshop? Does it have the dedicated graphics card? Have you connected your laptop to a large monitor and additional keyboard and mouse and has is worked satisfactorily? And, finally, how old is your MacBook Pro? I ask because the kid in the Apple store recommended that machine for me, as opposed to the 13-inch MacBook Pro that does not have the dedicated graphics card. </p>

<p>If you are looking at that computer (like I am), you may want to wait until later this fall or, most likely, next spring to purchase it because two very cool new technologies should make their way into the 15-inch MBP by then. At least, I hope so. The first is NVMe, which is already in the new MacBook, and should allow data transfer from the SSD about 30% faster than the current PCIe protocol. The second is Skylake, the hot, new chip from Intel that will improve overall performance by about 20% and graphics performance by about 30%, and also improve battery life. Be aware that the current Intel chip is the Broadwell and it's in the 13-inch MacBook Pro, but the 15-inch MacBook Pro has the older Haswell chip. Skylake will be hitting the streets soon so, if you buy a 15-inch MacBook Pro now, you'll be buying a CPU that's two generations old. It might be worth waiting.</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

 

<p>Steve-- The first thing you could do is optimize your current laptop. run disc defragmenter, use a program like ccleaner to get rid of cookies, etc. You could also check whether your software is compatible with Windows 10 (a lot of software is) and install Windows 10. To optimize Windows 10 disable Cortana and make a choice which privacy settings you want to be enabled or not (see settings menu).<br>

To improve your laptop you could also opt for additional RAM memory, however, for a 350$ laptop the costs are relatively high so also consider a new Laptop.<br>

The speed of your internet usually is limited by the internet provider (check your subscription and what is on offer; no need for extremely fast, but if its really limited this might be an issue) and how far you are from your router/modem in your home (check signal strength). In addition, if you download large files the RAM memory could also be a limiting factor.<br>

With respect to laptops and photo editing: laptops are usually made for office applications and watching videos. Hence, the average laptops does have a display with a limited color space; which could limit your ability to edit photo's.<br>

A Macbook pro with retina display (as previously suggested) gets you about 99% sRGB color space, which is a lot better than most displays and I think a good suggestion. Windows laptops with similar color space are available (google Windows+sRGB or even adobe RGB) but are also more expensive than your current laptop.<br>

Good luck finding the laptop that suits your needs!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Dave, yes to all your questions, got it earlier this year to replace one that was stolen otherwise would happily be using a 2012 similar version. It works great with an external monitor, has a dedicated graphics card. Google Mac buyer's guide for some educated speculation as to what's coming in 2016. It might or might not convince you to wait...or not. Sounds like the usual slight improvements.</p>

<p>Many thanks, Barry. I look at MacRumors occasionally but haven't been there in awhile. I'll check it out. Cheers.</p>