laptop computer

[sfbk]

Greetings to everyone:

I am relatively new to digital photography and planning to set up a

digital darkroom. I am using a Nikon D70 as my main camera.

Could any one advise / help me in acquiring a laptop computer. I am

looking for a lightweight model (that I can travel without being too

heavy), with the best screen resolution for digital imaging; and

hoping that someone can suggest what system specs would be most useful.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[erickpro]

If you want to travel a lot, consider a small model like a 12" laptop. If you think this is too small then a 15" will be better but heavier and obstrussive sometimes.

 

If you are in the market for a windows based laptop, buy one with centrino technology because of battery performance and weight. New laptops have the extra bright glossy screens that are awesome but are subjet to reflect everything and gives you a headache! At least to me it does.

 

If you are in the market for an apple laptop, there are the ibooks and powerbooks. I would not recommend you an ibook because of their speed being so slow. So look for a powerbook, all their screens are the pretty much the same so there is not doubt in choosing the best screen.

 

I would say that almost any decent laptop that you buy can buy for around 1500 have a very similar screen, so consider buying a colorimeter to calibrate your screen.

[gv]

I would like to respectfully disagree with the previous person's contention that iBooks are

much slower than Powerbooks. The specs just don't support the statement.

 

I have used both a G3 600MHZ and G4 1GHZ iBook with Photoshop. Both iBooks are

plenty fast (RAM was maxed-out in both computers) and while the 12" screen is small, it is

entirely workable, especially if a person uses Apple's Expose. And while PBs have higher

resolution screens, they are the same LCDs used in the iBooks.

 

If portability is important, the 12" iBook is ideal. The extra three inches in the mid-size PB

may not seem like much, but it makes for a less convenient computer when it comes to

hauling it around, using it on airplanes, etc.

 

iBooks are generally considered to be tougher than PBs. The feature differences between

iBooks and Powerbooks have shrunk as the PBs continue to use G4 processors and the

iBooks slowly but surely increase in speed. Considering that a 12" 1.2GHZ iBook goes for

$999 retail vs. $1499 for the 12" Powerbook, the iBook is a terrific deal. And if you don't

need the latest and greatest, a previous-generation or refurbished iBook can be an even

better deal: I purchased my brand new 1GHZ iBook for $650.

 

OS X is incredibly stable and fast and when an application does crash (rarely) it is a non-

event since it doesn't take everything else with it. Add to this the fact that OS X is not

vulnerable to any viruses, adware, spyware, etc. and it seems to be a No Brainer purchase

decision.

[erickpro]

I will have to again, respectfully disagree with G. V.

 

ibooks are slower. Apply blur, work with many layers, save files, batch process files and powerbooks will do that faster than an ibook.

 

People say they appear to be tougher because they are made of plastic. So please tell me, appearance is what you say it is but is it really?

 

Why is an ibook really tougher than a powerbook?

[erickpro]

"iBook goes for $999 retail vs. $1499 "

 

On a powerbook you are buying faster processor, faster memory on your video card, very stilish aluminum instead of schoolish plastic and video files as well as images will render a lot faster for example an ibook will take 20 seconds to render a file and a powerbook will take 10 seconds.

 

Powerbook G4 1.5GHz

ibook G4 1.33ghz

 

If they weren't that much different, why would people buy them?

[tom_herman1]

Also consider:

 

12" iBooks are NOT available with DVD burner.

Std memory = measly 256MB, slower 256 MHz.

Std HDD = 30GB, slow 4200rpm.

Optional HDD = 80GB, slow 4200rpm.

 

12" Power Books ARE available with optional DVD burner.

Std memory = adequate 512MB, faster 333 MHz.

Std HDD = 60GB, faster 5400rpm.

Optional HDD = 100GB, faster 5400rpm.

 

The iBook is a "value", entry-level notebook, and the key specs show why.

 

When one considers the 12" Powerbook's faster processor, faster & larger memory, faster & larger HDD, and available DVD burner, it's a much better machine all around.

[lex_jenkins]

Abid, among Windows based notebooks the Dell 6000 is one of the current hot ticket items due to its affordable base price and generous battery life (supposedly five hours between charges).

 

To get a compromise between speed and battery life the 6000 uses a Pentium M rather than the technically faster Pentium 4 or Athlon 64. But it seems reasonably peppy for a low to midrange notebook.

 

I played around with one at a local Dell shop and found it generally satisfactory, comparable to other similarly priced notebooks in terms of speed, keyboard feel, etc.

 

FWIW, most of the complaints I've heard about the Dell 6000 center on customer support, not hardware quality (unlike my cousin's base model Dell desktop, which has suffered numerous quality control problems - but customer support were helpful and courteous).

 

The 6000 is available for well under $1,000 with the smaller hard drive, less memory, low grade display, etc. To get one that's suitable for routine photo processing you'll want to upgrade to a faster hard drive (they offer optional 7200 rpm drives), better (and more expensive) display, more memory (probably cheaper to add it yourself after buying it from newegg or some other source), and at least a CD burner if not a DVD burner, and possibly a faster CPU and Windows XP Media Center. Dell's online calculator came up with a price of $1,400-$1,500 for a 6000 customized to my preferences.

 

However the 6000 isn't a true lightweight. It weighs about six pounds or so. But the affordable true lightweights I've seen are only minimally useful for image editing - better than just a portable storage device like an Epson P2000, but not real desktop replacements.

 

BTW, to get the discount prices for Dell stuff (25%, I think, for the 6000), you'll need to navigate around their website for their e-code thingie. Otherwise Dell's notebooks aren't especially attractively priced.

[sl attanapola]

Things to consider if buying a Windows based pc

 

1.)Buy one with a Pentium M processor.This is clock for clock faster than the Pentium 4 which only was made since it could scale to higher clock frequencies than the previous Pentium 3 on which the Pentium M is based on.

However due to the change in architechure the Pentium 4 is less efficient than either a Pentium 3 or Pentium M and hence needs to have a higher clock frequency in the first place! This is the same reason why lower clocked AMD Atlon 64 and Atlon XP processors are comparable to higher clocked Pentium 4's.

 

The Pentium M also runs cooler than most of it's compatriates and consumes less energy.

 

 

NEVER BUY A CELERON!

 

 

2.)Make sure you hard disk is fast enough.My old notebook had a 40gb 4200rpm 2mb cache drive.I replaced this with a 60gb 8MB cache 7200RPM drive and the speed increase was noticeable

 

3.)Buy as much memory as you can afford.Since notebooks have only 2 memory slots usually buying less memeory now means you may have to remove it when upgrading.

 

Try to start off with 1gb

 

4.)Make sure that the back of the screen is reinforced/solid.If it flexes easily avoid it as this means the screen could get damaged easily.

 

5.)Due to the memory issues I mentioned earlier AVOID shared graphics as this limits the amount you start off with.Even a dedicated graphics card with 16mb/32mb memory such as Geforce4 or Trident XP4 should be OK.This is providing of course you do not play games!

[sl attanapola]

Have you considered the Sony Vaio S series?

 

These are really small and lightweight "powerhouses"!

 

http://www.vaio.sony-europe.com/ShowProduct.do?site=ite_en_GB&category=VN+S+Series&product=VGN-S3HP

 

Alternatively also consider the Samsung X series

 

http://www.samsung.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecuk/product/product_type.jsp?

categoryPath=%2fSEUK+Products%2fIT+%26+Business+Related+Product%2fNotebook+PC

[eric_m4]

I didn't read every comment but one thing that should be considered is that laptop screens change contrast/saturation with just a slight head tilt. I use my laptop to fix up images sometimes when I'm in a hurry, but when you really want to fine tune an image it can be a little tricky. I guess it depends how picky you are. I'm not sure how much color calibration devices/software can help with laptops.

 

Eric