Laptop for phot editing etc!

[niall_church]

I have been offered a toshiba satillite 100-240 pspa3e laptop!

Would this be suitable for photo editing etc!

[eugene_scherba]

Not really. See the <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?

msg_id=00KIfk&tag=">the recent thread</a> on how poor the MacBook Pro LCD screen is

at displaying colors compared to a desktop Apple Cinema Display (and MacBook Pro has

probably the best display of all the laptops out there!).

[niall_church]

So, if not a laptop what would you recommend!

[Ed_Ingold]

The biggest problem with a laptop is the screen and its calibration. Laptop screens are dim, inconsistent, and have a narrow viewing angle. Use a laptop for triage and emergencies, but attach a desktop screen for serious editing. A good keyboard wouldn't hurt either. Get a docking bay or port expander for your home setup. Other than that, get the fastest computer with the largest drive you can afford, and install at least 2G of RAM.

[Ed_Ingold]

A Toshiba Satellite (sic) is perfectly capable of photo editing. Additional memory for a Toshiba is very affordable. I have a Toshiba Tecra 1.6GHz Centrino with 2G RAM, which I use for travel. At home, you can get a good 19" LCD monitor for about $300 or less (there's a jump between 19 and 20 inches). I use a Viewsonic VP191 (marked for professional graphics) which calibrates well (Eye One Photo). I'd never go back to a CRT, even if one were available.

[godfrey]

I don't know enough about the Toshiba to comment on it specifically.

 

If you want to use a laptop, you can't go wrong with an Apple MacBook Pro and an external

monitor (Apple Cinema Display 20" or 23") for critical color balance work. The laptop

monitor can be pretty good but I would not rely upon it for critical color balancing and

finishing work.

 

For a desktop system, an iMac or Mac Pro with the same monitor is an excellent system to

work with.

 

IN addition to any of the above, or the Toshiba, the Xrite Eye One Display 2 calibration unit

is an essental accessory IMO.

 

Godfrey

[Tim_Lookingbill]

I got a refurbed 2004 20" G5 iMac for under $1200 recently, my

first LCD. I'ld been using a 2000 Pismo Powerbook which has a

terrible TN panel and couldn't be used to even get a color match

after EyeOne calibration against the attached calibrated CRT.

 

There is a marked difference in image quality and color

matching between the iMac screen and the Pismo display. Just

using the iMac's canned factory profile or calibrating using

Apple's eyeball calibrator gave spot on colors in an AdobeRGB

PDI color calibration target viewed next to my CRT, but it had

slight banding in the 3/4 tone regions. Haven't calibrated it yet

with the EyeOne.

[robcarlimages.com]

My Dell Latitude D820 has been doing a fine job for the past eight months. I profiled it with a Spyder and I've had to do very little, if any, color adjustment after transferring the files to my workstation (also profiled with same Spyder) at home. You should just try to make sure that the screen isn't in a power saving mode when editing.

[r_johnston]

The Toshiba, is not a Mac, and Ive been using one for two years. Don't know about this particular model Mine is P35 and it is so good bought my wife another. Love this 17" screen, and the Brightness is adjustable with the excellent software Toshiba includes. Ive used many computers including three Dell's since 1978, and in my opinion the Toshiba is the very best.

 

If the screen which does not seem bright enough, it is probably set for maximum battery life. Check it before you buy it, just click on the Toshiba control software, in the tray and check.

 

Some are even set to about half the available brightness.