<p>Hi everyone. Thank you for the great feedback.</p>
<p>The main reason for laptop vs desktop is a practical one. My wife and I will be sharing the laptop as our main home PC and the 17” screen and portability aspect works better for her than a desktop, so that’s what we’ll go with. I’d be okay with a 15” (or smaller) for surfing and then connecting to a larger external monitor when editing, but that isn’t good for her needs and that’s a major component for me in all this.</p>
<p>As noted, I’m kind of a “newbie” in photography, and that’s why I truly appreciate the “what’s essential and what isn’t” information you can provide. As an example, I realize having at least a shared SSD drive for the OS and other programs is an advantage; but if a standalone 1TB HDD at 7200 RPM will more than take care of what I want to do, then I am absolutely fine with that; same with the graphics. I don’t want to splurge in one area where it really wouldn’t benefit me and discount another aspect where “more” would actually be better.</p>
<p>My budget limit is $1300.00. I’ve always had good luck, reliability and satisfaction at Best Buy, so I will probably purchase there. To be honest, their financing and price matching helps out too. Below are three laptops I’ve seen which I’ve been considering:</p>
<p><strong>HP Envy m7-n109dx</strong> (<a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-17-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-silver/4632100.p?id=1219780991289&skuId=4632100">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-17-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-silver/4632100.p?id=1219780991289&skuId=4632100</a></p>
<p><strong>Asus ROG G751JTWH71WX</strong> (<a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/4714300.p?id=1219807029424&skuId=4714300">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/4714300.p?id=1219807029424&skuId=4714300</a>)</p>
<p><strong>MSI GE72 APACHE PRO-029</strong> (<a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-ge72-apache-pro-029-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-aluminum-black/4556210.p?id=1219766808108&skuId=4556210">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-ge72-apache-pro-029-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-aluminum-black/4556210.p?id=1219766808108&skuId=4556210</a>)</p>
<p>They all look very nice to me, especially considering that we’re coming from several years old HP and Gateway laptops. I know the Asus has an IPS panel, while the other two do not.</p>
<p>Thank you again!</p>