New System: desktop, laptop, netbook?

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Gna

But if you keep insisting on reinventing the wheel, and on ignoring what the overwhelming majority of mobile (photo)graphics pros use, please be my guest. I wish you good luck. You clearly need it.

Thought you sounded familiar...

[Mr. Pickles]

My only thinking on "disposable" laptops is the EXTERNAL screen ability. On some of them, the built-in screen looks good. Hook an external one up to it and it doesn't look so good. I believe it is the external's ability to display everything. I think some skimp on that part a bit. But I could be wrong.

[Gna]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pickles

My only thinking on "disposable" laptops is the EXTERNAL screen ability. On some of them, the built-in screen looks good. Hook an external one up to it and it doesn't look so good. I believe it is the external's ability to display everything. I think some skimp on that part a bit. But I could be wrong.

No, you're quite right, Mr. Pickles. Which is another reason I advocate that unmentionable mobile workstation: out of the box it can drive two external monitors! Up to and including 30" ones!

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Gna

No, you're quite right, Mr. Pickles. Which is another reason I advocate that unmentionable mobile workstation: out of the box it can drive two external monitors! Up to and including 30" ones!

Love how the whole ban thing really works around here...

[Gna]

Here:

HP ENVY 13 and 15 bring luxury to everyman

Have a deniable one!

[rockvillage]

So, I am looking for something to put my pictures on when out doing pictures. I don't plan on doing much photo editing with them; I would stick with the desktop for that. But I want something that has an excellent picture display. Some laptops make even great pictures look awful.

I am thinking I want a large screen (17" or so) so that the picture can be easily seen. Perhaps that is foolish, because of course the laptop will weigh more than a smaller one.

We have a windows network, so I lean towards that operating system.

Thoughts on either the laptop size or specific recommendations for good laptop displays?

[JDArt]

Originally Posted by Gna

NetBooks are nice, cheap, lightweight, small, and portable. But they stink with graphics apps. They haven't got the processing power nor the screen real estate graphical editing requires. I would assume they suck as a gaming machine too, for that lack of processing power.

I've used one now for a few weeks, and I agree with you on all counts. In fact, I am dumping the netbook (reselling) and will look at something like the Dell Studio 14z. I need power and reasonable screen real estate. The battery life of the netbook I mentioned is amazing, but in the end I'm addicted to performance.

[Dirk]

if you want a net book that can do photoshop reasonable you have to have at least 2gb ram, and a large hard disk of 250 gb to be at least , but then you probably spend more than a normal laptop , i have good experiences with Toshiba , i have a Tecra it is a business laptop but does it's job real good , the new satelite sereiers seems to be good too

if it was me i also bought a good desktop system too , laptops or notebooks are nice but not so expandable as a desktop and you can work with lager files ..

i have been looking to netbooks too but i still haven't found one that is affordable and fills my needs..

[brian.austin]

I picked up a refurbished Toshiba Satellite from Fry's Electronics a few weeks ago. The 16" LED-lit screen was bigger than I intended but it's a very nice screen and I fell in love with them on my Samsung TV.

With the extended battery that was on special with it, I can get over 4 hours of runtime with hard use or push it to 5+ if I'm conserving energy.

Processing-wise, it's not bad. Windows Vista 64-bit with 4GB of RAM. It has a dedicated ATI video card with 512MB on it. 500GB hard drive. Lots of nicer features. Surprisingly, it wasn't too loaded down with crapware.

Lightroom installs in 64-bit automatically but I put the 32-bit version of CS3 on it by mistake. I'll probably just leave it since I'll be moving to Windows 7 and rebuilding it later this year anyway. It came with a free upgrade.

Overall, I'm happy with the decision. It's a nice compromise on everything I wanted.

[Athena]

sigh - now that leaves me to make my decision. Same question at hand - replace the desktop with another desktop or with an intense laptop (have a laptop, need more power)... Why are these answers never easy for me?

[Gna]

Originally Posted by Athena

sigh - now that leaves me to make my decision. Same question at hand - replace the desktop with another desktop or with an intense laptop (have a laptop, need more power)... Why are these answers never easy for me?

Because you make a problem of them.

It is always a trade-off: if you want 'enough' portable processing power and screen real estate you'll have to pay for it. If you don't want to pay for it you won't get 'enough' portable processing power and screen real estate.
Simple enough.
You choose.

[Athena]

I want a laptop, but frankly my biggest hang up is that I want another USB plug on the 15" model. To get it, I must move up to 17" and then it becomes less portable (my existing laptop is 17", so I know this) and then I start considering a desktop again - the HD space and extra ram space is enticing. It goes 'round and 'round like this. I am beginning to believe my only option is to get both.

[Gna]

Originally Posted by Athena

I want a laptop, but frankly my biggest hang up is that I want another USB plug on the 15" model. To get it, I must move up to 17" and then it becomes less portable (my existing laptop is 17", so I know this) and then I start considering a desktop again - the HD space and extra ram space is enticing. It goes 'round and 'round like this. I am beginning to believe my only option is to get both.

So get a USB splitter with your 15" laptop (an MBP?). Or this one.

[Athena]

yeah, I have one of those, but my external drive needs both plugs to go into the laptop or it has power issues. Maybe there is a power adapter for it, but that sort of reduces mobility, ya know?

[Gna]

Originally Posted by Athena

yeah, I have one of those, but my external drive needs both plugs to go into the laptop or it has power issues. Maybe there is a power adapter for it, but that sort of reduces mobility, ya know?

So you schlepp an external HD around as well? Small wonder your mobility is compromised.

Why not get wireless internet so you can leave everything but that MBP at home? You can upload and download anything you like, and it saves you schlepping external HDs and USB hubs.