Looking for laptop advice - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

05/25/2005 08:59:53 AM · #27

This is another great reason for turning to the super-robust Apple Powerbook. They are gearing their products very much towards the mobile photographer too.

You will simply never look back. The software migration path (carrying over your network settings and other data when upgrading machines) is virtually flawless, which I find to be a major advantage, and their innovation in design and software is obviously legendary. As Zeus said, the Apple platform frees you up to work rather than navigate.

Cheers
J

PaulMdx

Canon EOS-1D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

05/25/2005 09:10:58 AM · #28

I believe I get to use a wheel mouse on a Mac these days?

awpollard

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

05/25/2005 09:29:53 AM · #29

The Crystal View Monitor on the Fujitsu N6000 is just awesome. I work for a sister company to Fujitsu PC and believe me in the past I would would have said steer clear of the fujitsu laptops, but they did a big turn around over there and are producing top of the line stuff now. Mobile PC Magazine is putting them above the Dells and Compaqs for bang for buck. The 3.2G with 1M L2 Cache flys...I Like the one with the 16:9 screen...

Andy

Message edited by author 2005-05-25 09:30:46.

colda

Nikon D800

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

05/25/2005 09:36:19 AM · #30

I like the idea of a mac laptop but Fedora 4 will be released in a couple of weeks so I need one that is PC based :)

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

05/25/2005 09:42:50 AM · #31

A gaming laptop is great for photography due to the speed and graphics. Have you viewed AlienWare Area-51m 7700? They are expensive starting about $2200 and up but very powerful. You can follow the link and configure for your needs.

PaulMdx

Canon EOS-1D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

05/25/2005 09:57:05 AM · #32

Originally posted by SDW65:

AlienWare Area-51m 7700

12.5 lbs? (5.66 kg)

That's like carrying a small notebook and a breeze block! ;-)

carisakD70

Nikon D70

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

05/27/2005 12:30:23 PM · #33

Thank you soooo much for all of the advice. Now I have a starting point to work from.

Sorry to all the Mac fans, but I just can't justify three things...

1. Macs ARE more expensive (at least so far from what I have found)
2. I can barely afford one copy of PS (and that is only because I am a studetn) let alone get one Mac and one PC.
3. I am a creature of habit, and will admit I simply don't want to go to the trouble of learning a new system.

I love the idea of the pen and screen thing!! I didn't know such a thing existed!! I have a graphire tablet and love it with the desktop.

Again, thanks for the input...I will let you know what I decide.

I am leaning more towards power and am willing to sacrifice a little on portability (aka weight to drag around)

chalice

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

05/27/2005 12:56:41 PM · #34

For whatever it's worth, I use a Dell laptop (Inspiron 5100) with extra RAM. It's a workhorse with no problems at all. Good value. PhotoShop works well on it (as well as a slew of non-photo programs required for my day job.) Of course, I only know what I have experienced. (Never tried a Mac and probably have missed a good experience there too.) I don't see how you can go wrong with the Dell. Get the extra warranty. A friend of mine managed to drop hers and they fixed it gratis in a few days.

By the way, with my relatively low-end point and shoot camera, I need all the PS help I can get. (Now to get to the next level... Nikon or Canon. I can hardly wait.)

Message edited by author 2005-05-27 13:00:20.

debbybris

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

05/27/2005 01:02:51 PM · #35

I have dell too, and you can get some good deals. I am really pleased with mine. I got the extra warrenty too, and thankfully nothing has happened to mine. But it is so reasurring reading this thread that dell repair quickly without any problems should anything happen, and that must put anyone's mind at ease when your've purchased a laptop.

Skyarcher

Canon EOS-5D

05/29/2005 10:43:12 AM · #36

Newbie here, hi everyone, thought this was good place to start.

I have Compaq Presario that is ancient. So, after weeks of searching different laptops that needed to handle specific tasks and talking to everyone I knew who had laptops I finally ordered one yesterday.

I went the customized route, since it had to be able to handle heavy graphics processing and camera functions for astro work. It's heavy and will be memory hog, but the pros, for what I need it to do, are worth the cons.

HP Pavillion zd8000 Customizable NB: Win XP Pro, P4 650w/HT Tech, 3.4GHz
17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Viewing
100GB 5400rpm HD
DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X600
and a few other things...

I ordered the lowest RAM that I could, 256MB DDR2, 400MHz, and am ordering 2GB RAM from //www.crucial.com

I'm going to be biting my nails until it gets here, which isn't until near the end of June.

-Christine

cbeller

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

05/29/2005 10:59:37 AM · #37

I'd also recommend a Powerbook as the best option for what you are doing.

However, since you want to stay with Windows, I would recommend an IBM T42p Thinkpad. If you get the "p" series it includes the higher-end graphics card. I believe they will also take up to 2GB of RAM and has built in wireless.

A Sony Vaio may also be worth looking into.

crabappl3

05/29/2005 11:05:25 AM · #38

I've had Dell and Toshiba and neither compare to quality and feel of my IBM T41. I would not own anything other than an IBM. This is the first laptop I've had that I actually have no problem working on with it in my lap. :-)

crab says check out IBM!

-danny

gaurawa

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/29/2005 11:20:50 AM · #39

Originally posted by mk:

Originally posted by gaurawa:

I have owned Dell's Inspirion 600m and IBM Thinkpad T41 and I can say the feel and built of ibm is much better than the Dell. Dell is cheaper and you get more for your money, but I prefer the IBM built. It looks more professional :)
Also Dell doesn't have anything 1" thick. the minimum they go is 1.2" I think.

That's funny. I have a Thinkpad and I think it's ugly as heck. However, I much prefer the trackpoint mouse to the...whatever the other one is called. IBM has both but you can no longer get the trackpoint on a Dell.

Really ? hmmm I like my T41 a lot. its sleek and its compact and its very well built. And yes the trackpoint mouse I feel is much better than touch pad mouse.

gaurawa

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/29/2005 11:22:22 AM · #40

Originally posted by crabappl3:

Yes, I agree. IBM laptops are much better than Dell or Toshiba.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

06/01/2005 03:42:57 PM · #41

*sheesh*

I just checked out Mac, I mean some aspects are tempting. Although I am not completely sure how much of the mythos I buy. (I owned a Powerbook 520 way back when and well....wasn't all that impressed by Mac. The trackpad was nice but I did not find the OS "easier" than Windows. And I found a lot of system tasks as or more complicated on Windows. Oh, yes...my school was Mac based and they crashed ALL the time!

But I have been curious about the current state of Mac since moving to BSD for their OS.

What shocks me (besides the sticker prices) is the fact that you cannot get a G5 Powerbook. ????

Excuse me....get with the program Apple. There is a reason why 17" notebooks exist. The desknote is specifically for those who want the power of a desktop workstation in a portable form factor.

If they had such and it wasn't ghastly over-priced, I'd actually toy with the idea of getting a PB.

Message edited by author 2005-06-01 15:44:48.

Montereykiddo

Nikon D300

06/01/2005 04:04:01 PM · #42

Originally posted by Skyarcher:

I'm going to be biting my nails until it gets here, which isn't until near the end of June.

-Christine

Christine,

I too am biting my nails unitil my new 15" 1.67Ghz POWERBOOK arrives. I've been tracking the shipping and it went from China to Kentucky. Now, it just needs to hurry up and make ti over to California! I've done a lot fo research and have only heard GREAT things about the Powerbooks.

Estimated arrival is tomorrow!!!!

Chris

06/01/2005 04:08:40 PM · #43

The problem is Mac is missing the point (and they haven't done that in a while....not since Jobs came back).

The point is the world is going mobile. They're releasing a G5 iMac...!@#$%

iMac = low-end

17" laptop = power-user

Both systems are compact, condensed. Why in the world they'd bother putting a G5 in an iMac and not offer it in their 17" desknote is beyond me.

Stuff like that really bothers me for considering a switch to a platform.

Nusbaum

Fujifilm X-T1

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

06/01/2005 04:15:29 PM · #44

Originally posted by theSaj:

I was about to go off on the "lack of knowledge" comment about the mac boys earlier... but life is too short to get wound up over such things. Maybe next time I make it out east we'll have a couple of beers, lay the powerbook next to the wintel laptop of your choice, and have a interesting debate... I'll even bring along my ThinkPad T41 if that helps.

In the end the laptop is just a tool and all really matters is your eye and your commitment to the art of photography.

06/01/2005 04:23:15 PM · #45

Nusbaum...

It's a deal, although I've found from my experience with both Windows and Mac laptops that both can drive one toward the art of frisbee...

As for the beer, I'll pour you something special...

How's a Dogfish Head 120 Minute Indian Pale Ale...a beer quite unlike any other!

DanSig

06/01/2005 04:23:18 PM · #46

Originally posted by theSaj:

as for the mac, after the change from OS9 to OSX (UNIX) then the problem of the computer freezing is over, my G5 has been running for 18 months without a single freeze, it just works :) and...

a G5 powerbook will be available when they can find a way too cool it without the 6"x6"x8" heatsink, I doubt you would like a laptop the size of a desktop ;)

I have a powerbook, it's the 12" 867MHz and it has plenty power for all I need to do on my laptop, I can edit my photos in the field with photoshop CS and I use Illustrator CS on it to, I have never felt the need for a more powerful or bigger laptop, I use my G5 at home and during normal photoshop editing I can hardly feel the difference between the two, even though the G5 is a dual 2GHz with 1.5GB DDR, the laptop is powerful enough for normal work, but it's no gaming machine for that it's too slow ;)

as for price, the Mac is NOT more expencive than PC, you can not compare a custom built noname PC with the G5, you need to compare it with a computer of similar power, quality and service, like the dual 3GHz Xeon from DELL, wich costs almost twice what the dual G5 costs.

and for the laptops, the G4 1.5GHz is very similar in power as the 2.7GHz P4, and to compare prices is very hard, the powerbook is made of aluminum and a very compact design, while the PC's are made of plastic and almost double the size of the powerbook, but if you want to compare prices, compare the powerbook with the best from DELL or the SONY VAIO.

Message edited by author 2005-06-01 16:27:38.

Jason

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

06/01/2005 04:30:27 PM · #47

I will stay out of the maufactuer war and just stick to features. Obviously load it up on RAM and to me a wide screen is a god send for working with photos.

Also a firewaire port is really nice. Makes moving images really nice. I just plug a firewire external drive into my laptop and copy images over to it. Unpug he drive and plug it into your desktop PC and you have all your images there now.

Message edited by author 2005-06-01 16:31:55.

06/01/2005 04:32:47 PM · #48

Don't care much for Dell or SONY....

sage