Another laptop dilemma - DPChallenge Forums

Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra

12/18/2008 02:50:52 AM · #1

I do my work (not much...) on my Toshiba Satellite 10, 1G RAM (maximum!), 120G HDD, and 500G external HDD and a Philips 19" monitor.

At work (not photo related) I use a MacBookPro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz 2 GB RAM which made me think more about migrating to Mac... But what a cost.

It is time (and Christmas) to upgrade my computing device and I was advised to built a desktop.

Here in Hong Kong the new Mac Pro is HKD15,400 (USD2053)

Today I run into this offer: a Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 this configuration at HKD6480(USD864).

At this configuration Core 2 Duo T5670 / 1.8 GHz - Centrino - RAM 2 GB - HDD 160 GB - DVD-Writer comes with an NVidia 9300 @128MB plus a free upgrade to 4G RAM.

Would you pleazzze advise:

1) Keep saving for the Mac (I am not 100% sure)
2) Built my own Desktop PC (with a budget of USD850)
3) Go for the up-mentioned offer (for me looks like a OK configuration for PS work)

*Note that I have the cash now.

Many thanks

Message edited by author 2008-12-18 02:52:05.

crayon

12/18/2008 03:04:18 AM · #2

Originally posted by Tiberius:

2) Built my own Desktop PC (with a budget of USD850)
3) Go for the up-mentioned offer (for me looks like a OK configuration for PS work)

i'd pick on of the 2 above. if you're lazy, just pick the 3rd choice.
add another USD200 and get yourself a nice LARGE crystal-WXGA screen.

Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra

12/18/2008 03:06:17 AM · #3

Originally posted by crayon:

Originally posted by Tiberius:

2) Built my own Desktop PC (with a budget of USD850)
3) Go for the up-mentioned offer (for me looks like a OK configuration for PS work)

i'd pick on of the 2 above. if you're lazy, just pick the 3rd choice.
add another USD200 and get yourself a nice LARGE crystal-WXGA screen.

It's not laziness. I enjoy it. I just consider the portability in case needed.

Thanks for the input.

crayon

12/18/2008 03:15:40 AM · #4

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Originally posted by crayon:

Originally posted by Tiberius:

2) Built my own Desktop PC (with a budget of USD850)
3) Go for the up-mentioned offer (for me looks like a OK configuration for PS work)

i'd pick on of the 2 above. if you're lazy, just pick the 3rd choice.
add another USD200 and get yourself a nice LARGE crystal-WXGA screen.

It's not laziness. I enjoy it. I just consider the portability in case needed.

Thanks for the input.

the good thing about a Lenovo (IBM) ThinkPad is that their designs are kinda evergreen, in the sense that it does not go outdated as fast as the other fancier looking laptops out there.
EDIT to add: the downside is also that people wont know whether you're holding a new laptop or an old one (some people like to show off new toys)

Message edited by author 2008-12-18 03:16:31.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

12/18/2008 04:20:55 AM · #5

Originally posted by crayon:

Hehe

Don't really care about the look.

spiritualspatula

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

12/18/2008 08:06:57 AM · #6

First consider if you really want a Mac or not. Will you need to buy new versions of software because you've already gone a fair distance down the PC route? How familiar, comfortable, and fond of Mac OS and hardware are you?
Depending upon these questions, a Mac may or may not be your best choice, so you need to figure that out.
IMHO, saving for something that is better because it better suits your needs is always a wiser than "making do."
Also, think about what the portability is worth for you. You will always find a more powerful system for less money in a desktop.
I personally use a Thinkpad (T61P). If you intend to really move your system around a lot and think it might incur some abuse, the Thinkpad is far superior in terms of durability. I think a case could be made for the Thinkpad's keyboard being superior as well.
For what it's worth, the Thinkpad's routinely go on super sales, often around holidays (at least for the US), so waiting for the New Year might be prudent, if you do decide to go that route. (also, they send me offers periodically, so I could forward them to you if I do get any so keep me posted if you're interested)

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

12/18/2008 08:53:33 AM · #7

Thank you very much spiritualspatula.

In terms of processor is the Core 2 Duo T5670 / 1.8 GHz good / fast enough for photo editing? Would a desktop give that much of an improvement over it?

TrollMan

Fujifilm X-T4

Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4

12/18/2008 09:00:06 AM · #8

The best PC for the job is a Mac! :)

*runs and hides behind a rock*

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

12/18/2008 09:05:52 AM · #9

I am currently in the process of building my next PC, so that would obviously be my suggestion.

What I already have:
-Antec Sonata III case w. 500w power supply
-Diamond Radeon 4650 video card
-LG DVD burner
-4Gb Corsair DDR2 800 ram

Still to obtain:
-Considering an AMD Phenom Quad core CPU and Asus motherboard. (Yes, I know Intel currently has the top performing CPU, however, I go for bang for the buck, and I like AMD.)
-Whatever SATA hard drive I pick up on sale. Probably 500 or 750Gb odel
-Existing keyboard, mouse & monitors
-Windows Vista Home premium or Ultimate

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

12/18/2008 09:58:00 AM · #10

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Thank you very much spiritualspatula.

In terms of processor is the Core 2 Duo T5670 / 1.8 GHz good / fast enough for photo editing? Would a desktop give that much of an improvement over it?

1.8 is a little slow compared to what else is available. There are a lot of laptops available that are 2.4 or faster. However, desktops currently have the fastest processors of what's available. Also, the internal HD is a little small though if you're using externals that's not really an issue.

If you go this route definitely take advantage of the free RAM upgrade to 4GB.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

12/18/2008 10:03:48 AM · #11

I have a 1.86Ghz core2 duo at work. Using PaintShop Pro, it seems moderately faster than my 5 year old Athlon 2000 at home. I don't think PSP makes any use of the multiple CPU cores, however, and I only have 1Gb of ram in this work machine. (*ONLY* 1Gb? That was a good amount of hard drive space not long ago, now it is only a modest amount of RAM!)

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

12/18/2008 10:29:30 AM · #12

Originally posted by TrollMan:

The best PC for the job is a Mac! :)

*runs and hides behind a rock*

Agreed.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/18/2008 12:58:07 PM · #13

i've got a core2 duo centrino @ 1.8ghz - 2G ddr2 ram - 200G HD - in my sony laptop -w win Vista 32bit home premium. seems to run lightroom2, and PSCS3 pretty well. it's actually the same speed and similar config to my desktop which also runs both apps smoothly. i paid $550 USD for it last june. and $700 for the desktop a year ago november ( i think ).

of course more IS better when it comes to heavy demand apps like CS3/4 and lightroom. but at a cost of course.

my opinion on MACS - they are over priced - for what you get. we have a macbook running a 2G intel cpu. it cost twice as much as my sony 'PC' and has a much smaller monitor.

apple IMO - is pricing and marekting themselves for trouble. as they realize that - the prices will drop substantially - or they'll be back where they were in 2000'ish - marketshare-wise... they're already running into with the IPODs...

Message edited by author 2008-12-18 13:00:59.

digitalpins

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

12/18/2008 01:00:05 PM · #14

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Originally posted by TrollMan:
The best PC for the job is a Mac! :)

*runs and hides behind a rock*

Agreed.

same here

Message edited by author 2008-12-18 13:00:43.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

12/18/2008 01:20:08 PM · #15

I think Apple is maintaining themselves as the luxury sports car brand. They don't care to have the market share that MS has. They are making a nice profit they way they are going. I have both Macs and PC's, but primary computer is (once again) going to be a PC, because it is more of an open platform and I can roll my own killer system for less $$ than a Mac Mini. Plus, I would have to reinvest in all new software. I may try building a "Hackintosh" at some point, but not right now.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/18/2008 01:24:42 PM · #16

they'll never have the marketshare MS does - and i think they know that. but when the luxury brand becomes essentially an economy car in most respects -w a luxury branded emblem on the front - it's going to bite them in the ass...

i think that time is coming sooner than later.

Originally posted by yospiff:

12/18/2008 06:39:54 PM · #17

Thank you all.

Any other opinions?

I might go for the Lenovo...

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/19/2008 08:48:29 PM · #18

I bought the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 Core 2 Duo 2GHz - HDD 320 GB - DVD-Writer comes with an NVidia 9300 @128MB 2G RAM. Vista business 14.1 screen

Everything is very smooth only that is glossy, the lid is piano finish and full of fingerprints and is a bit heavy 2.5Kg

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Message edited by author 2008-12-19 20:48:48.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

12/19/2008 09:49:06 PM · #19

happy happy

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED

12/20/2008 04:50:21 AM · #20

Actually vista is not that bad...

mileskea

Nikon D700

12/20/2008 05:19:17 AM · #21

Originally posted by TrollMan:

The best PC for the job is a Mac! :)

*runs and hides behind a rock*

Typical - people who recommend MACs generally use a Canon!

Macs are good for the niche graphic studio market but in the real world they are nothing but eye candy. Sure they look good but that shouldn't be a basis for buying a tool.

Like it or not the worlds software is developed for the PC first

Message edited by author 2008-12-20 05:20:19.

Covert_Oddity

Nikon D700

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

12/20/2008 05:32:51 AM · #22

I use a Macs at home and I love them, wouldn't go back to PC. But if you already use Macs at work then you know what they are like and if you are still considering PC's on a price basis then that may be the route you want to go down.

Couple of things to note though:

The current Macbook Pro is much higher spec than the Lenovo you are looking at, at a minimum it's 2.4GHz, higher spec vid card, hard disk almost 100G larger and you will REALLY appreciate that in a laptop, though it does have less RAM after the free U/G.

Also with the Mac, if / when a new OS comes out and you want to upgrade, you'll probably pay way less than you would for the full featured MS equivalent, though not enough less to justify the extra cost.

I've also found that the average life of a Mac is considerably more than that of a PC (I think it's down to the OS being lighter weight and not eating up resources), and when you come to sell the resell value will be higher, again, probably not quite enough to make up for the difference but definitely worth thinking about.

However what spiritualspatula say's is also a very valid point, you need to consider software costs if you have already made a lot of investments in PC stuff. If that's not the case then you don't need to worry there.

Hope I haven't confused you yet more! If you do go for the PC, particularly for a laptop, I would definitely consider a larger HD or you are quickly going to find you need to carry a portable HD about with you all the time as your photos swallow up all the space!

*Edit - Just spotted you already made your decision, hmm, should really read the whole thread before posting.

Message edited by author 2008-12-20 05:39:46.