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Laptop for photo editing

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lawhoo

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I'm a photography enthusiast working primarily in Photoshop and Lightroom. My laptop is my only computer, and my professional work relies largely on basic office applications. I do a fair amount with panoramas that might contain as many as 10-12 individual photos, resulting in some really large files. As you can imagine, this process can be painstaking on a three-year-old laptop, and I'm looking to get a new one. I know that desktops can be more powerful and that separate monitors are generally better for RGB gamut and color accuracy. But I need--and, frankly, prefer--the mobility of a laptop. And the components available in new laptops (perhaps with the exception of the display) are plenty for me, I'm sure. Plus I have the option of connecting to an external monitor for finish work.

So, I've tentatively narrowed my choices to three new models: Sony Vaio F series, HP 8540w, and Lenovo W510. The basic configuration I'm planning is this:
  • i7-720 or -820 processor
  • 8GB RAM
  • GPU with 1GB video RAM
  • 500GB/7,200 rpm HDD (with possible upgrade to SSD in a year or so, when prices drop)
  • 15-17" screen, full HD (1920x1080) display (preferably anti-glare with 95-100% RGB gamut)
  • Blu-ray burner
Each of the three models has things to recommend it. I expect the Sony to be the most affordable, since the HP and Lenovo are both business-class laptops. The HP isn't yet available in my configuration, but it should be in the near future. The display is a concern in the Sony and the HP, mainly because neither maker reports the RGB gamut of its display. Owners of the Sony on notebookreview.com pretty uniformly love the display once they calibrate it. The HP was just released today (2/1), so I haven't seen any reviews of the display.

Does anyone question any of my specs? Any thoughts on how much a priority I should make of the display's RGB gamut or what amount of coverage is sufficient? I've read elsewhere in this forum that gamut isn't all it's cracked up to be and that displays with 100+% gamut can actually be problematic for normal office applications. Since this laptop has to do it all, am I better off just getting a solid full HD display, calibrating it, and relying on an external monitor (also calibrated) for particular projects that demand the greatest colorspace?
 
I have a FW series Sony laptop with a 16" screen. This is a very well built machine. I don't have the latest processer/video card, etc. but everything just flys with Win 7 64 bit.

The big problem of course is the screen. An external monitor will fix this problem
--
Gary
 
GaryL said:
I have a FW series Sony laptop with a 16" screen. This is a very well built machine. I don't have the latest processer/video card, etc. but everything just flys with Win 7 64 bit.

The big problem of course is the screen. An external monitor will fix this problem
Click to expand...
Care to elaborate? What's the problem with that screen?
--
Dez

http://photos.dezmix.com

 
In addition to the 3 models mentioned in my original post, I've also discovered the soon-to-be-released Asus G73. It's marketed as a gaming laptop, but I wonder whether it would also be a good choice for photo editing. It's an i7 machine with an ATI 5870 GPU, which is supposedly far superior to what's offered in the other models I'm considering. It also boasts a dual hard drive configuration. I envision using the primary for the OS and the secondary for virtually everything else (in addition to external hard drives for backup). A huge question mark, however, is the display. Although it's full HD, it's glossy and I haven't seen any information on its brightness, color gamut, etc. Does anyone have any useful information/opinion about the G73 as a platform for Photoshop? Of course, I still want more feedback on my original 3 candidates, too. Thanks.
 
The screen is just a normal narrow viewing angle type used on most laptops.
Horizontal view is not too bad but vertical is just not very good.

Overall the Sony laptop is a great machine.
--
Gary
 
lawhoo said:
In addition to the 3 models mentioned in my original post, I've also discovered the soon-to-be-released Asus G73. It's marketed as a gaming laptop, but I wonder whether it would also be a good choice for photo editing. It's an i7 machine with an ATI 5870 GPU, which is supposedly far superior to what's offered in the other models I'm considering. It also boasts a dual hard drive configuration. I envision using the primary for the OS and the secondary for virtually everything else (in addition to external hard drives for backup). A huge question mark, however, is the display. Although it's full HD, it's glossy and I haven't seen any information on its brightness, color gamut, etc. Does anyone have any useful information/opinion about the G73 as a platform for Photoshop? Of course, I still want more feedback on my original 3 candidates, too. Thanks.
Click to expand...
ASUS laptops, particularly their higher end products and the UL series, are excellent machines. But the phrase Gaming=TN screen=poor viewing angles, mediocre color accuracy, fast response time for gaming. I would caution that a gaming GPU is not really important for Photoshop, but that integrated graphics aren't either. A recent post on this forum showed that a good GPU did speed up Photoshop CS4, which has certain GPU accelerations, but the poster stopped at an Nvidia 9800 after trying a GTS250 (this was a desktop, but still is relevant). Photo editing is a CPU, RAM, and HDD limited operation that uses really only 2D graphics processing, so all that 3D horsepower of the 5870 will be wasted, as will the heat it generates. You should concentrate on a laptop with a good dual- or quad-core CPU, 7200RPM HDD, over 4G (6 or 8 would be great) of RAM, eSATA and HDMI or DisplayPort connections for expansion and high-def external monitor use, a mainstream dedicated GPU or switchable graphics, and of course a good screen. The latter will be really hard to find at a modest price point; the money it would cost might be best put towards an IPS external monitor of good size and resolution that would serve your serious editing needs. $300-$500 will buy you a good Dell; the rest of the laptop shouldn't be more than $800 or so.
 
There are at least three different types of screen used in the Sony F series, sometimes depending on your country. Their premium 1920x1080 display should be very good; it also has a (semi-?)matte finish that seems to work well.

I'm holding out for the reviews, as some of the earlier FW models had pretty uneven illumination. Apart from these, I think the Sony F are great laptops for photo editing, especially when budget is tight (otherwise maybe the Dell xps). I would not choose the i7 model myself, but unfortunately it seems that currently the best quality screen is only available with the i7 model (probably depends on country as well).
 
I find myself in the boat trying to reach the same destination as you. I am searching, researching and reading trying to find the same laptop you discribed in your post.

Cold you please come back to this thread and tell us what you decided on???

Also, I would be greatly interested in the external monitor you choose as well....... too bad you didn't get more responses. Did you try posting the same question in any of the other forum topics ........say, Canon Talk, Nikon Talk or Open forum??? Best of Luck

Don't suppose there is a way to get you email without posting it??
 
I'm leaning heavily toward the Sony F--in no small part due to the outrageous cost for the HP and Lenovo models--but not until I've given Sony a chance to introduce its Premium European display (matte, full HD, 100% RGB gamut) in the US. It's (almost) unimaginable to me that Sony wouldn't offer that display in a refresh of the F, although I confess that I don't understand why it's not available now.

I appreciate the feedback I've received so far, and I welcome more.
 
lawhoo said:
Why would you not choose the i7? Too new? Concerned about overheating?
Click to expand...
for me i7 is not worth the extra money. I currently edit my pictures on an Atom 330 processor, I'm pretty happy with that. Even i5 is overkill for me.

And there seem to be minor issues with i7 power use on the Sony as well, but I haven't followed the details
 
lawhoo said:
but not until I've given Sony a chance to introduce its Premium European display (matte, full HD, 100% RGB gamut) in the US. It's (almost) unimaginable to me that Sony wouldn't offer that display in a refresh of the F
Click to expand...
yes, the policy is strange. And Europeans are complaining that they can't get a backlit keyboard like in the US, or that the display type is tied to the cpu choice. Maybe Sony needs some time to sort things out.
 
elvisM said:
i have the early FW series which is about 1.5 years old now and it is running very strong still with Vista and all. I would imagine the F series would be great!
Click to expand...
I have read from several people who exchanged their FW41/51 for a new highend F series model, and think the new one is a big improvement.
 
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