New laptop for photo editing - Alienware?

[Birddogman]

My old laptop is on its last legs and needs to be replaced before it dies completely.

I use my laptop for business (documents, emails, use as a virtual office by connecting from remote locations to my office system); for some gaming; for streaming Netflix and the like; and, of course, for photo editing with CS5.

It must be a laptop because I am an M&A lawyer and I work mostly from various odd locations, such as my motorhome in the middle of nowhere. It must be a PC to work with my main office system - no Apple stuff. I can carry a laptop with up to a 17" screen, so that's what I will need in the new machine.

I am NOT a computer expert, nor can I "build" a laptop, so please don't suggest that.

So, I was thinking that a good gaming computer would give me the ability to do business (which doesn't really require much computing power), should have plenty of power for working with large photo files in CS5 without bogging down; and, should also work with modern games that seem to use vast amount of computing power.

Do you agree?

If so, what do you recommend?

I see the Alienware line from Dell and it looks good, but costs about twice as much as what appears to be similar stuff off the shelf. Cost isn't the main issue because I want something that will meet my needs and hopefully last a good long time, but I don't want to spend unnecessarily either.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[gs85739az]

Alienware tend to be high end units, you may be just as happy with any i7 processor laptop. Dell sells many such laptops as "refurbished", they are inspected MORE than regular assembly line units because they have been returned, many were new units and just weren't accepted by buyers,etc. ALL have the same one year guarantee!



Your needs aren't all that much, any Dell i7 processor'd laptop will be sufficient, they offer 3 lines:



Inspiron, XPS and Alienware: happy shopping:



http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/desktops?~ck=anav

 

[scorrpio]

Birddogman wrote:

My old laptop is on its last legs and needs to be replaced before it dies completely.

I use my laptop for business (documents, emails, use as a virtual office by connecting from remote locations to my office system); for some gaming; for streaming Netflix and the like; and, of course, for photo editing with CS5.

It must be a laptop because I am an M&A lawyer and I work mostly from various odd locations, such as my motorhome in the middle of nowhere. It must be a PC to work with my main office system - no Apple stuff. I can carry a laptop with up to a 17" screen, so that's what I will need in the new machine.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

One big thing about laptops is screen resolution. It might be a 17.3" laptop, but if resolution is only 1600x900, it is not much of an advantage. To work, you want a full 1080p screen. Resolution is not really a must for gaming - most 17" Alienwares are 1600x900 by default, and 1080p panel is extra.

Do you want Alienware? What kind of gaming do you do? Anything particularly heavy, requiring a beefy video card? Adequate video, and adequate juice to feed it are what drives up the cost of these gaming laptops. That, and the bling factor. Unless you want to run latest and greatest games with full bells and whistles, I think Alienware is not what you want. I would go for something like Inspiron 17R Special Edition for $1100. (Core i7, 8GB RAM, 650M graphics, 1080p screen etc)

Speaking of bling... Those Alienwares might look swank at QuakeCon, but do you really fancy pulling out something that looks like it came from a Predator spaceship during a corporate client meeting?

 

[gs85739az]

opps, just go to the New Arrivals/laptops..the previous link was for desktops, but you can navigate from that page...

 

[Binary Hulled Ion]

So, when Dell first started out, they were responding to customers who knew their hardware and didn't want onboard video for their computer by pre-packaging quality hardware in their custom-ordered systems. They slowly migrated away from that, though, to the point that, like their competition, they're focused more on their business contracts than consumer-level PC's.

Enter Alienware: these guys were insane modders known for heavily overclocked CPU's, but they knew what they were doing. They were experts at choking out every last ounce of performance out of the hardware, and selecting which pieces of hardware could survive the punishment. So, if you wanted an insanely tweaked PC that was consistently above what manufacturers considered top of the line, you went Alienware.

Then Dell bought Alienware, and just like they stepped all over their own customized computer business model, they did more harm than good to the Alienware line. They still have absolutely crazy design ideas (laptops that are bigger than some people's desktops, for example) and a no-compromise approach which winds up with unreliable hardware for premium prices. In general: do not want. The modern-day alienware machines are garish monstrosities in which you pay more for the lid badge than you do the system internals.

 

[CAcreeks]

gs85739az wrote:

Inspiron, XPS and Alienware: happy shopping.

If I were you, I would get an XPS with upgrades such as larger screen (and Blu-Ray, unless your RV already has entertainment center).

Inspiron is the budget line, XPS is the business line with better components. Alienware is for playing games.

Unfortunately you might have a hard time avoiding Windows 8 right now. Hence the advice to get a refurb.

 

[gs85739az]

Another avenue of purchase would be the highly rated Sager notebook computers, these machines offer many options and several of their models are actually "Clevo's" which were the original Alienware laptops! You can option them into the stratosphere if your budget doesn't object, multiple hard drives, RAID options, even some with dual video cards,etc, Sagers have excellent customer support!

Loading…

www.sagernotebook.com

 

[NewsyL]

The vast majority of laptops use cheap 6bit TN type LCD panels with sub-par back lights. Poor viewing angles, banding in color gradients, and often only 67% coverage of the sRGB color space.

There has been a move to mid level laptops with IPS and S-PLS type LCD panels, the same type of LCD panels used in color accurate desktop monitors intended for image editing. You'll find these in models priced between $1000 to $2000. They have much better viewing angles and overall color but.... almost all of these models have a back light that allows for just 67% coverage of the sRGB color space.

You can always get around these shortcoming by using an external monitor with your laptop.

If color accuracy and long term durability is important, I suggest you consider the "work station" models from Dell and HP. There have been posts on these models here previously.

Here's a link to laptops with IPS panels - has some good info.

http://www.laptopreviews.com/laptop...isplay-laptops-and-where-to-find-them-2011-12

The model numbers on many of these will have changed since the page was created. Look at the following workstation models.

.

Dell Precision M4700

- 15.6" 1920x1080 IPS panel (may not be offered at this date, see note below)

- you want the "Premier Color" option to get the wide gamut IPS panel but Dell may have delisted this offering

- I believe this model, with the Premier Color option, is a wide gamut display offering near 100% coverage of the sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces

.

Dell Precision M6700

- 17.3" 1920x1080 IPS panel

- you want the "Premier Color" option to get the IPS panel

- wide gamut, near 100% coverage of the sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces

.

HP Elitebook 8570w

- 15.6" 1920x1080 IPS panel (if still offered)

- the best panel is the "DreamColor Full HD display" option, if still offered

.

HP Elitebook 8770w

- 17.3" 1920x1080 IPS panel

- the best panel is the "DreamColor Full HD display" option

- wide gamut, near 100% coverage of the sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces

.

The laptop review website I prefer is the following as they, with their internal reviews, will often test the top end panel and offer a gamut chart showing color space coverage.

http://www.notebookcheck.net

.

 

[Dean Malencik]

When travelling and taking pictures I would do some processing Photoshop in the evenings. My laptop was so slow that it was a waste of time and so I waited until I got home to do my processing. I then decided why not get a high end laptop that would match my home desktop. I did this and ordered from GentechPC the Asus G75VW-DH72 with 24 gigs of memory, with a 17” screen (1920 x 1080) and Win 7. With this unit, while not really a compact laptop, it allows me to do my processing comfortably. Actually it is now faster than my desktop.

 

[Binary Hulled Ion]

Re: avoiding Win8..

It's not too hard, thankfully. If you like the XPS line (arguably Dell's best line IMHO), you can go with the Dell XPS Developer (decent screen to boot) which comes with Ubuntu installed. Then install your preferred flavor of Windows on it. If you keep Linux, though, reinstall Linux AFTER you install Windows.

 

[CAcreeks]

You have an RV, so you should be able to deal with an 8 pound laptop. I just priced out Windows 7 with 17.3" Ultrasharp FHD 1920x1080 monitor, and was totally surprised by the $1129 price. Wireless and Blu-Ray (etc.) would be extra.

Don't know why the 15.3" laptops cost more...

Binary Hulled Ion wrote:

Re: avoiding Win8..

It's not too hard, thankfully. If you like the XPS line (arguably Dell's best line IMHO), you can go with the Dell XPS Developer (decent screen to boot) which comes with Ubuntu installed. Then install your preferred flavor of Windows on it. If you keep Linux, though, reinstall Linux AFTER you install Windows.

Nice! Not acceptable for the original poster, but I like it.

 

[NewsyL]

Check the specs...

The previous generation offered a 10bit color depth. In reality it is probably a pseudo 10bit being 8bit+AFRC but they claim a color depth of 1.07 billion colors.

.

 

[Birddogman]

N/T

 

[CAcreeks]

You dog!

You made me almost buy a Dell Precision M6600.

Getting a bit sick of the icky screen on my hand-me-down laptop.

 

[kittenthehut]

Hey there, I just joined the forum and noticed that you were looking into a new system for your photo editing.

I definitely recommend ORIGIN PC. They are a custom pc boutique based in Miami fl. They have top quality and full performance pc's that are sure to meet your needs and then some.

They have thousands of customization options for you to choose from and they do everything in there lab in Miami.
There support and customer service is award winning. The support is 24/7 with US techs and they too are all from Florida.

I highly recommend taking a look at them, I recently purchased a Genesis from their gaming line, and it is a beast.

Definitely worth the wait and the money.