Laptop computers

[Jill]

I wonder if any of you could share what laptop you use for photoshop and your experience with the whole process, from color calibration, battery life to...well whatever you can think of! I need to be more mobile and am hoping some have had good luck with a laptop....My goal is to be able to do some work while I am in the car waiting for my son after school etc....instead of reading a book! Don't need it for anything other than to run photoshop!
I have a choice of a newer computer setup at home or a laptop... I am not going for brand new~but in the 600 dollar range~I also am going to add a intuos tablet to the pot...do they work ok with the laptop? I would really appreciate all your experiences, suggestions and opinions!
Thanks so much in advance.

[Paul Rupp]

One thing to remember aabout the laptop is that the monitors (LCD's) are difficult to calibrate if you use it to "work on" and use your home PC to "finish" the work, you should be ok. The Intous work fine on laptops. Get the USB one and you can move it easily.

HTH

Paul R.

[G. Couch]

I am speaking from limited experience of trying to use a laptop for photoshop...but I would spend my money on a new setup for home or an upgrade. $600 will not buy you much of a laptop, especially if you are adding a tablet to the mix, but $600 will buy you a decent home box or a great 19 " monitor.

[jeaniesa]

Re: Laptop computers

Jill, I just bought a new laptop for traveling purposes - mostly to keep up with e-mail and carry my "files" along with me wherever I go. While I may do SOME photo work, it is not the reason I purchased the laptop.

So far my experience tells me that I wouldn't be happy trying to do any serious photo work on the laptop - even with a tablet attached. My main concern is the VERY LIMITED ability to calibrate the display. In fact, without Adobe Gamme, the only thing I can control is brightness - no contrast and no RGB control. In addition, the difference in viewing angle on my laptop screen seems much more significant than the LCD displays I've looked at for my desktop - esp. in the vertical direction. If I look from above, everything looks darker and more "dense"; looking up from below (even slightly) makes the screen look washed out. It's not a problem for text, but it would drive me crazy trying to work on a photo!

I looked at used laptops before deciding on a new one and went with a new one b/c the new ones are MUCH lighter (remember, I'm using it for traveling). Also, knowing how much data I had to transfer to the laptop, I knew I needed at least 10Gig for a hard drive. The older laptops came with a max of 6Gig.

Laptops are inherently more expensive than a desktop - you'll get much greater bang for your buck with a home computer. If it were me, I'd probably go for the home computer and then read a Photoshop book (or related magazine) while waiting in the car to learn new techniques or brush up on old ones.

Hope this helps,
Jeanie

[Jill]

Thank you guys for your help! This is my plan now...upgrade the computer....get a refurbished laptop.....refurbished Wacom...call it good....for now! (going way over my 600 dollars mark of course!) I am sure I will be doing just what you all have suggest and just keep up with email etc... and do minor work on laptop and only finish on P/C...I appreciate your insite, thanks so much! I know I will be doing most work at home, the monitor/lighting thing on the laptop will probably drive me crazy!
I picked up my Grams yesterday to help her pick out her new tv and ended up bringing home a new scanner for myself. I am so excited to try it out today! The Epson Perfection 1650 Photo....I remembered all the good I had read about it here (Debbie's new toy!) and then I met someone who custom builds computers for a living and he recommended it also as I was looking at the H/P and he volunteered his opinion (not good!) Soooo I will have him upgrade my computer! I could try but it took me (don't laugh!) 3 hours just to install the cd burner (frustrating!)
Thanks again

[Ed_L]

Jill,

When I bought my new computer (Windows XP), I opted for 256 megs of DDR Ram. I've only used Photoshop on one image since then, and I wound up with some rather large files (around 100 megs). 256 megs is *not* enough unless you enjoy watching the grass grow while a file is being saved . Go for all you can get if you go to XP. At least that's my experience so far.

Let us know how you like your new scanner. I'll bet you're going to like it pretty well.

Ed

[Jill]

Well, I just thought I would give an update...
I bought a H/P Pavilion mx 70 at, of all places... Walmart! I was going to have someone build from scratch but the price difference was 1/2. This has amd athelon processor 1.4, 40gig h/d (space for another) 111 available ram (purchased 256 more)will purchase more later!, cdrw, 17", win xp and I love it! The total was 798.00. Waiting on the tablet/laptop as I am over my budjet! I was so grateful to all of you for your "how to's" regarding hooking up the scanner,printers,etc...Installing/getting drivers first then attach....saved me much frustration! The connection speed of my computer has gone from 29kbps to 49.2kbps, what a difference! I have been scanning at 600dpi and higher with no lag time, phew.....the only problem I am having is getting used to the more cartoonish look of the whole xp. I still think I like my old acdsee/irfanview much better than the picture viewing progs that came with...trying to give them a chance. I have locked up 2 times but easy to fix and really have enjoyed this new setup. So sad that my 4 year "old" computer is now being used for kids games and basics....The epson perfection 1650 scanner is amazing compared to my old canonscan....problem though with such fine detail come dust specks!