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Author Topic: Advice on replacement laptop  (Read 2650 times)

NigelC

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Advice on replacement laptop
« on: July 21, 2010, 03:12:15 am »

I will need a new laptop for tethered shooting with 5D2 and working on files in CS5 when I'm away from home.  I can't unclog the registry on my 5 yr old Win XP 32 bit Acer laptop which takes over 5 minutes to boot up so just too slow, although has quite nice 1680x1050 hi-res screen. I'll have to keep it for hooking up to my scanners though cos of scanner driver issues.

Main constraints are that "mothership" is Vista 64 and my copy of CS5 is Win, which isn't going to change and secondly, MacBook Pro 15.4", although really nice, is too much money for me at UK prices.

Taking screen quality as paramount, I wondered whether I could use a £995 2.4Ghz 13" MacBook Pro with my Win Cs5 operating in a window (Bootcamp?) environment? Otherwise much faster £1200 Dell Precision 15.?" has an upgrade to 1900x hi-res, anti-reflection screen for only £80, which seems reasonable.
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NigelC

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2010, 04:23:20 am »

Or I can get 2.4Ghz Sony Vaio E series 15.5" 1920 res screen (probably shiny) with 6GB memory for same price as 13" 2.4GHz MacBook Pro. Always though Sony screens best after Apple
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Roy

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2010, 06:10:58 pm »

Adobe will swap your Windows CS5 for a Mac version for some paperwork and a nominal fee.
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NigelC

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2010, 06:55:58 pm »

Quote from: Roy
Adobe will swap your Windows CS5 for a Mac version for some paperwork and a nominal fee.

Wouldn't run very well on my Vista 64 desktop
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Steve Weldon

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2010, 02:32:22 am »

Quote from: NigelC
I will need a new laptop for tethered shooting with 5D2 and working on files in CS5 when I'm away from home.  I can't unclog the registry on my 5 yr old Win XP 32 bit Acer laptop which takes over 5 minutes to boot up so just too slow, although has quite nice 1680x1050 hi-res screen. I'll have to keep it for hooking up to my scanners though cos of scanner driver issues.

Main constraints are that "mothership" is Vista 64 and my copy of CS5 is Win, which isn't going to change and secondly, MacBook Pro 15.4", although really nice, is too much money for me at UK prices.

Taking screen quality as paramount, I wondered whether I could use a £995 2.4Ghz 13" MacBook Pro with my Win Cs5 operating in a window (Bootcamp?) environment? Otherwise much faster £1200 Dell Precision 15.?" has an upgrade to 1900x hi-res, anti-reflection screen for only £80, which seems reasonable.
How big a screen do you desire and how much weight are you willing to tolerate?

I find it amusing that people think Mac's actually make better hardware than is available for Windows..  They do make nice hardware, but so do many Window's laptop manufacturers.. there's absolutely no need to move to a Mac to get decent hardware to run Windows on..
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NigelC

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2010, 04:29:27 am »

Quote from: Steve Weldon
How big a screen do you desire and how much weight are you willing to tolerate?

I find it amusing that people think Mac's actually make better hardware than is available for Windows..  They do make nice hardware, but so do many Window's laptop manufacturers.. there's absolutely no need to move to a Mac to get decent hardware to run Windows on..

Actually, I don't think Apple makes better hardware, just nicer aesthetic design (sometimes). Bottom line is I want a non-reflective screen capable of hardware calibration in a 13-15" machine suitable for tethered shooting and running CS5 at OK speed, at not more than £1000/$1500 - I think Mac Book Pro 13" fails that test. Best option seems to me 15.6"Dell Studio with option of 1900x???? anti-reflection Tru-Life screen. Sony Vaio seem to have lost the plot, from a photographers point of view

Most laptop reviews are useless for photographers because they don't understand the point about the screen
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degrub

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2010, 10:27:20 am »




Certainly would fail the "not glossy" test.

Frank
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NigelC

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Advice on replacement laptop
« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2010, 06:52:28 am »

One thing occurred to me - if I did stretch to the base Macbook Pro 15" with hi-res ant-reflection screen option, I would also have to factor in cost of Win 7 (not sure if the Vista 64 supplied with my desktop is just a recovery disc) - otherwise my Win platform software will not work - that makes it significantly more expensive than Dell with comparable screen
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