Laptop/ultra book for photo editing while travelling.

silentbutnice

I will be soon travelling for an indefinite time would like to get a machine that's portable and yet powerful enough to run lightroom on it without issues.

I won't be gaming on it. Must have Usb 3 and a max screen of 15.6 inches if possible. I understand a SSD drive is better than a HDD. I'd need at least 240/250 gb of storage on the machine and can use an external hdd for anything else.

I plan to use it to edit photos using lightroom and occasionally, Internet browsing, work on my websites, and watch movies.

Open to recommendations from ye guys that know. I'm not very experienced with the different processors and jargon talk

Thanks.

marco_polo

silentbutnice wrote: »

I will be soon travelling for an indefinite time would like to get a machine that's portable and yet powerful enough to run lightroom on it without issues.

I won't be gaming on it. Must have Usb 3 and a max screen of 15.6 inches if possible. I understand a SSD drive is better than a HDD. I'd need at least 240/250 gb of storage on the machine and can use an external hdd for anything else.

I plan to use it to edit photos using lightroom and occasionally, Internet browsing, work on my websites, and watch movies.

Open to recommendations from ye guys that know. I'm not very experienced with the different processors and jargon talk

Thanks.

Budget? Also have you any minimum resolution requirements?

silentbutnice

marco_polo wrote: »

Budget? Also have you any minimum resolution requirements?

Oops.... Forgot to mention budget - max €1000

Don't know much about screen resolution but as good as the budget will allow I suppose.

Torqay

Ultrabooks aren't exactly cut out for photo editing. For this you want processing power and plenty RAM, neither of which is the strong point of ultrabooks. They come with dual core ULV processor (designed for great battery life, not performance) and usually 4 GB RAM which often can not be upgraded (soldered to the motherboard).

Torqay

The Vizio Thin & Light 15 seems to be ticking all the right boxes for you. Unfortunately, it has not yet arrived here. Amazon has it for $1.189 (€919), of course, you'll be hit with VAT if you buy from the States ( and if they ship to Ireland at all).

Core i7 (ULV)
4 GB RAM (not sure if upgradable, the 14" model can't be upgraded)
256 GB SSD

marco_polo

Yeah i'd say maybe a relatively tidy conventional laptop might be the best bet here? Really depend on whether performance or portability is more desirable I guess. There are certainly some nice normal laptop options that would be reasonably light and have decent battery life in that price range.

silentbutnice

Ok well then a laptop with the above requirements would be perfect as well. I think 8gb ram would be needed also. I'd go for performance over portability anyways. I just want a solid machine that I can haul around with me

Torqay

You might as well go shopping at PC Specialist then. The Genesis IV in the following configuration costs £809/€1008:



Incl. OS installation DVD and 3 yr warranty

If you're happy with 8 GB RAM, it's £717/€892

silentbutnice

Torqay wrote: »

You might as well go shopping at PC Specialist then. The Genesis IV in the following configuration costs £809/€1008:



Incl. OS installation DVD and 3 yr warranty

If you're happy with 8 GB RAM, it's £717/€892

What extra power would the 16gb Ram give me over 8 in terms of what I'd need it for?

Is that make a pretty decent build do you know? I'm not concerned about looks, I just want a decent robust machine that will serve me well on the road. I will have an external battery pack which is a universal one so extra power on the road won't be a problem.

Torqay

Under normal circumstances, I'd say, 8 GB RAM ought to be enough for everyone (Bill Gates once said the same about 640kb, well he didn't but anyway).

They are a "pretty decent build", read this review (Schenker build their laptops on the same Clevo chassis). And with a solid state disk, it can take some serious abuse without jeopardizing your data. I've picked the 1920x1080 full HD display, the regular 1366x768 display is cheaper. It's just a personal preference.

silentbutnice

Might be a silly question, but since there's a second hdd spot in the genesis...can I opt for a hdd as well as an Sdd?

Just wondering is there any disadvantage to having a second drive on the same laptop?

Torqay

silentbutnice wrote: »

Might be a silly question, but since there's a second hdd spot in the genesis...can I opt for a hdd as well as an Sdd?

Yes.

silentbutnice wrote: »

Just wondering is there any disadvantage to having a second drive on the same laptop?

Pro: more storage space.

Con: more weight, more battery drain, less robustness.

Four of a kind

Typically how much space does the OS take up? 240GB ssd is what I have in mind to get. How much room would be left?

Torqay

20-25 GB ish, less if you disable hibernation, SSD boots fast enough anyway.