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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Laptops?
Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 10:08 AM on 07.02.11 |
| ->> For my second general question thread of the day, just wanted to know which laptop you used and why? I'm about to plunk down who-knows-how-much money on a new one and wanted to see what the SS consensus was. |
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Doug Pizac, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 10:28 AM on 07.02.11 |
| ->> Mac or PC? To be used for what? Etc. You need to be more specific in your needs. |
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Philip Johnson, Photographer
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Garland | TX | USA | Posted: 10:45 AM on 07.02.11 |
->> Paul,
I use a Mac book Pro 15". I switched to Mac about 1.5 years ago. I have been very happy with the Mac. I feel the Mac comes with better quality components then the PC. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 11:01 AM on 07.02.11 |
| ->> Doug, I was asking *you* which laptop you used and why? |
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Doug Pizac, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 11:16 AM on 07.02.11 |
->> I have a HP 17" maxed out at 8 gigs RAM and two 500 gig hard drives. Main reason for it is that I started out PC and mainframes before Mac. The software used for earlier machines (like WordPerfect) work fine on my Win7 Pro 64-software. I've worked side-by-side other photogs with top line Macs and my machine is faster. But then they may not have their laptops maxed out. And dollar-for-dollar, PCs are more economical. And while I could get close in price for Mac, buying all new software would kill me. That's a key reason for not switching. If I was starting out fresh, then Mac would be seriously considered.
As to my college kids, they have Macs. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Fresno | ca | usa | Posted: 2:55 PM on 07.02.11 |
| ->> Macbook pro. I use a 15 w/ 8 gigs of RAM. Mui Bueno... |
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Keith Lucas, Photographer
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Verona | VA | USA | Posted: 2:56 PM on 07.02.11 |
->> MacBook Pro 17".. Always used Mac and never regretted it. I agree with Philip in that I feel the components are better on the Mac and the I prefer Aperture over Lightroom...
Really though, it is ALL personal preference...and maybe what you are comfortable with. My household has 1 PC vs 6 macs, 3 ipads, 3 ipods....guess what we care comfortable with.... |
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Chris Large, Photographer
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Okotoks | AB | Canada | Posted: 12:04 AM on 07.03.11 |
| ->> Ditto what Phil has....couldn't be happier - 10 yrs of Mac and never failed me |
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Joshua Lindsey, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Bowling Green | KY | United States | Posted: 12:37 AM on 07.03.11 |
| ->> In short, and I'm sure this will cause a disruption... Your really missing out if your not using a Mac. Quite honestly, your not really using a professional tool if your not using a Mac. |
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Tom Frick, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Narragansett | RI | USA | Posted: 2:03 PM on 07.03.11 |
->> I'm in the same boat at Philip...
I switched over to a MacBook Pro 15" about 2 years ago - 320GB (7200rpm) hard drive with 4GB of ram. I love it and it's never let me down! Quite an investment for a laptop, but I definitely think it was worth it. Although, if your thinking about a Mac, I would wait a couple weeks until OSX 10.7 is released.
Joshua,
I really don't understand your comment about how you're not using professional tools if you don't use a Mac? |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 2:18 PM on 07.03.11 |
| ->> Thanks everyone and keep the recommendations coming. Right now I'm taking a look at the 13 inch Mac Book Pro. That with CS5 comes out to about $3,600, which is a steep price to pay, so I haven't pulled the trigger yet. If anyone has a lower priced alternative I'm all ears. |
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Jim Colburn, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Omaha | NE | USA | Posted: 9:26 PM on 07.03.11 |
->> CS5?
In college? Got a friend/relative in college? Some one that's a teacher? Get the education version (just as good as the "real thing") for around to $300-400 instead of whatever Adobe are screwing people for these days for the "normal" version. |
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Darron Silva, Photographer
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Granite Falls | NC | USA | Posted: 9:59 PM on 07.03.11 |
| ->> Consider a refurb from Apple. I buy all my Mac stuff refurb from apple. It can save you several hundred per computer, they have the same warranty as a new Mac, and they look just like the new ones. |
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Kirby Yau, Photographer, Assistant
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 10:03 PM on 07.03.11 |
->> The Macbook 13" is a great little Laptop, with a form factor thats really easy to tote around. In my opinion, it's achilles heel would be it's screen, it's 1280 by 800 screen resolution is pretty low by today's standards. It makes working in Photoshop or other graphics programs a bare, because a little cramped with panels, palettes, and images. I've had a 13" Macbook for 4 years now, and I only use it as a last resort to major work.
If you do go with a 13" make sure to budget in a good IPS screen.
If money is a major concern, check out Apple's refurbished computer site (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY3Nw), which features a current generation 15" MBP 2.0 Quad Core Sandy Bridge for $1,520. |
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Jeff Gammons, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Niceville | Fl | USA | Posted: 10:15 PM on 07.03.11 |
| ->> I have a Viao F, which is a pure workhorse, just put an 80 gig intel ssd in, and have my 500gig strapped to the back with my card reader. 8 gigs of ram and a quad corei7, love this thing. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 11:53 PM on 07.03.11 |
| ->> mac. the other suggestions are nothing but white noise. |
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Michael McNamara, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 12:05 AM on 07.04.11 |
| ->> Get something with a good spelling and grammar tool. You're really missing out if you're not using one. Quite honestly, you're not really using a professional tool if you're not using a spelling and grammar checker. |
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Brad Tollefson, Student/Intern, Photo Editor
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Lubbock | TX | USA | Posted: 2:03 AM on 07.04.11 |
->> The plan is to get a 15" MBP with the up'ed screen before the school year starts. Should be able to work for photos, engineering and app development. Which is a win win win for my choice in picking Mac as my next computer.
Brad |
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Jim Colburn, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Omaha | NE | USA | Posted: 12:11 PM on 07.04.11 |
| ->> I went to a large event a few years ago with many photogs editing and transmitting. The photographers who had bought their own laptops (investing their hard earned money) all had Macs while the few who had Windows machines were all using company machines (bought by someone in IT). |
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Paul DiSalvo, Photographer
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Highlands Ranch | CO | United States of America | Posted: 12:22 PM on 07.04.11 |
->> You can get discounts on Macs by going through the NPPA store if a member - I've bought two through there over the past couple of years and I think overall savings were around 8-9% over regular prices. I think NAPP also offers Mac discounts.
And since you asked, 15" MBP is my primary machine. Get the anti-glare screen and as much RAM as you can afford. Check the App Store before buying any software as there are some deals there too. Last I checked Aperture sells for only $75 at the App Store vs almost $200 if you need the disk. |
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Joel Hawksley, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Athens | OH | USA | Posted: 2:41 PM on 07.04.11 |
| ->> What Paul said, except for the RAM part. Apple RAM is notoriously overpriced. Get the base config and upgrade it yourself. It might take you 10 minutes, tops. |
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Jim Pierce, Photographer
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Waltham | MA | USA | Posted: 4:01 PM on 07.04.11 |
->> Paul,
I am not sure what you will be using this for but $3600 for a laptop? seems very high to me hopefully you get the advantages and efficiencies to warrant this. I always look at the ROI, and want to pay it off REAL quick so it can start making me money.
@Jim Colburn. the student versions are nice BUT when I was looking at these years ago, as my son is in college, I read the license agreement and I am not sure of the exact words but you are not allowed to use these to make money. I was not worried about the added cost to my bussiness for the simple fact that Adobe, etc can't come after me. Better to be safe than get caught, be careful
Jim |
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David Scott, Photographer
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Portland | OR | US | Posted: 4:13 PM on 07.04.11 |
->> I've been a Mac user for about 15 years. I just purchased a 13" MBP and I am amazed at its performance. I usually get a lot of years out of my Macs so when I upgrade I usually see quite a difference. I was worried about the size but I already created a vlog video, edited the sound track, and edited two photo assignments on it without longing for more screen real estate. Oh yeah, and it fits so easily in my TT Airport Int.
I purchased it a Best Buy and got it for almost the price of the Educational Discount.
-- Dave |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 4:33 PM on 07.04.11 |
->> I've always gone with refurbished Macbook Pro's since I've been in photography. They're called refurbished usually because they got caught in QC for having something wrong with them; that gets fixed and then they're basically brand new. Same warranty and everything, so it saves a few hundred per.
Refurb or not, get one with a small HDD and RAM, then upgrade it yourself, it's much cheaper and you know you're ending up with low-latency ram and a fast HDD or SSD. I usually get the RAM straight from Crucial, and am currently on a Barracuda XT hard drive, which caches most-often-used data on an internal SSD to boost speed quite a bit on booting using your most-used applications.
You can also do an internal RAID or second drive with this little guy: http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/ - perfect if you'd like to have a full-size SSD to keep things snappy, or a RAID for higher throughput + redundancy. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 4:39 PM on 07.04.11 |
| ->> Correction - that's a Momentus XT for the 2.5" drives. Barracuda is Seagate's 3.5" line. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 12:27 PM on 07.05.11 |
| ->> Update: Just found out I'll have free access to certain software licenses if I buy PC. So now I'm taking a harder look at the Sony Vaio, Dell XPS, etc. Can anyone else make a case for these or other non-MBP, PC models? |
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Brad Tollefson, Student/Intern, Photo Editor
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Lubbock | TX | USA | Posted: 12:59 PM on 07.05.11 |
->> Just as a personal opinion I've always used HP computers up until this point and would likely use them in the future. However the XPS line is pretty great as well. I don't know much about Sony's products.
Essentially it's the same story, go for the good internals for a form factor that meets your needs.
Brad |
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Michael Granse, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 1:22 PM on 07.05.11 |
->> Paul, 8 ounces of ice water were spilled (not by me) into my IBM Thinkpad which immediately went to the Blue Screen of Death. I unplugged it, took the battery out, placed it on its side (a LOT of water spilled out of it when I did this), and put a small desk fan next to it and waited a few days before plugging it in, saying a short prayer, and pushing the power button. I was VERY surprised to see the Windows start screen, and everything loaded as if nothing had ever happened to it. This was about two years ago, and there have been no problems with this machine. I do NOT recommend buying a Thinkpad and trying this to see if it really works, though. There absolutely had to be an element of luck in this!
It is not too difficult to find an off-lease Thinkpad on Ebay, and these have generally spent their service life sitting on someone's desk instead of a Desk-top and have often had a separate keyboard and monitor attached to them by way of a docking station. As such, these can look like they have not been used at all and it is VERY easy to upgrade the RAM chips and or hard drive yourself.
There are some that think that it is unprofessional to process your images with a PC based system, but if you use Lexar Cards (the older, slower cards have less grain/noise) and shoot everything in Manual mode just ever so slightly over the exposure recommended by your camera's meter, then nobody INCLUDING the Mac guys will be able to tell that you used a PC to do your editing. There are places where you can buy Mac stickers, so if you just hide all of the IBM logos you will not lose any potential clients who might see you carrying your laptop. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 2:56 PM on 07.07.11 |
| ->> Well I'm focusing on the Dell XPS 17 and the XPS 15z. Does anyone have any reasons for choosing one over the other. The 17 can obviously be configured faster (two hard drives, faster processors) but would also cost more. |
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Patrick Fallon, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Houston | Texas | USA | Posted: 3:26 PM on 07.07.11 |
| ->> Are you looking for a portable desktop - or a mobile laptop? Fast and light is kinda nice for laptops, whereas big heavy power hungry laptops can be a pain if you are on the move a lot. |
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Karsten Moran, Photographer, Photo Editor
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New York | NY | United States of America | Posted: 6:58 PM on 07.07.11 |
->> If you're thinking of PCs, Lenovo X series all the way (assuming you don't need a disc drive.)
Rugged, lightweight, hours of battery life and built with quality components.
I've had an X61s for four years.
They also have a great outlet store w/ refurbished products. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 7:49 PM on 07.07.11 |
| ->> Thanks for the advice everyone. Decided to go with the XPS 17. Got it at a great price (much cheaper than the Apple and HP equivalents) with high performance processors, RAM and a dual hard drive. |
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Luke Johnson, Photographer, Student/Intern
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St.Petersburg | FL | USA | Posted: 8:48 PM on 07.07.11 |
| ->> I have the 13" Macbook Pro. The screen may be a little small but I love this thing. |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Southern California | CA | USA | Posted: 2:04 AM on 07.08.11 |
->> I see the nominations are starting for dumb ass statements of the year.
First nominee:
" Quite honestly, your not really using a professional tool if your not using a Mac."
Next... |
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