[calsan]

I have a sony vaio s series with a 15.5 inch 1920x1080 IPS display, which has about the best screen you will get on a laptop. You can tell the good laptop monitors in your local computer store by looking at all the screens from the side. Most will seem black or reflective - if there's an IPS laptop, it will still be clearly readable from a very oblique angle.

The sony has a fantastic screen for photo editing and it's not at all glossy. Unfortunately, apple has gone the way of glossy monitors, which aren't appropriate for CAD or photo work.

The low end vaio s with 15.5 inch isn't too expensive and they are easy to add memory, change the hard disk yourself and the battery is user replaceable. None of these important things can be done on apple mac laptops anymore, which is why I switched to PC this time round. The only negative with my sony was that it had a lot of 'bloatware' software to uninstall from new, but that didn't take much time. The speakers are very weak also, but then I don't listen to music on my laptop, just as I don't take phone calls on my camera...

Never tried windows 8. You may be able to get a windows 7 computer new.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6629&review=sony+vaio+s+15

[calculator01]

How often are these sales? I really need this laptop by July.

They usually put sales on every week, but for the BIG sales, you might be able to score something in June for Fathers day, or if it's not too late, a Fourth of July sale... if those exist

[DSims]

IMHO, if it has Windows 8 on it, I tend to immediately look up how well Linux works on it. Wait... I do that already.
Anyway, if you want something that is user-friendly, and don't plan to use Linux (or BSD, etc.) skip anything with Windows 8.

Linux is a great OS for many applications, but honestly I don't know how anyone can use it for serious photo work - especially if they're printing. In fact, this is why I stopped using Linux on my desktop.

I use both Mac OS and Windows now. Windows 8 is a good overall choice - especially for a laptop because it's more efficient than Windows 7. It will take you a little while to adjust to Windows, so try to buy it at least a month ahead of time.

Does this photo project pay you any money, or further your academic career or proposed occupation? If so, maybe you can convince your parents to help pay for it - especially if you're graduating middle school this year or otherwise could use it for school the next year or two. After all the one who does the work deserves to get paid, and the tools are necessary to get the job done. But there's also much virtue and value in figuring out how to make it work on limited resources.

So if you can afford it the MacBook Air is awfully good - especially if you can get the 8GB version. IIRC Mac notebooks usually get updated about the time you need to buy one - perhaps you could even get a refurb model. But if you go with Windows keep in mind that the cheaper AMD processors with integrated graphics (such as the E-300) have relatively slow CPUs for photo editing, while the better AMD processors (such as the A10) are quite good. So at least look at a better model.


Although my desktop is up to date, for laptops I currently have an early 2008 MacBook Pro 17" that I got last year for a great price, and an ~2006 Lenovo T60p that I got 2-3 years ago refurbished from Lenovo. Each cost me less than $500.

http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/LenovoPortal/en_.../?page-index=1

I think it would be worth shopping around a little.



EDIT:
You might want to look at this article on the "best budget laptop" which came out a few days ago, from one of the most reputable sites on the web:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6880/best-budget-laptops-april-2013

Also, I agree that the display matters a lot and you'll be compromising here on most laptops - I just don't know whether you can afford to worry about it on your budget, so I didn't bring it up. If you'll be editing photos on it, what you should do in any case is get or borrow a ColorMunki Display or i1 Display Pro and calibrate your display with it. You could also get something like a used Spyder 3, but it's not nearly as good.

[Schraubstock]

Hi

Unfortunately you get what you pay for.
With laptops this cheap the display is likely to be a low quality TN panel. These low cost Laps are probably aimed at business users where photographs don't play a big role other than presentations with graphs and pie charts.

For photographic work unfortunately the are unsuitable. The angle at which you look at the screen is unforgiving and the result is inconsistent colour representation. As well, colours are not conforming to any colour gamut.

Couple of interesting presentations here.

P.S. I agree try to stay away from Win8 and see if you can get Win7 instead, there are some good bargains to be had now with Win7 laptops on e-bay.

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

Greetings

[Kerrowdown]

Since I was six or seven I have worked on a Mac

You having said that, I'm surprised you would even consider Windows.

I'd think long and hard about a MacBook Pro as being option one.

[monoloco]

If you are used to using a Mac, why not get an older used or refurbished Macbook Pro? The older ones are easy to upgrade memory, hard drives and replace the batteries in.

[Finchj]

Too bad you need it by July, because depending on your budget I could sell you my 2010 13" Macbook Pro around Xmas time when I'm visiting family in NC.

I'm no professional and it only has 4 gigs of ram, but it works well enough for me.

[ASheffield]

You having said that, I'm surprised you would even consider Windows.

I'd think long and hard about a MacBook Pro as being option one.

That's what I really want but can't afford. I have around $600 in the credit union but I'm also saving for a K-30.

[Kerrowdown]

That's what I really want but can't afford

Have you considered a used one?

[ASheffield]

If you are used to using a Mac, why not get an older used or refurbished Macbook Pro? The older ones are easy to upgrade memory, hard drives and replace the batteries in.

I have thought about that, but I've also thought about the price and cost of parts.

[DSims]

That's what I really want but can't afford. I have around $600 in the credit union but I'm also saving for a K-30.

Maybe you could settle for a K-01, since it's only $250 shipped now at Adorama!

[ASheffield]

This morning my parents got me the HP I was looking at as an early birthday gift. I'm figuring out how to use Windows, but I like it (the computer) so far.