[concealer404]

Hi All,

Currently my wife is using an old Compaq laptop for editing. It's haggard, has a half-broken hinge, and wasn't exactly cutting edge when we bought it 3 years ago.

Now that i myself have gotten into this hobby as well, i "need" something of my own to edit/sort/whatever with, too.

My wife will want a Windows laptop, for myself, i'm not so picky. I'd love to try out a tablet solution, i'm not against using a Mac, either.

We will also need a wireless networked storage solution for backup, preferably 1TB for now.

Here's where it gets hard:

Neither of us are pros, and we're on a budget. I do have a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 w/ keyboard dock that i'll unfortunately be selling (i love that thing, but it doesn't run Lightroom, so it's got to go) to help fund this, and i'd like to keep out of pocket cost as close to $600 as possible. So, figure $1000 all in. I'd like to budget $400 per laptop/tablet (Desktop not an option currently), and $200 for the storage.

So what do i buy? The laptops/tablet don't have to be new, i'm open to refurbs for her, straight up used for me. We don't need powerhouses, we're just doing editing. The rest of it will be internet and word processing. (I'll be tuning my car as well, but i can snag an old Vostro V13 for that if need be, or just repurpose the Compaq)

1) For a $400 Windows laptop, what would you buy?
2) For a $400 Windows tablet (with available dock) for photo editing (stylus?), what would you buy?
3) For a $200 wireless networked storage drive, what would you buy?


And is the $9.99/month Lightroom/CS package what everyone is using now? We have a paid copy of LR3, don't know if there's any burning reason to move to LR5, but i was planning on it. Would i need to buy the $9.99 twice? One for her, one for me?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[virusn3t]

The adobe Cc photographer can be installed on 2 machines, but idk if can be used at the same time.

Editing on tablets is pita, with the adobe suscription lightroom mobile can be used on a iPad, but is not so great only can use Jpeg files not RAW.

[concealer404]

The adobe Cc photographer can be installed on 2 machines, but idk if can be used at the same time.

Editing on tablets is pita, with the adobe suscription lightroom mobile can be used on a iPad, but is not so great only can use Jpeg files not RAW.

Thanks.

By "tablet" i meant Windows tablet in this case. I'm not really interested in the Android/Ipad Lightroom Mobile thingy.

[lsimpkins]

We don't need powerhouses, we're just doing editing.

Unfortunately, "just editing" is one of the more demanding things you can do on a computer. I don't think tablets will have the horsepower or storage capacity necessary to fill this role in a satisfactory manor.

My recommendation for Windows hardware would be a unit with an i5 processor at minimum (i7 better), 8Gb of RAM, 64-bit OS (I still like Win 7), a fast hard drive, and a graphics card with 2Gb of graphics memory. As far as external storage is concerned, I like Western Digital hard drives and would look at their offerings on their website then buy at your preferred vendor or store.

If you are considering an update of LR, version 6 should be out within the next month. It should be a substantial step up from LR3.

[concealer404]

Thanks for the input.

Wife is doing just fine using her old Compaq for editing, and the tablet i have now is about... 5X more powerful than that, but unfortunately runs android, which i like far better for everything, but won't run Lightroom. It has 8 cores and 3gb of ram.

Wacom makes a tablet they're marketing specifically for photo editing, but the specs look like something i could find in the sub-$500 range. On-device storage isn't a concern, which is where the network drive question comes into play.

We aren't pros, is there anything in Newegg's refurb section at $400 you would recommend?

[lsimpkins]

Wacom makes a tablet they're marketing specifically for photo editing, but the specs look like something i could find in the sub-$500 range. On-device storage isn't a concern, which is where the network drive question comes into play.

We aren't pros, is there anything in Newegg's refurb section at $400 you would recommend?

I wasn't aware that Wacom made anything other than tablet/pen type input devices that connect to either a pc or Mac. However I did see their Cintiq hybrid devices on their website. Their niche market products seemingly allow them to charge pretty high prices for the performance they have built in.

As for Newegg, I did not see anything in their current refurb stock that had more than 4Gb of RAM. On the other hand, B&H has some used machines that would seem to fit most accepted editing requirements. I see one from Asus with an i5 processor and 8Gb of RAM that fits in your budget. You might talk to them about what you intend to do and ask what they recommend within budget.

Another question to ask yourself is what type of editing do you intend to do most often. If only some minor cropping and/or sharpening, the software necessary to do so can run with much less horsepower. On the other hand, if you shoot mostly raw and need to adjust contrast, saturation and clone or composite images, more power may keep you from potential frustration.

[concealer404]

Great point on what editing we're actually doing. Right now, she's mostly doing just the former. I don't know anything more than the former, but i'd like to become confortable with the latter. She shoots in jpeg normally, i show in raw.

[concealer404]

Running into an unforseen wrench in the works.

I'm guessing that having a 1080p display is fairly important when processing photos, right? Doesn't seem to be much in this price range that has a screen of that class. I didn't even think this would be an issue, this tablet i'm posting on right now is a 2560x1600 screen, and can be had for $350 refurb. Sigh.

Anyone have input on 1600x900 vs. 1920x1080? Really stupid idea to not get a 1080? Or will i likely not notice a difference in practice?

Sorry for the seamingly moving target that we're shooting at, but it's been a good decade since i've really cared about the computer i get, so i'm way out of the loop.

[reeftool]

I use an IPad. It's great for photo viewing but because storage space is small, you're going to fill it up quickly. You can upload RAW photos directly to an iPad and view them but it isn't too great at editing. The Lightroom app isn't a full version of LR but works with your desktop version. Tablets are great but they aren't a substitute for a desktop computer, at least not yet. The exception here is the Microsoft Surface Pro which runs a full version of Windows but it will stretch your budget. You also have the option to hook up a full sized monitor and different keyboards. There are a few other "convertibles" running Windows from the usual suspects like Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc.

The tablet arena changes quickly. The capability improves with each new generation of tablet and the apps are getting better. For the moment, using a traditional laptop in conjunction with tablet can be done relatively inexpensively. My wife has an HP laptop running Windows 7 which cost us $299 on sale at Staples. It runs Lightroom and Photoshop fine although slower than my desktop. I can move files back and forth with my iPad. Actually, my iPad cost twice what the laptop did. My wife has a cheap Android tablet that she uses. It also syncs with the laptop.

1600 x 900 isn't all that bad. Up until a couple of years ago, everybody was using 1024 x 768 or something. Apple changed it all with the Retina screen on the iPad and all the tablet manufacturers followed along. For photo editing, the higher resolution the screen has, the better. 1080 or higher is a bit more future proof. You don't want to be stuck with something that upgraded apps will no longer run on.