[bertwert]

I'm in the market for a new laptop - primarily for image processing and school. Since I'll have a bit of financial aid, and using it for school/work, I can justify a larger budget than I normally would, but still modest...

I've got a fair understanding of processors and various components - and have a bit of an idea what I'm looking for - but could do with some guidance from more knowledgeable folks... All my processing is done through darktable and I'm fed up with Windows and will quite likely be running Arch (main reason that I'm not currently is that there are hardware incompatibilities with my current setup and Linux systems).

Budget aside for the moment, what would you recommend? What are the absolute minimum requirements you could live with? What do you find the most crucial component wise (processor speed, number of cores, memory, etc...)?

Thanks in advance...

[jlstrawman]

It can depend on what software you plan to use on the new machine. Most software websites will list minimum and recommended configurations for successfully using their programs. Good luck.

[Bruce Clark]

I'm in the market for a new laptop - primarily for image processing and school. Since I'll have a bit of financial aid, and using it for school/work, I can justify a larger budget than I normally would, but still modest...

I've got a fair understanding of processors and various components - and have a bit of an idea what I'm looking for - but could do with some guidance from more knowledgeable folks... All my processing is done through darktable and I'm fed up with Windows and will quite likely be running Arch (main reason that I'm not currently is that there are hardware incompatibilities with my current setup and Linux systems).

Budget aside for the moment, what would you recommend? What are the absolute minimum requirements you could live with? What do you find the most crucial component wise (processor speed, number of cores, memory, etc...)?

Thanks in advance...

In Plane Switching (IPS) screen is essential in my opinion. Not cheap and can be hard to find.

[Sidney Porter]

I have dark table running on a cheap 1 year old Asus laptop running windows 10 and a middle of the road HP laptop computer from 2013(came with windows 8) Running Ubuntu 18.04. both are fine with speed. Raw files from k3 and k100d. I think anything newish is fine

[UncleVanya]

Will you be using an external monitor? If not how portable does it need to be? I recently bought a Lenovo with the AMD Ryzen 5 processor. IPS 14" convertible to a tablet. This easily handles DSO Photolab with no issue. I have an external 24" and a couple of external drives.

[FozzFoster]

Can I talk you into buying a desktop?


https://pcpartpicker.com/b/GKcYcf
https://pcpartpicker.com/b/6nV6Mp

[bertwert]

In Plane Switching (IPS) screen is essential in my opinion. Not cheap and can be hard to find.

I keep seeing about IPS being better, however could you clarify why? One model I'm looking at does have an IPS screen...

[bertwert]

I have dark table running on a cheap 1 year old Asus laptop running windows 10 and a middle of the road HP laptop computer from 2013(came with windows 8) Running Ubuntu 18.04. both are fine with speed. Raw files from k3 and k100d. I think anything newish is fine

It runs fine on my current laptop, that is if I don't mind going and having a cup of tea after changing a setting and before seeing the result...

[FozzFoster]

IPS screen

I can totally agree that an IPS screen is a must. In-Plane Switch (IPS) panel monitor.
It retains colour accuracy at multiple viewing angles.
Cheap panels (TN panels) shift the colour even on a slight angle other than straight on.
Definitely get an IPS panel!

---------- Post added 05-21-20 at 07:24 PM ----------

It runs fine on my current laptop, that is if I don't mind going and having a cup of tea after changing a setting and before seeing the result...

This would largely be solved by buying an SSD instead of an HDD for your boot/application drive

[bertwert]

Will you be using an external monitor? If not how portable does it need to be? I recently bought a Lenovo with the AMD Ryzen 5 processor. IPS 14" convertible to a tablet. This easily handles DSO Photolab with no issue. I have an external 24" and a couple of external drives.

Good to hear... I'm looking at a Ryzen 5 3500u based ThinkPad - FHD IPS screen too... well on the upper end of my budget, though it should last me quite a while...

I'll be using our standalone most of the time - portability is fairly important, but since no external monitor, I'll likely go 15.6" rather than 14" - a bit of a toss up really...

[bertwert]

Can I talk you into buying a desktop?


SG_Foster's Completed Build - Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core, Radeon RX 580 8 GB GAMING X, Meshify C ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker
SG_Foster's Completed Build - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core, GeForce GT 1030 2 GB Phoenix Fan OC, Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower - PCPartPicker

Unfortunately not... laptop is a must this time...

[FozzFoster]

AMD's third gen Ryzen cpu's are just hitting the market.
Might want to wait until they're in laptops too.
I believe the wait would be well worth it.

[bertwert]

I can totally agree that an IPS screen is a must. In-Plane Switch (IPS) panel monitor.
It retains colour accuracy at multiple viewing angles.
Cheap panels (TN panels) shift the colour even on a slight angle other than straight on.
Definitely get an IPS panel!

---------- Post added 05-21-20 at 07:24 PM ----------



This would largely be solved by buying an SSD instead of an HDD for your boot/application drive

Thanks for the simple explanation re IPS... I see that being quite a bit nicer...

As far as my current computer, it's got a crappy cracked screen and broken hinges, as well as soldered on memory and a so-so slow processor - sure I could throw an SSD in and certainly get an improvement but the other problems are a bit of a pain...

[bertwert]

AMD's third gen Ryzen cpu's are just hitting the market.
Might want to wait until they're in laptops too.
I believe the wait would be well worth it.

Might be, except that I can just stretch my budget to the these ones on clearance

[UncleVanya]

This is what I bought: Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1 Convertible... amazon.com: Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop, 14 Inch FHD Touchscreen Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor, 12GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD, Windows 10, 81SS000DUS, Black, Pen Included: Computers & Accessories?tag=pentaxforums-20&