I'll appreciate a recommendation/comments on a new laptop for Lr

[lbeck]

Lightroom Version Number

6.10.1

Operating System

1. Windows 10

I'm in the market for a new laptop to replace my 6-yr old HP Pavillion dv6t i7 Quad core. One of the things that bugs me about my HP is the screen. The brightness and contrast varies based on the viewing angle - especially up/down. This makes it difficult to edit photos in the field (e.g., on vacation/holiday) and then need to readjust them after transferring to my desktop machine. I'm thinking that I need IPS anti-glare (non glossy).

I want to stay in the Windows environment and I have a limit of about $1500. I also will use the new laptop for video editing which is quite resource intensive. I'm a mouse user so not interested in touch-screen or touch-pad performance. I'm also thinking that I need at least i7/16GB RAM. I'll want my boot drive to be SSD. Not sure how to compare graphics cards, but the laptop that I'm most interested in has the nvidea GTX1060.

I was about to purchase this Dell which is characterized as a gaming machine and I don't play games. But the technical specs look good. It does get a lot of 1-star reviews (I look at those first) but many involve responsiveness for gaming. The comments here seem to like the Inspiron 15 but are primarily from a user who already has the machine - not looking to buy.

I appreciate your thoughts.

 

[clee01l]

What makes the Dell computer a “gaming machine“ is the high-end graphics card installed in the laptop. It is the same high-end graphics card that other apps like Lightroom can use for that GPU processor. If you like the specs on the Dell, don’t hesitate to buy it because it says “gaming”.

 

[craig_k]

Ibeck, I recently replaced my older HP laptop laptop with a "gamers" version, like Cletus says, its the video card ......priorities for me were: I wanted an ips display so it could be properly calibrated, a video card with dedicated vram, and minimum 16 gb ddr4 ram; found this brand new for $1100......asus 15.6 laptop: win10 64bit,intel i7-7700hq@ 2.8Gz,16gb-2400mz ram, NVidia GTX1060,128gb ssd,1TB hd, LR 6.13.... I use a contained setup: externals hold my LR catalog and top level folder, nothing is "internally located" catalog program or image storage........I do not nor do i have any interest in gaming..., just wanted the ips screen, sufficient ram and hi end video card...good luck going forward.....

 

[lbeck]

Thanks to you both. One element of my quest that I neglected to mention is that I hope to buy my new laptop at Costco, which is a big box store popular here in the US. Reason being in additional to cost is their very liberal return policy and they add an additional year warranty = 2 yrs for the new laptop.

My takeaways from this thread are:

• don't worry about the "gaming" characterization

• the IPS screen and a good video card are both important

I'm still looking at the Dell. I couldn't find the Asus at Costco.

Mainly - I posted here because my primary use is for Lr and if there are any reasons to disqualify the Dell I'd rather know now than to have buyer's remorse.

Thanks again.

 

[PhilBurton]

Thanks to you both. One element of my quest that I neglected to mention is that I hope to buy my new laptop at Costco, which is a big box store popular here in the US. Reason being in additional to cost is their very liberal return policy and they add an additional year warranty = 2 yrs for the new laptop.

My takeaways from this thread are:

• don't worry about the "gaming" characterization

• the IPS screen and a good video card are both important

I'm still looking at the Dell. I couldn't find the Asus at Costco.

Mainly - I posted here because my primary use is for Lr and if there are any reasons to disqualify the Dell I'd rather know now than to have buyer's remorse.

Thanks again.

Asus has periodic sales. Get on their mailing list. I have bought all my ASUS laptops on sale.

 

[Replytoken]

Thanks to you both. One element of my quest that I neglected to mention is that I hope to buy my new laptop at Costco, which is a big box store popular here in the US. Reason being in additional to cost is their very liberal return policy and they add an additional year warranty = 2 yrs for the new laptop.

My takeaways from this thread are:

• don't worry about the "gaming" characterization

• the IPS screen and a good video card are both important

I'm still looking at the Dell. I couldn't find the Asus at Costco.

Mainly - I posted here because my primary use is for Lr and if there are any reasons to disqualify the Dell I'd rather know now than to have buyer's remorse.

Thanks again.

I would strongly recommend the new Lenovo X1 Carbon that Costco has for $1599.00. This is a 14" machine with an 8th generation i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a fast 512 PCIe drive. This particular configuration comes with a matte IPS panel that is supposed to replicate 100% of sRGB. It alsohappens to be a touch screen, but you do not need to use it as such. I saw one at Costco lat week and cannot get it out of my mind as it is almost exactly the machine I have been looking for. It also has an amazing keyboard, and if you have ever typed on the older Thinkpads, you will have an understanding of what I am talking about. And, it only weighs 2.4 lbs. Certainly worth consideration.

Good luck,

--Ken