Compact, lightweight laptop needed for photography: Advice?

mloc

I currently have a brand new (ish) 17" MacBook Pro that I use for photo editing on the move. The problem is however it's quite on the large side and not practical for carrying around.

Ideally I'd like a smaller laptop (13" screen max) that would be reasonably powered and lightweight. I'm not too interested in the standard MacBooks, they seem quite overpriced.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Crispin

Get a netbook like the samsung NC10 or the lenovo S10
Both 10inch screens and weight next to nothing.
About 300euro online

Thirdfox

I use the eeepc 1000h - you also get 7 hours battery life, and it can run Picasa 3 and CS2 without too much difficulties (though there was that one time when I had to wait 7 minutes for it to photomerge 10 6 megapixel images together - should have know better )

Ricky91t

I use the samsung NC10,with 2gb of ram installed it's quick,you can get up to 6 hours i think depending on wi-fi bluetooth etc

Also if you search Mac osx NC10 uk Revision it'll link you to a huge thread on insanely mac on how to get it up and running.I use the 10.5.4 version and it works perfect(wi-fi card had to be chaged,cost about €20)And the headphone output doesn't work,may be resolved in the newer version

I use the "portable version of CS4 on this and it runs quickly and smoothly

melekalikimaka

i'll take the mac off your hands, uit being so heavy and cumbersome :-)

Nisio

Just something to think about but some of the netbook type laptops I've used/seen don't have great "colour management" (does someone have the proper term for this?). Might be an issue if you're editing pictures on them

mloc

Yeah I'd have to admit the quality of the display would be an issue. The Mac's display is fantastic, as laptop screens go, but for the price you'd kinda expect it to be.

There doesn't seem to be much that Dell do that would suit, even the XPS stuff is a bit... boring.

whyulittle

Even leaving the screen aside, would netbooks be able to handle heavy photo processing?

Ricky91t

whyulittle wrote: »

Even leaving the screen aside, would netbooks be able to handle heavy photo processing?

Mine can,and they are all based on the same internal components really
I was processing an 8mp 300 DPI image which ended up being 16mb and it worked smoothly

melekalikimaka

Ricky91t wrote: »

Mine can,and they are all based on the same internal components really
I was processing an 8mp 300 DPI image which ended up being 16mb and it worked smoothly

a small one would struggle ALOT more, smaller components, throttled to conserve etc... it might run ok, not bang for buck by any means tho

Thirdfox

Well, you're probably using a netbook to tether your camera to check it up on a bigger screen, not batch processing 500 wedding photos.

Like I said, the only time I had slow down on mine was with the 100mb panorama file. But I'm sure many laptops would have slowed down somewhat those kind of files too.

Just as a reference to its relative speed, you can't play full-screen HD videos without major lag. Standard definition TV is fine though.

Ricky91t

melekalikimaka wrote: »

a small one would struggle ALOT more, smaller components, throttled to conserve etc... it might run ok, not bang for buck by any means tho

Eh,what?
WHat do you mean a small one?
Cause i'm on a "small one" already and it run's fine
Do you mean like an eee pc?Or what

mloc

The NC10 looks interesting. Not gonna be using the laptop for serious photo stuff anyway, just checking out shots. I have a desktop with a 24" screen for that

Hmmm, this might be a plan, the difference in sale money might go a long way towards a new D700...

Ricky91t

mloc wrote: »

The NC10 looks interesting. Not gonna be using the laptop for serious photo stuff anyway, just checking out shots. I have a desktop with a 24" screen for that

Hmmm, this might be a plan, the difference in sale money might go a long way towards a new D700...

Whatever you choose,get a 2gb ram stick too.Makes a nice bit of difference when running a few applications at once like photoshop etc

Deliverance XXV

I have to give the thumbs up to the Samsung NC10 too. Small, cheap, easily upgradable and suprisingly fast.
I have tried editing photos and it works pleasantly however it's no comparison to my desktop. That's not to try and dissuade you. The NC10 is capable for it's price.