CCC Forum

I am looking to update the small laptop which I use for presentations and travelling. My current model is now five years old and has a 32 bit Intel ULV processor. It runs most applications reasonably well and is just about OK for Lightroom, but has a few issues. The latest version of Lightroom requires a 64 bit CPU, I have never trusted the screen for colour accuracy when editing images and it is subject to the Windows 32 bit RAM limitation of 3 GB. And before you ask, yes the screen has been calibrated, but there is only so much you can do on a budget affair such as this. At the time it was reasonable value for what is was and portability was a higher priority than anything else.

My requirements, I feel, are modest. Processor speed long ago ceased to be an issue and even hard drive capacity is not really a concern when external solid state storage is now so small and affordable. A compact quality high resolution screen and 8 GB RAM without too excessive a price tag are all I ask. The problem is that such a device does not seem to exist in the Windows world. I can get a HD screen, but most of these seem to be 15.6" models. Anything smaller I have found so far seems to be designed for business use and fails to meet the grade when I check the reviews. Poor contrast, inadequate blacks and an inability to display more than 80% sRGB are the main issues.

There is a model which does fully meet all my needs, with one major exception. It's the 13" Macbook Pro and I have an instinctive dislike of Apple. Sure the gear is beautifully made, with a price tag to match, but I have never felt comfortable with the walled kingdom approach which forces you to do everything their way. Nor the immense greed which the corporation demonstrates. Want a modest lead to connect to other devices because Apple does not provide the ports which are standard on Windows machines? That will seemingly cost you more than the value of your home. Does it really cost so much more to manufacture a white cable compared to black ones? Is the capacity of the base SSD a bit on the small side? Those upgrade prices are exorbitant compared to the unit cost even at retail.

Until Adobe introduced their subscription model, running both Windows and iOS versions of their software would not have been feasible, but Creative Cloud allows me to do so without penalty. My other software needs are limited and I can probably get by with the applications Apple supplies as standard, although not iPhoto obviously. So my question is do I overcome my objections and embrace Apple? Or does anyone know of a Windows machine which would be suitable?

LOL... I just bought a 13" MacBook Pro this week ! Call me a mug, but I am signed up to the Apple cart...

Mine is mainly for business and I was intending to get a MacBook Air, but I do want to be able to do some photo editing on it occasionally and it was actually cheaper to get the Pro which comes with Retina screen and 8GB as standard. I haven't used it for any processing yet as I haven't signed up for Adobe CC yet. That's on my list to do. I'd be happy to bring it along to the portrait evening on the 29th if you want to have a look ? Hopefully I'll have CC by then.

Thanks, Rose. Being able to see one in action running CC would definitely be useful. So far in my research I have only been a couple of times to the shop in Croydon previously known as Dixons, but it does not appear to have any staff. There are some people with shirts bearing the slogan "KnowHow" milling around, but they must work for a different company operating in the store.* Their role appears to consist solely of hanging around gossiping to each other, which reminds me of Dorothy Parker's years old quote about British shop staff - "They also stand who only wait to serve".** As a result, I have not even been able to play with an Apple Mac as they are either powered off or password protected. Actually, last time I managed to get a bit of a result. One of the people there did actually acknowledge me - just as I was leaving.

Don't get me wrong, Apple definitely has a good product and I know many like the way that they work without too much hassle which arises from Apple having complete control over the product, but you certainly do pay for the privilege. I am just surprised that there is so little effective competition from the Windows manufacturing community.

* By contrast, the staff in the Carphone Warehouse concession are always keen to help. They must get better commission. Or training.

** Many years ago, Dixons marketed itself as the "Excitement Store" and on a rare occasion when I went into one I encountered the least charismatic individual I have ever met. But at least he did speak to me.

Start working out.

Then you can go for a decent spec 15" notebook and avoid rewarding Apple's exploits.

(Of course, with a Windows machine you'll be rewarding Microsoft who simply have a different set of flaws - childish stuff like preventing people changing their desktop background on Windows Starter edition, bullying OEMs to stop them doing Linux-based netbooks, etc.)

When looking at what notepads are around, I'll generally check what Clevo are offering - they provide whitelabel hardware that many other companies rebrand, so can be a useful starting point.

It looks like the Clevo W230ST has a 13.3" IPS screen with sRGB claimed "around 93%", and 72% AdobeRGB (though another source claims 91% sRGB, 63% AdobeRGB) - but it doesn't appear to be on the Clevo website and I couldn't see any UK stores offering it - it seems to have been replaced by the W230SD which does not have as good a display - only 78% sRGB, 57% AdobeRGB.

So unless you want to try shipping an ST from abroad, it seems the options are get 15" or get Apple. :/

Adobe CC now installed on my laptop so I'm good to go !

Peter Boughton wrote:Start working out.
Then you can go for a decent spec 15" notebook and avoid rewarding Apple's exploits.

(Of course, with a Windows machine you'll be rewarding Microsoft who simply have a different set of flaws - childish stuff like preventing people changing their desktop background on Windows Starter edition, bullying OEMs to stop them doing Linux-based netbooks, etc.)

The size is for convenience as much as anything, although some really cheap airlines* restrict hand luggage weights to some ridiculously low limits. For photographers, at least.

At least Apple is not a convicted monopolist. By the time the DOJ case against Microsoft had ground its way through the US legal system, the judiciary could effectively give it no more than a slap on the wrists because so much of the country's economy was dependent on the company's success.

Peter Boughton wrote:When looking at what notepads are around, I'll generally check what Clevo are offering - they provide whitelabel hardware that many other companies rebrand, so can be a useful starting point.

The only Cleve based machines I could find are marketed as Cube in this country, but they have 15.6" screens and a gamimg spec. A separate graphics card is useful for speeding up both Lightroom and Photoshop, though. Based on a forum comment I saw, it is also possible that PCSpecialist is building machines based on chassis sourced from Cleve. Given the source, I would definitely want to check that out before committing to a purchase.

Peter Boughton wrote:So unless you want to try shipping an ST from abroad, it seems the options are get 15" or get Apple. :/

* When I travelled to Santorini on a Monarch chartered flight in 2010, the allowance was a measly 5kg**, although admittedly my luggage was not weighed on either flight. As a result, I now have my current cheap laptop and a photographer's vest which will take copius amounts of gear. There is cabin luggage, hold luggage and body luggage.

**It is currently 10kg for scheduled flights, but I cannot find any information for chartered ones. Thomson's limit is currently 5kg, though. Back in 2010, Monarch claimed that their restriction was for health and safety reasons, which seems to be a catch all excuse for anything a company does not want to do.

Rose wrote:Adobe CC now installed on my laptop so I'm good to go !

Sounds great. Let us know your experiences.

Installed, but not actually opened them on my laptop yet... And I've never had the full fat version of PS so I need to learn to use that, although I will continue to do most of my processing in LR. I also use a Wacom tablet with my iMac, which I won't have when I'm using the laptop, so it'll be back to using a mouse, or a finger...

I've also installed the mobile versions of LR and PS on my iPad.

Mike

You could visit Apple's stores in Regent Street and/or Covent Garden. No purchase necessary

You can use all versions of their machines without committing to buy and the staff are generally very well trained to deal with customers queries.

That's certainly on my list of things to do. One of the things which you are paying for with Apple is the customer experience. I will probably also pop into somewhere like John Lewis or PC World just to check that there is nothing Windows based which I have overlooked. There do seem to be one or two possibilities which might just work out better.