New Laptop

[davidc]

My understanding is that Microsoft has already addressed scaling in Windows 8, but not all third parties have updated their applications. 4/5k screens are still quite expensive, but it is something which will be addressed as prices fall.

I am not aware of any laptops which yet come with 4/5k screens, so I presume this relates to desktop machines?

Gaming is not a consideration for me and the graphics incorporated into the CPU are reasonably powerful these days, so I would expect some benefit for Lightroom and Photoshop performance.

Scaling is OK in Windows 8 but it's not perfect yet and most noticeable on 4k screens. As you say it's third party apps that suffer the most although photoshop and lightroom are fine.

You can definitely get 3/4k screens on laptops, that's what I have currently. This is a link to the singapore site but shows the types of screens available on the OEM clevo chassis. You will certainly be able to find a UK or US supplier with a bit of digging.

https://www.aftershockpc.com/S-15/recm/

Apple is better at scaling because it has tighter control over what software it allows but for me that's scant consolation. Also, I would advise against a 13" screen unless portability is the most important factor. I compared 4k on 13" vs 15" and the ease of use, particuarly readability and eye strain, was noticeable after only a short while.

My problem with Mac is I am too invested in PC software & useability to make the change. Macs are prettier and have many virtues but for me to change now it'd be time, money and hassle I'd rather not waste. You can get much more powerful PC laptops too. I have always shied away from a mac purchase because it'd be with my "ooh pretty" heart and not my head. Do you really want to get all new software, redo all presentations, set everything up again etc. when you can just get a decent laptop for considerably less money?

Finally, don't underestimate the performance a proper GPU will make, especially in larger files, rendering large LR catalogues or photo merging. It doesn't need to be a pro-spec gaming machine to have a dedicated video card and the differences is enormous - I had direct experience with this, my wife's laptop and my old one had identical CPUs but I had a gaming card in mine too. The difference was astonishing, and that's with a 5 year old video card. With a current gen one I'm looking forward to testing it with some massive files soon.

Remember not to skimp on the RAM, get 16gb minimum. But make sure that the CPU you choose can address the full set of RAM, some lower end CPUs can only address 4gb or 8gb.

[davidb]

My problem with Mac is I am too invested in PC software & useability to make the change. Macs are prettier and have many virtues but for me to change now it'd be time, money and hassle I'd rather not waste. You can get much more powerful PC laptops too. I have always shied away from a mac purchase because it'd be with my "ooh pretty" heart and not my head. Do you really want to get all new software, redo all presentations, set everything up again etc. when you can just get a decent laptop for considerably less money?

There are Windows emulators for the Mac so you don't have to start entirely from scratch!

http://www.parallels.com/uk/products/desktop/

http://www.vmware.com/uk/products/fusion/

There is also Boot Camp which is part of OS X although with this option you can't run OS X and Windows at the same time.

[Mike Farley]

Thanks to both Davids for their comments.

First off, I am looking for a smaller laptop with an accurate display mainly for portability. The Clevo based machines with high resolution screens are all 15.6" models, which rules them out until I come to replace my larger laptop. That probably will not be for a while, by which time 3/4/6/8k screens or whatever will be more common, giving Microsoft with Windows 10 and everyone else a chance to catch up. A small display is not an issue bcause the majority of my processing will still be undertaken on my desktop machine.

Do I really want a Mac, with all the new issues it brings? Actually, I am not too bothered. I find that I tend to adapt well to different ways of doing things and it is not unusual to have more than one brand of camera in my bag, swapping from one to another as required. I will not be loading up the small laptop with a lot of software, just Lightroom and Photoshop. Now that I am using Creative Cloud, Adobe does not mind if I run one copy on a Windows machine and the other on Mac. That was never an option with perpetual licences without a second purchase of their expensive software. So far as using the applications is concerned, based on my short time with Rose's machine, the applications appeared to function identically. Apple also supplies a useful range of software which should be good enough for anything else which I am likely to want to do.

The main point of incompatibility comes with running my PowerPoint presentations in Keynote, but that can be addressed by installing PowerPoint. If I switch to Office 365, Microsoft will happily let me up to five copies in a mixed environment and throw in a massive amount of offline cloud storage all for £70 a year.

When I started looking at a new computer, I was not considering anything with a SSD, but if portability is a factor it starts to make a lot of sense. Ideally I would like more than 128 GB, but Apple wants £200, a stupid amount of money, for a 256 GB drive. Admittedly write times are also better, but it is not like the base model is slow. I am probably better off with external storage; a 1 TB spinner comes in at £40 these days and flash drives are also cheap. That way I can keep separate backups, which is always a good policy. Also, 8 GB RAM is enough for the sort of use which the machine is likely to get. Actually, that's all I have in my desktop at present and unless I have a lot of images open simultaneously in Photoshop, it is usually enough for my purposes.

The GPU acceleration in Lightroom is something I have yet to experience due to a neat little gotcha cooked up between them by Adobe and AMD. Somehow, Adobe has managed to poduce software which is incompatible with the Radeon graphics card I am using. Their recommended workaround is to revert to an earlier version of the driver, but that appears to have its own issues and AMD advises using a later version. Adobe will get its act together sooner or later, but I am not convinced that absolute performance is a priority for occasional use. CPU based graphics should suffice and the latest incarnations reasonably powerful.

So far, I have found just two machines which meet my requirements, one running Windows at £650 and the Mac, which I can purchase for £850 either new through Amazon Marketplace or refurbished directly from Apple. The additional £200 essentially gives me a better display, superior battery life and a faster processor, but the Windows machine comes from Asus. Now here's the final kicker. My Asus laptop refuses to play ball with my digital projector. If I talk to it nicely and buy it expensive presents, it will sometimes let me run duplicate desktops on both displays but it really wants to be in extended mode, which is no use to me. The strange thing is that everything is OK when I hook it up to the TV. The one occasion I tried to use it for a presentation ended in disaster after I got everything set up at home, but it positively refused to cooperate when I gave the talk. As for calibrating it with the projector using my Colormunki, that is a complete no no. Guess what? Asus blames Xrite and Xrite blames Asus. Suddenly, Apple's walled kingdom where it is responsible for everything starts to look more attractive.

[davidb]

Mike

Here's an article you might find interesting.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/ho ... l-3620931/

You'll probably be annoyed by the adverts appearing over the graphics but they're easily dismissed.

[Mike Farley]

Thanks, David, that is indeed useful and provides a lot of background info.

I went back to the store-formerly-known-as-Dixons yesterday and to my surprise one of the "assistants" greeted me when I got there. I told him that I was thinking about buying a Macbook. "OK" he said and that was it. All their Apple machines were up and running this time, they were not busy, so I spent some time exploring and worked out most of what I needed to know. It was a bit bizarre finding Bash as part of an operating system which majors on ease of use, but only the diehard users will probably ever go there. There was a couple in the shop also looking at the Macs and when the assistant established that they were Polish, found someone to talk to them in their own language. The first time I have seen that happen.

I have also been investigating Amazon Marketplace and it looks as though the lower priced machines are sourced through Hong Kong. A number of dealers are located there, although some have addresses in the UK. It's a familiar situation, of course, one in this instance which is helped by Apple's worldwide warranty. Some of the listings specifically state that models with the US keyboard are supplied, but a few are UK spec. Some do not say, but the one response I have received so far advised that they supply the International keyboard, which does not have a £ sign and the # is in the wrong place. It's not a big deal as the keyboard can be remapped in software, so it's just a question of learning where to find the errant symbols, but I would still pay a bit extra to get the familiar layout.

[Mike Farley]

UPDATE: The second Amazon Marketplace response came in while I typing the previous post and that too indicated the international keyboard is supplied. If anyone is thinking of purchasing via this route, it would seem best to opt for a supplier who explicitly states that the machine is UK spec. I would also look for someone who is based in this country as well.

[Rose]

Talking of the Apple keyboard layout - even on the UK version the @ key is not where you're used to finding it on a PC... I found that a bit of a bind as it's more awkward, but you get used to it. (it's above the 2)

[Mike Farley]

Thanks, Rose. I had not spotted that. Definitely a bit of a nuisance, as you say.

I have seen some keyboard overlays which seem to have the key values printed on them, which might be one solution to the international keyboard layout once the UK settings have been configured in System Preferences.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silicone-Keyboa ... B009W8X14I

[Rose]

Thanks, Rose. I had not spotted that. Definitely a bit of a nuisance, as you say.

I have seen some keyboard overlays which seem to have the key values printed on them, which might be one solution to the international keyboard layout once the UK settings have been configured in System Preferences.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silicone-Keyboa ... B009W8X14I

I have one of those... in purple... if you need it

[Mike Farley]

Thanks, Rose. I had not spotted that. Definitely a bit of a nuisance, as you say.

I have seen some keyboard overlays which seem to have the key values printed on them, which might be one solution to the international keyboard layout once the UK settings have been configured in System Preferences.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silicone-Keyboa ... B009W8X14I

I have one of those... in purple... if you need it

Thanks for the offer, Rose, but I don't think I have anything in my wardrobe to match that particular shade of lilac. If only it were a bit darker ....