Laptop for Photoshop

Author
Discussion

.Adam.

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

277 months

Friday 20th June
quotequote all
My wife needs a new laptop for her illustration business, mainly for editing large photoshop files. Got around £1000 to spend, and have been looking at Dell.
I haven't had to buy a computer for a while, so am somewhat out of the loop. We have a choice between an Inspiron 16 Plus with an Ultra 7 155H and nVidia RTX 4060 8GB, or a 16 Plus with an Ultra 9 288V and Intel Arc 130v.
I'm not sure if the Arc has dedicated ram?
I'm assuming the nVidia is better than the Intel, but not sure for Photoshop if we would be better with the Ultra 9/Arc over the Ultra7/4060?

the-photographer

3,989 posts

190 months

Friday 20th June
quotequote all
I would go for the Nvidia laptop and a big external monitor

.Adam.

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

277 months

Friday 20th June
quotequote all
She uses a pen display, so no great neeed to drive a big monitor. I'm more inclined to go for the graphics card, but i'm used to gaming.

Edited by .Adam. on Friday 20th June 22:45


Edited by .Adam. on Saturday 21st June 11:24

xeny

4,961 posts

92 months

Saturday 21st June
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They're pretty different things. The 155H is 6P core, 8 E core while the 288V has 4 P, 4 E with memory as part of the CPU package, so definitely not upgradable RAM. The 155H may have upgradable memory. The 288V is really aimed at premium thin/light laptops.

You are right, the 130V is an integrated GPU using system memory, so the 4060 is likely better performing, and I think some functions in Photoshop are GPU accelerated?

Only reason I'd consider the 288V is it is potentially lighter, cooler running and with better battery life.

Gareth79

8,303 posts

260 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
Definitely check the Dell Outlet regularly - the items there are at least 1/3rd off the regular price, and are nearly always perfect condition, just reboxed.

Does she absolutely need a laptop? A desktop would be more reliable, you'll have more options, and easier to upgrade if needed.

danb79

11,565 posts

86 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
.Adam. said:
My wife needs a new laptop for her illustration business, mainly for editing large photoshop files. Got around £1000 to spend, and have been looking at Dell.
I haven't had to buy a computer for a while, so am somewhat out of the loop. We have a choice between an Inspiron 16 Plus with an Ultra 7 155H and nVidia RTX 4060 8GB, or a 16 Plus with an Ultra 9 288V and Intel Arc 130v.
I'm not sure if the Arc has dedicated ram?
I'm assuming the nVidia is better than the Intel, but not sure for Photoshop if we would be better with the Ultra 9/Arc over the Ultra7/4060?
Does it need to be Windows; what about a Macbook?

.Adam.

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

277 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
Laptop is preferable as she is able to take it and work elsewhere, Not interested in a Mac, neither of us has any experience with IOS, plus they are way more expensive for the specs.
Regarding the outlet, we have been checking there, we do have the Inspiron Ultra7/4060 on order, but it's just been delayed by a month, hence looking at others. They do actually have the exact same computer in the outlet, which I assume would come quicker, but it's only £40 cheaper.

Whatdoidonext

45 posts

40 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
.Adam. said:
My wife needs a new laptop for her illustration business, mainly for editing large photoshop files. Got around £1000 to spend, and have been looking at Dell.
I haven't had to buy a computer for a while, so am somewhat out of the loop. We have a choice between an Inspiron 16 Plus with an Ultra 7 155H and nVidia RTX 4060 8GB, or a 16 Plus with an Ultra 9 288V and Intel Arc 130v.
I'm not sure if the Arc has dedicated ram?
I'm assuming the nVidia is better than the Intel, but not sure for Photoshop if we would be better with the Ultra 9/Arc over the Ultra7/4060?
CPU and GPU important, but you also want to consider the RAM and read/write speed of primary drive.

.Adam.

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

277 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
Getting 32gb system ram, it seems quite hard to get more, and it has an NVMe Gen 4 Class 40 2TB SSD.

xeny

4,961 posts

92 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
I think this is a video review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCcKY9deJV4 and you can upgrade the RAM to 64 GB, but Crucial 64GB DDR5 kits look to be about £180 at present.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/s... says max supported memory is 96GB.

danb79

11,565 posts

86 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
.Adam. said:
Laptop is preferable as she is able to take it and work elsewhere, Not interested in a Mac, neither of us has any experience with IOS, plus they are way more expensive for the specs.
Regarding the outlet, we have been checking there, we do have the Inspiron Ultra7/4060 on order, but it's just been delayed by a month, hence looking at others. They do actually have the exact same computer in the outlet, which I assume would come quicker, but it's only £40 cheaper.
My brother uses Adobe Suite and Lightroom on his M4 MBA with zero issues, plenty powerful with the Silicone a 4 chip and 16GB RAM. Under £1k too

Macs are very easy to use and to get used to, plus they just work and rarely have any issues at all...

Unless you absolutely won't entertain Mac, don't rule them out until you give one a test drive if you can

FlyingPanda

495 posts

104 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
danb79 said:
.Adam. said:
Laptop is preferable as she is able to take it and work elsewhere, Not interested in a Mac, neither of us has any experience with IOS, plus they are way more expensive for the specs.
Regarding the outlet, we have been checking there, we do have the Inspiron Ultra7/4060 on order, but it's just been delayed by a month, hence looking at others. They do actually have the exact same computer in the outlet, which I assume would come quicker, but it's only £40 cheaper.
My brother uses Adobe Suite and Lightroom on his M4 MBA with zero issues, plenty powerful with the Silicone a 4 chip and 16GB RAM. Under £1k too

Macs are very easy to use and to get used to, plus they just work and rarely have any issues at all...

Unless you absolutely won't entertain Mac, don't rule them out until you give one a test drive if you can
The other thing worth remembering for Macs is that (in my experience) they keep working for far longer than a Windows PC. I have a 2013 MacBook Air and a 2017 MacBook pro that are both still performing as they did when new. I have never known a Windows PC last that long. You do spend more initially but over their lifetime you’ll get that back (and have the pleasure of not having to use a Windows PC).

the-norseman

14,226 posts

185 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
FlyingPanda said:
The other thing worth remembering for Macs is that (in my experience) they keep working for far longer than a Windows PC.
Thats because most people will spend £300 on a Windows laptop that lasts 2-3 years and then spend £1000+ on a Macbook and are amazed its soooo much better and lasts longer.

I've got a 10 year old Dell XPS which is still going fine, think it was about £700 in a sale, it was actually a "Ubuntu edition" but it still has the Windows key on the keyboard (I've covered it with a penguin).

.Adam.

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

277 months

Saturday 21st June
quotequote all
I'm most probably swayed by my experience of peoples iPhones at work, but they put me off Apple stuff, plus I think I have much more chance of fixing faults on a Windows install as I have built tower systems and installed Windows, so I have a bit of knowledge. Her computer that has just died has a 17" screen, so she doesn't really want to go below 16" now.
She quite regularly is working with 10gb+ .psd's, so want plenty of ram as well, but 32gb seems to be the maximum available at this price range. Good to see the ram is upgradable, I was expecting it to be soldered to the motherboard.

Edited by .Adam. on Saturday 21st June 21:19

Whatdoidonext

45 posts

40 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
FlyingPanda said:
The other thing worth remembering for Macs is that (in my experience) they keep working for far longer than a Windows PC. I have a 2013 MacBook Air and a 2017 MacBook pro that are both still performing as they did when new. I have never known a Windows PC last that long. You do spend more initially but over their lifetime you ll get that back (and have the pleasure of not having to use a Windows PC).
Is software via the app store still available for older Apple machines? I remember years ago having an iPad and after a time nothing in the Apple store would install on it as the iOS was too old and couldn't be upgraded. Is that still the case? I'd like to buy an M1 Mac Mini but worry it's obsolete.

FunkyGibbon

3,821 posts

278 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
.Adam. said:
Laptop is preferable as she is able to take it and work elsewhere, Not interested in a Mac, neither of us has any experience with IOS, plus they are way more expensive for the specs.
Regarding the outlet, we have been checking there, we do have the Inspiron Ultra7/4060 on order, but it's just been delayed by a month, hence looking at others. They do actually have the exact same computer in the outlet, which I assume would come quicker, but it's only £40 cheaper.
EuroPC have the model you want.

https://www.europc.co.uk/dell-inspiron-16-plus-764...

£827.99 including VAT

They state Manufacturer Refurbished, but they are effectively open-boxed brand new IMHO.

I have used EuroPC for the last few years with no problems.


Edited by FunkyGibbon on Sunday 22 June 14:43

danb79

11,565 posts

86 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
Whatdoidonext said:
FlyingPanda said:
The other thing worth remembering for Macs is that (in my experience) they keep working for far longer than a Windows PC. I have a 2013 MacBook Air and a 2017 MacBook pro that are both still performing as they did when new. I have never known a Windows PC last that long. You do spend more initially but over their lifetime you ll get that back (and have the pleasure of not having to use a Windows PC).
Is software via the app store still available for older Apple machines? I remember years ago having an iPad and after a time nothing in the Apple store would install on it as the iOS was too old and couldn't be upgraded. Is that still the case? I'd like to buy an M1 Mac Mini but worry it's obsolete.
M1 Macs will be supported for a good while yet; but TBH the price the M4 Mini's are at' it'd absolutely make sense to get one of those, more so as Amazon has Pay in 5 running currently

the-norseman

14,226 posts

185 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
danb79 said:
more so as Amazon has Pay in 5 running currently
You can get it direct from Apple with 0% finance as well.

.Adam.

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

277 months

Monday 23rd June
quotequote all
FunkyGibbon said:
EuroPC have the model you want.
Thanks for the link, but only 16gb ram and 1tb storage. Somewhere else to keep an eye on though. thumbup

FunkyGibbon

3,821 posts

278 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Offer at Amazon…

https://amzn.eu/d/4vmF8CS

A bit above budget though.