Laptop Recommendations to work between Desktop PC

I have a custom Windows desktop which I use for heavy duty photo editing. However, I want a laptop so I can work on photos at parents house. I want to be able to copy a large folder of images to an external hard disc and transfer to laptop, work on them, and then be able to upload back to desktop pc. I use Lightroom, Photoshop, On1, colour efex, etc. So what what be a good, reliable laptop? Colour accurate, quality display and reliability is a priority, as well as decent performance that doesn’t slow. My heart really wants a MacBook Pro M1 2021, but because I’m a Windows user this isn’t a goer. Next up was Dell XPS range...but too many reviews of people having issues. I also don’t want all the usual bundled rubbish you get. Looking for ideas please. (PS, I’m unlikely to understand chat that is too techy, so please keep it simple!) Thanks!

I have a custom Windows desktop which I use for heavy duty photo editing. However, I want a laptop so I can work on photos at parents house. I want to be able to copy a large folder of images to an external hard disc and transfer to laptop, work on them, and then be able to upload back to desktop pc. I use Lightroom, Photoshop, On1, colour efex, etc.

So what what be a good, reliable laptop? Colour accurate, quality display and reliability is a priority, as well as decent performance that doesn’t slow.

My heart really wants a MacBook Pro M1 2021, but because I’m a Windows user this isn’t a goer. Next up was Dell XPS range...but too many reviews of people having issues. I also don’t want all the usual bundled rubbish you get.

Looking for ideas please. (PS, I’m unlikely to understand chat that is too techy, so please keep it simple!)

Thanks!

Always found HP laptops to be good and reliable.

Always found HP laptops to be good and reliable.

[quote] So what what be a good, reliable laptop? Colour accurate, quality display and reliability is a priority, as well as decent performance that doesn’t slow. [/quote] Tough question - because there very few laptops - maybe less than 2% other than Macs - that meet your very specific requirements. Even the latest Macs are a little less than around 98% of Adobe RGB colour though they do meet all your other requirements - [i]except they come with Monterey software. [/i] If you use Adobe Cloud check if it compatible with Monterey. The last time I checked Adobe was still not fully compatible - which is why I am still on Mac Big Sur. You can though use Windows on a Mac. I suggest you investigate using Windows on a Mac laptop. Chillblast is an excellent source for desktops - but do not seem to make laptops - though you can ask them for guidance. Reviews report the latest M chip Macs blow even the previous generation of Mac laptops out of the water. When it comes to reliability my experience is Macs beat PC's by at least 200%. 4 to 5 years was the most I got out of a PC. With even a 9 year old Max Mac ring up - within 2 minutes Apple ring back - and so far they have been able to replace even the software (about a 2 hour download) with no loss of data - though obviously I back everything up elsewhere frequently. Good luck

Quote:
So what what be a good, reliable laptop? Colour accurate, quality display and reliability is a priority, as well as decent performance that doesn’t slow.


Tough question - because there very few laptops - maybe less than 2% other than Macs - that meet your very specific requirements.

Even the latest Macs are a little less than around 98% of Adobe RGB colour though they do meet all your other requirements - except they come with Monterey software.
If you use Adobe Cloud check if it compatible with Monterey. The last time I checked Adobe was still not fully compatible - which is why I am still on Mac Big Sur.

You can though use Windows on a Mac.
I suggest you investigate using Windows on a Mac laptop.

Chillblast is an excellent source for desktops - but do not seem to make laptops - though you can ask them for guidance.

Reviews report the latest M chip Macs blow even the previous generation of Mac laptops out of the water.

When it comes to reliability my experience is Macs beat PC's by at least 200%.
4 to 5 years was the most I got out of a PC. With even a 9 year old Max Mac ring up - within 2 minutes Apple ring back - and so far they have been able to replace even the software (about a 2 hour download) with no loss of data - though obviously I back everything up elsewhere frequently.

Good luck

Also as a Windows user I ended up with one of the cheaper (though still over £1000) HP gaming laptops Its fast for games so fast for photo editing was my thinking. I also opted for a large 17" screen. I can't vouch for its colour quality, but just casually it seems OK. I'd say though for your file copy requirements - some external drives are REALLY slow. Try and get one that has a fast interface like "USB 3.2" and also make sure your chosen laptop supports this.

Also as a Windows user I ended up with one of the cheaper (though still over £1000) HP gaming laptops Its fast for games so fast for photo editing was my thinking. I also opted for a large 17" screen. I can't vouch for its colour quality, but just casually it seems OK.

I'd say though for your file copy requirements - some external drives are REALLY slow. Try and get one that has a fast interface like "USB 3.2" and also make sure your chosen laptop supports this.

Thanks for your replies. I’d like to find out more about running windows on a MacBook Pro and whether this workaround would allow me to work on the same images on both systems via external hard drive.

Thanks for your replies. I’d like to find out more about running windows on a MacBook Pro and whether this workaround would allow me to work on the same images on both systems via external hard drive.

[quote]Thanks for your replies. I’d like to find out more about running windows on a MacBook Pro and whether this workaround would allow me to work on the same images on both systems via external hard drive.[/quote] There is actually no reason to run Windows on a MacBook... Mac OS X and Windows can both read and write to disks in the FAT or ExFat format. So simply format your external to one of those two...

Quote:Thanks for your replies. I’d like to find out more about running windows on a MacBook Pro and whether this workaround would allow me to work on the same images on both systems via external hard drive.

There is actually no reason to run Windows on a MacBook... Mac OS X and Windows can both read and write to disks in the FAT or ExFat format. So simply format your external to one of those two...

[quote][quote]Thanks for your replies. I’d like to find out more about running windows on a MacBook Pro and whether this workaround would allow me to work on the same images on both systems via external hard drive.[/quote] There is actually no reason to run Windows on a MacBook... Mac OS X and Windows can both read and write to disks in the FAT or ExFat format. So simply format your external to one of those two... [/quote] Phil, this is great news for me! Thank you so much!!

Quote:
Quote:Thanks for your replies. I’d like to find out more about running windows on a MacBook Pro and whether this workaround would allow me to work on the same images on both systems via external hard drive.

There is actually no reason to run Windows on a MacBook... Mac OS X and Windows can both read and write to disks in the FAT or ExFat format. So simply format your external to one of those two...



Phil, this is great news for me! Thank you so much!!