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BrightEyes654
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Lightweight laptop for Adobe Creative Suite 5 advice

Apr 15, 2012 12:10 AM

Tags: #new_laptop #lightweight

Hello,

 

I originally posted this in the 'Downloading, Installing, Setting Up > Discussions' forum and have been sent here to see if anyone may be able to help; I need some advice and guidence on buying a new laptop that will run Creative Suite 5 Design Premium. I have a desktop which I use for the majority of my design work, but I need something portable for tweaking and presenting whilst on the move.

 

 

The key thing is I need it to be lightweight as I have joint problems so preferably under 1.9kg (I know that usually the smaller then the less powerful) and with a good as possible battery life. I mainly use Photoshop, Illustrator and some InDesign, working to real size (usually under and up to A3, sometimes larger)

 

I've found two possibilities; can anyone guide me if either of these will run comfortably for what I need?

 

 

HP Pavilion dm4-2101ea £449

          Featuring Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

          2nd generation Intel® Core™ i3-2330M processor

          4GB memory for top system performance

          500 GB Hard Drive for storing all your digital files

          35.5 cm (14.0") High-Definition LED-backlit BrightView Display

          Intel® HD Graphics

          Finished in Dark Umber, Brushed Aluminum

          1 year, pick-up and return, warranty. Optional upgrade to 3 years accidental damage cover for peace of mind

          Featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Integrated Webcam & Microphone

          Includes HP Entry Carrying Case & HP Wireless Mobile Mouse

 

 

 

Sony VAIO VPCSB4C5E (VAIO SB 13 series) £614

           Configured

            Intel®Core(TM)i5-2450M,2.50GHz

            Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium

            320 GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)

            DVD disc drive

            8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3-SDRAM

            33.7 cm LCD, 1366x768+webcam

            No Wireless WAN

            No Long-Life Battery

            No security features

            HD digital camera

            Office 2010 Starter + Acrobat

            No protection

            McAfee Online Backup trial

            No Imagination Studio Suite

        Also Included

            Backlight keyboard

            AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6470M 512MB

            English (QWERTY)

            1 AC Adapter

            USB 2.0 x2 + USB 3.0 x1

            Wireless LAN (802.11abgn)

            HDMI(TM) output

            Bluetooth® 3.0

     

 

If the HP one will run the suite ok then I'll go for that one, as a little kinder on the budget. I've compared them myself but I'm not sure if the HP would be sufficient or if the sony would be wasting money when somethign cheaper will do the job? Though at the moment Sony are doing a deal for 8gb RAM for the inclusive price of 4gb, but only until Monday...

 

Any advice would be really appreciated, thank you!

887 Views   4 Replies   Latest reply: Wade_Zimmerman, Apr 17, 2012 5:02 AM
 
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  • Silkrooster
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    1. Silkrooster,
    Apr 15, 2012 9:01 PM   in reply to BrightEyes654
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    Go to HP's web site and you can customize the laptop to your needs and keep an eye on the cost as you add/subtract features. The thing to keep in mind is, forget about tech support, plan on paying someone local to fix it, or fix it yourself or buy new. As Tech support is no good in my eyes.

    For me the price out weights the tech support other wise I would pick someone else.

     

    If you need good tech support, then well, not much out there, maybe Dell, but I have seen laptops that break under normal or almost normal wear and tear. Their laptops must be sent in, but I guess tech support is OK. Never owned a Dell laptop, just seen friends with them.

     

    I have heard rumors of bad tech support from Sony, but thats just rumors, so I can't say how good or bad they really are.

     

    As for a lighter laptop, you could go with a solid state hard drive, they don't hold as much, but they are faster and much lighter than their counter parts.

     

    Get as much ram as you can afford, you will be glad you did, when the time comes. I have already ran out of ram editing a video with 16 GB of ram, so you never have enough.

     

    Anyway, good luck on your purchase, I am sure, you will enjoy it, which ever decision you make.

     
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  • BrightEyes654
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    2. BrightEyes654,
    Apr 17, 2012 12:30 AM   in reply to Silkrooster
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    Thank you Silkrooster. I'm in England and the customisable features aren't on the UK HP website unfortuantely (the American site's much better to be honest). I'm not too concerned about tech support as there are local companies to us.

     

    If you don't mind me asking, in your opinion would the Sony one in my original post suffice if I upgraded to the'128 GB SATA Flash SSD(1 x 128 GB) Solid State Drive' and use an external drive to store my work? Thanks

     
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  • Silkrooster
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    3. Silkrooster,
    Apr 17, 2012 1:20 AM   in reply to BrightEyes654
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    With a solid state drive, you may be able to go with a slimmer case on the laptop. Which would or should lighten the laptop. As long as you have an external drive that can hold your data, you should be fine with 128GB drive. But if you afford it go next size bigger. In the long run, it should pay. But with the external it isn't as necessary.

    But I don't know all the uses you will have for the laptop. As you add programs, games, pictures, video's etc. it fills up quickly. It would be up to you on what needs to be on the internal drive and what can go on the external. Later on, you may want a second external just for back up purposes. When you loose your data, you will be glad you have a spare drive with the data.

    Anyway, good luck...

     
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  • Wade_Zimmerman
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    4. Wade_Zimmerman,
    Apr 17, 2012 5:02 AM   in reply to BrightEyes654
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    Lightweight would be a Mac but they only go to 8GB for Memory.

     

    Use i7 processors.

     

    You can easily run windows on it and have it configured that way as well.

     
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