best travel laptop for digital editing?

[Scheelings]

Hi everyone, I've decided it would be good to have a laptop specifically for this purpose. I've considered in Ipad and decided against it because it won't run lightroom. When I'm at home I'd consider later expanding it by plugging in an EIZO monitor etc

So can anyone recommend a line of laptops that have decent battery life, but enough processing power and RAM to edit large raw files, yet small enough to hardly notice in a backpack?

I'd prefer not to go for Apple, but will do so if they are that much better.

 

[Murchu]

The Apple macbook range (air/ regular/ pro) fit the bill, and are worth consideration, if you would use a laptop to edit when travelling. I'm not a pro, and don't like to do anything when I travel, except enjoy the experience and shoot, so the computer stays at home for me. As an amateur I can always find time to edit when back home, but travel time is limited, so I try to enjoy it and also shoot as much as possible.

 

[Bill Clark]

When I travel I don't do any transferring or editing of photographs. The cards I use work just fine and can wait until I return to my studio.

Time is precious and when I travel I do things I couldn't/can't do at home. Editing I can do at my studio and I leave it for when I return.

Do you really need to do this task while traveling and purchase a laptop to make it happen?

Your choice. I only have 24 hours each of my days.

 

[Aristophanes]

The step up from iPad is a MacBook Air for ultimate portability with enough processing. The SSD drives help a lot, too. NOt a lot of storage, but enough processing power so long as you max the RAM for RAW.

 

[Addy101]

I'd prefer not to go for Apple, but will do so if they are that much better.

And yet, everybody starts to recommend Apples :bang:

This question is impossible to answer. What is your budget? Do you want 11", 12", 13", 14" or bigger screen? Do you want Windows 8? A touchscreen?

The Sony Pro series is nice, but Samsung, Asus, you name it, have good laptops too.

 

[Mcary]

When I travel I don't do any transferring or editing of photographs. The cards I use work just fine and can wait until I return to my studio.

Time is precious and when I travel I do things I couldn't/can't do at home. Editing I can do at my studio and I leave it for when I return.

Do you really need to do this task while traveling and purchase a laptop to make it happen?

Your choice. I only have 24 hours each of my days.

Agree!

Unless a person is traveling/shooting on a deadline I don't see why they would want to spend their time in their hotel room editing images rather then shooting and enjoying the local culture and food.

 

[Godfrey]

Sorry, but I don't know anything about non-Apple systems. I use a MacBook Air 13". Like it a lot. The 11" is more portable; it lacks the built-in SD card slot and is a little lower on processing power. I also prefer the 13" screen for LR.

Have to say, like others I do minimal image processing while traveling. My last two trips I took along an iPad mini and Camera Connection Kit with SnapSeed and Photogene: for the occasional processing I did while on the road, it works well and is far less to carry.

G

 

[JSU]

I'd prefer not to go for Apple, but will do so if they are that much better.

In my experience, they are that much better.

Last week I upgraded my long in the tooth mid-2008 15" MacBook Pro with a current 13" MBP with SSD.

I specifically chose the MBP over the Air because among my paying jobs is the need to deliver a DVD of my edited take shortly after the event. The MBP has an integral SuperDrive, the Air uses one outboard through a USB port. I choose to have the SuperDrive internal, otherwise I would have been all over the 13" Air.

If I have any advice to offer, it is to strongly consider an internal SSD for whatever laptop you eventually choose. The speed difference is obvious and IMHO, profound.

My old 15" MBP is now kept at home, the screen real estate is useful. I deliberately chose a 13" MBP for work and travel because it is smaller and is sufficient for my needs away from home. I know more than a few who are very happy with their 11" Air, their criteria was to shave as much weight as possible from their travel kit and still get the job done. Between the 13" & 11" Air, I see little difference other than actual screen size and the SD card slot of the 13" which could be very important for many.

Some comments have been made here and elsewhere about the size of the internal HD. Obviously it needs to be large enough to handle the OS as well as other permanent and semi-permanent articles such as an iTunes library.

One thing I rant about is maintaining an archive and backing-up files. Before I ever reformat my camera cards, they are backed-up, one way or another. Typically I have an outboard portable HD plugged-into my laptop, not only for Time Machine purposes, but also for a second destination for an ingest folder.

When I ingest camera cards via Photo Mechanic, I have one folder on my desk top for working / editing the image files and an alternate folder in the outboard HD just as a backup. Being outside the laptop, if the computer crashes at any point, files in the outboard HD are separate and safe. Once I get home, it is easy to transfer the folders from the outboard HD to my permanent archive array.

My point in this lengthy rant is I do not store image files for a long time on my laptop. Once I have finished a particular job, the image folders are cleared from the laptop and kept in a relatively secure archive. This keeps the HD of the laptop as clear as possible allowing a smaller HD for the laptop to still run as efficient and fast as possible.

 

[majid]

The Retina MacBook has a gorgeous IPS screen and as much horsepower as my Mac Pro. Most laptops have lousy 6-bit TN panels unsuitable for critical color work, including the MacBook Air. Quite frankly you are better off just packing extra memory cards and waiting to return home to process, I certainly never use my rMBP for editing on the go.

There are a few Windows Ultrabooks with 1080p or better screens, usually priced starting at $1500, I.e. somewhere between the MBA and the rMBP in specs. Apple has an astonishing 90% market share in computers priced above $1000, which is why you'd hear about them first. Just Google for "Ultrabook Retina" for models. Keep in mind that Macs can run Windows natively nowadays, and have excellent resale value.

 

[Addy101]

In my experience, they are that much better.

Last week I upgraded my long in the tooth mid-2008 15" MacBook Pro with a current 13" MBP with SSD.

Is your experience recent or five years old? And why do you think that Apples are better? Just curious!

 

[Al Patterson]

Is your experience recent or five years old? And why do you think that Apples are better? Just curious!

They cost more, therefore they must be better... 😉

Now, I use a Windows XP laptop from Toshiba, and took it on my last trip back in 2008. If I had the money, I'd get the smaller Macbook Air,as I won't put Win 8 on anything except maybe a phone or tablet.


I'd buy a used laptop with Win 7 if I need to upgrade before I save enough for the Air.

 

[Dwig]

.... decent battery life, but enough processing power and RAM to edit large raw files

The two are mutually exclusive. Pick one or go with 1/2 of each.

I agree that editing while traveling is rarely the best approach for most people. If you're shooting breaking news that must be published before your return then its a necessity.

Otherwise, you should only need to do some reviewing of the images and, possibly, minor temporary edits for some snapshot you want to upload to a blog, etc. Reviewing while traveling is a good thing. A friend of mine just returned from a trip to Italy and found, only after his return, that his camera acquired a nasty dust mote on the sensor early in the trip. If he'd been able to review his images on a large screen he would have had a chance at blowing off the dust. In his case simply reviewing the images on the hotel room's TV via an HDMI cable would have been adequate.

I'd vote for a small light notebook or one of the new Windows 8 (NOT RT) tablets. The tablets give great battery life but are generally limited to 2gb RAM. Otherwise a ultralight notebook with no more than 4gb (for battery life reasons) and no optical drive would the direction to go. On most notebooks, going from 4gb to 6gb of RAM will cut runtime to some 60% of what it was with 4gb.

 

[Pablito]

I'd prefer not to go for Apple, but will do so if they are that much better.

That's funny.

 

[JSU]

Is your experience recent or five years old? And why do you think that Apples are better? Just curious!

I bought my recently semi-retired mid-2008 15" MacBook Pro in October, 2008 as a close-out special when the late 2008 MacBook Pros were announced. I also have a Mac Mini on a desk top which is now primarily used for accessing my archive array and if I want to see an image file on a larger monitor, ie, my 20" Apple HD Cinema monitor.

I still have a 12" MacBook G4 which is relegated to running a scanner and my photo printer. The scanner will only run on a Power PC machine, ie, a G4. Prior to that I had a MacBook Lombard, now very long gone. I retired from a newspaper PJ position at the end of 2008, all I ever had as work issued computers were Macs (in the office) and MacBooks, MacBook Pros, for mobility.

I have been a Mac & MacBook user since 1993. My wife uses PC laptops (work related) and all I can do is not laugh or smirk too loud when her machines hang-up or crash. I bought her a new HP laptop this summer after a particularly bad rash of crashes. This current HP Windows computer is far more stable than its predecessor (a 2010 HP laptop). This is the extent of my experience with PC's.

I'm not a computer geek. I am a photographer. My Macs have been very reliable for me. I had one mother board failure about 10 years ago. The HD was intact and all data was recovered. Otherwise they have just been reliable tools that get the job done for me.

 

[rwintle]

Not sure I can add much except that I have used Sony Vaio's over the past five years and I would not recommend them for this (I have hauled them with me all over the place). Heavy and run very, very hot, to the point that the video card will occasionally shut down during heavy use.

 

[theno23]

Like many, I travel with a MacBook Air. I think they are better than the competition by a significant margin. It's mostly in build quality and battery life.

I tend to only do basic edits on the move, culling duff shots, basic crops and the like, but otherwise the editing after a long trip (e.g. next year I will be away for a three month stretch) can be too daunting, and it's nice to post the occasional highlight for friends and family.

Because I'm not doing anything that precise I prefer the 11" air, but for actual editing I'd want a 13". You will need 2+ external HDs for backup* if you're away for a significant amount of time.

* Actually, next time I might take enough SD cards to last me the trip, and only one backup HD.

- Steve

 

[VinceC]

I've been using IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads for years. The X-series have small screens (12.5 inches) weigh about 3 lbs and, with the $50 optional IPS screen, are gorgeous for photo and video editing. User expandable memory, and can pick many flavors of fast processors. Battery life ranges 5 to 10 hours depending on the size battery you purchase. Can also swap them out for extra battery life. Build quality is out of this world and it's small enough/light enough/sturdy enough for backpacking.

Best to get a portable CD/DVD drive for backups while on the road.

Depending on the length of the trip, there is value in spending time in the evenings or at outdoor/indoor cafes going through your images. They are fresh in you mind as you organize experiences, you can see if you've missed something while there's an opportunity to revisit, you can share with folks back home through social media, and you can generally ensure that the images will be organized and processed later, because if you wait till you get home you migh tbe overcome by life and never get back to it.

EDIT: I once backed my car over a Thinkpad (don't ask). Everything was crushed but the data inside the roll-cage protected harddrive was completely recoverable.

 

[VinceC]

I forgot to add that getting the images from cards onto a laptop creates an immediate backup in case the camera or card is lost or fails. You definitely want a laptop small enough to fit inside a hotel safe (if available).

 

[stitchohana]

If u want non apple, maybe u can get the following:

Acer S7

Viao Pro

 

[Ko.Fe.]

iPad? Have two of them at home, for free.
So bad just to see pictures on Internet. Almost useless, unless you want pictures to looks the same.
Laptops for editing...
Here is modern trend in laptops, two video cards, one operates on batteries and pictures looks like on iPad, if laptop is powered it is switching to powerful video card.
Build quality, battery life is not so relevant if you want to use it for picture editing.
Check how good is video card and screen first.
I used to edit my pictures every evening then I was traveling, it was OK for years.
But once I installed good video card at one of the home computers. No laptop editing anymore.
What is more practical, I think, with any laptop, is to load the pictures and kill the garbage, sort and tag the rest for future editing on computer with appropriate video card. LR app is #1 for it.