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by Richard B. on Fri Apr 08, 2022 8:22 am
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Hi,

I'm curious as to what people are using for post processing equipment these days. I'm old and so are my computers. What with larger files now & programs that require more processing power, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade.

Being old school, I do my bulk processing on a desktop and have a laptop for field storage, review, etc. I've noticed that there seem to more people mentioning having just a portable computer with which they process (with peripherals) and also take into the field. I would think there is a cost advantage to having only one computer of course, and I am not a professional, so it's a hobby. And I am not a heavy shooter.

But what are people using these days - one high end portable that they plug into at home / office or the old desktop / laptop method?

If I go the portable computer route, what are your suggestions or cautions?

BTW, I'm windows.

Thanks for any help.

Richard
 

by SantaFeJoe on Fri Apr 08, 2022 8:51 am
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I started long ago with a laptop and then moved to a desktop. Much better. My wife recently bought a new laptop and I downloaded C1 22 on it. I hate it!!! If your viewing angle changes slightly, the whole image changes darkness, colors, etc. The image is also too small to see any detail for me as compared to an external monitor. With an external monitor, a laptop works much better, but then what’s the point of a laptop. I am admittedly not good at PP, but in my experience, a desktop is best for serious PP, along with a bigger monitor. I’m planning on upgrading soon to a new desktop and larger monitor for speed and a more detailed, larger view. My current setup can’t handle C1 and download speeds from a memory card are atrocious.

Joe
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by Scott Fairbairn on Fri Apr 08, 2022 9:26 am
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I went the high-end laptop route a couple of years ago with a 16" screen. If you do that, you should be getting a quality display and won't have issues with editing or colours. I have an external monitor that I can use as well, but mostly use the laptop now. It saves on having two computers that have to be kept up-to-date. I do a lot of PP with Capture One, Photoshop, and other software as well.
 

by photoman4343 on Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:22 pm
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Richard, I use both, but 90% is done on my desktop (win 10 Pro) and some is done on my 15 inch Lenovo laptop, win 10 pro. Either approach can work.

If you go the laptop only route, you may do what a lot of my friends have done. They have a second monitor that they attach to the laptop, so when they are home or need a bigger screen they just plug in the monitor. This means that the laptop needs a video card or a port to add an external monitor.

If I had to replace my current laptop with something like what I have now, it would be a Lenovo ThinkPad extreme 1. Key components would ne a 1 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM, dedicated video card with its own RAM (6 GB or more ?) Screen resolution is your choice. They are not cheap.

Something like this: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/c/laptops/thinkpad

They have three series of Thinkpads with extreme 1 usually costing the most.
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by Mark L on Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:57 pm
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I recognize that you are using a Windows machine, but I use a new MacBook Pro with the M1 Max processor, 64GB ram, 2TB SSD.  The machine is fast and can easily drive a bigger monitor on my desk when I am home.  It is wonderful to have everything in one place all the time.

If you spend the money a desktop will be faster, but a high end laptop does a really good job along with the convenience factor from a single computer.
 

by Richard B. on Mon Apr 11, 2022 8:41 pm
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Thank you everyone for your perspectives and thoughts. I really did want to go the single computer route, but I decided I'm a bit of a klutz to take a high end portable machine traveling with me. I just don't want to risk damaging or losing my main processing machine while traveling. So it will be a desktop again, and eventually a less powerful portable for traveling duties.

I appreciate your replies.

Richard
 

by photoman4343 on Thu Apr 14, 2022 11:56 am
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Richard, if you live near a MicroCenter store consider having them build your desktop for you. This way you can get exactly the hardware and software you need. If you buy one already built, make sure it has all of the ports you need for your workflow. Other stores might be able to do the same thing for you.
Joe Smith
 

by Richard B. on Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:24 pm
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Joe, thank you for the suggestion. I did check and there is a location about fifty miles from me - Cambridge, Mass. As I live in small town New England there are not many computer stores in the immediate area. There used to be small computer service businesses locally, and some could build machines, but it seems that they too have closed over the last few years. I do like having the option to seek in-person help if needed at an experienced retail location. It seems as if the local shops are not able to compete with the larger corporate entities and the internet vendors.

Appreciate the help.

Richard
 

by Langsey on Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:42 am
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Checkout Puget systems https://www.pugetsystems.com. They built my desktop and I love it. They are very knowledgeable and friendly to work with. They are geared more for the photographer than for gaming. Just give them a call and tell them want you are looking for and they will give you suggestions and a quote on the system. I would definitely buy another one from them. Mine is about 3-4 years old. The only thing I had to do it is put in a larger ssd drive.
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by Wildflower-nut on Sat Apr 16, 2022 8:20 am
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I've got a HP laptop work station with two 2TB SSD drives and 64gb installed memory. When at home, I've got a large monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached. At that point you cannot tell the difference between it and a desktop. I'm sure the desktop would be faster. I still have a desktop for heavy work in the room where my large printer is. I have to have the laptop for business and personal use so it is nice to be able to do everything from one computer.
 

by Richard B. on Mon Apr 18, 2022 6:35 pm
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Hi,

Ok I started the painful search for another desktop today. I need fewer and cheaper hobbies! Just for background my current desktop is a ten year old (yikes) AMD system with 24 GB of memory that I used for a long time with Photoshop CS6 built by a local guy that is no longer around. My storage drive has about 1.4 TB on it with .6 TB free.  I have no complaints about the machine for that period of time. Not fast, but it worked.

So now I'm using a camera with much larger files, Capture One Pro 2022, and using DXO Pure Raw and the machine is croaking. In fact the most the recent version of CI pro 22 just crashes the machine and i have a ticket open with Capture One. The AMD processor that I have is on their known problem list.

So in calling Puget Systems today and speaking only of generalities, the rep suggested that their machines might actually be a little over built for my needs? I appreciate the candor. He suggested the light room classic build was the appropriate place to look.Being overbuilt doesn't necessarily kill the deal, but what does worry me is repairs if necessary. As should be obvious I'm not a computer junky. If the machine croaks beyond what I can repair or deal with, the box has to be shipped back to Puget. The rep said that could be a matter of weeks depending on their schedule and transit time. Not to mention the danger of shipping something clear across the county.

So perspective - experiences - or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Richard
 

by Mark L on Mon Apr 18, 2022 6:40 pm
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Richard B. wrote:Hi,

Ok I started the painful search for another desktop today. I need fewer and cheaper hobbies! Just for background my current desktop is a ten year old (yikes) AMD system with 24 GB of memory that I used for a long time with Photoshop CS6 built by a local guy that is no longer around. My storage drive has about 1.4 TB on it with .6 TB free.  I have no complaints about the machine for that period of time. Not fast, but it worked.

So now I'm using a camera with much larger files, Capture One Pro 2022, and using DXO Pure Raw and the machine is croaking. In fact the most the recent version of CI pro 22 just crashes the machine and i have a ticket open with Capture One. The AMD processor that I have is on their known problem list.

So in calling Puget Systems today and speaking only of generalities, the rep suggested that their machines might actually be a little over built for my needs? I appreciate the candor. He suggested the light room classic build was the appropriate place to look.Being overbuilt doesn't necessarily kill the deal, but what does worry me is repairs if necessary. As should be obvious I'm not a computer junky. If the machine croaks beyond what I can repair or deal with, the box has to be shipped back to Puget. The rep said that could be a matter of weeks depending on their schedule and transit time. Not to mention the danger of shipping something clear across the county.

So perspective - experiences - or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Richard
If you have a system built by either Puget or AVA you will get exactly what you want/need.  I have had AVA build systems and they have always been able to walk me through any issues that came up.  Friends have used Puget and had the same experience.  I don't know anyone who has had to ship a box back to the assembler, although I am sure that it does happen from time to time.

My "solution" to 6 year old computers lacking adequate graphics for today's software was to buy a MacBook Pro with the M1 max processor loaded with memory.  It is not an inexpensive way to go, but I have a single pretty fast computer that I use at home with a dock and large monitor but that I also travel with.
 

by Richard B. on Mon Apr 18, 2022 7:00 pm
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Than you Mark. I was not familiar with AVA. They are only half-way across the country, i could drive the machine there! <G>

The mac solution sound great with that fast processor, but I think I have a problem moving from windows to apple. One of the reasons I stuck with my old machine so long is that i wanted to retain the use of my license fro CS6. I did not want to go to the subscription model. And I would still like to retain the use of CS6 for some things. I doubt that I could would be able to have Adobe agree to change over my CS6 license to Apple at this date. Maybe I'm wrong but I doubt it.

So it seems in that scenario I have to look at windows, I assume.
 

by Mark L on Mon Apr 18, 2022 7:12 pm
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Although I would prefer to own my software there is an advantage to always having the latest and greatest by subscription.  In the end I use the software a good bit and the $9.99/month isn't that much money.  I have built 2 machines with AVA and friends have built an additional 2 or 3, all with great experience and support.
Good luck
 

by ChrisRoss on Fri Apr 22, 2022 6:41 pm
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Richard B. wrote:Than you Mark. I was not familiar with AVA. They are only half-way across the country, i could drive the machine there! <G>

The mac solution sound great with that fast processor, but I think I have a problem moving from windows to apple. One of the reasons I stuck with my old machine so long is that i wanted to retain the use of my license fro CS6. I did not want to go to the subscription model. And I would still like to retain the use of CS6 for some things. I doubt that I could would be able to have Adobe agree to change over my CS6 license to Apple at this date. Maybe I'm wrong but I doubt it.

So it seems in that scenario I have to look at windows, I assume.
I built a machine last year with Win10 and there are no issues running CS-6 on it.  The only thing you need to be aware of is that CS-6 won't play well with 4K monitors - the menus and toolbars can be too small to use.  If you are using a big 4K monitor it's not so much of a problem - it depends on the dpi of your monitor.  I found a post that mentioned that CS6 was designed around 96 dpi monitors.  A 27" monitor at 4K is about 165 dpi and a 31" is 149 dpi, so bigger monitors are more usable.
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by E.J. Peiker on Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:41 pm
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There's an easy workaround that fixes the menu and font size issue in CS6 on 4K monitors. It requires a small and fairly simple edit of the registry:
https://danantonielli.com/adobe-app-sca ... plays-fix/
 

by Rocky Sharwell on Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:08 am
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>>My "solution" to 6 year old computers lacking adequate graphics for today's software was to buy a MacBook Pro with the M1 max processor loaded with memory.  It is not an inexpensive way to go, but I have a single pretty fast computer that I use at home with a dock and large monitor but that I also travel with.<<

What dock did you get?
Rocky Sharwell
 

by Mark L on Thu Apr 28, 2022 12:27 pm
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Rocky Sharwell wrote:>>My "solution" to 6 year old computers lacking adequate graphics for today's software was to buy a MacBook Pro with the M1 max processor loaded with memory.  It is not an inexpensive way to go, but I have a single pretty fast computer that I use at home with a dock and large monitor but that I also travel with.<<

What dock did you get?
I bought the Sonnettech Echo 11.  At the time it was the most powerful Thunderbolt 4 dock that was available.  Since my purchase the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 dock has been released.  I'm not sure which one I would buy if I was making the purchase today, but those are the two that I would focus on.  
 

by Rocky Sharwell on Thu Apr 28, 2022 3:19 pm
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Thanks
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