need 13" PC laptop good for photography

I am looking for recommendations for a good 13" laptop fast enough to work with 45 MB images in ACR and PS. Has to be a PC, not a Mac.

My ideal would be a relatively low resolution screen as I have vision issues with such a small laptop. So around 1900X1200 or so. Preferably matt/antiglare.

I know they don't come with many ports anymore, but as many as possible for card readers and external hard drives.

Any recommendations?

Thanks.

Roberta Olenick
Vancouver, BC

I have a Dell XPS 13 2-1. I have had Dell's for years and really like this one. I would customize it via the Dell website. I also have their XPS desktop. Get one with at least 16GB ram though. Most of the screens are higher resolution, but maybe have a look and see how you can customize it that way.

A Lenovo 13 inch ThinkPad X1 might work. They still have some with 13 inch screens. and windows 10 Pro 64 bit.

Here is one with 32 MB RAM. It has an integrated video card. Since you want to use ACR and PS make sure anything you buy comes with a video card with enough RAM for the software you plan to run.

I love my 15 inch Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme with 32 GB RAM and a separate Nvidia video card with 4 GB RAM.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/ ... 21bn0011us

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into those.

You might also look at Razer 14" laptops.

Thanks, EJ. I will look into those as well.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dell XPS 13 Plus? The specs look promising but the reviews are mixed especially around the new keyboard with the strange function buttons and touchpad.

If my main desktop computer is a PC, would it be a bad idea to use a small MacBook as my travel laptop?

I think you won't find many low res screens around these days so you will rely on the software to emulate a lower res screen. When you say PS is this PS CS6 or is it creative cloud? Creative cloud versions are setup so you won't have menu problems, but CS6 relies on emulation for menus to be readable.

I think most any decent spec laptop will process 45MP images without too much trouble, having a separate graphics processor speeds things up of course. The question is how important is weight for a travel laptop to you? Some of the laptops with graphics may be a little larger and weight varies significantly. if you were prepared to sacrifice some speed a really light solution could be the microsoft surface range. they have limited ports but you can always add a hub. The keyboard they have is actually quite nice to use and they are as light as you will get in a 13" screen model. You can get up to 32GB RAM and the latest models have a removable SSD which you can upgrade your self.

ChrisRoss wrote:I think you won't find many low res screens around these days so you will rely on the software to emulate a lower res screen.  When you say PS is this PS CS6 or is it creative cloud?  Creative cloud versions are setup so you won't have menu problems, but CS6 relies on emulation for menus to be readable.  

I think most any decent spec laptop will process 45MP images without too much trouble, having a separate graphics processor speeds things up of course.  The question is how important is weight for a travel laptop to you?  Some of the laptops with graphics may be a little larger and weight varies significantly. if you were prepared to sacrifice some speed a really light solution could be the microsoft surface range.  they have limited ports but you can always add a hub.  The keyboard they have is actually quite nice to use and they are as light as you will get in a 13" screen model.  You can get up to 32GB RAM and the latest models have a removable SSD which you can upgrade your self.

Thanks, Chris.
I am using PS CC so that should not be an issue.
But to evaluate image sharpness, I thought you had to be in the native resolution, right? And very high res monitors render things too small for me to see well.

I have an old Asus Zenbook which I love but it is too slow at dealing with the 45MB images from my new camera. I think it does have a separate graphics processor but would have to check the old specs to be sure.

I am willing to go for a bit heavier (4 lbs or less would be good) in exchange for performance. Most laptops these days need a hub - I like to use an external mouse and then there is the card reader and the external HD to attach.

The Dell XPS 13 plus has good specs and comes with an anti-glare 1900X1200 screen option. I am just hesitant about the new keyboard with its lack of actual function buttons and no delineation of where the touch pad is. The latter does not worry me too much because I usually use an external mouse.  

Every time I compared Dell to Lenovo I ended up buying Lenovo.  I used either T series or X1 Lenovo laptops for many years prior to switching to a MacBook Pro in January.  If weight is not a primary concern the Lenovo T series has historically been a great powerhouse with lighter, but not super-light weight. 

neverspook wrote:
Thanks, Chris.
I am using PS CC so that should not be an issue.
But to evaluate image sharpness, I thought you had to be in the native resolution, right? And very high res monitors render things too small for me to see well.

I have an old Asus Zenbook which I love but it is too slow at dealing with the 45MB images from my new camera. I think it does have a separate graphics processor but would have to check the old specs to be sure.

I am willing to go for a bit heavier (4 lbs or less would be good) in exchange for performance. Most laptops these days need a hub - I like to use an external mouse and then there is the card reader and the external HD to attach.

The Dell XPS 13 plus has good specs and comes with an anti-glare 1900X1200 screen option. I am just hesitant about the new keyboard with its lack of actual function buttons and no delineation of where the touch pad is. The latter does not worry me too much because I usually use an external mouse.  

I think it depends on resolution level as much as anything.  The "traditional" screen resolution for a 13" laptop at least back in the days of CS-6 was 1360 x 768 if you double that resolution you get 2720 x 1536.  High res screens are often 4K which are 3840 x 2160 which can emulate a 1920 x 1080 screen perfectly by using 4 pixels to represent 1 pixel without interpolation. 

Screens with at least 2720 x 1536 resolution can emulate more traditional screen resolutions and hence image size without interpolation.  So a 4K screen can emulate the 1900 x 1080 of the Dell screen but also have the smooth look and extra clean type fonts which makes the 4K screens so nice to look at.  Emulating without interpolation means the images are going to look better as you don't get the artifacts.  The latest Windows have much improved screen scaling to deal with this sort of thing.

I've never been a fan of the Dells, I had a work one for a while and didn't like it compared to Lenovos - they always seem better built.  Have a look at their webpage and you can select from the laptop landing page selecting models with graphics cards and screen sizes for example. 

ChrisRoss wrote:

neverspook wrote:
Thanks, Chris.
I am using PS CC so that should not be an issue.
But to evaluate image sharpness, I thought you had to be in the native resolution, right? And very high res monitors render things too small for me to see well.

I have an old Asus Zenbook which I love but it is too slow at dealing with the 45MB images from my new camera. I think it does have a separate graphics processor but would have to check the old specs to be sure.

I am willing to go for a bit heavier (4 lbs or less would be good) in exchange for performance. Most laptops these days need a hub - I like to use an external mouse and then there is the card reader and the external HD to attach.

The Dell XPS 13 plus has good specs and comes with an anti-glare 1900X1200 screen option. I am just hesitant about the new keyboard with its lack of actual function buttons and no delineation of where the touch pad is. The latter does not worry me too much because I usually use an external mouse.  

I think it depends on resolution level as much as anything.  The "traditional" screen resolution for a 13" laptop at least back in the days of CS-6 was 1360 x 768 if you double that resolution you get 2720 x 1536.  High res screens are often 4K which are 3840 x 2160 which can emulate a 1920 x 1080 screen perfectly by using 4 pixels to represent 1 pixel without interpolation. 

Screens with at least 2720 x 1536 resolution can emulate more traditional screen resolutions and hence image size without interpolation.  So a 4K screen can emulate the 1900 x 1080 of the Dell screen but also have the smooth look and extra clean type fonts which makes the 4K screens so nice to look at.  Emulating without interpolation means the images are going to look better as you don't get the artifacts.  The latest Windows have much improved screen scaling to deal with this sort of thing.

I've never been a fan of the Dells, I had a work one for a while and didn't like it compared to Lenovos - they always seem better built.  Have a look at their webpage and you can select from the laptop landing page selecting models with graphics cards and screen sizes for example. 

Thanks for all this info, Chris. Much appreciated.

I ended up with an HP laptop workstation which I've been happy with but larger than what you want. I had to replace a Dell within a year. Bought the extended warranty. Sent in for repair and was dissatisfied with response. Like all insurance, you don't know how good it is until you file a claim. I've used dell off and on for over 35 years. First time I've been disappointed.