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If you use Photoshop, what laptop do you have?

mocamom

mocamom

Runs on coffee. And with scissors.
Joined
Jan 6, 2017
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I currently have a Alienware core i9 10th generation laptop that I inherited a few years ago. It will NOT hold a charge at all unless it's plugged into the wall. It's also running very hot and keeps shutting down. I have tried buying a new battery from Dell, cleaning out the fans, putting it on an external fan pad, and a few other things. It's limped along and gotten me through the year, but I clearly need a new laptop. I'm not interested in a gaming laptop, but I do want one that will work as an actual laptop and not a mini desktop :) The caveat is that I use Photoshop daily. If you use Photoshop, what laptop do you have? I need to do something this summer because we all know it takes a hundred years to reinstall programs and inevitably something will go wrong with transferring files :)

I'd love to hear what you have so thanks ahead of time for taking time to respond!
 
I have an 17" ASUS ROG Gaming laptop i7 with a 256GB solid state drive and 1TB hard drive, 16GB RAM. It's been a fantastic laptop. I think I've had it a little over 7 years now, so it is slowing down a little, but I've never really reformatted it or anything. I just clean it up once a month or so. I can still stream shows, run Photoshop, and have several tabs open with no real issues at all. I opted for the gaming laptop for the better graphics card. It stays plugged in on my desk connected to the second monitor most of the time, so I never really test the battery life lol.
 
I've got an HP Premium laptop bought at the end of 2022; I usually keep it plugged in, because I don't really travel with it, but it lasts several hours if it does get unplugged.
17.3" monitor 1920 x 1080
Processor is an 11th Gen Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
16 GB Installed RAM (DDR4)
1TB SSD --- per my son a must have, so that's what I got. It doesn't overheat.
Intel Iris Xe Graphics card
I have no problem running Photoshop, Netflix, a web browser and Bridge at the same time.
It has no Pen capabilities, doesn't act like a tablet

Super fast boot up, Windows 11, bluetooth capable, of course. Has a track pad, which I'm not a fan of, so I've got a bluetooth mouse. I've been super happy with it.
 
HP Envy with largest monitor.. not sure all of the specifics but very much the same as what Becky said. Love it!
 
It's been over two years since I've had a laptop so no suggestions for you unfortunately now that I have a custom built PC desktop.
 
I don't have a laptop, but helped my MIL pick one out for photoshop several years ago and the people at Best Buy said that the gaming laptops are the best because they have the discrete graphics cards (meaning a separate component just for graphics rather that a wimpy one that is built onto the mother board). So even if you're not gaming... the goodies in a gaming laptop are usually what is needed to make Photoshop happy too. :agree

Have fun shopping!
 
Karen said:
gaming laptops are the best because they have the discrete graphics cards (meaning a separate component just for graphics rather that a wimpy one that is built onto the mother board). So even if you're not gaming... the goodies in a gaming laptop are usually what is needed to make Photoshop happy too. :agree
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Yes, this is what my friend who is a photographer and graphic designer has said in the past to me as well
 
I only use my laptop when I travel but it is on it's last leg and needs to be replaced so I appreciate the info in this thread. I'll be using it for my research too.
 
I have a three year old Lenovo laptop which runs photoshop very fast with no lag. I did specifically buy a gaming laptop and I am happy with the processing speed. However, it runs very hot and the battery doesn’t last for more than an hour unplugged.

● 10th Generation Intel Core I7-10850H Processor (2.70 GHz with turbo boost, 12 MB Cache)
● 32 GB DDR4 2933MHz (2 x 16 GB)
● 2 TB SSD hard drive
● NVIDIA Quadro P620 4GB graphics
● 15.6" UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) IPS, anti-glare
 
I've always had good experiences with Dell laptops so I bought a (supposed) gaming laptop to scrap with a few years ago. A couple months after the warranty ran out (of course), the graphics card went. That seemed like it should be an easy fix but it turns out that Dell in their infinite wisdom made it permanently part of the motherboard. Everyplace I called said it would cost more to replace the motherboard than the laptop was worth. Long story short, I would not buy another Dell laptop for scrapping. I do recommend, though, if possible, purchasing through Costco because I've had wonderful experiences with their tech concierge service in getting other things repaired -- and they extend your warranty.

ETA: I see a few mentions above about gaming laptops not having the graphics card as part of the motherboard. Mine was marketed as a gaming laptop and had the lit keyboard etc that gaming laptops usually have so I'm not sure how you know whether the graphics card is integrated into the motherboard or not.
 
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Thank y'all so much for your help. I'm so tired of spending money on laptops and then having them die. @janedee this is exactly what has happened to me with my Dell Alienware. Right from the beginning it runs super hot. I think that's what's killed it. @dawnmarch my husband won't let me get another Dell. Two issues and he's done :(

So y'all think a better graphics card is more important than higher RAM?
 
mocamom said:
So y'all think a better graphics card is more important than higher RAM?
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I'm not super techy but I'd say yes to better graphics card initially with the option of increasing RAM later as needed - my last laptop only had 8gb of RAM to start with but had the option to max out at 16gb which I did a few years down the track. When it comes to laptops/desktops I try and get the best spec'd device I can for the money I have...at least for me that has come with some level of compromise
 
mocamom said:
So y'all think a better graphics card is more important than higher RAM?
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Personally, I've opted for the better graphics card on purchase, but made sure that I was able to upgrade the RAM. It seems much easier and cheaper to me to add RAM later than to upgrade the graphics card to something better.
 
I'm no help because I haven't used a laptop for over a decade. But I definitely recommend my setup: a 27" iMac desktop.
 
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