Lap top suggestions

[LJSDesigns]

I am thinking about purchasing a laptop to design on when I am on the move. I usually work on my desktop, but I would like to be more mobile, so I would love to have some suggestions.

Here are some questions I have that might help you help me:

I have always used Windows, but is now the time to switch to a Mac? Is the learning curve that big? What is the benefit of being on a Mac?

Does it make a difference if my desktop is windows and a laptop was mac? I would use dropbox for storage of things so that I could go back and forth between the two as needed, so would it hurt anything to go between the two systems?

How big should it be? I don't have the best eyesight so I want something I can see, but I also want something that is easy to carry and handle.

Thanks in advance for any information/suggestions you have.

[HavaDrPepper]

My cousin who has always used a Mac got a new laptop 18 months ago. She is not happy with it at all and thinks she will get a new desktop Mac and use the laptop as a backup.

As for vision issues, she has lots of issues with that even after having cataract surgery that now gives her 20/20 vision. She is not liking the small screen at all.

I also have a laptop and find that it is harder to work on as my eyes age. I'm also used to 2 23" monitors when I scrap. Hard to go back to a 15" laptop screen!

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

[Ponytails]

I used my laptop exclusively for years until I bought my desktop recently. I had a 17" screen. I don't think I'd want to go any smaller than that. It was fine for me all those years because that's what I was used to looking at, but now that I have two big desktop monitors I'm sure it would seem tiny in comparison. As a backup method for you though, I think it would work just fine.

I use Windows for both though, so I can't help you on that front. I did consider going to a Mac with my last laptop purchase but decided that I didn't want to deal with that learning curve or the extra expense. Personally, I'd save myself the frustration and cost... as a backup method only, you may as well stay with what you know.

[Txcorey]

I'm also a PC girl, so not sure about switching to a Mac although I have considered it. I have a 17 inch Dell Alienware gaming laptop. I don't game, but it is powerful enough to handle PS, Lightroom, and ACDSee open all at the same time. It is heavy though. When I want a bigger screen, I have a 2nd monitor set up at my desk, but most often I scrap on the couch with just the laptop.

[rach3975]

The only part of that I'm qualified to comment on is screen size, since my Dell gaming laptop (G3 17") is too old for me to recommend. I think some of the answer depends how often you anticipate using the laptop. If it's a decent amount, you're going to want a 17". Unless you plan to carry it around for hours, I don't think the extra weight of a 17" vs a 15" will make much difference. If you're going to use it infrequently, you may want to save money by getting the 15," but if you can, borrow one for a few hours first to make sure the size is okay.

I've never scrapped on anything but a laptop, so for years I had a 17" screen (and for a few years a 15" screen) and thought it was fine. Then last summer I bought a 27" monitor to use with my laptop. I've got to say, now when I have to be away from my desk I feel limited by the 17" screen. I still do it a few times a week, but I feel the difference. I need the portability too much to ever switch to a desktop, so I'll just have to keep making do with the 17". With your eyesight being a concern and being used to working on a larger monitor, the larger the laptop screen the better.

[Kimberly27]

I have only used PC. I just got a Lenovo Legion 5 laptop. It is heavy esp the cord/battery pack. I like to be more mobile. I can scrap while we watch TV instead of being in the office. I can take it when we visit family etc. I am hard on my stuff so they don't last long for me.

It has an intel core processor I7 2.60GHZ
Ram is 16gb
64 bit operating
the big key I read was a separate GPU. Mine has a Nvidia GeForce RTX2060
It has a Solid State drive 1TB and then I have a portable 5TB drive attached. I work from the SSD but store stuff on the other.

Hope that helps

[JoCee]

can't help with the laptop side of things but going between pc and mac is super easy. using dropbox should not be an issue at all. obviously on both computers you need to have your design programme set up the same which is not difficult to do either. good luck in your laptop search xx

[StacyLynn]

I was always a PC girl, Desktop and 17 inch laptop, but then decided to make to switch to Mac... got a 24 inch Mac for Christmas.... I LOVE IT!!!!!!

I also updated my EHD to two 12 TB and one 1TB Solid state drive.

I can't wait to upgrade my laptop to a 16 inch Mac laptop... I like my laptop screen as big as possible too. My kids have the smaller ones and I know I would have issues scrapping and designing on them.

I do still use both PC and Mac and I also use Dropbox between the two and have no issues switching.

[littlekiwi]

I’ve only ever used Windows machines on an ongoing basis but the few times while studying (thanks to there being no available PC’s at the university campus learning areas when I needed them) I’ve swapped between PC & Mac all my files were able to be accessed without any problems. My biggest hurdles was learning on the fly how to do the basics…eg: shortcuts and the like.

Like Rach, I’m really only knowledgeable enough about screen size. About 6 months ago I replaced my laptop with a custom built PC which my friend sorted for me - it was the best bang for $$$ at the time and I upgraded my screen size from 15.6” to 23” and for me it was 100% worth the loss of being able to use my computer wherever I wanted. At the time I decided to change from laptop to PC, it had been years since I had used my laptop outside of my house so it wasn’t a deal breaker. Getting a reliable, well speccd computer was priority.

[LJSDesigns]

Thanks for all the good advice. I love designing on the desktop, but would like the laptop to do the non design part of designing. I would be nice to be able to do that from anywhere, and it would be nice to do some sorting/filing, etc when I am watching TV or something else. Honestly, after working in an office all day, there are just days when I don't want to go to my home office.

[violar]

I read that macOS 12.3 will break cloud-storage features used by Dropbox and OneDrive

I have found that the way to survive on the Mac is to just never try to do anything difficult or special with it. Type, browse the web... Everything serious needs to be done on Windows.

[Karen_]

I also use a desktop. I have two monitors, one 27" and one 24", so when one of my boys quit using his 17" laptop, I thought I'd take it over for just what you're saying... watching TV and trying to get something else done... but I found I just miss my large monitors too much and never really use that laptop at all. It was also super slow because it was old, so that was a part of it too. I am still tempted sometimes to get a good laptop though. I'm just not sure if I'd use it enough, so I keep holding off.

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by LJSDesigns

Thanks for all the good advice. I love designing on the desktop, but would like the laptop to do the non design part of designing. I would be nice to be able to do that from anywhere, and it would be nice to do some sorting/filing, etc when I am watching TV or something else. Honestly, after working in an office all day, there are just days when I don't want to go to my home office.

In that case, you'd probably be fine with a 15" and would have a lot more options in that size.

[TraceyM]

I work on a 17" Lenova Ideapad Y700 that I bought customized with better graphics drive off Amazon. It's been several years and I have yet to have a problem with it. I find the screen plenty big for me to work on. But a 17" is heavy if you plan to regularly take it places. My ancient eyes refuse to go back to anything smaller. Note, be very wary of buying a HD screen. It made things so tiny that I handed THAT laptop to my husband as his back-up!!! With laptops, be ready to have extra portable hard drives to work from as they don't make the internal drives very big anymore. At the time I bought this, it was rated actually BETTER than the macs!

Be wary of Windows 11 - you can no longer see into your folders. Buy one that is backwards compatible to Windows 10. I have read that Windows 11 was based off of Windows 10 and you should be able to put Windows 10 onto your machine, but ask questions before you buy.

Years ago I switched from Mac to PC firstly because there were no longer enough programs for the mac (probably no longer the case), how one worked with fonts and activating fonts, etc., changed greatly and even after taking a class on the new operating system, I was still confused. Also, back then I couldn't use the same font files on both a mac and a pc. Finally, my dad had a connection for a great discount on a Dell at the time and said he'd buy it for me! LOL. The current issue I see for designers with the mac is that it creates all those extra files that customers on pc have to toss - it's annoying.

All-in-all, I love working in a lounge chair with my feet up, with the laptop truly on my lap (along with a pillow and something to dispense with heat build-up) and my mouse on the leather arm of my chair. My back no longer likes sitting at a desk set-up for long so for me, this is an ideal set-up.