Laptop Advice for Photo Editing

[weaviemx5]

Hi Guys,

I first thought about posting this is the PC section but I'm after advice from other photographers about experiences of different laptop screens.

Due to changing jobs, I'm going to lose the Dell D620 that I currently use to edit my shots so I'm on the lookout for a replacement. The Dell screen isn't the sharpest but I guess i've got used to it. I've got about £700 to spend and have already looked at some of my images on a Sony X-Black but it had the highly reflective (True-Life equivalent) screen and seemed as though it would be a pain editing shots on it?

One possible laptop I'm thinking of is a Dell XPS (either 13.3" or 15") due to their combination of processing power and handy size. Does anyone else have one of these, CCFL or LED, and have any comments/suggestions?

Another possibility is a MacBook but I would probably be running XP through Bootcamp as well as my wife also uses the laptop.

All suggestion appreciated!

Cheers
Steve

[jonnypb]

I've just got a dell vostro 1500 widescreen with the truelife 1440x900 screen, seperate 256mb graphics card and it's very good for viewing/editing photos

[baldrick]

Originally Posted by weaviemx5

Another possibility is a MacBook but I would probably be running XP through Bootcamp as well as my wife also uses the laptop.

I'm a Mac fan and therefore biased, but I'd recommend the MacBook, and if you need to run XP then do it through VMware Fusion rather than BootCamp.

Fusion lets you run XP as an application rather than booting into Windows so switch back and forth is great.

Plus if you go for an Apple you have a choice of either Lightroom or Aperture!!!

[LFC_SL]

Sony's do have nice screens though personally I hate the proliferation of glossy displays, hence why I am typing on a HP business due to the matte finish

I would say that laptop screens are still limited and hate to say it, but you hook up a laptop to a external monitor and you instantly see the difference in colour reproduction. However I am no expert and might be talking too much. I only got my external for the DVDs, but now just cannot do editing on the laptop's screen anymore

Edit: I can qualify my comments, but as you are looking for a laptop, I hate to kill your budget

[jonnypb]

If you can get a laptop with a dedicated graphics card and a resolution of 1680x1050 (15" screens) or 1920x1200 (17" screens) the graphics will blow away alot of monitors connected to PC's