Laptop?

[prevacidman]

I hope this is the right forum for this question but I am wondering how many photogs here use a laptop out in the field or on a shoot. I have an Imac g5 20" desktop and am looking at a new macbook pro 15" laptop. Is it a good investment, is 15" big enough?? Love your thoughts or suggestions.

[virtual_bird]

I hope this is the right forum for this question but I am wondering how many photogs here use a laptop out in the field or on a shoot. I have an Imac g5 20" desktop and am looking at a new macbook pro 15" laptop. Is it a good investment, is 15" big enough?? Love your thoughts or suggestions.

Do you want it just for storage? or for viewing as you shoot?'

several people Ive got to know over last few mths always take theirs with them. they swear by it, yet when I ask them what they do with it is to store photos. IMHO there are better options for this.. but depends what you want to do withit.

[halesr]

Virtual Bird, for storage in the field what are your ideas on better options? I have been looking at the Epson p2000 (40 gb). It is out with a rebate right now. I want to be able to offload images and keep shooting. Would also like to review and do some editing. Would mainly use this when traveling. Thanks, Rene

[harpeggio]

For off-loading pictures in the field so one can reformat a card and keep on shooting there are stand-alone burners out there that will burn CDs & DVDs, and some will also play DVD movies, audio CDs, etc as well so you can bring your movies and music along while traveling. It's important when burning a disc to be able to verify that it works prior to reformtatting the card and so most will allow hookups to a TV, or otherwise have an LCD screen so that the pictures saved can be viewed.

There are also many stand-alone hard drive options, including Apple's iPod. However the standalone burner option allows one to make multiple copies; when traveling I like to make a spare disc which I mail to myself. I'm always afraid that a hard drive will crash--taking all my vacation photos with it. (And I know someone this happened to.) CDs can of course suffer from a myriad of problems also, which is why I never reformat a card unless I have 2 working copies. At home I also back up to a second hard drive...

Another option is that most photo processing places will burn CDs from flash media for a small fee. If you don't need a stand-alone storage system often this may be a lot less expensive than purchasing something.

Lastly a laptop makes a perfect travel companion and can also be used to replace a desktop. If the standard screen isn't big enough for one's tastes, and some prefer a CRT for serious photo-editing, most laptops can also display to a second screen. When out in the filed you can rely on the 15" screen while back home you might primarily use a 20" or larger monitor.

I have a nice desktop system, but these days primarily use a laptop both at home and elsewhere.


Greg

[virtual_bird]

Virtual Bird, for storage in the field what are your ideas on better options? I have been looking at the Epson p2000 (40 gb). It is out with a rebate right now. I want to be able to offload images and keep shooting. Would also like to review and do some editing. Would mainly use this when traveling. Thanks, Rene

Laptops are big and awkward sometimes... Some of the small Ipods etc that harpeggio suggested would be my choice. I work with laptops everyday, and tablets and toughbooks, they are always in for repairs and stuffing up.. YMMV

[djwixx]

Sounds like you need portability - Averatec do some reasonable (well spec'd) 10"/12" notebooks for less $1,000.

[djwixx]

It's an old forum, but I bought a dell core duo with a 17" wide screen 1GB RAM and it works a treat. Elements is a LOT quicker.

[mingznikonian]

Laptop is a great option! the only problem I can think off is the LCD itself... Laptop monitor is not the best for photo editing.,,..