What laptop would you recommend?

R

richdesign_79

New Member
Hi,
I'm a graphic designer working from home, I've been told by my employer to return in the office 2/3 times a week. I work on a iMac and have been for the last 7 years, it's been so reliable and haven't had any problems with it, so I'd like to upgrade to something like this but in laptop form. Just so it's easier for me to pop into the office when needed.

Anyone recommend a decent laptop that I can use for the next 7 years? I'd like to keep with apple if I can, but interested to hear what you guys recommend.

Thanks for your time
 
richdesign_79 said:
Anyone recommend a decent laptop that I can use for the next 7 years?
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That's just not going to happen.... honestly speaking a laptop will just not last 7 years, primarily due to the battery but just generally speaking a laptop just doesn't last as long as a desktop. Laptops are usually 3-5 years lifespan.

richdesign_79 said:
I'd like to keep with apple if I can, but interested to hear what you guys recommend.
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If you want to stick with apple it's literally a case of pick the one you want within your budget. Other than that it's a bit hard to suggest anything without a budget etc.
 
hankscorpio said:
Ah laptops last many years. I work on them all the time and get about 7 years out of them.
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I struggle to get 7 years of usable life out of a desktop, admittedly I'm a heavier user than most of you due to my 3D rendering but using a 7 year old machine is just painfully slow.

I've never had a laptop get anywhere near 7 years of use, hell I think the longest I had one was 4 years but it was basically running on mains at the end.
 
Things have moved on considerably. Going with the likes of PC Specialist and Custom Build PC people is usually better than off the shelf.
 
I use both.

And I much prefer Windows. I've been using both for 25 years.

I started on Mac back in 1997 when office computers were just office computers, there was no real heft to them.

It didn't bother me using Mac as I was very computer literate and used to write Basic and Q Basic programmes on Spectrum 48K and later Amstrad back in the 1980s.

A UI was a UI to me. There was no battle of the Computers back then either.

However, as the years went on and I had to buy a Mac for myself I thought, they are very very expensive.
I started looking into building my own Desktop - and figured it out easily enough that I could build a desktop with the same power as a Mac for a fraction of the price.

Ever since about 2006 and onwards I've been pretty much getting PCs rather than Macs.
I have both now - out of necessity as some programmes only run on certain OS.

Nowadays, in the last 10 years, longevity with a PC is not an issue.


MAC M1 still having lots of issues with Adobe programmes, dont' know who is to blame but it's not good to spend a ton of money on a new M1 Mac and apps outside the Apple-Sphere don't work properly.

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All in all it depends on what you're doing?
Page layout? Illustration? Logo design? Magazines? Book Work? 3D models?

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If you want to stay with Apple, it's been said already. You can just get whatever your budget dictates.
I wouldn't settle for anything less than 16gb RAM but I'd aim for 32gb these days.

If you're going for PC the choice is a bit more complex as there's so many vendors and different configurations.

If you post your budget plus answer what it is you're doing, what apps you're using and what your workload is like intensively then perhaps we can help a bit furhter.
 
hankscorpio said:
Nowadays, in the last 10 years, longevity with a PC is not an issue.
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as long as you're ok with an older OS, some of my older rigs haven't been able to be upgraded to newer OS's due to hardware restrictions/limitations even though they're fast enough to run it etc.

MAC M1 still having lots of issues with Adobe programmes, dont' know who is to blame but it's not good to spend a ton of money on a new M1 Mac and apps outside the Apple-Sphere don't work properly.
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rumours of an m2 coming out in about a month.
I do agree about ram being 16GB minimum. even more so on any laptop which takes vram from the system ram etc. Ideally I'd say try for 32GB as well purely due to the fact that on a lot of laptops ram is soldered to the motherboard (macs especially) meaning no upgrade route.
 
Well the new Mac M1 is unified - so get what you can now - RAM upgrade prices on Macs are insane! But you cannot update the RAM in the new Macs, you are stuck with what you buy.

That's why I prefer PC Desktops, upgrading is way easier and cheaper.
 
hankscorpio said:
Well the new Mac M1 is unified - so get what you can now - RAM upgrade prices on Macs are insane! But you cannot update the RAM in the new Macs, you are stuck with what you buy.

That's why I prefer PC Desktops, upgrading is way easier and cheaper.
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I prefer pc desktops too, I know I can spec it how I want it and ensure that my main requirements (decent cooling and psu) are met.

I agree that it's easier (unless you go mitx...need those mini hands on your fingers for that lol) but I wouldn't say it's cheaper right now. Even now the damn prices in gpu's are ludicrous compared with rrp thanks to the limited supply thanks to cryptominers, scalpers (with their scripts) and covid (yes I'm a bit salty, been trying to get a new pc since rtx 3000 series released...) It got so bad it was almost cheaper to buy a whole pc just to get the gpu than it was to buy a gpu.... I just don't like off the shelf pc's.
 
Thank you for your responses, it's mainly page layout, logo designs, banners, magazines, social media motion graphics etc...no video editing or 3D work or anything too heavy. I've been using macs for years for this sort of work and they have always been reliable, value for money. I've always worked in places that have been kitted out with PC's so my mac requests can be seen to be a pain. But it's what I know and it works for me. So the budget would be as much as decent mac, I've been looking at the MacBook Pro. Found this online https://www.creativebloq.com/features/best-laptops-for-graphic-design . Just thought I'd ask if fellow designers have used the MacBook Pro - if so, does it work for you?
 
richdesign_79 said:
Just thought I'd ask if fellow designers have used the MacBook Pro - if so, does it work for you?
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Nope, doesn't work for me, but then I do 3D work and basically it wouldn't run anything I use.... they're windows only and m1 etc doesn't run windows. And I really don't like the 'buzz' the macbook chassis has when you touch it due to the poor 'insulation' of the case from the power supply (that 'buzz' is basically a tiny electrical charge/shock).

The fact that macs are what you know and that's what works for you basically says you're more interested in getting a mac laptop anyway so you might as well do that, I'd just wait a few weeks until after their next announcement.
 
It bug me to this day that there is still a Mac/Windows dispute.
Both are just as good as each other.

I'd go for something like this

Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2933MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Recoil Series Integrated 94WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

Build Time

Price: £1,867.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/recoil-V-15/XFr9Y0q6qx/


Or something like this


Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 11370H (3.3GHz, 4.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Battery
Fusion Series Integrated 53WH Lithium Ion Battery

Price: £1,415.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/fusion-studio-14/f9S9brcQAH/


if I were to build a MacBook Pro with similar
This is just on the basic model - the other models are far more expensive,
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hankscorpio said:
It bug me to this day that there is still a Mac/Windows dispute.
Both are just as good as each other.
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I don't think it's an issue about being 'good' or not, it's more a case of managing a mac with a windows based network. The IT guy will need to know both os-x and windows network/admin, not to mention fix any issues with cross compatibility and/or deal with multiple platform licenses in some cases. Depending on how complex the setup is it might not be worth the hassle for a smaller company.
 
The only laptop I'll buy is a ThinkPad. They are almost bulletproof. I'm still using a 2002 model on stage.

I can't give you details, but I always go for the biggest HD and the most RAM they offer. These are the kinds of things you can't have too much of.
 
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They're literally the items that are usually the easiest to upgrade.

It's the processor and graphics card that usually cannot be upgraded in a laptop.

For that reason I'd max i out on processor and graphics card.
Then add 32gb ram
Then add a large hard drive, especially if doing Photoshop with
 
hankscorpio said:
They're literally the items that are usually the easiest to upgrade.
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Honestly, that might not be as true as it used to be, due to the manufacturers pursuing 'small and thin' at any cost some actually solder the ram and the ssd to the motherboard. Now the larger 'gaming' laptops might not solder but you still need to check if you're going for a more 'off the shelf' product from say curry's or apple.
 
Yeh I know that about some slim builds - but typically they have lower TDP processors which I wouldn't pick for doing design work anyway.
So the advice still stands to pick a good computer processor - and I guess it won't hurt to find out what parts are interchangeable before you buy them.

But Mac is definitely all in - no changing any parts.
 
You can put your spam post in the deleted section of the forum.... and you're banned too.
 
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