Want to get a high-performance laptop for your photo/video or graphic's business? Want the portability of a laptop, but a workhorse of a device to put all of your projects on?
If you are shopping around for a laptop, there are some questions that you need to answer first before spending several thousand on a computer and it doesn't work for your needs.
Am I a Mac or a PC person?
This is a very important question. I am personally a PC person but for work sometimes I use Macs and my editing time greatly slows down because I have to relearn everything. Also all of my presets, my fonts and my Adobe creative elements are all in PC format. So I would have to convert them all over or get new ones if I ever switch.
How durable do I need this laptop?
If it’s going to sit on a desk mostly and not travel between shoots or gigs then having something tablet size, detachable or even touchscreen might be an option for you
But if you’re rough like me on here than getting some thing that could take a punch might be a good idea
What am I gonna use this laptop for?
If I’m gonna be doing heavy wedding films or longer jobs every single night that I’m rendering 10 to 20 minute videos - then getting some thing with a lot of storage space and RAM might be a good idea.
I like to get 16 gigs of RAM or higher. And I love solid-state hard drive‘s (SSD) because they don’t spin and are less likely to fail.
What programs am I gonna run on it?
if you’re like me, Adobe illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom and Premier running pretty much every single night sometimes all at the same time. So I’m gonna need lots of storage space that can handle all the hefty programs. So getting 1TB minimum on space would be preferable.
That also means I’m gonna need a really good graphics card and a good processor- like i7’s or similar.
What are some other bonus features that would help me with my jobs?
personally I love having a really big screen so that way when I’m tethering or talking to clients we don’t have to squint to look at things. I also work very late at night so I need to have a nice big screen so that I can put all of my programs up and ready to use.
I also prefer having an ergonomic feel because I am working very late and I really need to have something that’s comfortable and easy to sit with.
Since I am a graphic designer I think having a touchscreen and a stylus would be very helpful as well.
So how much should I save up for?
Most of the laptops that I looked at were going from at least $1000-$3000.
Getting a desktop is usually a little bit more affordable but since I’m on the road a lot and travel between jobs, having a laptop is the best for that situation.
What are some laptops that you recommend?
Newest 2020 Dell XPS 13 9380 Laptop, 13.3” 4K UHD Touchscreen Display, 8th Gen Intel Quad-Core i7-8565U, 16GB DDR4 256GB SSD, Thunderbolt Fingerprint Backlit KB MaxxAudio Win 10 + ePark Wireless Mouse
Lenovo Legion Y7000 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD IPS Anti-Glare Laptop (Intel Core i7-8750H Processor, Nvidia GTX 1060, 16 GB DDR4, 1 TB HDD + 128 GB PCIe SSD, Windows 10 Home) 81LF0001US, Black
New Apple MacBook Pro (16-Inch, 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage) - Space Gray
Area 51M Gaming Laptop Welcome to A New ERA with 9TH GEN Intel CORE I9-9900K GEFORCE RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6 17.3" FHD 144HZ AG IPS G-SYNC TOBII EYETRACKING (2TB RAID|64GB RAM|10 PRO)
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 – 12.3" Touch-Screen - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) – Matte Black (VNX-00016)
HP - Spectre x360 2-in-1 15.6" 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD - 15-DF0013DX (Renewed)
HP Zbook x2 G4 Multi-Touch-2-in-1- Mobile Workstation - Intel Core i7-8550u Quad-Core - 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD - 16GB of DDR4 RAM - 1.8 GHz - 14" 3840 x 2160 DreamColor Touchscreen - Intel UHD Graphics 62
Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1 Carbon Business Ultrabook Laptop (Intel i7-10510U, 16GB RAM, 2TB NVMe SSD, 14.0" 4K UHD IPS, Windows 10 Pro) Professional Notebook Computer
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX581 15.6” 4K UHD NanoEdge Bezel Touch, Intel Core i7-9750H, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, GeForce RTX 2060, Innovative Screenpad Plus, Windows 10 Pro - UX581GV-XB74T, Celestial Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W4SGSKX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_A396EbSA0TPEQ
2020 Dell Inspiron 15 5000 FHD 1080P Touchscreen Laptop| Intel 4-Core i7-8565U up to 4.6GHz| 32GB RAM| 2TB SSD (Boot) + 1TB HDD| Backlit KB| FP Reader| Win10 + NexiGo Wireless Mouse Bundle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087P7D4NC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_s496EbA7YK0AA
Christal Marshall is the owner of Virginia Photos and Films, Virginia Marketing and Media and Virginia Beach Photobooth Company.
She lives, breathes and does media and marketing pretty much 24-7 for over 14 local business through social media management, website design, photo, video or media coverage or graphic design.
She is a homeschool mom of three, cat lover, sushi eater and poke fan!
She started her business in 2011 with nothing but a $400 camera from Amazon, now she is has been published in over 60 different blogs and websites for her media work and rank top Wedding Photographer in Virginia Beach.