Which Laptop for image editing?

I'm looking for a Laptop which needs to be able to handle my K10D 28MB+ images using Photoshop CS3, Elements 6 and Lightroom1/2, or a combination of the above image editing software options.

The question is. Does the laptop have to have a separate graphics card or is an integrated graphics system going to provide satisfactory performance?

For instance I have my eye on a HP G70-111EM laptop with a 17" screen and 3GB of RAM. Seems nice but it has a Intel integrated graphics (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD)which will rob about 1GB of RAM.

Which laptop for image editing?

Help!!

I'd go macbook, or if screensize is important, macbookpro.
ram is more important than graphics card.
my macbook with 2 gigs handles it just fine (aperture and cs2)

A laptop will always be a compromise anyway. The inbuilt monitor will be more of a hindrance than the graphics card. Usually coated for use in sunlight, brightness changes as viewing angle does etc.

With regards to handling Those programs, then it'll perform fine. My laptop with 1.7gb core 2 duo & 3gb RAM works fine. I think the 4500mhd supports HD so you could always rig it up to a HD tv when working at home.

I use a Sony viola with Vista, 2gb of Ram, 200GB HDD running CS4, Lightroom 2 etc etc with no problems but as Don has said get a Macbook.
This with a imac desktop is my next upgrade for 2009.

An Apple Macintosh Book is out of the question. I'm a PC man and do not intend to shell out for and learn the Mac system. Thanks for those comments non the less. + Macs are too expensive for me.

The 4500MHD does support HDTV, the laptop does have an HDMI port. It sounds encouraging that you think the laptop will be able to perform the task in hand. Am I right in this assumption?

The screen would be good enough for the purpose as the system will not be my primary editing tool, just a mobile system to enable me to edit while away from home.

Any other comments welcome.

As others have said, screen quality is the key here. Virtually any laptop you buy today will have the power; it's how it displays the image that counts. My two year old Dell is terrible.

G

It seems the max resolution of that model is 1440 x 900 which isn't bad. If it's something to use whilst away from home it'll be easily up to the job.
I'd just compare the appearance of an identical image on the laptop & your main editing display & try & get the laptop display to match as close as possible.

To me, that resolution for a 17" laptop is pathetic! Working with a resolution that low just couldn't be acceptable to me.

Never used less than 1600 x 1200 in a laptop for over 5 years now, and could never contemplate using such a very low resolution. My current 17" laptop is running at 1920 x 1200, and there are others available at 1680 x 1050 which I would consider.

Unless you have extremely poor eyesight, I would say that 1440 x 900 is a waste for a 17" laptop, you may as well buy a 15" as the only advantage of going to 17" with the same resolution is for bigger pixels. For me it is just a compromise too far!

DITTO.

Oh, yeah. Forgot it was 17" !
However, as a secondary low cost option I think it would be ok, unless Unlocker or ttk can suggest a comparible alternative ? Of course it depends on what kind of editing is being done, if it's just basic stuff then resolution isn't that critical I'd say, you'd be better served by a higher contrast ratio to recreate more accurate colour.

After my desktop computer died, I replaced it with my current laptop. I still use my old 19" CRT monitor when image editing however. The Dual display is really handy I find. I will be looking to change the monitor shortly (only as a space saving measure, a 19" CRT is quite a sizeable box as you can imagine) - It seems the maximum resolution for most mainstream 22-26" LCD monitors is 1900x1200 but contrast ratio can vary from 1000:1 - 20,000:1 .

A multi monitor setup is a whole different kettle of fish! Most people don't even appreciate that you can, my shop desktop has 3x 18" TFT's in portrait mode as an example.

If the resolution is not a problem for you, as most of your editing is done on the other monitor, then I would recommend a laptop with a decent graphics card in it, especially if you are going to run a 1920x1200 screen on it as well at a later date. The only problem you may find with that is if you have only the kind of resolution mentioned, there is no incentive to supply a decent graphics card in it. Again, that word compromise. The more money you can throw at it, the easier it gets!

So as to the original question, do you need a dedicated graphics card, for most people, probably not, for you and the additional screen, definately a lot more desirable. That may be a bit vague, but only you can say if any given machine / spec will 'do' for you, so off to somewhere like PC World for you to go play and find out. Just remember to take your bullshit detector with you!

just done a bit of searching, this site may be helpful, not familiar with it but it seems quite detailed at first sight.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/How-much-graphic-memory-makes-sense.2558.0.html

Not sure what sort of editing you intend to do, my own experience with laptops is that the big problem is colour - completely changes as viewing angle changes. Cropping and weeding out the poor shots, just fine, but anything important, I have little confidence I'd be getting it right on a laptop. Screen brightness can differ markedly between using mains or battery power too.

there are some laptop gfx cards around with dedicated memory i.e. own RAM, suggest you do some hunting around on internet.
i.e. http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/mobile.html

I found John Lewis's staff quite helpful when wanting details about laptop specs, e.g. mobo clock speeds, gfx memory, (some at least) know how to find out the information via control panel from the laptops in the shop.

I found PC world's staff to be entirely clueless - knew the buzzwords - it's got .... so it's good innit - but nowt else take a block of rocksalt with you & lick frequently.

The HP G70-111EM laptop has the following:

link

As far as graphics are concerned.

have you considered using a docking station and having a seperate monitor and peripherals connected to it permanently?

Sure it would give me a portable option. But this solution works out as a relatively expensive desktop, essentially? No?