# Laptop optimised for LR



## John W (Jan 31, 2014)

Hi,

Please can you offer your advice and/or suggestions. I know similar threads have appeared before and I've looked at them but times change and requirements/budgets differ.

I want to replace my laptop because it is useless for LR. I decided to replace it with a model that would also become my prime PC at home (i.e. replace my desktop PC as well - that's a bit slow too). When using it at home I will connect it to my desktop monitor possibly even using both the monitor and the laptop display simultaneously (so I want a reasonable laptop display). LR is the most demanding software I will use and so I want to optimise the configuration for that. I have a Lightroom catalog of ~25,000 photos (sorry, my LR catalog is linked to ~25,000 photos) and I regularly edit 20 Mpixel RAW filels. Photography is a hobby for me, so I don't have urgent deadlines. I am not a gamer but, occasionally, I will want to edit short video clips (I don't mind if this is a bit slow because it's quite rare). It would be nice to be able to listen to my music on iTunes while editing photos! The configuration below is at the top of my budget so if you suggest upgrading any part of it please also tell me what you think I should downgrade or delete elsewhere. If you think anything is overspecified I'd be happy to save money and downgrade or delete it. I hope that is sufficient background. I think I've made the right compromises but expert help would be much appreciated.

The configuration was selected from PC Specialist, Victoria suggested looking there, it's an excellent web site for selecting personalised configurations. I have also posted this on their (PCS) forum, thinking that two differing perspectives might be good.

Thanks in anticipation of your help.

John.



Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) - I don't necessarily want a 17" model but this allowed me to have the mix of other components I thought was right.
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600   - Is this good enough? For a decent graphics card, I would give up half the RAM and have poorer display resolution and/or downgrade the processor.
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W) -Is this worth having for LR? I could, for example, remove it and half the RAM for a NVidia (2Mb) graphics card.
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE HYBRID GEN3 SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)


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## theoldwizard1 (Feb 22, 2015)

While I can not recommend a specific brand, this is what I consider the key items on a laptop that will be used for LR.

17", full HD, IPS display.  IPS is a must have.  MUST, MUST, MUST !  1920x1080.  Don't waste your money on any higher resolution.  You won't be able to use it on a screen that small.  Most modern on-board video chips are "adequate" for LR.  Playback of "shows" is another issue.

I highly recommend a SSD as your primary drive.  Sadly, most manufacturers overcharge for SSDs.  17" laptop almost always have 2 drive bays.  After your purchase, buy a 250GB SSD.  Install it as your primary drive and you original as the second drive.

8GB of main memory is the minimum.

Forget the internal card reader, unless it comes along for free.


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## clee01l (Feb 22, 2015)

theoldwizard1 said:


> ...1920x1080.  Don't waste your money on any higher resolution.  You won't be able to use it on a screen that small.  Most modern on-board video chips are "adequate" for LR. ...


Two points to make here. 

HiDPI screens have merit and work well with LR  The retina versions of the Apple MacBookPro make excellent LR tools and can serve (with additional monitors) as a suitable desktop replacement.  The Microsoft Surface Pro3 with 512GB and all the bells and whistles is suitable for LR. It is a 12" HiDPI computer. Add a larger monitor and it might be a Desktop replacement. The only down side to the Surface Pro3 is the limit of 8GB RAM. more would be better.
LR6 is rumored to be around the corner and the same rumor says that LR6 will make use for the first time the computational power of a GPU.  So high end graphics might become useful in LR.


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