Ultraportable laptop w/best screen for photo editing?

[jrc]

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The key question is how much you're going to travel, and how. If you're traveling by car, then weight doesn't count for much. If you're traveling by air, it counts for more. If you're hitting a lot of cities on a single air trip, then weight counts for a lot.

 

Until a couple of years ago, I'd annually do eight-10 cities in a single trip, most times staying only overnight. That meant I didn't have time to get laundry done, and that meant that I had to take a huge suitcase so I'd have fresh clothes at each stop. If you're traveling like that, then you don't have a lot of time to do photo processing (and you're too tired anyway) and every pound counts. I'm now completely on Macs, but a 5-pound Mac would have seemed like a brick on a really harsh air trip. (In addition to the notebook. I'd be carrying a book or two, a camera, sound-canceling head phones, power supplies, legal pads, etc; so I suspect the whole load weighed 20 pounds, and it had to be carried, rather than wheeled.)

 

So I used small Sonys and Toshibas, and thought the Sony screens were especially good. You can currently get a Sony that weighs only about 3 pounds, and seems ideal for travel. It will do e-mail, browse the web, store more photos than you're likely to take.

 

http://products.sony.co.uk/tx3_series.asp

 

But for simple trips, just to one city and back, the Mac works fine. On those kinds of trips, I have started taking along a full-sized Mac keyboard and a mouse (in my checked luggage) because it's so much easier to work on.

 

One additional thing -- if you're traveling internationally, to countries whose language you do not speak, it's convenient to carry a little phrase-book program of your laptop. They can be hard to come by in Mac-land...

[johnjs]

....

So I used small Sonys and Toshibas, and thought the Sony screens were especially good. You can currently get a Sony that weighs only about 3 pounds, and seems ideal for travel. It will do e-mail, browse the web, store more photos than you're likely to take.

 

VAIO TX3-Series laptops - Security meets style in the latest Sony ultraportable laptops

 

...

 

Regarding Sony, a few weeks ago I picked up a Sony AR Digital Studio series notebook, the AR320E. Not ultraportable as it's a 17", but seems thinner and lighter than my previous Toshiba. I went with the Sony mainly for the Xbrite display, which is glossy but has an antireflective coating. I also liked the rest of the notebook's configuration - not the fastest machine but a good mix of features and affordable, and a clean design. To compliment it I went with a Samsung 226BW display for a larger work area in Lightroom.

best-John

[gloec]

Nothing can beat the Dell Latitude 420, if we are talking about an ultaportable laptop. It also has a builtin SD reader which is very convenient. I have not callibrated its screen yet (12,1 inches) , so I am not sure about its reliability but so far it looks ok.

It is very light (1.3kg, 3lbs) and fits perfectly my Billingham Hadley Pro bag.

[Eoin]

After running many high end IBM Thinkpads with XGA screens over the past number of years I have moved to a MBP 17" for my main laptop. I use bootcamp to maintain XP for work but by in large I'm very happy with the imaging and processing of the MBP. I do use Aperture for my workflow so I am sort of locked into Apple, but as far as colour matching screen with print the Apple far exceeds results I was having with PC/Windows. It's not a glossy screen. As far as portability is concerned, the 17" is large, but wide screen, the 15" is also wide screen, that being said the std 15" screens (non wide) give bigger images than the wides of the same size, just something to think about.

[AlanG]

I thought the key points were that the OP wanted an ultralight machine with a screen smaller than 15 inches. Did these requirents change somewhere that I didn't notice?

[bradhusick]

All LCDs change contrast with vertical viewing angle, so unless you lock your head into some device that puts your eyes always at the exact same angle, you're seeing a different image every time you use your laptop. You just can't do critical color work on a laptop LCD yet. Desktop LCDs are getting much better, but unfortunately CRTs are still the only color critical solution.

[quarth]

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I thought the key points were that the OP wanted an ultralight machine with a screen smaller than 15 inches. Did these requirents change somewhere that I didn't notice?

 

Haha, no, the requirements didn't change. BUT, I'm getting some great feedback from folks regarding their current setups, which always helps. To give greater context, I will be backpacking (hence, the ultralight ) for about a year. If it wasn't for the year part, I'd just throw these images on a portable HD and be done with it. But, alas, I can't possibly go without editing and posting these images for that long!

 

I've been shying away from any of the Intel Core Solo processors or Duo Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) processors (someone recommended one of the Sony TX series, which max out at 1.33GHz processors; this also removes the Dell Latitude 420 from the list, which maxes out at 1.2GHz) simply because I still want the ability to do relatively intense and expediant work with CS2 and C1 Pro). My current setup is a 6-lb 15" Thinkpad with a 1.6GHz Centrino processor and 1GB RAM, which is way to heavy to carry around the world, too bulky, has pretty bad vertical viewing angle, and is just about the slowest I would want to go in terms speed.

 

Battery power is less important to me, as most of my editing work will be done indoors in at least a semi light-controlled environment, where I can presumably plug in. Generally, I've been looking at the "full voltage" Core 2 Duo 2GHz processors, simpy because they are priced much more reasonably than the 2.16 and 2.33 counterparts (with negligible loss of processing power), 2 GB RAM, and a built-in DVD burner (also ruling out some of the super ultraportables, including the Thinkpad X60). This way I can easily burn my photos throughout the trip, and mail them home in case disaster strikes.

 

So, hopefully this provides greater context... this is why the Dell XPS M1210 fits so well, as well as the Sony SZ series, if the screen will give me accurate color reproduction without color shift or a lousy vertical viewing angle.

 

Per Alan's suggestoin, I've looked at the Portable One UX, which I find highly interesting. This gets me everything I'm looking for, including an integrated card reader (it's those little things that count!), and the intriguing indoor/outdoor TrioView screen (which is also widescreen -- something I haven't found anywhere else). I just did a quick price quote, and I can get the 2GHz T7200, w/2GB RAM, TrioView monitor, 100GB 7200RPM HD, 3-year warranty, and 2 battery packs for about $2,300 -- in a 4-lb package. Not bad.

 

Alan - I've got a few questions for you, if you don't mind:

 

1. Any thoughts on the warranty service? My only real concern here would be the fact this is a "no name" laptop. I'm in IT as a living, so I'm really comfortable troubleshooting issues (haha, which is another reason I'm not dying to move to MAC -- what would I do all day long if my PC didn't need to be tweaked? ), and even replacing a part here and there, but I do want to know I've got trustworthy support behind me when/if I need it.
   
2. Also, how is the color shift/reproduction on the TrioView? The ability to view the screen in direct sunlight is definitely a plus, but in "indoor" mode, how is the vertical viewing angle and color shift? I realize most (all?) LCD's can't be compared to a great CRT, but at the same time, I'd rather not find myself tilting my LCD display back and forth (as I do now on my Thinkpad) in CS2 trying to figure out how black my blacks are, etc. I'd also like to know the screen won't be adding an artificial contrast to what I see, such that prints then appear unsaturated or washed out.
   

 

Thanks again, all! This has been a fantastically informative thread.

[chanyr]

If you don't mind, tell me more about the screen. Other than the "pop" and "wow" factor, which is pretty obvious looking at Sony screens (can't argue they are nice to look at!), have you done any photo editing and then subsequently printed the picture, with accurate color reproduction in the final print? Thanks!

Sorry I can't tell you more about that aspect as I haven't edited and printed photos on my laptop yet. Guess the most important thing is to find out if your monitor covers the gamut for the SRGB colorspace and it should be accurate if you calibrate it.

[Guest sirvine]

Mark,

 

If you do end up considering a Mac, (and since you asked about warranty service on PC brands), you ought to include the price of an AppleCare support plan in your purchase price. Apple's warranty service and tech support can be really poor unless you're under an AppleCare plan.

[photoworkplace]

First I have to say that I am affiliated with this company

But I do think it might be what you're looking for

Not quite "ultra" portable

But the form factor of a slate design makes for a very handy tool!

Mine is near an extension of my body, for both professional (Wedding Photographer) and personal use

 

Joseph

 

ModBook

Axiotron : Home

[AlanG]

1. Any thoughts on the warranty service? My only real concern here would be the fact this is a "no name" laptop. I'm in IT as a living, so I'm really comfortable troubleshooting issues (haha, which is another reason I'm not dying to move to MAC -- what would I do all day long if my PC didn't need to be tweaked? ), and even replacing a part here and there, but I do want to know I've got trustworthy support behind me when/if I need it.
   
2. Also, how is the color shift/reproduction on the TrioView? The ability to view the screen in direct sunlight is definitely a plus, but in "indoor" mode, how is the vertical viewing angle and color shift? I realize most (all?) LCD's can't be compared to a great CRT, but at the same time, I'd rather not find myself tilting my LCD display back and forth (as I do now on my Thinkpad) in CS2 trying to figure out how black my blacks are, etc. I'd also like to know the screen won't be adding an artificial contrast to what I see, such that prints then appear unsaturated or washed out.
   

 

Thanks again, all! This has been a fantastically informative thread.

 

I bought the extended 3 year warranty. I can't say how Portable One's service will be in the future. They were very responsive to me. When my machine arrived, it wouldn't charge the battery. I e-mailed Ivan and he responded immediately even though it was Thanksgiving Day. I ended up having to return the machine for a motherboard replacement and they emailed me a FedEx order so that I really didn't have to do much to return it to them. They fixed it quickly and it's been great since. They seem to be a reputable company according to the LeoG forum. They were a big dealer of Fujitsu machines and lots of people on that site thought highly of them. I ususally don't buy extended warranties, but I thought for $100 it was worth it.

 

As for the screen, the Trio-View used indoors is as good as the very best regular back-lit laptops. But it does vary in brightness when your vertical viewing angle changes. I fiind I can reliably adjust my images if I keep the angle within a reasonable range. I do have to say that for my best quality control, I generally do my final tweaking on my desktop machine. But I rarely am very far off. I try to pay attention to the histogram when adjusting my photos and it is a good idea to have a standard reference image that you can pop up in a little window when working on another image.

 

I do have to say that the indoor/outdoor display is very important to me. I am a location shooter who specializes in architectural interiors, exteriors and advertising. I often am shooting tethered in very bright and glary situations and it performs great. Sometimes I shoot tethered or do other work on the computer outdoors. Other laptops I've owned were unusable in those situations. I keep a Delkin Cardbus CF 32 bit card reader in the PC slot and with the 3 USB ports, the firewire port and the SD reader, I can connect to any and all of my cameras, media, and external drives, simultaneously if I want.

 

The other thing to say about the screen is that it is very bright and saturated. As are the screens on many other laptops. But these bright displays will throw off your image adjustments. I calibrated it using my Monaco Optix device which lowered the brightness, contrast and saturation a fair amount. But the extra brightness is handy when using it outside. The graphics driver lets one save different "scheme" options for the screen. So I can easily switch from my "photos" scheme to my "outdoors" scheme when I want maximum brighness, saturation and contrast.

 

I hope this helps. I was hesitant to buy from a small supplier but nobody else offered a similar screen. If it weren't for the Trio-View screen, I probably would have bought another brand. Maybe Fujitsu, Toshiba or Panasonic.

[AlanG]

.

 

I have not looked back at the Win laptops since I switched over a few years ago, so I don't know if many can drive a second monitor right off the shelf, but I find that a very nice feature.

 

Cheers,

Jacques

 

Yeah, they can do this. Mine even has a web camera built in despite what those Mac commercials say. And my camera rotates so I can point it at me or away from me. (Not that I've used it.)

[suethomo]

Does anyone know of a 17" laptop that does have a matte screen with high resolution (apart from Mac). I have tried Dell and they do have the M90 with 17" 1920x1200 non-glossy (matte) but it is hugely expensive and designed for high end business use rather than photo-editing. Apart from this I have not been able to find other brands with these screens.

 

Thanks

[wlaidlaw]

Before anyone buys a Macbook, I would make very sure they can live with the glossy screen in the environment they will be using it. I was going to replace my G4 iBook last Autumn, as apart from anything else the HD was full. I had a friend come and stay with me in France with his brand new Macbook. In my main room, which is very light with floor to ceiling widows all round, you just could not use the Macbook due to reflections. I therefore decided to get my matte screen iBook upgraded with a faster (1.4 Ghz) G4 chip and a 100Gb HD, at probably more than it would have cost me to upgrade to a Macbook, after selling the iBook on eBay. I wish Apple would offer the Macbook with a Matte screen - I would get one tomorrow so that I could run the current version of Parallels, to use those few programs where there is no Mac equivalent - e.g. Wings Platinum for slide show creation.

 

Wilson