Affordable Windows Laptop Which Would Handle Adobe Suite

MattyD on 05/11/2016 - 12:31

Hi guys,

I need your help and advice to find an affordable laptop. I'm transitioning from an IT background into teaching IT, including wrapping my head around the Adobe suite (particularly Premiere, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects etc). Unfortunately I'm just not familiar enough with these products requirements to make a quick decision.

Other than that it's word processing, web surfing and probably some light java for me.

Can anyone propose whether this great ThinkPad E470 deal - with the 16GB (8+8) Ram or other config - could get it done:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/273568

Otherwise, if $ were a factor, what would you recommend to an OB faithful ready to buy now?

Computing

Comments

  • niner on 05/11/2016 - 13:18
    +1

    Adobe software works great with Nvidia Graphics cards.

    Dell XPS15 would be my go to laptop.

    • MattyD on 05/11/2016 - 13:38

      Whoa yeah. Bit of a price difference :) Is there a middle ground (less than $1K)?

      • klaw81 on 07/11/2016 - 09:47

        You can get a much cheaper, only slightly less powerful version of the XPS 15. It's called the Inspiron 15 7000 Gamer Edition (model 7559). Same processor, same GPU, but 1080p screen and a bit more chunky. Currently around $1300 brand new (eBay 20% off deal) and occasionally available for ~$1000 refurbished at the Dell Factory Outlet.

        I would strongly encourage getting something with a quad-core (HQ) processor rather than the dual core low-power (U) processor, as they have much better performance….this will make a big difference in those programs.

  • bjdchwr on 05/11/2016 - 13:42
    +1

    I am school IT…

    I would suggest you not to buy U version of the CPU for laptop - they are ultra low voltage but less powerful.

    The student laptop we are currently using is i5 ending with U - they are quite unresponsive for Premiere Pro.

    16Gb of RAM is a must have and preferably a SSD would help a bit as well.

    I would buy a proper i7-****QM series laptop with 256G SSD plus 16G of ram - I think it would last longer. However, you can go for a cheaper laptop but build yourself a powerful tower at home - it is what I did for doing video editing school work.

  • PVA on 05/11/2016 - 13:44
    +2

    I think it will work great.
    my son has an old mac air at school, it has the full suite of adobe products - he only uses photoshop and illustrator and says it works fine.
    Maybe a pro user needs more but for basic and school things it perfectly fine.
    what you have chosen is a heap more powerful than an air so it would be OK to buy.

    • bjdchwr on 05/11/2016 - 13:49
      +2

      Agree!

      I have multiple machines home (all Domain Computers) and my i3-4330 PC (even with integrated graphics) is my major working PC.

      All of the 2D design software work perfectly on a low-to-medium end machines, including my i3 tower (18G RAM plus SSD).

      HOWEVER, Premiere and After Effect are another story - especially for AE. Even with my E3-1231(32GB RAM with SSD of course), it takes quite extended time to render a 1080P video.

      If you use a lot of video editing and after effect thing, a tower maybe a better solution :-)

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