Creator laptop as macbook alternative

[BouncyChillups]

Hi guys,

 

Im a photographer and looking to get more mobile, since right now Im only working on my desktop pc. 

The first choice would obviously be a macbook, the 14" is looking really interesting, but first I'd like to check out the market, if there is something somewhat similar, just on Windows.

Ideally, the laptop should have a similar chassis, so I'd really like something robust, aluminium maybe, that doesnt scream GAMER. 

Also, if it would be under 1,8kg, that would be perfect.

 

What I need:

• Good screen, at least 14 inch, up to 15-ish inch, at least 1440p, ideally IPS panel or something similar, 60 hz is fine
• 32 GB of ram ideally, at the very least 16 GB
• SD Card reader would be nice
• Good battery life
• Ideally the possibility to charge via usb-c

 

For the most part, the laptop is for backing up shoots, ingesting onto internal and external drives and some culling and editing in Lightroom. 

Ideally, I could just use it at home with my bigger monitor too, via dock or whatever is yet to be seen, to edit larger files in Photoshop, hence ideally the 32 GB

 

Any recommendations that come to mind? Regardless of budget, just want to feel out the market. 

Cheers

[KingTdiGGiTTy]

Dell XPS or Precision Mobile Workstations fit the bill. the 15 inch models specifically since they have SD card slots I believe.

Razer Blade or Razer Book

HP Z laptops, might be one that fits the bill.

 

TBH though, the MacBooks are like... really good.

[BouncyChillups]

Just now, KingTdiGGiTTy said:

TBH though, the MacBooks are like... really good.

I mean, at this point Im just looking for confirmation, I'll most likely go with a macbook, just want to do my due diligence and checking out if there is something out there im totally missing

[8tg]

Have you looked into business hardware? This is the kind of use case where without a budget set I’d be looking at something like a Thinkpad T14 or X1 Carbon.

On the budget end for photography work, well if you’ll throw everything out in favor of a display, a 4K Thinkpad P50/51 with the Pantone color calibrator is 10/10, though it’s a heavy 15” mobile workstation. Disabling the dgpu will help battery life but they use 45w mobile quadcore i7’s and xeons.

 

If a good screen and portability is priority, I currently use a thinkpad X1 nano, 14” 2160x1350, though it’s meant to compete with the M1 air for being super thin and light, so you get 2 thunderbolt 4 ports and a whole lot of nothing else.

Max spec ones can be had for 1600-1800$ with the i7 1180g7, 16gb of 4266mhz ddr4 and 1tb ssd, touchscreen and stuff, but the X1 carbon is the same idea in a larger size with up to 32gb of ram.

[Roswell]

You'll be hard pressed to find anything with a comparable display when it comes to accuracy at the price point of the 14. It entirely covers just about whatever colorspace you want to work in. If you ever want to edit HDR content, there literally is no other option at the moment due to how poorly Windows handles HDR. And again.. you'll have a reeeaalllyyy hard time finding a laptop display outside of Apple that can accurately pump 1500 nits.

 

Battery life is heads and shoulders above everything else out at the moment too. M1 consumes a fraction of the energy that comparable AMD/Intel chips use.

[Darkseth]

Not to mention, the Fans that almost never turn on.

[FliP0x]

In your description, you basically described the latest MacBook Pro.

 

Best Screen I've seen in a Laptop
Best Speakers I've heard in a Laptop

Has 16/32GB RAM options

Built-in SDXC Card Reader

Has it's propriertary MagSafe port, but also charges over USB-C

Great battery life*

 

The MBP 14 is slightly on the 'thick' side, but considering it's a portable workstation it's very much acceptable. Build quality is great, you can hold it by one edge with one hand without having to worry that it will flex or bend, it stays riggid.

 

As the users above me mentioned, the new M1 chip is a silent and cool powerhouse. I'm even considering that my unit came with a broken cooling fan, because it never turned on.

 

*while using Apple Silicon native application (most professional apps have M1 Native versions). I've noticed that intel/rosetta 2 applications use more energy, most likely due to emulation.