Laptop compatibility?

[Rowenna22601709lfqs]

Hello,

I'm new to InDesign and Illustrator and have questions please. I apologise if these are basic, but I'm starting with no knowledge here.

I can purchase Adobe software throughy university for a reduced rate. However, I'm not sure whether my laptop - a HP Pavilion intel core i3 7th generation (according to the sticker.... And yup, this is how basic my knowledge is)... Can run it. 

Can anyone help please? Where on my xomputer do I find a run down of my laptop specifications? And how do I know if this will be able to run InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop etc? 

With thanks,

Ro,

[BobLevine]

That's a pretty low end processor but the real issue would be how much RAM that machine has and whether you're fully updated on Windows 10 (that machine will not run Windows 11)

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

You can find some of the computer's specs from Start / Settings.

From there, click the section labeled System.

Then select the About section and look for these items:

Basic computer specs that affect running Creative Suite.

To find out the computer's hard drive / storage space, click the Storage section:

Available storage space on the drive. You can delete the Temporary Files.

These screen captures are from my oldest and slowest computer in my studio and it uses an i7 processor with a speed of 1.7 GHz — that's a faster processor than your HP Pavillion.

It has only 8 GB of RAM memory, which isn't very much for designing complex stuff in Creative Suite. Tough to have InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator running at the same time.

And there's only 57 GB of available storage on the drive...not much to store work and the files needed when InDesign et al are up and running.

Your current computer might be OK for the time being and for small projects, but don't expect it to be workable if this is your career path. I'd use it temporarily while getting a better computer.

What to look for in a new Windows computer:

• i7 or newer processor
• Windows 11 capable (Windows 10 will eventually be discontinued, and Adobe will cease developing for Windows 10 even sooner)
• 16GB RAM (32 GB is better)
• 500 GB SSD drive (1 TB is better)
• A powerful enough graphics card to handle a larger external monitor.

I'm a former systems integrator for digital media workstations, so I'm very picky about the hardware at my studio. I purchase moderate-to-high-end gaming computers for my designers' workstations because they have the memory and graphics capability needed for digital media.

Costco has a good selection, and offers extended warranties and concierge services. I've had good experiences with MS Surface Pros and Asus ROG laptops.

[J E L]

@Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com While we're on the subject, what do you think about the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus Laptop? Ideally, I like to simultaneously run Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, and Bridge. I'll take two out of three! I was hoping for the i9-11900 processor, but it's not available in the Inspiron so I'd have to move up to the XPS or gaming laptop, which is more expensive. I'm set on sticking with Dell. I would be upgrading the Inspiron I have now from 16 to 32GB of memory and a much newer video card. I keep waiting for something "perfect" lol.

• Processor: 11th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-11800H (24MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz, 8 cores)
• OS: Windows 10 Pro (Includes Windows 11 Pro License)
• Memory: 32GB, 2x16GB, DDR4, 3200MHz
• Hard Drive: 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
• Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 6GB GDDR6 [60W]

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

@J E L those specs look decent.

Knowing that you're a graphic designer, you might see if you can pump up the RAM to 64GB to give you more capacity with heavy duty graphics, large documents, and having Indy / Illy / Pshop running simultaneously.

The 6GB NVIDIA ram should allow you to plug in at least one external monitor, maybe 2.  The SSD (solid state drive) will give you good response time.

The only additional recommendation I can make is to have a touch screen (some Inspiron models have that). I LOVE my MS Surface Pro's touch screen when I'm drawing in Illustrator or working on photos in Photoshop. It's not so helpful in InDesign.

As a designer, I will never buy another computer without a touch screen...sure wish Apple would hurry up and give us one! My Macs are getting on in years!

[J E L]

Thanks so much, Bevi. My Inspiron now is a touch screen model, and I also LOVE it. I don't want to give it up, but I don't use it that often as I'm always on a large external monitor. I know I'm going to miss it once I don't have it. I am going to see if I can increase to 64GB as a customization. Sigh. I'm far overdue for an upgrade and I keep procrastinating... 

[J E L]

Here's an update in case anyone stumbles upon this thread. I got the Dell 16 Plus Laptop on Sunday and within 2 hours, realized it was not the model for me and packed it up for return.

Today, I ordered the XPS 17 9710 laptop. However, all of Dell's i9 processors are back-ordered. My estimated delivery date is 88 days from now. Here's the build:

• 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-11900H (24MB Cache, up to 4.9 GHz, 8 cores)
• Windows 10 Pro (Includes Windows 11 Pro License)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 3060 6GB GDDR6 [70W]
• 64GB DDR4 3200MHz, 2x32GB
• 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive

That's 12-and-a-half weeks to wait! Don't forget to check on your ports. I have to get a docking station as this comes with 4 Thunderbolt ports. Otherwise, I'd have to buy adapters for all my externals.

Good things come to those who are patient, right?

[BobLevine]

Nice. That should keep you going for a while.

[June_June_June]

Could someone advise if this Laptop is suitable for use in Adobe Illustration, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro

Brand: DELL LATITUDE 3440

Computer spec: 

- processor: Intel Core i5 Gen 13

- RAM:16GB

- Hard drive capacity: 512GB SSD

Operating system: Win 11 Pro

intel iris Xe Graphics 

thank you so much!

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@June_June_June

For a comfortable work - unfortunately NOT - not enough RAM.

[June_June_June]

Hi Robert,

thanks for your suggestion ^^

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @June_June_June,

Your current setup should handle basic to moderate tasks in Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro. However, for heavy projects, such as working with large PSDs, complex Illustrator files, or 4K video editing, upgrading your RAM, storage, and a dedicated GPU would significantly improve performance, as suggested by the experts.

For more details, you can check the official system requirements for each application:
Illustrator System Requirements
Premiere Pro System Requirements
Photoshop System Requirements

Let me know if you have any further questions! 

^
Abhishek

[Randy Hagan]

I think this would be a serviceable computer for you. But there are things you might want to consider as you set this up to be your work system:

• 16GB is the practical minimum for running any of the programs you describe in your post. You may not immediately need more, but you should explore whether you can install more RAM down the line. This gives you the ability to "future-proof" your system, as well as significantly improve the performance of Adobe applications anytime you install more memory. A quick check led me to believe that you can upgrade your laptop up to 64GB of RAM, so you have plenty of room to grow anytime you choose to do it.
• 512 GB of storage is likely not enough to do complex work with Photoshop and Premiere Pro, and could prove to be challenging working with Illustrator as well. These programs rely on claiming open space for "scratch disk" space — generally not space these systems immediately need to use, but space the program(s) reserve in your system so there's room they can use if they need it. Fortunately, this issue can be quickly remedied by either installing a larger SSD drive in your laptop (preferred) or attaching an external SSD and configuring your Adobe applications to use both the internal SSD and the external SSD for that scratch disk space.

So in short, I believe your current system can work for you, though upgrading components in your laptop can make it easier/better for you. Though one thing you didn't ask about and I'll volunteer needs to be considered for you: how you work with your laptop. 

• If you want to make things easier for yourself, I would recommend that you set up a large external monitor, full keyboard and mouse at your regular workstation to make life much easier using Adobe applications on your laptop.

That way you can work work with all the comforts of a large monitor and full-size remote keyboard and mouse, which I can assure you will make life much easier using Adobe graphics applications than relying solely on a 14-inch laptop screen, and still enjoy the portability of your laptop when you're on the road.  You get the best of both worlds.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[June_June_June]

Hi Randy,

thanks for your explanation; it is very helpful.

appreciate it~

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

If you want to future-proof your laptop, it's best to get the best you can afford. Some laptops solder in the RAM and hard drive, preventing them from being upgraded in the future. Watch out for those.

I suggest:

Fastest Ultra 9 or i9 processor (or better)

32-minimum RAM--64 would be better--128 would be even better.

1 TB SSD or larger

16 in uHD (not HD) screen or larger.

Best GPU card offered. 

Warning: it won't be cheap! 

I like to add Dell's hardware and accident coverage for 3-4 years. 

Max your system out and it can last many years. I'm still using my Dell XPS 15, 64-GB RAM, 2 TB SSD, i9 that was purchased in 2017. 

With 4 years coverage, and XPS 16 would cost about $4300 US.