Laptop for creative cloud

[keithp66300107]

I'm looking to get a 13" laptop for travelling and for using creative cloud. What spec should I be looking for?

[John Waller]

Windows or Mac?

What's your budget?

What kinds of projects will you be doing on the laptop?

Which apps will you spend most time using? Audio/video are generally the most demanding.

[keithp66300107]

Windows 10 and budget up to about $1200 or so.

[Nancy OShea]

Look at the min-requierments to run Creative Cloud + your OS + your apps + services + utilities.

Keep in mind that these are minimum requirements.  If you do much graphics work, you'll need a lot more physical and RAM memory.

Adobe Creative Cloud system requirements

[pmorris1945]

Hi,

I've gone through the forum and gotten some great information for a starting point.  Based on what you wrote I'm curious what you would recommend I look at:

I'm replacing my desktop with a laptop to be docked when I'm in the office.  Currently I'm on a Windows 10 Pro with 8 GB of RAM, AMD FX Eight Core Processor, 111 GB of storage.  This PC was not designed with consideration of the Adobe programs I run.  I am always out of storage and keep my data on the server instead of locally on the PC.  Which is fine but with a laptop I will probably start to keep some on the unit so I can use it when away from the office.  When I have a couple of programs open, like AI and ID I sometimes jam up the PC and have to close out.

I use multiple Adobe CC applications; mostly Muse, PS, AI, ID and a little bit of video editing.  I will probably move to XD for my website.  I imagine I would be called a light to moderate user for Adobe.  I also have all the normal office products and programs everyone has on their PC's.  I'm looking to get a laptop that will meet my needs for the next few years, with increasing Adobe product use.  My budget is not fixed but around 2K would be ideal.

Any suggestions are helpful and appreciated.

[Alan_Craven]

You should look at the new version of the Dell XPS 15 with the i9 CPU and the Startech thunderbolt dock.

I have just bought the Dell, and to my surprise it more or less matches the performance of a nominally far more powerful 8 core desktop on which my media is on an Areca RAID 3 using 8 1TB SSDs.  I have my media on a GTechnology 1TB portable thunderbolt drive with the new laptop.

I have yet to purchase the Startech dock, but when I do, I suspect my desktop's days will be numbered!

[shawn_starc]

If you looking into budget under $1200 that too of Windows OS

then check out the specs of

Acer Aspire VN7-792G-797V Laptop

good for gaming as well as for designing too.

[Govardhan.V]

It also depends upon what kind of applications you are going to use for designing purpose.

Example:

After Effects System Requirements

Adobe Premiere Pro System Requirements

Photoshop system requirements

..........................etc

Not going to promote any specific brand , but make sure the laptop  meets system requirements for the application which you will be using.

[keithp66300107]

General photo editing - nothing heavy, photo backup while traveling and then other apps such as word and quicken

[Govardhan.V]

It is better to purchase latest version hardware llike

i7 or i5  7th or 8th Gen processor. Quad Core

min 6 or 8 MB Cache,

Intel turbo boost technology 2.0.

Usually I dont recommend you specific brand , as I haven't used all of them to differentiate the performance between all.

You can also go for Macbook , which will be better choice , if you are comfortable using Mac:

Buy MacBook Pro - Apple

or Dell XPS:

XPS 13 High Performance Laptop with InfinityEdge Display | Dell United States https://www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-in-1-pcs/new-xps-13-laptop/spd/xps-13-9360-laptop/a540034w...

HP:

13 Inch Laptops

As mentioned in above you can also go for Acer :

Laptops | Acer

Lenovo

Laptops | Shop Laptops, 2-in-1s, & More | Lenovo US

[Abambo]

i7 is OK, it shouldn't be less (it could be an i5, but it won't probably make you happy), 16Gb of RAM (8 is the absolute minimum, 32 would be great), a Nvidea graphics card and a 15" screen (I wouldn't go for a 13", but if you want one...go for it. It will not make you happy).

SSD big enough to hold the OS and application programs (400Gb is the minimum IMHO), an external hard disk or SSD for the data. If the data needs to fit on your laptop drive go for a Tb SSD disk space.

[Kanikas]

Moving to Hardware Forum​