Hello Tanya, You might want to have a look at these...They are pretty cool units.
http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio -- Best regards, Bruce Monday, February 8, 2010, 4:13:00 PM, you wrote: TL> Thanks Steve - this is the kind of information that I was hoping to hear. I TL> do *want* a laptop over a PC because I like to be able to move around the TL> house, more so than take the computer out and about with me. I often sit in TL> bed with my kids next to me working, or at the dining room table next to TL> them whilst they are doing their homework. It would also give me the TL> opportunity when I need it to take it with me on a shoot etc. I totally TL> agree with the battery life thing -the Asus G73 only has 1-2 hours, which is TL> crappity crap crap, however, as I am mostly using it at home, I always have TL> it plugged in anyways (my current HP has always had terrible battery life TL> and from Day 1, I've never even been able to watch a full length movie on it TL> without it dying). TL> The reason I want such a high spec'd system is because it will be a long TL> time before I can afford to upgrade again and I really need this to be able TL> to work well for at least the next 3-4 years without the risk of becoming TL> outdated. I totally agree with you all about the size and weight but don't TL> need it to be *that* portable, but fast and able to handle anything that I TL> can throw at it for as long as possible is a priority. I actually *really* TL> don't want a screen any bigger than my current 15.9" but if I have to live TL> with a bigger one to be able to get (and afford!) the specs that I need, TL> then I will. TL> To those who have suggested less spec'd laptops, I currently have a HP TL> Pavillion dv6500 - it is a 2Core Duo T7100 @ 1.80 GHz. I upgraded it last TL> week from 2 to 4gb, and also upgraded the HDD from 160gb (it was CONSTANTLY TL> full) 7200rpm to a 500gb 5400rpm. It is running Vista Home Premium, 32bit. TL> Even since doing the upgrades last week, it is still struggling, especially TL> now that I have the much higher resolution images to work on from the K-7. TL> So, the plan is that my husband will inherit this one, and I will be set up TL> with the new one. I am sooooo sick of twiddling my thumbs waiting for my TL> computer to do what I ask it to, and I haven't even really "gotten back TL> into" my photography work properly yet. I am determined to kick off TL> properly this time and to be set up for a good, efficient work flow. Well, TL> as much as I can afford anyways. TL> We already have a beautiful Samsung 22" monitor that will be used as my TL> second monitor and my main editing screen, however I *do* still need the TL> monitor to be decent. TL> Storage is also a very high priority, I hated dropping back to a 5400rpm HDD TL> when I upgraded last week, but soooo badly needed the extra space and TL> couldn't afford the 7200 equivalent, plus I knew that this computer would be TL> my hubby's and speed/performance is not an issue for him, all he ever uses TL> it for is to surf the net! However, the Asus has two HDD bays and that is TL> important for me. I really want a dual drive set up as I have lost two HDDs TL> and two memory cards in the past year and this has not been fun to live TL> through. I did a beautiful shoot the other week with 4 cute little models TL> and pettiskirts, and I had a gorgeous scene set up in the rainforest TL> complete with an antique cast iron bed that we carted out there and the TL> whole lot disappeared when my 4gb Hitachi Microdrive finally gave up on me TL> (remember the surgery we all did many moons ago on those Creative Labs mp3 TL> players?!? Lol). I received 2 quotes to recover the shots, both amounting TL> to about $2400 and suffice to say, I will never get to see those shots TL> again! :( TL> Anyways, can you Steve, or somebody else, explain to me what a "TN display" TL> is? I know what I *need* my display to be capable of (I want it to be as TL> high res as possible, and to be able to be calibrated accurately and to TL> render highlights and shadows properly (ie. to properly show hotspots and/or TL> blacks as well as a histogram can), but the technical side and specs of what TL> I need to achieve this is beyond my limited knowledge. TL> I was actually going to post specifically to ask about the pros/cons of a TL> gaming machine for the kind of work that I am doing but read some geeky type TL> forum threads of others who were trying to decide between the Asus G73 and TL> the Dell 6400 and as I know that the Dell is catered specifically towards TL> photographers, I assumed that the Asus would suit too. I also did some TL> research and found that the graphics card on the Asus is better than the top TL> spec'd Geoforce card so thought that I would surely be fine with it. But if TL> that's not the case and anyone could explain to me why, in language that I TL> can comprehend, I would be very grateful! :) TL> Tan. TL> -----Original Message----- TL> From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of TL> steve harley TL> Sent: Tuesday, 9 February 2010 5:06 AM TL> To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List TL> Subject: Re: laptops again... TL> On 2010-02-08 01:03 , Tanya Love wrote: >> Asus G73 TL> just an impression, i'm no connoisseur of Windows laptops: TL> i looked this up and saw that it's aimed at the gaming market; note that TL> gamers like their displays to have very fast response, which is generally an TL> indicator it is a TN display which has modest color fidelity; so you'd have TL> a very powerful, very heavy, giant-screened machine that may not be all that TL> great for editing photos; is that what you want? gamers don't usually value TL> battery life either; 14 year old gamers may think they look cool lugging TL> around a giant laptop, but i suspect you might get tired of it; and if TL> you're not taking it anywhere why not get a more powerful desktop machine TL> with a better quality display for less money? or a more portable, reasonably TL> powered laptop plus an external display? TL> -- TL> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List TL> PDML@pdml.net TL> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net TL> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and TL> follow the directions. TL> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature TL> database 4848 (20100208) __________ TL> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. TL> http://www.eset.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.