Since I started working, my interest in all things xomputer related has diminished. Consequently, my knowledge of what's current/cool is abysmal.

I used to lust after alienware, until they got taken over by Dell. XPS gaming laptops appear to be overpriced. I was recently looking at gaming laptops and was impressed by the Asus G73SW.

But reality is hitting home. I probably won't venture back into PC gaming and will stick with the PS3.

So what I'm after is something that will handle the likes of photoshop CS5 with ease. Images will be in RAW format. I still occasionally fiddle around with 3ds max but again, being realistic, it's not something I will be indulging on a frequent basis.

My last laptop was an Acer Aspire 1682 and it did everything really well. Although it slowly deteriorated, it still lasted me seven years.

What kind of price and spec should I be looking at? Any brands I should stay away from?
Laptop will otherwise remain a DTR. Netbook is for portability!

CS5 is probably less hungry than you think.



I've used the trial version on this 4 year old C2D laptop, 1.44Ghz with 1.5Gb RAM and 8400m GS 128Mb GPU. It was able to stitch multiple images into a panorama, and the only issue I had was playing around with the content aware fill feature, not enough RAM for large areas. Overall it would be slow compared to more modern specced machines, but if you're only looking at occasional use then RAM would be the main consideration.

Is there no way you could use the netbook for a couple of months?

It would give you time to accrue the money and research what you want to buy.

I can use the netbook for the basic stuff like surfing and work-related stuff. In fact, whilst sitting on the john and pondering my situation, I came to the same realisation: use the netbook in the interim.

But the fact remains that I will still need to buy a lappy at some point. Was hoping for recommendations since I could then aim for something and see whether I needed to save or not.

Completely surprised by CS5's requirements, but are they the minimum requirements? I don't want to wait around for ages for anything!

I have a Sony.
The viewing angles are terrible and it's not sturdy at all. I was damaged after six months of rig abouse whereas my old one lasted six years.
Having said that they system spec is good and it wasn't too pricey (after I haggled in store).

I am currently looking at this one , any thoughts .http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_ProBook_4320s_1066236.html

Looks ok. We had the previous generation, which had a glossy black plastic case, they looked great, when delivered, but after a week of being lugged around, they were scratched to buggery.

The alu case looks much better.