Question:
Budget laptop for Indesign CS2
Hi,
I am after a laptop to run Windows Indesign CS2 (with the odd bit of Photoshop on smallish files). I will only use this machine occassionally, and am trying to determine how low a spec I can get away with without Indesign slowing to a crawl. I am a PC/Windows virgin, so be gentle with me!
I am looking at these two machines - are they up to the job (if I increased the Travelmate's RAM to 512)?
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Acer_...93/version.asp
http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/572_314315.html
Answer:
Re: Budget laptop for Indesign CS2
Just noticed this in the FAQ:
1) What is your budget?
£600 max - ideally under £500
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen or
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Indesign, little Photoshop, email, Internet
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Taking on train
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
no
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
no
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
2 min
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
no
9) What country are you buying this in?
UK
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Either
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Standard
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.
Widescreen
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Either
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
no
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
ASAP; two years
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
40GB will be fine
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
CDRW
Answer:
Re: Budget laptop for Indesign CS2
The processor is probably OK, but you are going to want a larger and better HD if possible (especially depending on how you will be using InDesign). And absolutely you will want more RAM. Get at least 1GB, and more if you can. It will make using InDesign a lot smoother than trying to do anything with it with only 512 megs of RAM.
I know you said 40GB will be fine, but graphics files can end up taking a lot of storage, and you also want a faster HD if possible (they do make 7200rpm notebook drives), so that reading and writing from the disk won't cause as many delays (especially important if you're reading and writing large InDesign graphics files).
The 5622WLMI would probably be closer to a suitable laptop, especially with the dedicated video.
Most of this applies to anything you'll do with Photoshop too.
Answer:
Re: Budget laptop for Indesign CS2
My computer right now is a compaq with 60GB and 512 megs. It is pretty ugly trying to run photoshop and illustrator. I do not have indesign though so I don't know how that runs. When I run photoshop it takes almost 5 minutes too load, and then if you click to fast it will freeze up. And saving takes forever too. Maybe its just my computer but.....
Answer:
Re: Budget laptop for Indesign CS2
You will have to move to a 15.4" screen to get higher than a WXGA+ resolution. I would suggest looking at the Dell Latitude D620. The Lenovo 3000 N100 is another option.