# Which laptop for travel?



## Jack56 (Aug 13, 2015)

Hi all,
I've got my eye on the MacBook Air, 13" screen.
It's for travel to put raw files on.
I think I also install LR on it and that's it. Maybe watching a stream, but that's it.
What do I need?
128GB with 4GB (That's the basic one)
256GB with 4GB
or do I have to go for an extra 4GB, so 8GB?
Thanks.


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## Vivid Color (Aug 13, 2015)

When I bought my 13" MacBook Pro in 2014, I bought the 256gb with 8gb version. I bought the larger hard drive capacity because if I'm transferring photos to it, I didn't want to have to deal with an extra drive on which to put my photos. These days, you can go through 128 GB pretty quickly. I bought the extra RAM because programs seem to require more and more RAM these days, at least to work efficiently. I have been very happy with my MacBook Pro and plan to keep it for quite a long time.


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## Jack56 (Aug 13, 2015)

Vivid Color said:


> When I bought my 13" MacBook Pro in 2014, I bought the 256gb with 8gb version. I bought the larger hard drive capacity because if I'm transferring photos to it, I didn't want to have to deal with an extra drive on which to put my photos. These days, you can go through 128 GB pretty quickly. I bought the extra RAM because programs seem to require more and more RAM these days, at least to work efficiently. I have been very happy with my MacBook Pro and plan to keep it for quite a long time.


Thanks Vivid. The MacBook Air has got that another option. If I buy the one with 256gb and 8gb, which processor do I need?
Will 1,6 Ghz do or spend again more on a 2,2 Ghz processor?


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## pwp (Aug 13, 2015)

Visited the Apple Store today. My heavy old 2010 MacBook Pro is ready to be retired in favor of something much more portable. It came down to the Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch or a full-house Air 11 inch with all possible performance options checked. The price is similar. In spite of not having that gorgeous Retina display, I'll be going for the hotted up Air 11. For travel, there's really little else that would come close.

-pw


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## Jack56 (Aug 13, 2015)

Congrats with your buy. I've just read a lot about the differences between Air and Pro. It's being said that LR works better with raw files on a Pro. Oh boy, thought I made my decision.


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## Hector1970 (Aug 13, 2015)

More RAM is very useful and speeds it up.
The drive sizes are very small for photographers. 
You'll need alot back up disks.


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## expatinasia (Aug 14, 2015)

I travel a lot, and I think you need to consider the type of travel you do before you decide the type of laptop to go with it.

For example I would never touch an Apple. Never.

Can you tell us more about what you plan to do? Why do you need a "light" laptop will you carry it around a lot, or will it stay in the hotel room when you move around.

Tell us more.


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## Jack56 (Aug 14, 2015)

Been to the shop today and did more reading on the net. Because my wife likes to work on it at home, while we are not travelling  , we had a look for the MacBookPro 13"
Looks good and why apple? Just because we have got already the imac.
So, laptop for travel and doing some work at home. Then I can imagine that I will use it also for some editing in LR. So, 8gb Ram or 16?
Would 8 be enough?


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## pwp (Aug 15, 2015)

Jack56 said:


> Been to the shop today and did more reading on the net.....we had a look for the MacBookPro 13"
> So, 8gb Ram or 16?


Please don't tell us you were looking at the heavy, almost ten year old design 13 inch MBP? They're strong as, and will last several years, but you'll never take it traveling. The Retina MBP is another matter entirely. It's fabulous. 

Whatever you end up buying, I'd suggest maxing out the RAM that is available for that model as you'll probably have it for years. LR should run OK on 8Gb, but better on 16Gb. 16 Gb would be a must if you buy a MBP with a spinning hard drive. The Retina MBP or any Air will deliver a commanding performance advantage with their SSD's.

I gave my old 2010 13 inch MBP a solid mid-life performance boost with an SSD and doubling the RAM to 16Gb. This is best bought from Crucial https://www.crucial.com/ where you list your exact model and it comes up with the perfectly compatible RAM for your computer's board. Still, I'm not sure that the newer Macs can be upgraded by the end user as the RAM may be soldered onto the board. This is definitely the case with the Air.

-pw


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## monkey44 (Aug 15, 2015)

Biggest and fastest now will not be biggest and fastest for long -- I'd get the highest possible technology available and use it for as long as it does the job. We seem to become outdated almost as soon as we buy a new computer.

RAW files take a lot of storage - so, either largest SSD (definitely SSD) or a number of backups. I personally use a number of SSD back-ups so all my image files are not on one drive - and duplicate each drive at least once. So larger (for processing) SSD and smaller individual SSD storage works better for my method.


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## Vivid Color (Aug 18, 2015)

In my earlier post, I should've been more clear. When I said I bought a MacBook Pro, I meant a 13" retina MacBook Pro. The non-retina MacBook Pro is so old that I had forgotten that it is still in the lineup. Another factor to consider is that the newer retina MacBook Pro is 1 pound lighter than the older non-retina version.


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## candc (Aug 18, 2015)

Surface pro 3 or soon to be released surface pro 4.


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## KKCFamilyman (Aug 18, 2015)

Depends on your budget and size restrictions.

Windows:
Surface 3 and external drive (size of an ipad)
Surface pro 3 for light editing 8gb core i7 8gb ram 512gb ssd

Mac:
Mbp retina 13" 8gb ram 256 or 512gb ssd
Or the new 2lb macbook since it will be light and still has a retina screen.

Would not buy an Air for photography because of the 1600 x 900 tn panel.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 18, 2015)

KKCFamilyman said:


> Depends on your budget and size restrictions.
> 
> Windows:
> Surface 3 and external drive (size of an ipad)
> ...



http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/surface-pro-3

$799 for a pretty standard surface pro 3. 128GB/4GB i5. That's a decent price.


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