what size laptop for BBPro?

[jimlevitt]

I need to buy a laptop in the next month or so, for a week-long project I'll be doing away from home. I will be downloading my memory cards to the laptop, and doing initial culling of the images. On any other forum, the answers would come back "MacBook Pro," but that won't happen on this forum...

My question is really about screen size. I can get a nice discount on Dell computers through my work, though I'm open to other manufacturers. Dell makes a 13.3" and 15.4" in their XPS line, both of which can be ordered with an LED-backlit screen.

I'm used to Breezebrowser Pro on my desktop monitor; I've never seen it running on a laptop. I usually use the "Main" view, with controls showing. Will all this be too tiny on a 13.3" screen? Here's what Dell says about the 13.3" LED screen:

"All XPS M1330 displays are 13.3 inch widescreen HD displays with TrueLife 1280x800. The LED display starts at 3.97lbs and is 0.87 inches thick compared to the standard display which starts at 4.28lbs. and is 0.97 inches thick."

On the M1550 (15.4") the description is:
"High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900)"

The 13.3" model is obviously smaller and lighter; the 15.4" model offers a better video card (128 mb nVidia 8400 on the 13.3", 256 mb nVidia 8600 on the 15.4")

Any and all suggestions or recommendations would be much appreciated. If I should be looking at other laptops instead, please speak up. Costco has some great deals on HP laptops, which offer more power than the Dells at lower prices. No LED screens, however.

Thanks,

Jim

[DavidB]

Jim

This is a classic dilemma, and everyone needs to find their own compromise between portability and performance.

There is no doubt that increasing screen size makes a big difference to graphics applications, and BB Pro is no exception. I have just moved up from a 17" display to a 22" widescreen on my desktop, and the difference is remarkable. Conversely, when my daughter appropriated my 15" widescreen laptop and left me with an old 12" 1024x768 model, using the laptop (which is mainly my wife's email machine) for graphics became much less satisfactory.

Other things being equal, therefore, I'd advise going for the 15.4" model. Only you can know how much the additional weight and cost matter. If the laptop stays at your accommodation for use only at the end of the shooting day, the larger model will be preferable. If you want to use it during the shoot (always assuming you can find somewhere in the shade where you can actually see the screen!), the choice is more difficult.

The other thing to think about is how you are going to store and carry the gear, both from and to home and during the project. If the computer is staying back at base, it is probably better (airlines etc. permitting) to bag and carry it separately from the camera outfit. If it's going with you on the shoot, you may need one of those combined photo/laptop backpacks. My niece has one; when it's full I can barely lift it, much less carry it any distance.

Hope this helps.

[TonyGamble]

"for a week-long project I'll be doing away from home. I will be downloading my memory cards to the laptop, and doing initial culling of the images."

If all you are doing is culling then I'd recommend getting the lightest and smallest laptop that you feel comfortable with.

And Breeze is a great culler tool!

You can then add an external larger flat screen when you get home and do any extra manipulation. I am typing this on an Asus S5n laptop which travels with ease. On my desk I link it to a Samsung SyncMaster 913v and calibrate it with a Spyder.

Yes I have a tower PC in my studio for my bulk processing and printing - but the laptop runs a close second in terms of useability.

Any help?

Tony

[Chris Breeze]

FWIW I use a MacBook Pro as my main email machine and it runs Windows XP and BBPro very fast using bootcamp. It's almost as fast as my desktop PCs, but is nearly twice as expensive as equivalent laptops from other manufacturers.

[DavidB]

FWIW I use a MacBook Pro as my main email machine and it runs Windows XP and BBPro very fast using bootcamp. It's almost as fast as my desktop PCs, but is nearly twice as expensive as equivalent laptops from other manufacturers.
Well, that puts all the talk about BB Pro on the Mac into well and truly into context! I suppose we ought not to begrudge Chris the joys of tax-deductible computing ...

As regards the subject of the thread, I don't disagree with what Tony says, but I do believe that the choice very much depends on how Jim intends to work. For instance, if he intends to show his images to co-workers during his trip, the larger screen can be a big advantage. Easy portability is good and big screens are good too. You can't have both, and the decision as to which has priority has to be a matter of individual choice.

[jimlevitt]

I'm leaning toward a 15" laptop; the 13" would probably seem pretty small. But I've got a few more weeks to decide.

Chris: you surprise me! I've been looking longingly at the Macs. Two things hold me back: the price, and the difficulty running BBPro. But now you report that you use a MacBook Pro with BootCamp. And I know someone running BBPro using Fusion on his MBP and iMac, who says the performance hit is on the order of 10-20%, which seems acceptable to me. I'm used to working with both BBPro and Photoshop open, so Fusion would be preferable to BootCamp (where one is either running Windows or OSX, but not both at the same time.)

What's your experience been with BBPro under Fusion or Parallels? When I asked this question a while ago, David advised against it. Surely you've tried it with your MBP by now. If it works reasonably well, you'll have your answer to the posters periodically pleading for a Mac version;)

A sweetly configured Dell XPS1530 would cost slightly more than half the price of the MacBook Pro. On the desktop the cost differential is like that too, hindered by Apple's refusal to sell a tower of any sort other than the overkill MacPro. They do build nice stuff, and OSX seems like a "safer" choice than Vista these days. Lotta money, though...

[Chris Breeze]

I run Windows XP Pro on the MacBook Pro most of the time using bootcamp and it runs very well. I have tried the trial version of Parallels and BBPro, DLPro, PSRemote and DSLR Remote Pro all work fine in a Windows XP session using Parallels. I didn't do any performance comparisons between bootcamp and Parallels but it seemed pretty fast. You can download a copy of an article that compares Parallels, VMWare and bootcamp from the Parallels website. I'm not sure that I'd want to work that way all of the time though as you end up having to run OS X and Windows.

[TonyGamble]

I posted earlier that I have an Asus S5n laptop.

A year ago I went shopping to find something more portable that I could use with DSLR Downloader in tethered mode.

I'd have bought an Asus eee instantly. Snag was that it came with Linux and I have not the computer expertise to retro install XP Pro - though many have apparently done so without problems.

Soon the eee will come in a Windows version and be, IMHO, a jolly good portable for the tethered shooter.

In the meantime whilst people are writing about software that makes Windows software run on a Mac does anyone know is there is similar software that enables one to run Windows progs under Linux?

Tony

[DavidB]

Soon the eee will come in a Windows version and be, IMHO, a jolly good portable for the tethered shooter.
Screen size and storage capacity will be issues even with the new version (which, in the UK, has been reviewed, favourably, in this month's Computer Shopper). Whether 1024x600 is enough to check for OOF errors in tethered mode is a matter of opinion, and 16GB of solid state storage may not be enough for people shooting RAW. But the concept is starting to make sense.


In the meantime whilst people are writing about software that makes Windows software run on a Mac does anyone know is there is similar software that enables one to run Windows progs under Linux?
WINE is the obvious answer. It works by providing a 'compatibility layer' that is supposed to allow programs written for Windows to run under Linux/UNIX. The problem is that many function calls and file formats in Windows are not publicly documented, and the writers of WINE have had a hard time making many applications work in their environment. I think Chris uses Microsoft languages to write his applications (which also make extensive use of third party libraries), so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that these compatibility issues affect BB Pro and DL Pro. There were reports a couple of years ago of people running BB under WINE; other people reported failure. It would be very interesting to hear from anyone running recent versions of Breeze software on WINE (or any other UNIX compatibility application).

[Chris Breeze]

I posted earlier that I have an Asus S5n laptop.

A year ago I went shopping to find something more portable that I could use with DSLR Downloader in tethered mode.

I'd have bought an Asus eee instantly. Snag was that it came with Linux and I have not the computer expertise to retro install XP Pro - though many have apparently done so without problems.

Soon the eee will come in a Windows version and be, IMHO, a jolly good portable for the tethered shooter.

In the meantime whilst people are writing about software that makes Windows software run on a Mac does anyone know is there is similar software that enables one to run Windows progs under Linux?

Tony
I haven't tried the Asus eee PC but I do know of at least one customer who is running Windows XP on one and is running DSLR Remote Pro to control a Canon EOS 400D. www.dabs.com list various versions of the eee PC including some with Windows XP Pro installed.

[TonyGamble]

Thanks David,

OOF is not what I personally look for when shooting tethered. I currently use a Samsung Q1 Ultra and often give it to whoever has (self) appointed themselves 'art director'. They carry it around with me and their job is to tell me to stop when we have the shot they want!

And I guess that there would be enough capacity to hold at least one shooting session - after which we'd move the stuff to the studio computer.

But I take your points and certainly I may not be typical.

On the other matter I looked at WINE yesterday. It seemed to be being used a lot for games and otherwise for office products. Little evidence of photographic interest. But DO please let us know if anyone has managed to make it work with DSLR Pro and BB, please.

Tony