Laptops, Netbooks, PC advice

[robindotadams]

Just to let you know I went for a Samsung NC 10 net book. It does the job, even if the screen is a little small. Off to Red Sea on an Alex Mustard trip in 10 days so it'll get a full workout then... let's hope it's up to scratch...

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by robindotadams

Just to let you know I went for a Samsung NC 10 net book. It does the job, even if the screen is a little small. Off to Red Sea on an Alex Mustard trip in 10 days so it'll get a full workout then... let's hope it's up to scratch...

Robin,
Make sure you get to know the characteristics of the screen. I've had many laptops over the years and for whatever reason they have had poor screens more often than not. My current small laptop has a hideous cyan cast that I don't seem to be able to correct. This means that when I check my shots I don't have to concern myself if they appear overly blue - it's the laptop not the shots.

Also familiarise yourself with RAW viewer if that is what you are using to view shots. I always find that images are so much sharper in Lightroom than the RAW viewer suggests. If you are going to install Lightroom then ignore this point (my laptop is a works one and "cough cough" software could get me sacked!!).
HTH,
Rob

[whacky]

whats lightroom lots of people talk about? I assume it's some sort of editing software but what does it do that makes it so attractive to people, isn't photoshop enough?

[GLOC]

Lightroom allows you to play with lots images at the same time. It allows you to apply changes to each image (like infinite layers) and then you "export" the images which means the originals are untouched.

You can download a trial installation from Adobe. DO IT, you won't regret it!!

Adobe - Photo Management Software - Photoshop Lightroom

Regards

[whacky]

Originally Posted by GLOC

You can download a trial installation from Adobe. DO IT, you won't regret it!!

I will if it costs a lot my bank manager cries himself to sleep at the amount i have spent on camera kit in the last few weeks.

And now I'm considering spending more

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by whacky

whats lightroom lots of people talk about? I assume it's some sort of editing software but what does it do that makes it so attractive to people, isn't photoshop enough?

Steve,
The guts of the programme is PS, but if your work flow is import RAW, adjust settings a bit and export, then LR is a lot quicker to use. You can remove back-scatter too, but features like that are reduced.

Since switching to LR I very rarely use PS. I had it once described to me that PS is designed for graphic designers and LR is designed for Photographers. I import my photos and then just work my way down the right-hand side of controls. No need for shortcut keys or hunting in the endless menus!
Rob

[GLOC]

Originally Posted by Cussy

Steve,
The guts of the programme is PS, but if your work flow is import RAW, adjust settings a bit and export, then LR is a lot quicker to use. You can remove back-scatter too, but features like that are reduced.

Since switching to LR I very rarely use PS. I had it once described to me that PS is designed for graphic designers and LR is designed for Photographers. I import my photos and then just work my way down the right-hand side of controls. No need for shortcut keys or hunting in the endless menus!
Rob

What he said...

[Timmoranuk]

I've spent a very long time trying to upgrade the HHDs on the P-2000s from 40gb to 80gb without success. Not a problem as I'm going to house the 80 gig drives in enclosures and use them for backup.

Now I've taken the route of a 10" Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (with the HD screen). I'm hoping this, along with the external backup HHDs, will be the answer...

[Timmoranuk]

The Dell arrived today and it runs Lightroom just fine with Canon CR2 files. Post seems a bit clunky but thats to be expected with only a gig on board. Data transfers to a from external HDDs reasonably quickly. I'm giving it a 7/10 and think its going to do a much better job than my P-2000s...