Which laptop out of these two
 

Hi,
I have a choice of two laptops with the following specs for my son, who is very much into photography and will be running photoshop on the laptop. I know they aren't fantastic, but they are the choice I have. I was wondering if people could give me their views on which one to go for. They won't be used for gaming really, but will be used for photo editing and basic home use as well as video playback. Any opinions will be very welcome.
Here are the two laptops:

Samsung R519
15.6" LED SuperBright display
Celeron Dual Core T3100 1.90GZ
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
Intel GMA X4500M DVMT Graphics Chip
Windows 7 Professional
DVD Reader/ Writer
3-in-1 media card adaptor
Integrated web cam
WiFi

Toshiba Satellite Pro L450
15.6" LED TruBrite® display
AMD SEMPRON 2.1GHZ
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 3200 Graphics Chip
Windows 7 Professional
DVD Reader/ Writer
4-in-1 media card adaptor
Integrated web cam
WiFi


One laptop has what I would consider to be a better processor as it is dual core, whereas the other laptop has better graphics capabillity. However, I am guessing that the graphics capabillity will only be of concern, to people wanting to play games. I would upgrade the memory of the laptop that I get to at least 2Gb, so memory isn't that much of a problem. But as I said before, anybodies views as to which one to go for will be very welcome.
Many thanks
Ian

Either laptop would be OK but I would plump for the Toshiba as they only make laptops and it's a faster processor. :D

Thanks for your comment Oldboy, I have been gravitating towards the Toshiba myself. Regretably I don't have a choice of any other laptops otherwise I would look at some others.
Ian

I have a Toshiba laptop myself which cost £1,500 a few years ago and they are well made. I also have an IBM laptop which cost £1,400, and used to have a AST which cost £1,649. When I see the prices of laptops today I can't believe they are only around £400 or cheaper. :(

The Toshiba might have a faster processer but the Samsung is a dual core processor so it's going to be faster (as already said by the OP).

The graphics are not worth worrying about as neither are much different.

I'd buy the Samsung. It's faster.

[QUOTE=chris-p;12591]The Toshiba might have a faster processer but the Samsung is a dual core processor so it's going to be faster (as already said by the OP).

The graphics are not worth worrying about as neither are much different.

I'd buy the Samsung. It's faster.[/QUOTE]

A Duel-core processor isn't always faster unless the applications are written for it. As the Sempron is AMD's answer to the Celeron processor they are on a par with each other on the reduced instructions set but I would still go for the faster processor regardless. :D

That is true, applications have to be written to make full use of either dual or quad core systems. Both of these laptops run Windows 7 (which likes dual/quad core stuff) and you'll be hard pressed to find much every day software that doesn't allow dual/quad threading, handles or kernels.

[QUOTE=chris-p;12624]That is true, applications have to be written to make full use of either dual or quad core systems. Both of these laptops run Windows 7 (which likes dual/quad core stuff) and you'll be hard pressed to find much every day software that doesn't allow dual/quad threading, handles or kernels.[/QUOTE]

You are assuming his software is the lastest version. I run Photoshop CS3 on a PC with 3ghz Intel processor and XP and also on a quad-core 2.5ghz Intel processor with Vista and there isn't much difference in Photoshop's speed. Where it does fly is in downloading files from my compact flash card. :D

Hi,
Many thanks for your comments on this. Just to clear things up a bit, I will be using either CS3 or CS4, I haven't made up my mind yet. Therefore, do you think that the dual core will be of an advantage with this software?
Once again, many thanks
Ian

Are you really only restricted to these 2 options? Laptop screens are not usually the best as concerns image editing and are also notoriously difficult to calibrate and profile which is a must for any serious and accurate editing. Additionally, although you haven't mentioned it, I am assuming that both of your current choices only come supplied with one hard drive. This is also not ideal as Photoshop makes use of what it terms a scratch disk which off-loads work from memory (RAM) and should be a second disk separate from the disk upon which the application is installed. CS4 also makes use of GPU acceleration which can result in system crashes when an unsuitable video card is installed and/or incorrect drivers for the same. In my opinion, 2GB of RAM is the absolute bare minimum because it has to be remembered that the OS and other installed will be using some of this anyway so it's not as though the entire 2GB will be available to Photoshop.