Laptop For Friend Created 6 years ago2018-11-20 02:04:31 UTC by zeeba-G

Is this one good enough for Photoshop, After effects, Illustrator and maybe some 3D programs?

Lenovo ideapad 330s 15.6" Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U Quad-Core processor, 20GB (4GB + 16GB Intel Optane) Memory, 1TB Hard Drive, Windows 10 - Midnight Blue

349.00 USD @ Walmart.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have no idea what Intel Optane memory is and searching around I can't find any definitive answer on whether or not it can be seen and used as actual system memory, only that it can be used to accelerate a storage device. Worst case I imagine it should at least work to hold a pagefile of virtual memory I suppose.

If the 16GB Optane can be used as memory for the programs, it's a very good deal for a productivity machine. 16GB of DDR4 ram alone would take the bulk of that cost and my gaming+productivity Ryzen system is already well beyond 1K and I still have components I need to upgrade.

Otherwise, 4GB of ram will not be enough for anything but the lightest of productivity on the 3D side at least. Archie can give his experience on the photo/video side of things or somebody else with experience in those fields.

EDIT: Another thing to be careful of is to make sure the screen will be good enough for what they're after, since you mention they'll be doing photo and video work on it. If they require color accuracy, having to get a separate monitor might dampen the benefit of portability if the built-in screen isn't up to par.
Again, somebody with experience in colour-critical work will have to share their opinion as I've never had much of a need for colour accuracy.

Yeah, I was looking at laptops recently and that Optane thing is being advertised very misleadingly by some brands. It cannot be used as RAM, so that machine only has 4GB which is too low for Photoshop, 3D modelling, and definitely After Effects. Stay away from anything pretending that Optane is RAM.

You need something with at least 16GB of (real) RAM and a good graphics card. You're certainly not going to get acceptable performance out of Photoshop without those. An SSD is borderline mandatory for productivity apps as well, that 1TB hard drive will be 5400RPM and as a result After Effects will run like refrigerated molasses.

Laptops are not good value for workstation grade performance, but for many people a desktop isn't viable. Be prepared to pay at least 50% more than a desktop for a laptop of the same performance. I would double, or possibly triple your current budget to get a laptop that will perform well with those apps. Adobe and 3D applications require high-end hardware.

You're missing the most important spec information, which GPU does the laptop have?

If he really wants a laptop as a workstation, tell him to look for a refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad one, there are some models that are intended as workstations and should be in the same price range.

Thank you guys so much for the help. I do not know anything about the lap top, she just wanted to buy it while she was in town and asked me if it was capable to handle photoshop and 3d modeling. I told her " let me ask my friends on TWHL." lol. It's just a cheapo from Walmart but if she can fix my old laptop then maybe she'll be better off.

"If he really wants a laptop as a workstation, tell him to look for a refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad one.."

Yup, that's a great choice, right there.

I will third that. We use Lenovo Thinkpads at work. Admittedly, that's nothing more extensive that code most of the time and Photoshop on the rare occasion. I know that I can run Half-Life too, which is handy.

Durability wise I fourth that, I have fallen on my T450s with my whole weight also ramming the charge brick right on the back of the screen and apart from a few purple spots on the screen (which are hardly noticeable) the thing works fine.

If you are really looking for something to work with 3D and Photoshop, you definitely need something with a decent GPU and RAM if you are going to use it as a daily driver then I'd fork the cash out for a Lenovo P1 or similar.

From the POV of someone using After Effects every day for work, I'll just echo what everyone else has said. No hope on that system.

I just ordered a few of the new Alienware M15s for my office, though, and so far they seem pretty good other than the screens being pretty tiny at 15.6".
Certainly no match for a desktop, but that's obviously not always an option. There are options with lower amounts of RAM, but realistically 16GB is pretty much the minimum spec for AE.
8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8750H
Windows 10 Home 64bit
16GB, 2x8GB, DDR4, 2666MHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 Max-Q design with 8GB GDDR5

I got them to replace our current fleet of Macbook Pros which are fucking useless. The previous generation were pretty good, but these new ones are just shocking. Somehow they're slower than their previous iteration - literally can't even play a 1920x1080 ProRes 422 without dropping frames. That's a native Apple format. Unreal.

"Somehow they're slower than their previous iteration - literally can't even play a 1920x1080 ProRes 422 without dropping frames. That's a native Apple format. Unreal."

Well, their quality has degraded over the years. Money over service, as usual.

Money over service.

I thought that was always their slogan...

No dedicated GPU = forget about photo editing.