The Laptop specs look good, though you'll want to go to JB and have a look in person - Toshiba laptops sometimes have crappy build quality, using cheap plastic which breaks easily.

You'll also want to make sure that the software you use is compatible with Windows 8 (unless you plan on buying a copy of Win 7 to install)
Adobe Programs below CS5.5 aren't supported, and I found CS5 would sometimes crash on Win8.

Im thinking about getting my software from the local store because we get good deals, but then get the actual laptop from the online store.
I can also customise it this way too. :3

Thanks for the info!

Personally I would get windiws 7 installed, even if you have to do this manually. Also honestly you should probably uninstall +60% of the software it comes with , =/ the anti virus thing (avast is better lol), mousepad, sound, transfer software, online storage. We removed it all from my boyfriends mums laptop and now it runs with 50% less load and RAM. The laptop you get isnt whats the problem, it tends to be what software they pre install that bogs it down. Thus I always prefer to install my own OS to remove it all, then only install what I need.
Thats the problem with most laptops you get, as soon as you try to run one or two of your own things they go slow because they are bogged down with pre installed software running.

Windows 7...so much better

Ok having double checked you WILL need to uninstall the stuff it comes with, that 8GB is gonna fill up REALLY quick, if you know anyone really good with computers, ask them to have a look over it or paste us a copy of the "installed software" list and we can check it over, get system backup onto disk so you can remove it too. Its a really good laptop, but you will run outta that 8GB fast.
(Dont install Chrome on the 8GB you will quickly find it sucks up all your hard drive space)

8gb? where the hell did you see 8gb
and also, 8gb of ram is A LOT
you can run livestream, skype, photoshop, chrome, anything you want without any problems and it will fill not even half of your rams
and the laptop has 16gb, so it wont be a problem

uninstalling mcafee is a must
and switching to windows 7 too

Read the specs again,
It has a 8GB SSD, When ever they put SSD in as well as standard drives 95% of the time the SSD is where the OS will be, uninstalling the crap will free ram AND space on the SSD, An 8GB ssd, If you browse often you can find chrome starts consuming drive space, thats not much good if its installed on the 8GB SSD

Its best getting rid of the crap, straight off the system rather than a while down the line before it bogs up in general.

I only have my OS and AV on my SSD, she could do the same
and she could use the HHD for everything else, 1.5TB is more than enough ;)
so I'd say it's a pretty decent computer

It is a high end laptop considering its size.
Only thing is if she has stuff to install she will need an external drive or find downloadables.
1.5TB is pleanty, I just find it easiest to have the most used software and AV on SSD, thus for installing on SSD just for installing on such a small SSD I would avoid chrome

actually no , remembering chrome stores most of its data in the "AppData" which is in C: . It will slowly leech

I tried chrome when I got my new SSD, in a few days I found its folder size had gotten to 1.2 GB =/ was not amused.

I personally would avoid anything by Apple, because Apple is the devil. Toshiba is good, I've had a loyal Acer for a while now, as does my room mate  gabrielle-wolf and HP would work just as well. Just stick to PC. That is my best advice.

The computer you're looking at now looks good. My only suggestion about it though is to get Windows 7 on it instead of 8, unless you're already very familiar with that OS. Windows 7 on a computer is much more user friendly. I feel like 8 is best for smart phones.....

Anyway, good luck.

~ Xena

Another thing to note, my Acer Aspire is a hard ass. I've dropped her on several occasions, and her performance never deteriorated. I did have to replace a cracked screen though, but it was really easy to do, so that's an added bonus if you're a little rough with your computer. Just a thought.

I converted to useing a laptop for my artwork, I have a mid sized Asus and use an attatched screen.

RAM will be important and so will your disk space, a good cpu will be handy, but the graphics card doesnt need to be top of the line. I opted out for going with the igh end Asus as it was geared towards gameing and was pretty heavy. I just need a laptop that can multitask 2 art programs and 40 open tabs in chrome and have the ability to use an external screen (I map my tablet to the 23 inch external screen).

thanks this was really helpful info.
Im also looking into getting a high end gaming laptop with an external screen to add to it later